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Adam & Steve

The Gay Breakfast Club meets There's Something About Gay Mary is a tidy way of summing up this messy movie from longtime queer-cinema favorite Craig Chester (Swoon). Pulling double duty as both director and star (Chester plays Adam), this comedy starts off really gross—and really funny—and goes downhill from there. After an unfortunate "accident" during an unforgettable one-night stand, we fast forward to the double-aughts just in time to see Adam unknowingly hook up with the same dude (Malcom Gets as Steve) who shit on his face in the 1980s. Rather than mine the awkwardness of an unrequited love that dare not speak its name, it goes all preachy about (what else?) gay marriage. Then they break out in song and dance. It's laugh-out-loud funny, but when one of the best things to recommend about a flick is an appearance by former SNL player Chris Kattan, you know it's missed its mark. BYRON BECK. Fox Tower.

All the President's Men

[SHORT RUN] Based on the bestselling book chronicling the real-life investigation by reporters Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, director Alan J. Pakula's 1976 film remains a timeless classic, with powerful performances, not just by Hoffman and Redford but by supporting cast members Jason Robards, Jack Warden and Hal Holbrook. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 281-4215. 6:50 pm Wednesday-Thursday, April 19-20. $4-$7.

ATL

ATL offers what I assume is an accurate depiction of Atlanta life for working-class African-American kids, and it does so without pandering to the target audience or completely shutting out everyone else. From a story by Antwone Fisher (yes, of Antwone Fisher fame), the film tells a smart, engaging tale of a group of ATL kids in the final weeks of their senior year of high school. Rashad (Tip "T.I." Harris) works for his uncle's janitorial service, Esquire (Jackie Long) buses tables at a snooty country club and hopes to get into an Ivy League school, and their friends harbor varying levels of ambition. They all spend their Sunday nights at the roller rink, where the pressures of the world melt away as they engage in elaborate mating rituals. The performances are all down-to-earth and honest, often comical but never silly, and the movie very astutely captures the cocky flirting and fighting that goes on between hormonal boys and girls. The film gets into some haves-vs.-have-nots material that feels like nonsense—not the issues at play, but the superficial way the movie deals with them—and there's some meandering near the end. But all in all it's a respectable, mostly enjoyable film. PG-13. ERIC D. SNIDER.

Basic Instinct 2

The most enjoyable bad movie of 2006 will almost certainly prove to be Basic Instinct 2, an utterly hilarious piece of camp trash that elicited more laughs from me than any comedy in the past month. Tragically, Basic Instinct 2 thinks it is a very serious movie. It follows Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) to England, where she still writes lurid fiction and occasionally kills men. She comes under the care of a psychiatrist (David Morrissey) who is somehow bewitched by her completely transparent attempts to seduce and manipulate him. Stone delivers each line in a smirky, vixenish fashion, wringing vague double-entendre out of nearly every sentence. Even better is when she narrates paragraphs from the crappy novel she's writing. Here, her voice takes on a hilariously detached quality, a sort of seductive monotone that eerily resembles the voicemail woman when she says, "To leave a call-back number, press 5." The film lags quite a bit in its midsection, with zero suspense and zero character development. But the last 20 minutes are overwrought, twisty and jaw-droppingly preposterous enough to be funny. If only the film were a comedy! If only. R. ERIC D. SNIDER.

Brick

Not since A Clockwork Orange has anything come out that plays on and reveals the power of language as much as Brick. The high-school film noir was written and directed by Rian Johnson, a fledgling to the movie world whose other film, the short Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!!, didn't seem quite as revolutionary as this one. After the death of his beloved ex-girlfriend-turned-junkie, high-school student Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) smells foul play and becomes a vigilante out to get the drug-dealing hierarchy, kicking the crap out of people twice his size, getting the crap kicked out of himself, and eventually becoming the right-hand man to legendary pusher The Pin (Lukas Haas). Although the plot begins to waver toward the end, Brick is magnificently photographed by Steve Yedlin, who also shot Lucky McKee's cult film May (which Johnson edited). Brick offers a much-needed revamping of high-school genre films and seems destined to endure as a cult classic. R. LAURY MULRY. Fox Tower.

