The Daily Sentinel from Grand Junction, Colorado • 45

IO Washington plays mean in Training Day5 Video Reviews ally hes a cold-blooded killer. When Alexis isnt shooting his enemies on the street, hes being stalked by men on motorcycles with guns. Can love exist in a world where youre always looking over your shoulder? An interesting question and one viscerally explored in this dark, disturbing drama. Schroeder shoots directly onto videotape, which lends an immediacy to the story. He also allows us to get to know his characters: Cranky, cynical Fernando who begins to thrive on the daily violence.

Beautiful, diffident Alexis, an orchid with a vicious temperament. Naturally violence catches up with them, which makes for a haunting treatise on love and redemption. drama but also allows it to drag on for more than two hours. When K-PAX hits its stride Bridges goes to New Mexico in search of Prots past it can be compelling. And no doubt Spacey and Bridges give this movie the heft of star power.

If only they had enough wattage to sustain it through the rough spots. OUR LADY OF THE ASSASSINS: Paramount. VHS-DVD. 101 min. Rated R.

Rental. In stores March 26. Grade: B-plus. Director Barbet Schroeder has made some great films over the years, not least the Oscar-winning Reversal of Fortune. Yet Our Lady of the Assassins belongs in a league of its own, if only because it takes us somewhere strange and heartbreakingly real.

Its a crime saga and a love story set against the backdrop of Medellin, Colombia, where a drug war rages and innocence rarely survives the age of 10. The story opens with Fernando (German Jaramillo), a celebrated writer, returning home to live out his final days. No matter that hes only in his 50s; hes weary of exile and wants to recapture the charm of his childhood. He is hardly prepared for how much the town has changed. Teen-agers are armed with guns and life has lost its value.

At a party, he meets 16-year-old tough Alexis (Anderson Ballesteros), who soon moves into both his heart and his home. Physically Alexis is an angel. Emotion By MIKE PEARSON 2 Die Rocky Mountain News TRAINING DAY: Warner. VHS-DVD. 122 min.

Rated R. Priced for rental. 3 Grade: A-minus Jj Whether or not he wins an Oscar, Denzel 2 Washington's performance in Training Day belongs in the pantheon of rogue movie cops. He snarls, glares, seethes and kills. In other words, he doesnt play nice.

Which is precisely the point of this festering drama, which finds rookie cop Ethan Hawke riding with street-hardened drug investigator Washington for a day. Hawke wants desperately to make detective. But idealism fades when he learns the brutality his trainer is capable of. First hes made to smoke crack. Then Hawke helps jack a drug dealer.

Before he knows it hes deep in the sewer, where money, drugs and murder make even decent cops vulnerable. Training Day is not easy to watch, yet theres something poetic about its fury. Director Antoine Fuqua explores the line between good cop and bad cop, between court justice and street justice. Is Washington a vigilante or an enforcer doing the bidding of society? How will rookie Hawke know when hes personally crossed the line? He'll know. As the intensity mounts, so too, does the madness, leading to a finale as bloody and visceral as you might expect.

The images are only half the story; this is mostly a film about attitude. K-PAX: Universal. VHS-DVD. 121 min. Rated PG-13.

Rental. In stores March 26. Grade: C. When a man appears at New Yorks Grand Central Station one day claiming to be from another planet, hes whisked to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. There, doctor Jeff Bridges finds more than a mere basket case.

For one thing, the guys extremely bright; he can identify planets within galaxies that have never been investigated. For another thing, hes intuitive to the needs of other patients. Often his advice is more effective than that of the doctors. He eats fruit, skin and all, and disappears for days at will. Who is this guy who calls himself Prot? Could he truly be an alien? Thats the conceit of K-PAX, a mildly captivating drama about the ability of people to reinvent themselves when the horrors of life encroach.

Kevin Spacey plays Prot with wry charm and a sense of detachment. The customs of Earth are infinitely fascinating to him, especially the way humans turn on one another when the going gets tough. As the lead psychiatrist, Bridges genuinely wants to help Prot and genuinely believes hes Earth bom and bred. His quest to find the truth drives this rtB ZEMTOl MESA MALL I. (PG) Fri Sal Sun Mat 1:15 4 00 Eve 7:15 SORORITY BOYS (R Fn Sat Sun Mat 1 303 30Eve 7 30 9 1 5 LOBO OF THE RINGS (PO-13) Fn Sal Sun Mat t2 45 4 15 Eve 7 rat WE WERE SOLDIERS R) Fn Sat Sun Mat 1 00 3 45 Eve 7 00 9 45 co ELtER AWM9 fWIW MMOM 28TH BfcLFORD SH0ffTIME(PG-13) ri Sat Sun Mai 2 00 4 30 Eve 7 00 9 T5 BLADE 2 (R) Fri Sat Sun Mat 1 45 4.15 Eve 715 9 30 111 i mi i a V- A 1 -r jf Family Flick Sieve persau, Sr.

