Taggart, Rita

Mulholland Dr.

Pandora couldn't resist opening the forbidden box containing all the delusions of mankind, and let's just say David Lynch, in Mulholland Drive, indulges a similar impulse. Employing a familiar film noir atmosphere to unravel, as he coyly puts it, "a love story in the city of dreams," Lynch establishes a foreboding but playful narrative in the film's first half before subsuming all of Los Angeles and its corrupt ambitions into his voyeuristic universe of desire. Identities exchange, amnesia proliferates, and nightmare visions are induced, but not before we've become enthralled by the film's two main characters: the dazed and sullen femme fatale, Rita (Laura Elena Harring), and the pert blonde just-arrived from Ontario (played exquisitely by Naomi Watts) who decides to help Rita regain her memory. Triggered by a rapturous Spanish-language version of Roy Orbison's "Crying," Lynch's best film since Blue Velvet splits glowingly into two equally compelling parts. --Fionn Meade

Limbo

There are three unforgettable characters in John Sayles's contemporary adventure-drama set in Alaska. They are never seen but live only in a frontier diary found by teenager Noelle De Angelo (Vanessa Martinez). The life of the diary's narrator is much like everything in this movie: hanging in limbo. The first half of the film focuses on why men and woman turn to Alaska, a land still ripe with opportunity. A small town is at a crossroads, with its pulp mill and canning factory closed and new investors seeing different directions in which to take the area (one even boasts the state is the ultimate theme park). A local (Sayles regular David Strathairn) is just escaping his past, taking up commercial fishing again. He attracts a traveling nightclub singer (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in her best role in years) who struggles daily with her daughter Noelle. Like any good theme park, Limbo presents the threesome with an unexpected adventure. In the wilderness, the three relative strangers learn more about themselves than was ever possible in town. Sayles's usual craftsmanship creates a singular blend of drama and suspense with an ending designed to ruffle feathers. Not as accessible as his breakthrough hit Lone Star, Limbo is nevertheless a hearty film from one of America's best storytellers. --Doug Thomas

Crossing the Bridge

Hailed nationwide by critics, CROSSING THE BRIDGE is an entertaining winner you're sure to enjoy -- starring Josh Charles (DEAD POETS SOCIETY), Stephen Baldwin (BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY), and Jason Gedrick (BACKDRAFT). Through thick and thin, Mort, Tim, and Danny were friends. Now they're putting everything on the line with a dangerous drug-smuggling venture promising high-stakes consequences. The trio's about to leave their fun, carefree days behind to face a moment of truth. Their decision will not only determine their freedom, but the future of their lives!

Steal Big, Steal Little

As has become rapidly apparent over the course of his career, a little bit of Andy Garcia goes a long way. Though he can rise to good material, his taste generally is poor, as this lumpy comedy proves. More to the point, without good material, Garcia is revealed for what he is: a pretty-boy actor with only minimal talent and a slightly cross-eyed smile. So the idea of Garcia playing identical twins--one good, one evil--offers twice as much to despair of. The good twin is a social activist, who wants to utilize the sprawling ranch left to him by his late mother as a haven for oppressed migrant workers. The bad twin wants to steal the land and develop it with luxury condominiums. With four writers credited to Steal Big, Steal Little, it's no wonder the whole thing is a mishmash. Director Andrew Davis segued into this from The Fugitive (and the awful Chain Reaction) and showed that his action sense did him little good when trying to handle limp social-commentary comedy. Only Alan Arkin, old pro that he is, emerges unscathed. --Marshall Fine

Cartier Affair

Torchlight

House III

The Cartier Affair

Limbo [Region 2]

There are three unforgettable characters in John Sayles's contemporary adventure-drama set in Alaska. They are never seen but live only in a frontier diary found by teenager Noelle De Angelo (Vanessa Martinez). The life of the diary's narrator is much like everything in this movie: hanging in limbo. The first half of the film focuses on why men and woman turn to Alaska, a land still ripe with opportunity. A small town is at a crossroads, with its pulp mill and canning factory closed and new investors seeing different directions in which to take the area (one even boasts the state is the ultimate theme park). A local (Sayles regular David Strathairn) is just escaping his past, taking up commercial fishing again. He attracts a traveling nightclub singer (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in her best role in years) who struggles daily with her daughter Noelle. Like any good theme park, Limbo presents the threesome with an unexpected adventure. In the wilderness, the three relative strangers learn more about themselves than was ever possible in town. Sayles's usual craftsmanship creates a singular blend of drama and suspense with an ending designed to ruffle feathers. Not as accessible as his breakthrough hit Lone Star, Limbo is nevertheless a hearty film from one of America's best storytellers. --Doug Thomas

Limbo [Region 2]