The Day After Earth Day

[SHORT RUN] Local film archivist Greg Hamilton presents a "subversive" collection of films described as "cautionary tales about the dangers of chemical waste dumps and the extinction of Truffula Trees." Clinton Street Theatre, 2522 SE Clinton St., 238-8899. 7 and 9 pm Sunday, April 23. $6.

Don't Come Knocking

This is the kind of movie you slip into like an old soft shirt, or a conversation with someone you just met but feel you've known for ages. A collaboration between Sam Shepard and Wim Wenders—the team who brought us Paris, Texas—it's the tale of a worn-out cowboy, or rather a worn-out actor who plays cowboys in B movies. After what amounts to a 30-year bender, Howard (Shepard) trumps his own irresponsibility by simply running away from the set of the film he's shooting. Running away, it turns out, is nothing new for Howard. Shepard, all wrinkles and snaggleteeth, plays the antihero Eastwood-style, squinting and grumbling and not saying much. But everything he doesn't say is made clear by those he's left behind and returned to, including a wonderful Eva Marie Saint as his infinitely patient mother and Jessica Lange as an old flame. Aside from the random weirdness of Tim Roth as a bloodhoundlike insurance investigator on Howard's tail, the story is as simple as they get. But that leaves plenty of room for the camera to dote on the luminous American West and on Shepard's rough but fascinating face. The soundtrack by T-Bone Burnett is killer, too. R. BECKY OHLSEN. Fox Tower, Cinemagic.

Failure to Launch

Matthew McConaughey is a loser still living with his parents, and Sarah Jessica Parker is the woman they hire to lure him out of the roost. In the real world, she's what you'd call a prostitute. PG-13. Oak Grove, Vancouver Plaza.

Friends with Money

Watching writer-director Nicole Holofcener's Friends with Money is like being dragged to a party where you don't know anyone, don't want to know anyone, and spend the whole night wishing someone would choke to death on a chicken wing. None of the main characters in this ensemble is likable, and the more you get to know them, the less you like them. Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keener, Joan Cusack and Frances McDormand are a quartet of unhappy friends who feel compelled to share their misery with an audience for nearly 90 agonizing minutes. Aniston is a slacker pothead, Cusack is a spineless twit, Keener is a self-absorbed dingbat, and McDormand is a coldhearted bitch too lazy to wash her hair. As a drama there's nothing compelling, as a comedy there's nothing funny, and as a mix of the two the film is a lifeless failure. R. DAVID WALKER. Lloyd Cinema, Eastport, Cedar Hills, Bridgeport, Fox Tower, Lake Twin, Cinetopia, City Center.

Global Lens

[SHORT RUN] The Global Film Initiative uses film as a means to create cross-cultural understanding through film. The Global Lens Film Series is a collection of films produced in other countries with help provided by grants from the GFI. From China comes Stolen Life (Whitsell, 7 pm Friday). The Brazilian film Almost Brothers (Guild, 5 pm Saturday) examines race and class in Rio de Janeiro as it follows two childhood friends over the span of 50 years. Border Cafe (Whitsell, 7:30 pm Saturday) finds an Iranian widow defying tradition by embarking on a life of independence. In the Battlefields (Whitsell, 5 pm Sunday) is a multi-nation production set in 1980s Beirut, where a young girl witness the gradual deterioration of the adult world. Cinema, Aspirin and Vultures (Whitsell, 7 pm Sunday) finds a German ex-pat in Brazil during World War II. Max and Mona (Guild, 7 pm Tuesday) is a comedy set in South Africa that offers a glimpse at the contrast of rural village life and survival in the big city. DAVID WALKER. Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 SW Park Ave., Guild Theatre, 829 SW 9th Ave., 221-1156. $4-$7.

