Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard
A Marine, stationed in Saudi Arabia during the buildup to the 1991 Gulf War, bends over a sink puking up torrents of sand. A dream scene, it makes for one of the more striking images in Jarhead, a somewhat plotless film that—despite enormous visual verve and energetic performances—proves as fleeting in staying power and meaning as a dream.
Based on Gulf War veteran Anthony Swofford's bestselling 2003 memoir and directed by Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition), the episodic Jarhead centers on Swofford (Gyllenhaal, in a fierce turn), who signs on with the Marines because, as he wisecracks, "I got lost on the way to college." He survives brutal basic training, qualifies as a sniper and is shipped over to the Middle East, where he and his fellow Marines wait for months to see action in a war that lasts just four days. Swofford's big insight: "Every war is different, every war is the same." Which pretty much sums up Jarhead; it is different from other war movies, but not distinctively enough to stand out. (R)
ALSO PLAYING
North Country
In a stirring drama inspired by a real-life court case, Charlize Theron plays a woman miner in Minnesota battling to put an end to workplace sexual harassment. Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sissy Spacek costar. (R)
New York Doll
A slight but fascinating documentary about Arthur "Killer" Kane, bass guitar player for the influential New York Dolls glam rock band in the mid-1970s. Three decades later, when the Dolls reunite for a concert in London, Kane's a 55-year-old recovering alcoholic who toils as a clerk at the Mormon Church's library in L.A. and has to borrow money to retrieve his guitar from a pawn shop. Sweet and oddly affecting, with a surprise ending that packs a wallop. (PG-13)
FAMILY
Voices by Zach Braff, Joan Cusack
The sky has been falling, and not just in Chicken Little's town of Oakey Oaks. The folks at Walt Disney Pictures, who dominated the kiddie film market for decades, have been in a state of suspended animation for the past several years, churning out duds like Atlantis: The Lost Empire while partner studio Pixar reinvented the genre with Toy Story and Finding Nemo. But thanks to this splashy computer-animated debut, Disney has finally rediscovered its magical mojo.
Retelling a familiar kids' tale, the movie looks at spunky sad sack Chicken Little, who whips the town into a lather with his claim of celestial precipitation (everyone else thinks he was just beaned with an acorn). When gravity attacks again, the bitty bird teams up with his pals, including sweet "ugly duckling" Abby (Cusack) and disco-loving pig Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn), to investigate.
As he does on Scrubs, Braff brings the right mix of droll humor and fragility to the title character, who warns a foe during a dodgeball game, "Prepare to hurt, and I don't mean emotionally, like I do." Plenty of hilarious throwaway gags camouflage the thin storyline, which just barely sustains a feature-length movie. Still, the result is easily Disney's most entertaining film since 1999's Tarzan. Once again, it seems, the sky's the limit. (G)
Val Kilmer
He's played everyone from Batman to Jim Morrison—and gotten a rep as one of Hollywood's most volatile leading men. While visiting his alma mater Juilliard, a mellower Kilmer, 45, chatted about playing a gay private eye in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
ON WHETHER HE'S SICK OF TALKING ABOUT HIS KISS KISS WITH ROBERT DOWNEY JR. No, because he's a good kisser! If it wasn't so sweet and tender, and if the light hadn't hit him in just that way and the wind was blowing, then maybe.
ON HIS REP AS "DIFFICULT" I've always been challenging. [But] I got lumped in with criminals, pedophiles, genuinely sick people. I have children [Mercedes, 14, and Jack, 10]; I go to church on Sunday; I work real hard at my job, and it hurts. There's nothing that can be said about me, because I'm a responsible actor.
ON MAKING PEACE WITH THE PRESS It's easier now. But it's tough. [Alexander costar] Angelina Jolie is a good friend of mine. The last time I saw her [in England], she said, "Come by the house," because I hadn't seen her home. But we got followed. I ended up pulling off and waiting at a pub while she went ahead and made sure no one was there. We ran out of time. Just to have a cup of coffee.
STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH ($29.98)
Movie
Anakin Skywalker completes his transformation into Darth Vader, injecting this prequel trilogy with the gravitas it's been missing and wrapping up the saga on a thrilling note (just fast-forward through the love scenes, hokey as ever).
Extras: As abundant as on the previous Star Wars DVDs. The standout here is Within a Minute, an elaborate, intriguing doc about the 910(!) crew members who had a hand in the pivotal lightsaber duel. (PG-13)
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY ($30.97)
Movie
More faithful to the classic Roald Dahl novel than Gene Wilder's 1971 film was, this visual feast is topped by Johnny Depp's deliciously askew take on Willy Wonka.
Extras: On the two-disc set, bite-size featurettes with fascinating behind-the-scenes trivia (just how were the movie's squirrels trained?); several nifty interactive games for kids. (PG)
- Contributors:
- Leah Rozen,
- Jason Lynch,
- Mark Dagostino.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
