Volver --

A meeting of Mildred Pierce and Arsenic and Old Lace, combined with the surrealistic naturalism of my fourth film, "¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!!" ("What have I done to Deserve This?"), that is, Madrid and its lively working class neighborhoods, where the immigrants from the various Spanish provinces share dreams, lives and fortune with a multitude of ethnic groups and other races. At the heart of this social framework, three generations of women survive wind, fire and even death, thanks to goodness, audacity and a limitless vitality. They are Raimunda, who is married to an unemployed laborer and has a teenage daughter; Sole, her sister, who makes a living as a hairdresser; and the mother of both, who died in a fire along with her husband. This character appears first to her sister and then to Sole, although the people with whom she has some unresolved matters are Raimunda and her neighbor in the village, Agustina. VOLVER is not a surrealistic comedy although it may seem so at times. The living and the dead coexist without any discord, causing situations that are either hilarious or filled with a deep, genuine emotion. It's a film about the culture of death in my native La Mancha. The people there practice it with an admirable naturalness. The way in which the dead continue to be present in their lives, the richness and humanity of their rites mean that the dead never die. VOLVER destroys all the clichés about "black" Spain and offers a Spain that is as real as it is the opposite. A Spain that is white, spontaneous, funny, intrepid, supportive and fair.

Rating: R for some sexual content and language

The Good Shepherd --

Edward Wilson understands the value of secrecy, discretion and commitment to honor have been embedded in him since childhood. As an eager, optimistic student at Yale, he is recruited to join the secret society Skull and Bones, a brotherhood and breeding ground for future world leaders. Wilson's acute mind, spotless reputation and sincere belief in American values render him a prime candidate for a career in intelligence, and he is soon recruited to work for the OSS during WWII. As one of the covert founders of the CIA, working in the heart of an organization where duplicity is required and nothing is taken at face value, Edward's idealism is steadily eroded by a growing suspicious nature, reflective of a world settling into the long paranoia of the Cold War. As his methods are adopted as standard operating procedure, Wilson develops into one of the Agency's veteran operatives, all the while combating his KGB counterpart. However, his steely dedication to his country comes at an ever increasing price. Not even his wife Clover or his beloved son can divert Wilson from a path that will force him to sacrifice everything in pursuit of this job.

Rating: R for some violence, sexuality and language

Black Christmas --

A sorority house is terrorized by a killer who makes frightening telephone calls before murdering the sorority sisters during the Christmas break.

Rating: R for strong horror violence and gore, sexuality, nudity and language

Everyone's Hero --

This heartwarming, wholesome family fare was originally conceived by the late Christopher Reeve and reflects a theme of perseverance against all odds from which the whole family can learn. Set in Depression era New York, the film follows 10 year old baseball fan Yankee Irving, who is more adept at remembering stats than he is at playing the game. Despondent over his sandlot misfires, Yankee is cheered when he makes the acquaintance of a baseball named Screwie who can actually talk. Later, Yankee visits his dad at the Yankee Stadium, where he is allowed to visit Babe Ruth's famous bat, Darlin'. The bat soon goes missing, Dad loses his job, and Yankee takes off for Chicago with a notion to deliver the bat to Babe. Along the way, he makes numerous friends, including a trio of down and out bums who take him under their wing, and a little girl with a mean pitch. The scene with the Detroit Tigers, where the team gives Yankee baseball pointers en route to Chicago, is the film's most charming, while the bumbling bad guy, Lefty Maginnis, provides an abundance of slapstick humor. Despite the dubiousness of Babe Ruth's appeal to contemporary youngsters, the story works by concerning itself more with family values, friendship, perseverance, and good clean fun, than with baseball per se. The standout cast also includes Brian Dennehy as the Babe, and Forest Whitaker as the Tigers player Yankee befriends. The soundtrack features original music by Brooks & Dunn, Wyclef Jean, and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Rated G:

Addiction --

HBO produces a typically thoughtful program on the nature of addiction with this documentary. Doctors from a variety of fields explain how numerous factors combine to cause addiction, while also examining the treatments available to prevent addiction from recurring.

Not Rated:

Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles --

Ken Takakura gives a career redefining performance as an old fisherman. Estranged from his son for many years, Gou-ichi receives an unexpected call from his daughter in law, Rie , asking him to come to Tokyo to visit his son, Ken-ichi, who is in the hospital suffering from a stomach ailment. Gou-ichi decides to make the trip against his better judgment, but when he arrives, his son refuses to see him as he is still bearing the scars of the unspoken reasons why they were torn apart. Determined to reunite them, Rie gives Gou-ichi a videotape of an article Ken-ichi wrote about Li Jiamin, a Chinese folk opera master from Yunnan Province. Ken-ichi had promised Li that he would come back and film him performing "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," an opera based on one of the stories in the literary classic ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS; Gou-ichi makes it his mission to travel to southern China, find Li, and film the performance himself. With the help of tour guides Lingo, Jasmine and a fabulous interval with young Yang Yang, Gou-ichi takes off to the great unknown, trying to do right by the son who still appears to hate him. Takakura plays the old man with a quiet, dignified demeanor, moving slowly and barely speaking at all. Zhang Yimou directs the film simply and beautifully, allowing the fascinating characters and compelling story to develop at a natural, alluring pace. This very different kind of road picture is sincere and emotional, with a playful sense of humor. Be sure to bring plenty of hankies.

Rated PG:

Since Otar Left --

The crumbling squalor of former USSR city Tibilisi, Georgia, is the setting for a tale of three generations of Soviet women. Elder matriarch Eka lives for the letters from her beloved son Otar, who fled to Paris years ago as an illegal immigrant. Her daughter Marina strains under the pressures of their miserable existence in the now "free" country where the electricity and water work only sporadically and the buildings seem as depressed as the people. She loves her mother, though, and when news arrives of Otar's sudden death she asks her own daughter to keep writing the letters so as not to break Eka's heart. The plot thickens when Eka decides to spend their life savings on three tickets to Paris so they can track down her beloved Otar. Director Julie Bertucelli previously worked as an assistant director to Krzystof Kieslowski and she has inherited his genius for lighting, composition, and ability to find beauty in the most squalid domestic settings. The excellent cast conveys much with minimal dialogue, making this register far more deeply than as a mere allegory of a country coming to terms with its past lies and failures. It won the 2003 Critic's Week Grand Prize at Cannes.

Not Rated

Entourage Season 3

Tom Goes To The Mayor

Cartoon Network