Heroic Grace: The Chinese Martial Arts Film, Part II

[SHORT RUN] The Northwest Film Center's showcase of bone-bashing, sense-shattering action epics from Hong Kong concludes this week. Often known as Five Fingers of Death, Chung Chang-Wu's 1972 film King Boxer (7 pm Thursday, 9 pm Saturday) was one of the first, if not the first kung fu film to make it big in the United States. Legendary actor Luo Lie stars in this tale of revenge as a highly skilled martial artist who possesses the deadly power of the "iron fist." Lie co-stars with Di Long in The Magic Blade (7 pm Friday and Saturday), a popular film from director Chu Tuam that chronicles two heroes out to bring down a powerful sorcerer. DAVID WALKER. Guild Theatre, 829 SW 9th Ave. 221-1156. $4-$7.The Hidden FortressAkira Kurosawa's 1958 film remains a classic, timeless mix of adventure and humor. Misa Uehara stars as a princess with a cache of gold she plans to use to rebuild her kingdom—provided she can elude those out to stop her. She is aided by an asskicking general (Toshiro Mifune) and two comedic foils. If any of this lighthearted action fare seems familair, it is because it served as a major inspiration for George Lucas' 1977 Star Wars. Not the best of either Kurosawa's or Mifune's samurai films, it is still an excellent film, and far superior to Lucas' sad homage. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 238-8899. 7 and 9:15 pm Wednesday-Thursday, April 19-20. $4-$6.

I Am a Sex Addict

Other than his small, cultlike following of experimental film lovers, most people don't know Caveh Zahedi, whose earlier work includes I Was Possessed by God and In the Bathtub of the World. Zahedi's earlier work was as much an acquired taste as his personality is in his latest film, an autobiographical confessional about his many failed relationships. Perhaps the best comparison for I Am a Sex Addict would be Woody Allen's Annie Hall made with a budget of $250. As someone who has never cared for Zahedi's work, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this film. Yes, his personality still rubs me the wrong way, but Sex Addict has a go-for-broke spirit and a subversive sense of humor. As Zahedi recounts his obsession with prostitutes and his many dysfunctional relationships, there is an intimacy that carries the film, when it could just as easily falter. NR. DAVID WALKER. Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave., 223-4515. 8:45 pm Wednesday-Thursday, April 19-20. $6.

Inside Man

Spike Lee has had an exceptionally long streak of films that have run the gamut from seriously flawed to just plain crap. He finally ends that streak with this tightly paced thriller that succeeds, for the most part, because it hardly seems like a Lee film. Reminiscent of a pair of Sidney Lumet classics, Dog Day Afternoon and The Anderson Tapes, Inside Man unfolds an apparent bank heist in New York City led by Clive Owen. Denzel Washington stars as the cop sent in to negotiate with Owen when the criminal mastermind and his crew take hostages. What ensues is a game of cat and mouse, as it appears that everything is going wrong. But there is more to it, and soon Washington has to figure out what is really going on. Leaving behind much of the ham-fisted political and personal ranting that has muddled many of his previous films, Lee—in what appears to be a work-for-hire situation—has made what amounts to his most entertaining film in many years. R. DAVID WALKER. Pioneer Place, Lloyd Cinema, St. Johns Twin, Cedar Hills, Eastport, Bridgeport, Oak Grove, Cornelius, Sherwood, Sandy, Cinema 99, City Center, Vancouver Plaza.

The Jackpot Records/Clinton Street Video Film Festival

[SHORT RUN] The third annual festival presented by the good folks at Jackpot Records and Clinton Street Video kicked off earlier this week, and even if you missed the first two killer programs on the lineup, there's still more great stuff to catch. But the highlight of this year's festival isn't even a film, but rather an ultra-rare live performance by the legendary Jandek (see story, page 31). This show alone is enough reason to check out the festival (provided you can get a ticket). And if for some reason you can't get into the Jandek show, there are still some great films to see, including Nut Magnet: The Slightly Messed Up World of Jeff Krulik (7 pm Saturday), a showcase of work by the filmmaker best known for the classic Heavy Metal Parking Lot. In the Beginning Was the End: The Music Films of Chuck Statler (7 pm Sunday) features a collection of work by the co-founding member of DEVO. For more information go to www.jackpotrecords.com. DAVID WALKER. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 281-4215.