Petersburg times CD ICE AGE IPG) OO 5 00 Eve 7 00 9 00 Fn Sat Sun Mat 00 3 RESIDENT EVIL (R) Fn Sat Sun Mat 1 30 4 00 Eve 7 15 tO 00 TIME MACHINE Fn Sat Sun Mat 12 45 3 00 6 15 Eva 7 20 9 35 40 DAYS 4 40 NL Fri Sat Sun Mat I 15 4 00 Eve730935 LOWSHIP OF THE RING (PG-13) The boundaries of PG-13 violence are shattered by Peter Jacksons elaborate adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkiens literary adventure. The battle for control of Middle-earth features numerous bloody battles, decapitations, impalings and bone-bashings. Just because they usually happen to fantasy creatures rather than people doesnt make it different. Mild sensuality, mature themes and a three-hour running time that may numb small children.

SHOWTIME (PG-13) Any film starring Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy as tough cops can be expected to include its share of profanity and action violence. This comedy about a reality-television police show also includes drug abuse. A BEAUUFUL MIND (PG-13) Fn Sat Sun Mat I 15 4 15 Eva 7 00 9 45 DRAGONFLY (PG-13) Fn Sat Sun Mat 1 30 4 15 Eve 7 20 9 35 RETURN TO NEVERUND (G) Fn Sat Sun Mat 1 20 4 15 Eve 7 00 IN THE BEDROOM (R) Eve 9 15 Aladdin and now Cinderella" went first. Mild scares from Captain Hook, but nothing objectionable. Recommended for family viewing, with reservations THE TIME MACHINE (PG-13) H.G.

Wells science fiction tale of a time-traveling inventor gets a state-of-the-art makeover. No profanity, nudity or sex, but the violent, ghoulish Morlocks may induce a few nightmares. The violence isn't graphic, but its alarming at times. Not recommended for family viewing A BEAUTIFUL MIND (PG-13) RusseU Crowe (Gladiator) shines in a biography of John Forbes Nash, a mathematician who could figure out anything except his schizophrenic psyche. Director Ron Howards film deals with mature themes of mental illness and government intrigue that wont interest many small children.

Moderate profanity, flashes of violence and brief sensuality also make this one for adults only. DRAGONFLY (PG-13) Kevin Costner plays a doctor whose dead wife may be contacting him through his patients near-death experiences. More supernatural stuff along the lines of The Sixth Sense and The Mothman Prophecies that could be too intense for young viewers. Mature themes include the death of a parent. Mild sensuality and profanity.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FEL The Family Movie Guide should be used along with the Motion Picture Association of America rating system for selecting movies suitable for children. Only films rated PG or PG-13 are included in this weekly listing, along with occasional R-rated films that may have entertainment or educational value for older children with parental guidance. Compiled by St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall. Recommended for family viewing E.T.

THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL (PG) -Steven Spielbergs movie was great family entertainment even before he cleaned up some of the material for a 20th anniversary re-release. Spielberg erased the guns held by the bad guys chasing E.T. and replaced them with walkie-talkies Plus, a memorably crude, childish put-down has been sanitized. Some tense moments, but most viewers know the happy ending by now. ICE AGE (PG) Fox Animation Studios does a decent Disney impersonation with an animated tale about prehistoric creatures returning a lost human child to her family.

No profanity, nudity or sexual content. Some briefly crude toilet humor and moments of mild tension to make young viewers squirm. RETURN TO NEVER LAND (G) The sequel to Disneys classic animated tale Peter Pan is so overdue that it doesnt seem necessary. Probably just a fast stop at theaters before reaching video store shelves where sequels for if i aigjij on Tim rmnv. nnp La v.

Ls Carmike Cinemas 243-7118 cahmixe 7 590 24 12 Rd Exclusive Engagement ItAUf 11111111 IWflf diiWiititJI CHECK TNT FOR SHOWTIME..