Weekend Listings

FILM | Love Actually

The Undergraduate Council’s continuing series of bargain film screenings continues with this romantic comedy (Hugh Grant alert) which tells the vaguely interrelated stories of a dozen or so Londoners as they fall into and out of love. It’s all hopelessly complicated and dreadfully charming and leads up to an uplifting scene in Heathrow Airport that may or may not tie everything together. Hopefully there are still some surprises. Tickets $1. 8 p.m. Science Center B. (NAS)

FILM | The Season of Men

This characteristically French twist on an Arabic story about sex and impossibility takes place on the island of Djerba where trader husbands return to their wives for only one month of the year. That four week break in the clouds proves only to be a frenzy to catch up on lost love and conceive children. The remainder of the year on Djerba is filled with the frustration and desperation to remind the viewer that the absence of men does not necessarily free women from oppression. Director Moufida Tlatli will appear in person. Tickets $6. 7 p.m. Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy Street. (MAM)

DANCE | The Chippendales Show at the Roxy

What could be better on a Friday night than half a dozen bronzed and brawny men wearing nothing but bowties? Pure entertainment awaits at one the Roxy, one of Boston’s hottest nightspot complex according to their website. Garrett and Jeff, with their dashing smiles and chiseled arms, will be headlining the show produced by Lou Pearlman (*NSync, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, etc.) If you’re choosing between this and Scrabble, stash your shame and head downtown. Tickets $35 (VIP), $30 (Gold). 18+. Doors 7 p.m. Show 8 p.m. The Roxy, 279 Tremont Street, Boston. (ACE)

MUSIC | Christopher Maltman

The Houghton Library of Rare Books presents the third concert in their chamber music series. For their March performance, British baritone Christopher Maltman sings a variety of pieces, including Purcell, Gurney, Butterworth, Lowe, and Wolf. The concerts, all held in the library, are also intended to give the concertgoers a chance at intermission to get a glimpse of some of the amazing books Harvard has in its libraries, from a first edition of Mao’s Little Red Book to Goethe’s thesis. Tickets $20 regular, $10 students. 8 p.m. Edison and Newman Room, Houghton Library. (LFL)

MUSIC | Radcliffe Choral Society Spring Concert 2004

Harvard’s premier all-female choir presents their spring concert, dubbed “Sacred Works and Folk Songs.” Conducted by Katherine Fitzgibbon, the choir will sing works by Rachmaninoff, Lasso, Dienes, Byrd, and Jameson Marvin (Harvard’s Director of Choral Activities). Many pieces in the performance will also be performed by the group in South Africa this summer. The performance also includes selections by the Cliffe Notes, the Choral Society’s acappella subgroup. Tickets $14 regular, $7 students and seniors. 8 p.m. Lowell Lecture Hall. (LFL)

MUSIC | MTV Jams

The Opportunes, Harvard’s oldest co-ed acappella group, performs in their Spring Jam this Friday. In addition to having finished their sixth album this year, the Opportunes have also received their sixth nomination from the Contemporary Acappella Recording Association. The group will perform in Sanders, joined by special guests T.H.U.D. and the Harvard Bhangra Team. Tickets $10 regular, $7 students. 8 p.m. Sanders Theater. (LFL)

MUSIC | Bach Society Orchestra Plays Eroica

This Friday, the Bach Society presents Wei-Jen Yuan ’06, playing Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor op. 16 and Beethoven’s Symphonie Nr. 3 Es-Dur op. 55, “Eroica.” Yuan’s recent performances include a solo performance and a regular-season performance with the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra in the Chaing-Kai Shek Music Hall as part of the Young Artist Series. Conducted by Alexander Misono. Tickets $8 regular, $6 students and seniors. 8 p.m. Paine Hall. (LFL)

Saturday, March 20

MUSIC | Altan

Spent your St. Patrick’s Day drinking O’Douls and studying for midterms? Get in touch with your inner leprechaun on with Altan, “the hottest group in the Celtic realm these days,” according to the Boston Globe. The Irish sextet features fiddler/vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and the acclaimed rhythm section of Dáithí Sproule on guitar, Dermot Byrne on accordion and Ciarán Curran on bouzouki. Altan has been around since the eighties and is consistently rated among the most exciting groups in all of Irish music. Tickets $35, $30, $25. 8 p.m. Sanders Theater, 45 Quincy Street. (MAM)

CULTURE | Tenth Annual Celebration of Black Women

The Harvard Black Men’s Forum pays tribute to black women in a night of awards and entertainment. Honorees will range from national figures to Harvard seniors to student leaders from Boston high schools, all of whom have contributed to Harvard and society at large. Tickets $18 with undergraduate I.D. 6 p.m. Sheraton Hotel, 39 Dalton St, Boston. (NAS)

