Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

by Kam Williams

For movies opening March 24, 2006

BIG BUDGET FILMS
Inside Man (R for profanity and violence) Two-time Oscar-winners Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster co-star in this cat-and-mouse crime caper about a bungled bank robbery which turns into a hostage situation. Top flight cast includes Oscar-nominees Willem Dafoe and Clive Owen, plus Christopher Plummer and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Stay Alive (PG-13 for sex, expletives, drug use, frightening images and horror flick fare) Teen screamer revolves around the mysterious, high attrition-rate among a group of participants in a gruesome online computer game who begin to perish, one-by-one, in precisely the same way as the characters they’re playing.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS
American Gun (R for profanity and violence) Aric Avelino makes his screenwriting and directorial debut with this Crash-inspired ensemble drama which examines the effect of the proliferation of firearms on a diversity of American community. Cast includes Forest Whitaker, Donald Sutherland and Marcia Gay Harden.

The Beauty Academy of Kabul (Unrated) Feminist documentary follows the inspirational efforts of some enterprising, intrepid hairdressers from America to help liberate the women of Afghanistan by opening up a beauty shop in the country’s capital following the fall of the Taliban.

The Child (R for brief profanity) Coming-of-age drama abut an 18 year-old unwed mother (Deborah Francois) whose gangster boyfriend has second thoughts (Jeremie Renier) about selling their newborn baby on the black market rather than facing-up to his parental responsibilities. (In French with subtitles)

Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector (Unrated) Unlikely buddy comedy about a rough-edged Board of Health inspector (Dan Whitney) who is teamed with a straitlaced, new partner (Iris Bahr) to find the source of a series of mysterious food poisonings at upscale restaurants around Orlando. Romantic subplot involves Larry’s attempt to win the heart of a sweet waitress (Megyn Price) with a heart of gold.

Lonesome Jim (R for sex, expletives and drug use) Steve Buscemi directs this Midwestern melodrama about a 28 year-old man (Casey Affleck) moves back in with his parents in his Indiana hometown after failing to make it in New York. Loser gets new lease on life serving as surrogate dad to the son (Jack Rovello) of a woman (Liv Tyler) he picks up in a bar.