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The Fog of War
DIRECTOR: Errol Morris
CAST: Robert McNamara
SYNOPSIS: Documentary on the Vietnam-era secretary of defense, who, at age 85, is riveting to hear as he explains why Vietnam could have been avoided or at least handled more swiftly and completely.
WHAT WE SAID: Times film critic Steve Persall gave The Fog of War an A, writing: "Perhaps the folly of an old war (and possibly our newest one) boils down to McNamara's 11th lesson, sounding so simple, yet with so many complex, catastrophic results: "You can't change human nature." In a remarkable film filled with terrifying possibilities, that may be the scariest threat of all."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; images and thematic issues of war
RUNNING TIME: 95 min.
In America
DIRECTOR: Jim Sheridan
CAST: Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine, Sarah Bolger, Emma Bolger, Djimon Hounsou, Juan Hernandez, Ciaran Cronin
SYNOPSIS: After the death of their son, a struggling Irish couple bring their two young daughters to New York to start their lives over. Director Sheridan, who based the story on his own immigrant family's experiences, co-wrote the screenplay with his daughters Kirsten and Naomi.
WHAT WE SAID: "I loved this unassuming, heartfelt little gem, even if I couldn't stop sobbing for an hour after the show," Persall wrote, giving In America an A. "It's just so beautiful."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; sexuality, profanity, drug references, brief violence
RUNNING TIME: 103 min.
Scary Movie 3
DIRECTOR: David Zucker
CAST: Anna Faris, Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Regina Hall, Leslie Nielsen, Jeremy Piven, Anthony Anderson, Denise Richards, Queen Latifah, Eddie Griffin, Camryn Manheim, Darrell Hammond
SYNOPSIS: Unlike the first two in the series, Scary Movie 3 tones things down enough to earn a PG-13 rather than R rating as it parodies thrillers like Signs and The Ring, as well as 8 Mile, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings and even Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's honeymoon video.
WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave it a B-, writing, "nothing is particularly original, and little will be memorable a week from now. But for about an hour - the last reel and end credits are dull - Scary Movie 3 provides some decent laughs."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; pervasive crude and sexual humor, profanity, violence, drug references
RUNNING TIME: 82 min.
Japanese Story
DIRECTOR: Sue Brooks
CAST: Toni Collette, Gotaro Tsunashima
SYNOPSIS: Collette plays an unhappy geologist who must accompany a Japanese businessman (Tsunashima) into the Australian Outback to show him a mine. He insists on driving farther into the wilderness, where they get stuck for a long, cold, potentially deadly night.
WHAT WE SAID: The Times did not review this film, which was not shown in local theaters.
MPAA RATING: R; sexuality, language
RUNNING TIME: 110 min.