Sunday, March 21

MUSIC | E. Power Biggs Memorial Recital

As part of the series that honors organ great E. Power Biggs, Harvard invites Emmanuel Hocde, the winner of the 2002 Chartres Organ Competition and organist for the St. Eloi in Paris. He will play on the historic Flentrop organ in the Romanesque Hall of Adolphus Busch Hall. Tickets $15, $10 w/ Harvard I.D. 4 p.m. Adolphus Busch Hall, 29 Kirkland Street. (MAM)

MUSIC | Heather Hates You

Imagine marrying nerd-rock wailings of Weezer stirred together with the aggressive, British bounce of the Clash. Somewhere in that music stew would be Heather Hates You. Calling their sound “an edgy and intellectual brand of aggressive but melodic pop-punk,” Heather Hates You isn’t afraid of mixing things up. This hometown favorite will be playing tracks off of their first studio album Operation Suckerpunch and will be joined by Simple Discourse and The Casual Lean. Tickets $6. 18+. 9:15 p.m. T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline Street, Central Square. (ACE)

MUSIC | Handel’s Solomon

The Harvard University Choir, Directed by Edward Elwyn, will perform what many consider to be Handel’s most creative and magnificent work. Professional soloists from the Boston area will supplement the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra, which is directed by Robert Mealy. Tickets $10, $5 for students. 8 p.m. Memorial Church. (MAM)

LECTURE | Sir David Attenborough

As recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Medal, Sir David Attenborough will give the Roger Tory Peterson Memorial Lecture, “Bird Artists and Artist Birds: Plumes and Bowers in New Guinea” Sunday, which focuses on his work in natural history. He is a conservationist, natural history filmmaker, and host of the popular BBC series, “The Life of Birds.” The series documented some of the world’s rarest birds and involved 256,000 miles of travel – 10 times around the earth. Tickets free but required in advance; available at Harvard Box Office. 4 p.m. Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street. (MAM)

Monday, March 22

MUSIC | The Spirit of Fes

On its first world tour, the Fes Festival of Sacred Music brings together a unique blend of European, North African, and American cultural acts. Inspired by the yearly festival that takes place in Fes, Morocco, the show will feature Andalusian Jewish music from Francoise Atlan, gospel music from The Anointed Jackson Sisters, and south Moroccan tribal traditions from Hadra de Femmes de Taroudant. Jon Pareles of The New York Times calls the show “A festival of believers, but not for believers alone.” Many of the acts are considered masters of their art but are relatively unknown in the West. Monday will be the festival’s Boston area premiere. Tickets $35, $30, $25. 7:30 p.m. Sanders Theater, 45 Quincy Street. (MAM)

Tuesday, March 23

FILM | Tokyo Godfathers

What do you get when you cross a John Ford western with Japanese animation and sentimental Christmas cheer? “A heartfelt urban fable about human decency among the down-and-out,” according to The New York Times. If March is a kind of odd time for a Christmas movie, this tale of a shaggy alcoholic, an aging transvestite, a teenage runaway and an abandoned baby is an odd kind of Christmas movie. Tickets $9. 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 p.m.. The Brattle Theater. (NAS)

FILM | In the Mood for Love

Shimmering with vibrant, romantic color, Wong Kar-wai’s newest film sprinkles solidarity into the vast and anonymous world of 1960s Hong Kong. In stumbling upon love when they expected it the least and needed it the most, two young professionals find each other living in the same apartment building and struggling with the same doubts about their spouses. The inspiration for Lost in Translation, this symphony of detail moves slowly and beautifully through the foundations of longing. Tickets $6. 7 p.m. Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy Street. (MAM)

LECTURE | Linda Nochlin

Guggenheim Fellowship-winning, brilliantly educated and utterly well spoken art historian Linda Nochlin continues her Norton Lecture series on “Bathers, Bodies and Beauty” with another perspective into impressionism. With a critical eye, Professor Nochlin challenges the role of women in 19th century art, offering a feminist perspective. This week’s lecture, Monet’s Hôtel de la Roche Noire: Anxiety and perspective at the seashore, will use a modern eye to find this painting in the context of history. Tickets free. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. Sanders Theatre. (MAM)