Lonesome Jim

Best known as a character actor in films like Reservoir Dogs and Ghost World, Steve Buscemi has been building a solid reputation as a director as well, with films like Trees Lounge. His most recent work behind the camera is a somber mix of drama and comedy that finds twentysomething Jim (Casey Affleck) returning home to live with his parents. There is no denying that Jim is a loser, but what is unsettling is his lack of ambition to be anything other than a complete failure and total disappointment to everyone around him. Amazingly, he catches the fancy of a beautiful single mother (Liv Tyler) who sees in him a potential he's always ignored. Rather than romanticize Jim, Buscemi and writer James Strouse expose their protagonist as a loser bordering on the hopelessly irredeemable. But it is the people who surround Jim, especially his mother (Mary Kay Place), who offer a hope of salvation. R. DAVID WALKER. Hollywood.

Lucky Number Slevin

There are enough twists and turns and flashy style in this mix of dark comedy and two-fisted pulp action that it would be easy for the attention-deficient-disordered, sleep-deprived or intelligence-challenged to think this is a good movie. But it's not, and depending on how high your standards are, it isn't even entertaining. Josh Hartnett stars as Slevin, a poor sap who is mistaken for another poor sap who owes a ton of cash to a pair of warring crime lords (Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley). To pay off his "debt," Slevin must commit murder for both bosses while dodging a hitman (Bruce Willis) who seems to be playing both sides against each other. Screenwriter Jason Smilovic and director Paul McGuigan work overtime to make the film look good and seem cool, but it's all forced and unpleasant, sort of like watching a fortysomething single guy hit on a woman half his age. R. DAVID WALKER. Lloyd Cinema, Eastport, Cedar Hills, Division Street, Oak Grove, Bridgeport, Sandy, Sherwood, Cinema 99, City Center.

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont

Joan Plowright stars as Mrs. Palfrey, a dignified older widow, who, to be closer to her flaky grandson, moves into a shabby London hotel filled with other women who have fallen on similar hard times. A chance encounter brings her to meet Ludovic Meyer (Rupert Friend), a young male writer, and the odd pair become good friends. Director Dan Ireland's slow-paced yet charming film is reminiscent of Harold and Maude, with Plowright giving a solid performance as a type of character normally ignored in mainstream film. LAURA MULRY. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 281-4215. 230 and 4:30 pm Saturday-Sunday, April 22-23. $4-$7.

Neil Young: Heart of Gold

The concert film Neil Young: Heart of Gold captures why the old guy's career has lasted four decades, why so many performers who came after him consider him a godfather, and why he is revered in every musical circle from country to grunge. The reason? Because he's so damn good. Directed with masterful understatement by Jonathan Demme (whose Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense is widely regarded as one of the best concert films ever), Heart of Gold takes us to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and lets us see Young and his band in action, unadorned and without fanfare. ERIC D. SNIDER. Fox Tower.

On a Clear Day

The latest in a long list of working-class tales of endurance and triumph from the United Kingdom, director Gaby Dellal's movie joins the ranks of such films as Billy Elliot, East Is East, The Full Monty, and even Stephen Frears' adaptations of Roddy Doyle's Bartown trilogy. Peter Mullan stars as Frank Redmond, a fiftysomething shipyard worker who has recently been laid off. Despite the support of his wife (Brenda Blethyn) and his motley crew of mates, Frank flounders with no sense of purpose. That's when he decides to swim the English Channel. Of course, this is really a larger metaphor for the challenges of life. Dellal gets solid performances from the cast, and Alex Rose's screenplay has a certain amount of charm. Those that haven't grown tired of this standby formula, which has become a regular fixture in the indie and foreign film world, will be entertained. PG-13. DAVID WALKER. Fox Tower.

