Daily News from New York, New York • 56

ST4" 1 2 3 HORNS OF PLENTY. Big Sam's Funky Nation Stirring salute to the music of N'awlins i-f 7 7 ii mi i --Mil in iiw ir -fum iti sj nrw-BhtejiriniwiiinnMii LORDS OF THE STADRJ.t EFjah Wood is introduced to the world of violent British soccer fans in "Green By ELIZABETH WEITZMAN DAILY NEWS WRITER Though it was clearly intended as a joyous celebration, timing has turned "Make It Funky," Michael Murphy's exultant documentary on New Orleans' musical heritage, into a poignant requiem. At its center are scenes from a concert organized last year, in which more than 80 musicians paid tribute to the city's astonishing artistic legacy. Three generations of Neville Brothers share the stage for a multi-textured "Fire on the Keith Richards appears awed at the opportunity to cover Fats Domino's "I'm Ready" with local legends Earl Palmer and Walter (Wolfman) Washington, and Snooks Eaglin unwittingly breaks our hearts with a passionate "Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)." MAKE IT FUNKY Documentary by Michael Murphy Not rated. At the Quad.

(Claire Forlani), the aimless Matt quickly hooks up with the wrong crowd, and what he learns from them is recorded through Wood's enormous, liquid eyes with the accuracy of a mega-pixel digital camera. First-time director and co-screenwriter Lexi Alexander is a world-champion kick boxer, so she doesn't shy away from the extreme rough-and-tumble of the street gangs for whom soccer excuse me, football is everything. Through her sensitivity for the subject and the fast-paced camera work, "Hooligans" Street HooDgans." delivers two main points that family is where you find it, and that violence can be as intoxicating, to some, as a drug. Wood is compelling, but Charlie Hunnam is the one to watch as the hooligan who takes Matt under his wing and teaches him how to "support" your favorite team. (Hint: It involves the use of your fists.) The movie somewhat romanticizes the idea that these kids are all right, but it's still refreshing to see a character like Hunnam's, one that's not as easy to peg as you'd think.

Kristen Marie HoDy (In rear) the diary, and then resume fighting. Evans attempts to create six distinct characters, but the common trait among them seems to be their quick tempers and their willingness to lash out at each other in the most hateful ways. Their dead friend will not know what he was spared. By JAM! BERNARD OAlUf hS MtXC CFtiriC fhe differences between soccer here and in Europe are many, starting with the fact that, on the other side of the Atlantic, they call it football. But more interestingly, European fans of the sport particularly the British are rabid to the point of violence, and the insightful "Green Street Hooligans" delivers that lesson quite dramatically to Elijah Wood, playing an American who gets caught up in a London gang.

Suicide drama By JACK MATHEWS OAH.Y NEWS MOME CRITIC Late in writer-director Carl T. Evans' ensemble drama about six friends grieving over the suicide of a seventh member of their circle, one character shouts to a couple of others, "You guys are acting like jerks!" On behalf of whoever buys a ticket to this earnest but practically unwatchable movie, let me say, "Same to you same to all of you!" I haven't spent an hour and a half with worse company since high school detention. The six friends each of them about 30 years old spend 24 hours in, above or around their late friend's Manhattan apartment trying to discern from his diarv GREEN STREET HOOUGANS With Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam. Director. Lexi Alexander Brutal violence, pervasive language, drug use.

At Union Square Stadium 14, Empire 25. Our favorite Hobbit was an inspired choice to play Matt Buck-ner, a timid journalism major who is kicked out of Harvard when he takes a drug rap for a bullying roommate. In London to visit his married sister truly a-pall-ing WALKING ON THE SKY With Randall Batnikoff, Carl T. Evans. Director: Evans Not rated: Language, drug use.

At Quad. why he killed himself. You or I might have thought to take a quick look at the last page of the diary to see if he'd said something like, "I can't take another four years of George Bush," or "Alien mice have invaded my brain." Instead, they take turns reading the diary out loud, chronologically. This may not make sense, but it gives first-time director and former soap opera star Evans an opportunity to create a string of flashback set pieces gmr- (Those who aren't ready to experience such vibrant fes-. tivity may want to wait for the DVD, which will be coming out on Sept.

27.) While the performances are the undeniable highlight, Murphy also ventures into the French Quarter and other neighborhoods to offer a fascinating history that does not shy away from the racial injustices that have been inexorably intertwined with American music. Gregory Davis, of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, tells us that in New Orleans, traditional funerals become dynamic parades, musical commemorations in which life and death are equally honored. A suddenly vital biography, "Make It Funky," pays apt homage to the unique gifts New Orleans has given its country over the last century. Watching it ought to inspire anyone to return the favor. E-mail: etyzawaol.com in C4 Q.

ROOFLESS PEOPLE Carl I Evans and some of them as benign as a baseball outing, others lending provocative clues to inner-circle betrayals. When they're not bickering with each other, the insufferable six are taking diary breaks for a few songs at a karaoke bar, or filling up on takeout food. Afterward, they read some more out of.