National Post du lieu suivant : Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 25

NATIONAL POST, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1998 A ARTS B9 PSYCHO VELVET GOLDMINE The best joke in Gus Van Sant's Director Todd Haynes' walk on colour photocopy of Hitchcock's the Wilde side of early '70s LonFreudian comedy is that an ac- don is an informed wedding of knowledged lesbian, Anne He hallucinatory'60s filmmaking che, plays the only straight char- (2001, Performance), with the acter in the movie. Everyone else kitschy doomsaying of David appears to have checked into the Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. That's Bates Motel directly from The good if you haven't yet broken Rocky Horror Picture Show. free of the web cast by Spiders Boyfriend Sam (Viggo From Mars. For everyone else, it's Mortensen) seems more inter- an inchoate mess: dim witted, ested in listening to Judy Gar- pretentious, fogbound with exisland records than finding his lost tential riddles that couldn't be cut sweetie, and Julianne Moore through with a lighthouse search plays sister Lila as if she's a butch lamp.

Disappointing effort from prison warden. S.C. the maker of Poison and Safe. S.C. CURRENT MOVIES STAR TREK: INSURRECTION I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS Shot in April in Vancouver with paper snow, this cuddly Christmas comedy is just centrifugal energy spun around Jonathan Taylor Thomas, already destined for 30 years of Home Improvement reruns.

But that's no reason to be cynical: This is the Disney movie audiences count on, with goofy adults, gentle sight gags, wild coincidences, and a few illicit bones for parents. D.G. Bugs beats Antz because it doesn't waste time trying to earn adult approval. Flik (voiced by Dave Foley) is a worker ant who inadvertently draws his peers into a confrontation with sinister grasshoppers, led by Kevin Spacey. From the creators of Toy Story, this is filmmaking of the highest order.

The bird-insect chase rivals anything in Saving Private Ryan for dramatic intensity. S.C. "ACTION, ROMANCE, ADVENTURE, 'STAR TREK: INSURRECTION' IS A TREKKER'S DELIGHT!" Bruce Kirkland, TORONTO SUN 6 BIG "A GREAT STORY AND SATISFYING FOR A FANTASTIC RIDE, TREKKERS AND Insurrection no Star goes Trek where CIVILIANS has gone Colin McLean, CBC Bob Cowan, GLOBAL, HALIFAX STAR TREK INSURRECTION ON PARENTAL ADVISED GUIDANCE www.startrek.com NOW PLAYINGI FOR CHECK LOCATIONS THEATRE AND DIRECTORIES SHOWTIMES 'THE SEASON'S MUST SEE ROMANTIC COMEDY!" -Michael D. Reid. VICTORIA TIMES COLONIST Tom Hanks Meg Ryan "Log on to the most blissfully romantic movie of the year!" -Louls B.

Hobson, CALGARY SUN "A surefire hit!" -Brian D. Johnson, MACLEAN'S MAGAZINE You've ITal PARENTAL ADVISED GUIDANCE www.gouvegotmall.com NOW PLAYING! FOR CHECK LOCATIONS THEATRE AND DIRECTORIES SHOWTIMES "TWO THUMBS UP!" SISKE. EBERT "NON- STOP MOTION" JOHN GRIFFIN, MONTREAL GAZETTE A DON SIMPSON: JERRY BRUCKHEIMER PRODUCTION A FILM BY TONY SCOTT WILL SMITH GENE HACKMAN ENEMY OF THE STATE "THE BEST ACTION FILM OF THE YEAR" PAT COLLINS, WWOR-1 TOUCHSTONE PICTURES DON SIMPSON JERRY BRUCKHEIMER SCOTT FREE TONY SCOTT WILL SMITH GENE HACKMAN "ENEMY OF THE STATE JON VOIGHT REGINA KING GABRIEL BYRNE TREVOR RABIN HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS CHAD OMAN JAMES W. SKOTCHDOPOLE ANDREW Z. DAVIS DAVID MARCONI JERRY BRUCKHEIMER TONY SCOTT 1: A MA SODS CO 14 ACCOMPANIMENT COARSE LANGUAGE NOW PLAYING! FOR CHECK LOCATIONS THEATRE AND DIRECTORIES SHOWTIMES FOR SHOWTIMES TICK CALL 444-FILM "What a delightful looks like it could be the big children's movie of the Christmas season!" THE COLIN MCLEAN, CBC NEWSWORLD Featuring the animated "FETCH" from short www.rugratsnovie.com BY PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND CAT DOC VIACOM NICKELODEON, MITERMATIONAL INC.