Shakespeare Behind Bars

[SHORT RUN] Shakespeare Behind Bars is a nine-month program facilitated by Curt Tofteland at Kentucky's Luther Luckett Correctional Complex. As Hank Rogerson's brilliant documentary starts, the prisoners are just beginning a new session as they prepare to mount a production of The Tempest. The inmates cast themselves in the various roles, and as the rehearsal process kicks into full gear, Tofteland and the inmates begin to dig into the true meaning of Shakespeare's play, finding parallels between themselves and the characters. Perhaps more than any other play by Shakespeare, The Tempest, a tale of a man driven by rage, isolated from society, and finding redemption, is the closest to the lives of these men. Rogerson's film offers a multilayered exploration of the subject matter. On the surface this is a profile of an acting troupe as they prepare to bring their show to the stage—which just happens to be within the confines of a prison. But on a much deeper level, Shakespeare Behind Bars is an intimate portrait of several of the key troupe members, who grapple with the sins of their past, and look for redemption in their future. DAVID WALKER. Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave., 223-4515. 7 pm Wednesday-Thursday, April 19-20. $4-$7.

Smut Night

[SHORT RUN] A double-dose of stroke-skin classics for your "viewing" pleasure. Clinton Street Theatre, 2522 SE Clinton St., 238-8899. 7 and 9 pm Sunday, April 23. $6-$8.

*NEW* Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

A rare World War II film that focuses on Gentile Germans who resisted the war and the Hitler regime, Sophie Scholl is the moving tale of a gutsy student and her brother, who were caught distributing anti-war leaflets at their university. They were immediately jailed and, when it became clear that denial wouldn't fly, opted to stick to their guns and stand up for their beliefs in the face of Nazi wrath. Sophie (Julia Jentsch) enrages the Nazi bureaucrat who interrogates her because, as he says, "You're so gifted—why don't you think like we do?" BECKY OHLSEN. Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave., 223-4515. 7 and 9:15 pm Friday-Thursday, April 21-27. Additional shows 2 and 4:15 pm Saturday and Sunday. $4-$7.

Take the Lead

Take the Lead combines two tired genres: the one where a peculiar teacher comes to an inner-city school and turns all the kids' lives around with his unorthodox methods and Socratic wisdom, and the one where teenage rivals come together through the healing power of dance. Stand and Deliver meets Save the Last Dance, if you will. Antonio Banderas plays Pierre Dulaine, a Manhattan ballroom-dance instructor who, for ill-explained reasons, takes over a ghetto high school's detention program and teaches the delinquents in there how to dance. They're reluctant at first, of course, until he shows them how sexy the tango can be, and next thing you know they're dancing against Dulaine's rich white students in the citywide ballroom competition. Do the inner-city kids bring some of their own flava to the contest? Hells, yeah! Meanwhile, the kids fall in love with each other, overcome prejudices, and heal old wounds—tick, tick, tick, right down the checklist. Alfre Woodard has a noble presence as the tough-as-nails principal, and darned if Banderas isn't so charming he almost makes this by-the-numbers old claptrap actually work. Almost. PG-13. ERIC D. SNIDER. Pioneer Place, Eastport, Cedar Hills, Oak Grove, Division Street, Cornelius, Sandy, Sherwood, Cinema 99, Cinetopia, City Center, Vancouver Plaza.

