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By Times Staff
Published October 20, 2005

George A. Romero's Land of the Dead

DIRECTOR: George A. Romero

CAST: Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, Eugene Clark

SYNOPSIS: Romero continues his zombie saga after a night, dawn and day of the living dead. This time, a corrupt despot (Hopper) rules a luxurious safe haven for human survivors.

WHAT WE SAID: St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall gave the movie a B-. "George A. Romero still serves up a mean cannibal buffet, although his brand of raw-meat cinema has lost some sizzle. Land of the Dead is everything fans of Romero's zombie flicks expect, and less," he wrote. "Maybe it's the fault of Shaun of the Dead, last year's hilarious spoof of all things undead. The Scream trilogy ruined slasher movies forever by pointing out the dumb things that must happen in order for victims to be picked off. Shaun of the Dead so precisely picked apart the zombie myth that even Romero, the godfather of gore, can't make audiences squirm as much anymore."

MPAA RATING: R; pervasive violence and gore, harsh profanity, brief nudity and drug abuse

RUNNING TIME: 93 min.

DIRECTOR: Marilyn Agrelo

CAST: Dance students and teachers from New York City public schools 150, 115 and 112

SYNOPSIS: New York City public school students learn ballroom dancing to enter a citywide competition.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the film an A. "People who support cutting school funding for the arts should be forced to watch Marilyn Agrelo's joyous documentary Mad Hot Ballroom," he wrote. "I guarantee they wouldn't have to be forced to stay after the first few minutes, and I'm almost as certain they would change their minds about the money. Mad Hot Ballroom is an excellent argument for arts curricula in public schools, as it is for the notion that documentaries are the best kind of films currently being made."

MPAA RATING: PG; drug-dealing references

RUNNING TIME: 110 min.

DIRECTOR: Alice Wu

CAST: Michelle Krusiec, Richard Chang, Joan Chen, Lynn Chen, Ato Essandoh, Jessica Hecht, Brittany Perrineau, Brian Yang

SYNOPSIS: A Chinese-American doctor (Krusiec) copes with her first lesbian romance and her divorced, pregnant mother (Joan Chen) who won't reveal the father's identity.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the film a B. "Saving Face is a smile movie, as opposed to a laugh-out-loud farce, and that restraint is one of Wu's best attributes as a filmmaker," Persall wrote. "The performances are solid, with Krusiec and Lynn Chen displaying the kind of chemistry that Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell failed so miserably to show in Bewitched. There's nothing revolutionary about Saving Face except its placement in theaters during the summer season, making it a simple, sweet palate cleanser for audiences soured on Hollywood hype."

MPAA RATING: R; some sexuality and language

RUNNING TIME: 91 min.

DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan

CAST: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Ken Watanabe, Rutger Hauer

SYNOPSIS: Nolan's take on the comic book myth is moodier than usual, with Bruce Wayne (Bale) channeling his ruptured psyche into a crime-fighting legend.

WHAT WE SAID: St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall gave the movie a B. "Batman Begins, and keeps on beginning, until one wonders if this crusader will ever don his cape. Nearly an hour passes while director/co-screenwriter Christopher Nolan psychoanalyzes the inner demons of billionaire Bruce Wayne and the friends and foes whom fans know so well," he wrote. "There's a sense of ordinariness, even weakness, to this Bruce Wayne that wasn't previously allowed. Bale nicely balances the extremes of his role. But for moviegoers expecting summertime fireworks, it's questionable they will appreciate in-depth character studies. Batman Begins isn't dull, yet it regularly creates that possibility."

MPAA RATING: PG-13; action violence, disturbing images, mature themes

RUNNING TIME: 140 min.

[Last modified October 19, 2005, 11:10:52]