AND ALL RUBRATS RELATED CREATED TITLES, BY ARLENE LOGOS AND KLASKY, GABOR CHARACTERS CRUPO ARE AND PAUL. TRADEMARKS GERMAIN DE WACOM ALL RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL RESERVED. INC. newest Nicktoon! Nickelodeon's FAMILY NOW PLAYING! CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORIES FOR LOCATIONS AND SHOWTIMES "GREAT FANTASY FUN FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON!" -Paul McGuire, ITV frost www.wb-jackfrost.com PARENTAL GUIDANCE ADVISED NOW PLAYING! FOR LOCATIONS AND SHOWTIMES CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORIES FOR LOCATIONS AND SHOWTIMES A BUG'S LIFE HO HO HO ADAM SANDLER WATERBOY www.thewaterboy-themovie.com A PARENTAL Distributed by BUENA VISTA PICTURES DISTRIBUTION GUIDANCE TOUCHSTONE PICTURES ADVISED NOW PLAYING! CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORIES FOR LOCATIONS SHOWTIMES The latest movie in the Star Trek franchise is neither the best nor the worst of the lot. The plot Picard and company discover a fountain-of- youth planet, then turn coat against Starfleet to protect its meek inhabitants is really just a convenient hook on which to hang our favourite Trekisms: Jean-Lue sings Gilbert Sullivan, Data tries to emote, Worf growls, Riker and Troi share a hot tub, the Enterprise gets shot to hell, Trek fans leave the theatre happy.

Dan Brown DANCING AT LUGHNASA A powerful story full of dull, dayto-day sadness. What the film version of Brian Friel's play about five unmarried sisters in 1930s Ireland sacrifices in intimacy of the stage, it makes up in detail. No amount of dialogue could convey more than Meryl Streep's face when she's simply saying hello to a neighbour. A fatalistic doom hangs over these women as the world slowly enters their cozy cottage, but the muted unravelling during the summer of change translates into subtle, uncomfortable art. D.D.

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEE BILLY BOB THORNTON BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR BILLY BOB THORNTON LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS "STUNNING, CAUTIONARY TALE, 'A SIMPLE PLAN' WILL HAUNT YOU." CTV, TORONTO, Anne Brodie Bill Paxton Billy Bob Thornton Bridget Fonda a simple plan Sometimes good people do evil things. TUAL PILA VIOLENCE Based On The New York Times Bestseller. COMPANY COARSE LANGUAGE www.asimpleplan.com me NOW PLAYING! FAMOUS PLAZA PLAYERS CHECK FOR THEATRE SHOWTIMES DIRECTORY DIGITAL PRESENTED IN Alfre Woodard plays a mother who escapes a self-destructing life in Chicago to return to her ancestral home in Mississippi. Life's lessons from a poet MOVIE REVIEW Down in the Delta Co-produced by Showtime, poet Maya Angelou's feature directing debut never reaches beyond the sentiment of a Sunday night TV movie. In a drama about the importance of hard work and family, this almost seems like a conscious decision on Angelou's part.

One more way to make her message manifest. But even though it's free of stunts and sentimentality, the slow pace and loud, unambiguous morality, has a subtle, disappointing preachiness. The conflicts are neatly lined up big city versus small town, young meeting old, parents reconnecting with children and calmly dealt with, one by one. There are not tricks, no tidy endings, just one big, fat lesson: Life requires a lot of hard work. Not exactly escapism.

