Metro Pulse Online: Movies, Past &Amp; Future

Armed only with his mysterious mental connection to the feral minds of studio executives, the Movie Guru reveals just how good or bad this week's new releases will be:

GANGS OF NEW YORK (R)
What detail can we tell you about this movie that Entertainment Weekly hasn't breathlessly pored over already? We've been bombarded with an argument of almost Aristotelian proportions. Premises: a) it's by Martin Scorsese; b) Scorsese is a genius; c) he's been dreaming of making this picture for 25 years; d) in order to make it, he recreated 1860s New York in an Italian studio, at exorbitant cost; e) because of conflicts with Miramax head Harvey Weinstein, the film almost didn't get made; f) it stars Daniel-Day Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz; g) did we mention Scorsese's a genius? Therefore, h) you are going to see this movie. Or so we've heard.
Prediction: And yet... and yet... is that enough? Enough to make this a masterpiece, maybe not. Enough to make it better than its competitors at the box office, almost definitely. You know you've got to see it to discuss over the water cooler come January 2. And unlike Titanic, it's a film you'll actually enjoy discussing.

TWO WEEKS NOTICE (PG-13)
Like the abysmal You've Got Mail, this Hugh Grant/Sandra Bullock vehicle pits a cuddly do-gooder female against an evil corporate man. Here, environmental lawyer Bullock gets hired by real estate developer Grant. The burning question, according to the filmmakers: "Is it ever too late to say, 'I love you'?"
Prediction: Yes, yes it is. Unless you're the sort who's been feeling unloved since your 55th viewing of Maid in Manhattan. In which case—here's to second chances.

THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE (PG)
Yet another kids' feature based on a Nickelodeon series. For those who live in minorless households: it's about a 12-year-old girl who travels the world communicating with animals. In the film, she also communicates with Rupert Everett, Brenda Blethyn and Marisa Tomei.
Prediction: Unlike Saturday Night Live spinoffs, Nickelodeon movies have consistently retained their charms. Of all the children's fare this season, Thornberrys is most likely to entertain the adults.

Comfort Film

Comedy is cinematic comfort food.

So, if gentle satire—farce, really—on manners, customs, and love is your cup of tea, then check out The Importance of Being Earnest (2002, PG). Based on the Oscar Wilde play, Earnest is a comedy of mistaken identities among the English upper class circa 1895. The plot itself is a trifle, a contrivance to allow clever characters to make one sly witticism after another.

For reasons that need not be delved into, best friends Jack (Colin Firth) and Algernon (Rupert Everett) both must pretend to be Ernest, Jack's nonexistent younger brother. The deception is necessary for each to win the heart of his true love: Gwendolyn (Francis O'Connor) in Jack's case, and Cecily (Reese Witherspoon) in Algernon's case. All the while they must keep the truth from Lady Bracknell (Judy Dench), Algie's aunt and Gwen's mother. All the actors inhabit their roles marvelously, and the humor is played broadly enough that even subtler points of Victorian-era manners can be picked up by us moderns.

If something slightly saucier is more to your comedic taste, then try Tortilla Soup (2001, PG-13), MarÍa Ripoll's reconstitution of Ang Lee's wonderfully rich Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (1994). Though Tortilla isn't as tasty as Lee's film, it offers plenty of spice—and heart. Hector Elizondo is Martin Naranjo, widowed father to three grown-up, live-at-home daughters: born-again Christian spinster Leticia (Elizabeth Peña), go-getter with misgivings Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors), and slightly rebellious, slightly tentative Maribel (Tamara Mello). Martin is also a master chef who, since his wife died, cannot taste or smell food, and consequently, has retired from running his restaurant. He now mostly cooks for his daughters and their neighbor, Yolanda (Constance Marie).

The humor in Tortilla derives from the characters and their everyday problems—especially romantic ones. The bickering and squabbling among the three sisters has the feel of a real family's interactions (albeit, a fairly well-adjusted one). However, it is Elizondo's understated performance as the aloof, stern, old-fashioned, but always loving father that anchors the movie.

—Scott McNutt