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The Matrix Reloaded
DIRECTORS: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
CAST: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Harry J. Lennix, Harold Perrineau Jr., Monica Bellucci, Nona Gaye, Randall Duk Kim, Adrian Rayment, Neil Rayment
SYNOPSIS: Cybersavior Neo (Reeves) and his mentor Morpheus (Fishburne) rage against the machines installing a virtual reality sham on humanity. Second in the Matrix trilogy. Matrix Revolutions is due next month.
WHAT WE SAID: Times film critic Steve Persall gave the film an A: "Take it from someone who doesn't like Star Trek, blocks out the Sci-Fi Channel and doesn't believe The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a classic in the making: The Matrix series rocks. For once (well, twice now) in the movies, eye-popping action isn't mindless. Characters doing extraordinary things are fascinating even when they play stony-cool. The plot isn't painted by numbers but abstractly proposed, with provocative ideas about freedom of choice, reckless technology and a new messiah. The issue of good vs. evil isn't simple; the movies inspire deeper musings about which side is which. All is accomplished with visual flair - 360-degree motion capture and "bullet time' camera speed - that has become pop-culture iconography."
MPAA RATING: R for violence, sexual situations, profanity, brief nudity
RUNNING TIME: 138 min.
Owning Mahowny
DIRECTOR: Richard Kwietniowski
CAST: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, John Hurt, Maury Chaykin, Judi Embden, Matthew Ferguson, M.J. Kang, Mike "Nug" Nahrgang, Joseph Scoren, Makyla Smith
SYNOPSIS: Dan Mahowny (Hoffman) is a Toronto bank vice president by day and a betting machine on nights and weekends when he sneaks away to Atlantic City or Las Vegas. A bad run of luck has him owing $10,000 to bookies. His first mistake is forging a loan to cover that debt. Then he can't stop. Before the end of the film, Dan has siphoned $10.2-million from the bank, the largest one-person bank theft in Canadian history. And he has blown it. Based on a true story.
WHAT WE SAID: The film never arrived in Tampa Bay area theaters, though Persall was ready to give it a B+ if it did.
MPAA RATING: R for language and sexuality
RUNNING TIME: 104 min.
The Safety of Objects
DIRECTOR: Rose Troche
CAST: Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, Jessica Campbell, Patricia Clarkson, Joshua Jackson, Moira Kelly, Robert Klein, Timothy Olyphant, Mary Kay Place
SYNOPSIS: Four suburban households share secrets of sex and disillusionment.
WHAT WE SAID: Persall called the film "a movie stuffed with too many characters, too much melodrama and a bad balance of pathos and absurdity that never gives us a clue as to whether it's supposed to be funny or sad." He gave it a C.
MPAA RATING: R for sexual content and language
RUNNING TIME: 121 min.