Thank You for Smoking

Based on Christopher Buckley's bestselling novel from the early 1990s, Thank You for Smoking stars Aaron Eckhart as Nick Naylor, the "sultan of spin"—a master of manipulating the truth with a self-conferred "bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names." Nick's job as the vice president of the Academy of Tobacco Studies is to debunk the claims that cigarettes are bad and to promote smoking. Whether it is offering hush money to the Marlboro Man (Sam Elliott), now bitter and dying of lung cancer; conspiring with a film executive (Rob Lowe) to get Hollywood to help glamorize smoking; or arguing with his son's classmates about the dangers of smoking during career day, there is nothing Nick loves more than convincing people he is right. Adapted for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman in his feature debut, Thank You for Smoking is a dark, comedic companion to such recent films as Good Night, and Good Luck and Syriana, both of which recall the politically charged films of the 1970s. Brimming with subtle visual gags and absurd humor, Thank You for Smoking is a brilliant comedy that is ruthless in its attacks on both hand-wringing liberals and money-grubbing conservatives. Some audiences may be put off by the fact that Nick never seeks redemption for his misdeeds, but the fact that the film never apologizes for the punches it throws is what makes it so great. R. DAVID WALKER. Fox Tower, Lloyd Cinema, Eastport, Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, Cinetopia, City Center.

*NEW* Threat

[SHORT RUN] Produced by collective of young filmmakers out of New York, the down-and-dirty film Threat plays like a cross between Penelope Spheeris' 1984 street-punk classic Suburbia and Larry Clark's Kids, with just the tiniest touch of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. The film is the work of amateurs, but they wear their inexperience like a badge of honor, delivering a film that doesn't seem to care what you think about it. A gritty, nihilistic glimpse into the world of New York City punks and hip-hop heads who seem to be drifting aimlessly through life, pontificating on the meaning of the universe, Threat is not a film for everyone. And despite the sometimes disjointed story, and some performances that fall a bit short of being either convincing or good, there are still some great moments, and Keith Middleton's performance is especially solid. Director Matt Pizzolo is scheduled to present the film on Saturday. DAVID WALKER. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 281-4215. Friday-Thursday, April 21-27. $4-$7.

V for Vendetta

Set in the not-too-distant future where England is a fascist nation that has separated itself from the rest of the world, V for Vendetta is an ambitious film that almost hits the target. Obscured by a mask, Hugo Weaving stars as V, a mysterious "terrorist" out to topple the Orwellian dictatorship that oppresses Great Britain. Natalie Portman stars as the would-be revolutionary who is rescued from peril by V and eventually becomes a pivotal cog in his machine. Adapted from Alan Moore's 1980s comic-book series by director John McTeigue and screenwriters the Wachowski brothers (of Matrix fame)—with enough liberties taken that Moore had his name removed from the film's credits—the film is not without style or cautionary, politicized messages. In fact, the political reality of V for Vendetta is not a far stretch from where the United States is today. And while the film is effective enough to achieve an admirable level of cerebral action drama, the uneven script serves as a stumbling block that keeps the whole thing from ever resting comfortably in the realm of genius. R. DAVID WALKER. Pioneer Place, Eastport, Bridgeport, Lloyd Cinema, Cinema 99, City Center, Cedar Hills.

*NEW* The Wild

Please remember: Just because a film is animated and has the Disney name on it doesn't mean it's any good. As the new Exhibit A, I offer The Wild, a lazy, half-witted adventure that is probably the worst cartoon Disney has ever produced. (I never saw The Black Cauldron.) It offers no real laughs, no excitement, no adventure, and no interesting characters. In fact, if you saw last year's Madagascar, you (1) deserve a refund, and (2) have already seen this. In the New York Zoo, a young lion named Ryan (voice of Greg Cipes), following an argument with his dad, Samson (Kiefer Sutherland), hides in a storage compartment that is subsequently put on a ship bound for Africa. Samson and his animal friends set out to save him, and they all wind up in Africa, where nobody knows how to survive because they were born in captivity, and there's a cult of wildebeests who want to become carnivores, and they intend to start practicing on the lions, and there's a dance number. Honestly, a dance number. It's tempting to call the film The Mild, but I think even "mild" might be too strong a word. PG. ERIC D. SNIDER. Division Street, Oak Grove, Eastport, Bridgeport, Cornelius, Cedar Hills, Sandy, Sherwood, Vancouver Plaza, Cinetopia, City Center, Vancouver Plaza.