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Film

Paranormal doings on the sunflower farm

A quick look at some new releases.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published February 1, 2007

Twin brothers Oxide and Danny Pang created the 2002 crime thriller Infernal Affairs, which Martin Scorsese remade as The Departed. Their Asian horror hit The Eye (Gin gwai) inspires a new version starring Jessica Biel expected in 2008.

Until then, the Pang brothers make their English language film debut with The Messengers (PG-13), a supernatural thriller in the unlikely setting of a North Dakota sunflower farm.

Dark forces lurk behind the bright-yellow fields, paranormal phenomena that only children have the ability to sense. Dylan McDermott and Penelope Ann Miller play the parents who don't believe them, a deadly mistake in any fright flick aimed at teenagers.

The Messengers wasn't viewed in time for Weekend review.

S.P.

The late NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt is memorialized in the documentary Dale (not rated, probably PG), opening Tuesday in a restrictor-plate release pattern. The movie, culled from archival footage and new interviews, will be shown at selected theaters on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays over the next two weeks.

Co-producers NASCAR and Country Music Television don't want to lock bumpers with weekend competition from major studios and Daytona 500 tuneups. The scarcity of venues and show times for Dale also permits the producers to charge $10 per seat, regardless of the moviegoers' age, with no discounts available. That's intimidating.

Tampa Bay area theaters listed on the official Web site (www.dalethemovie.com) include Veterans 24, Westshore Plaza 14 and Citrus Park 20 in Tampa; Woodlands Square 20 in Oldsmar; Park Place Stadium 16 in Pinellas Park; and Hollywood 18 in Port Richey. Tickets are available in advance; check the daily theater schedules to confirm.

Dale is narrated by Oscar-winning actor and auto racer Paul Newman. Rare family footage is the main attraction. Celebrating the seven-time NASCAR champion should be fun for fans - until the mourning begins after scenes of his 2001 death in a Daytona crash and the nationwide grief that followed.

[Last modified January 31, 2007, 10:09:41]