Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Video / DVD

New releases

A look at what's headed for the shelves

By Times Staff Writer
Published July 14, 2005

Million Dollar Baby

DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood

CAST: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel, Margo Martindale, Mike Colter, Lucia Rijker, Anthony Mackie, Brian F. O'Byrne

SYNOPSIS: A flinty boxing trainer (Eastwood) takes a female fighter (Swank) under his wing. Won Academy Awards for best picture, best actress (Swank), best supporting actor (Freeman) and best director and had two other nominations, best actor (Eastwood) and adapted screenplay.

WHAT WE SAID: Times film critic Steve Persall gave the film an A and ranked it as one of his top films of 2004. "Million Dollar Baby is as close to perfection as any crowd pleaser can be. . . . (and) is already one of the best boxing films ever, before it becomes a first-rate tear-jerker so genuine that even cynical viewers surrender," he wrote. "Of all 2004's films, Million Dollar Baby is the one most likely to be cherished and revisited. It may become the next undeniable favorite of many, like Freeman's prison drama The Shawshank Redemption did. In both movies we're placed in situations turning out less familiar than expected, with personalities so steeped in peculiar goodness that we aspire to their strengths. "Sometimes the best way to deliver a punch is to step back,' (Freeman's character) Scrap says. Eastwood takes that advice and scores a knockout."

MPAA RATING: PG-13; boxing violence, profanity, disturbing images

RUNNING TIME: 132 min.

DIRECTOR: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

CAST: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Dominique Pinon, Clovis Cornillac, Jodie Foster, Marion Cotillard

SYNOPSIS: A young woman named Mathilde (Tautou) searches for her lover, who disappeared - and possibly deserted - during trench battles in World War I.

WHAT WE SAID: Times reviewer Philip Booth gave the movie an A-. "War is hell, and Jeunet aptly captures the conditions faced by the combatants, forced to share their muddy, freezing trenches with corpses, rats and the constant smell of death," he wrote. "This film is crammed with a variety of tricky editing maneuvers, special-effects sequences, sepia shots, double exposures, mix-and-match film stocks and whatnot. Thankfully, none of these techniques seriously distracts from the story. There's seldom much doubt that Mathilde will accomplish her mission. Still, Jeunet effectively ratchets up the suspense, capping the mystery with an affecting denouement. It's the year's toughest romance movie."

MPAA RATING: R; war violence and gore, sex, nudity

RUNNING TIME: 134 min. (French with English subtitles)

DIRECTOR: Jonathan Nossiter

CAST: Hubert de Montille, Aime Guibert, Robert Parker, Michel Rolland, Neal Rosenthal

SYNOPSIS: Documentary filmmaker Nossiter visits world-famous wine regions, investigating the effect of globalization on the industry.

WHAT WE SAID: The film was not released in theaters in the Tampa Bay area. Times reviewer Philip Booth had planned to give the movie a B if it arrived here. "Everything you always wanted to know about the making and marketing of wine and the globalization of wine culture is on tap in Mondovino, an overlong, rambling documentary that nevertheless offers some insights," he wrote.

MPAA RATING: PG-13; profanity, brief pin-up nudity

RUNNING TIME: 135 min.

DIRECTOR: John Irvin

CAST: Phil Barantini, Zelia Attzs, Patrick Bergin, Charlotte Bradley, Margi Clarke, Andrea Corr, Shaun Evans, Bernard Hill, Colm Meaney, James Nesbitt, Marc O'Shea, Philip Richey

SYNOPSIS: Irish brothers (Meaney, Hill) compete in a traditional folk music contest, still at odds over a romantic triangle years ago.

WHAT WE SAID: The Times did not review this film.

MPAA RATING: R; language, some sexuality and nudity

RUNNING TIME: 90 min.

[Last modified July 13, 2005, 09:45:02]