The story starts in Chicago, where Loretta (Alfre Woodard, looking 10 years younger than herself) lives with her mother, Rosa Lynn (Mary Alice), and two children. After adjusting to Woodard in this departure role (no trace of the world-weary earth mother here), we see that things aren't looking too good for Loretta. She has an autistic child and can't even get a job as a cashier at the supermarket without basic math. When things get too depressing, she gives in to self-destruction and her drug- and alcohol-infested neighbourhood. Something's got to give.

In a heroic last ditch effort to get her daughter and grandchildren out of harm's way, Rosa Lynn pawns her most valuable and prized family heirloom, a candelabra that dates back to her slave ancestors, and moves them all back to her ancestral home in the Mississippi delta. Loretta and the kids move in with their uncle Earl (the brilliant Al Freeman who runs a chicken restaurant and takes care of his wife, an Alzheimer's victim. He lives by a clock and his discipline is infectious. Without very much fighting or melodrama, a graceful transformation occurs: country wins, family wins, parents win more lessons learned at the hands of Maya Angelou. Wesley Snipes, the film's co-producer, adds much-needed energy as Earl's buppie son and the only character who hasn't been marginalized by life.

Nothing is tied up evenly this is a movie about the importance of small victories and it's great to see Snipes giving a warm, understated performance as a regular guy who doesn't carry a gun and doesn't have sex. National Post BY DEIRDRE DOLAN yule love it! DisNEY PIXAR a bugs life if you've only seen it once, you haven't seen it all. PARENTAL ADVISED GUIDANCE SCENES Distributed by BUENA VISTA PICTURES DISTRIBUTION FRIGHTENING FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS FAMOUS PLAYERS SILVERCITY A UPTOWN VICTORIA TERR. FAMOUS PLAYERS- -FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS- FAMOUS PLAYERS- FAMOUS PLAYERS MARKVILLE SILVERCITY ME COLISEUM 12 COLISEUM 10 SILVERCITY FAMOUS FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS- FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERSOAKVILLE OSHAWA FAMOUS PLAYERS 8 PICKERING FAMOUS PLAYERS 8 BURLINGTON, JACKSON SO TON FAMOUS PLAYERS- FAMOUS PLAYERS CINEPLEX ODEON- CINEPLEX CINEPLEX ODEON FIESTA MALL SILVERCITY ANCASTER SHERWAY ELGIN MILLS AJAX 10 CLARINGTON CINEPLEX PL ODEON BOWMANILE, 3 STAR TARRANT QUELPH IMPERIALBARRIE GEORGETOWN GALAXY CINEMA PRESENTED IN DIGITAL SOUND CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORIES NOW PLAYING! FOR SHOWTIMES Watch CBC Christmas morning for the Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade "THE SEASON'S -SEE ADVENTURE -BOBBIE WYGANT, NBCWAY DiSNEY 1 MIGHTY JOE YOUNG PARENTAL VIOLENCE. GUIDANCE FRIGHTENING SCENES Win a trip to Hawaii at www.MightyJoeYoung.com Distributed by A VISTA PICTURES DISTRIBUTION INC.

FAMOUS PLAYERS- FAMOUS PLAYERS- FAMOUS PLAYERS- FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS THX THX THX SILVERCITY FOR UPTOWN VICTORIA RICHMOND SILVERCITY HILL COLISEUM SCARBOROUGH 12 ANCASTER SHERIDAN SILVERCITY FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS- -FAMOUS FAMOUS PLAYERS- FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS FAMOUS MARKVILLE. YORKDALE COLISEUM 10 OAKVILLE GATEWAY OSHAWA FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS FAMOUS PLAYERS- FAMOUS AMC THEATRES CINEPLEX ODEON FAMOUS PLAYERS 8 FAMOUS PLAYERS 8 JACKSON SQ. TON FIESTA MALL WINSTON CHURCHILL. ELGIN MILLS CINEPLEX ODEON CINEPLEX ODEON- -CINEPLEX ODEON- CINEPLEX ODEON TARRANT STINSON WOODBINE AJAX 10 CLARINGTON PL BOWMAN WILL 3 STAR GUELPH ARE CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORIES PRESENTED I STARTS TOMORROW! FOR SHOWTIMES DETA. 1.