Ongoing

DANCE | Viewpointe IV

Harvard’s Dance Program of the OFA presents its annual spring concert, featuring the work of student choreographers as well as professionals in the Boston dance scene, including Lazlo Berdo, Elizabeth Bergmann (director of the Dance Program), Jodi Allen and Adrienne Hawkins. See modern, ballet, jazz, and more; students and teachers dance together in this varied performance. Runs March 18 through March 20. Tickets $10 regular, $8 students and seniors. 8 p.m. Reiman Center for the Performing Arts in Radcliffe Yard. (LFL)

THEATER | Frogs

Performing from an original translation, the Harvard Classical Club will bring The Frogs back to life in a riveting, action filled play, complete with gods, playwrights, and, yes, frogs. Written by Aristophanes, one of the most astonishing comic playwrights of ancient times, the performance tells the story of god Dionysus’s march to Hell in an attempt to bring a great tragedian back from the dead to end the string of mediocre playwrights. Directed by Christopher A. Kukstis ’05, and produced by David H. Camden ’05. Thursday March 18 through Saturday March 20 at 7:30 p.m., with 2:30 p.m. matinee on Saturday. Tickets $5. General Admission. Agassiz Theatre. (HRM)

THEATER | L’Historie et L’Enfant

This year, Lowell House Opera presents a pair of French works: Starvinsky’s L’Historie de Soldat and Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges. L’Historie is a “musical play” centered around a solider who gives his soul to the devil. L’Enfant is a one-act opera that tells the story of a young boy whose imagination gets the better of him. Directed by Sarah Meyers ‘02 and Sean Ryan ‘03. March 13, 17, 19 and 20. Tickets $16 regular, $8 students and seniors. 8:30 p.m. Lowell House Dining Hall. (LFL)

THEATER | Forced Premise!!

The Adams House Drama Society bill their latest production as a “rockomedy,” a term which they may or may not have made up. In familiar form, the show tells the story of four celebrity-hungry, yet inept, bandmates trying to get it together for the big show. The show promises to culminate in an “all-out, physical, comedic, apocalyptic, non-dangerous rock concert.”  Runs March 18 through March 20. Tickets $4. 8 p.m. Adams House Kronauer Space. (NAS)

MUSIC | Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses Festival

This five concert series is part of the 2004 IMC National Seminar and Festival of Male Choruses. Men’s choruses from across the U.S. and Canada will assemble for the three-day event hosted by the Harvard Glee Club and the Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses; high school, college and adult choruses will all be performing. Special guest appearances by such groups as professional chamber ensemble Cantus will also be on hand. Friday, 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 and 8:30 p.m. Tickets $15 regular, $7 students and seniors. Any 3 concerts for $39. Sanders Theatre. (LFL)

THEATER | The Birthday Party

The American Repertory Theatre presents The Birthday Party, one of the great black comedies of the 20th century, returning to the stage under visionary director JoAnne Akalaitis. First premiered in 1958, Harold Pinter’s story is one of peril and intrigue in a rundown English boarding house. Runs through March 27. Tickets $35-$69, $12 student tickets available day of show. 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. weekdays. Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St. (LFL)

VISUALS | Life as Art

This ongoing exhibit presents a close look back at the careers of painters Gregory and Frances Cohen Gilespie. The exhibition consists of 25 paintings in all, and is a representative look at the influential styles of both artists. The two artists catch the interest of many because of the way in which they influenced each other through their portrayals of realism in early Italian and Flemish painting. Runs through March 28. Sackler Museum. (GCS)

VISUALS | Design-Recline

Chair enthusiasts won’t want to miss this new exhibit at the Busch-Reisinger, which tracks the development of the chaise lounge from 1928 to 1955. The exhibit promises to examine “in a fresh way the now well-known tenets of modern architecture, from the radical use of new materials and technology to concepts of indoor-outdoor living and issues of sickness and health.” Runs March 20 through July 11 at the Busch-Reisinger Museum. (NAS)

VISUALS | Gauguin Tahiti

This exhibition features the paintings that Paul Gauguin produced between his departure for Tahiti in 1891 and his death in the Marquesa Islands in 1903 are currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The canvasses are among Gauguin’s most mysterious, colorful and exotic. The exhibition’s Boston stop will be its only showing in the US, so be sure to see it while you can. “Gauguin Tahiti” runs through June 20 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. (SLS)

Films

50 FIRST DATES

Adam Sandler plays Henry Roth, a veterinarian in Hawaii who is well-known for loving then leaving tourists, fearing any long-term commitment that could put a damper on his individuality.  One day, however, he sees comely Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore) in a waffle house and is mesmerized by something about her, presumably her resemblance to that girl from E.T. After Roth flirts with her, they agree to meet for breakfast the next day. When he arrives however, she doesn’t remember him; soon, he discovers that she has complete short-term memory loss. Obviously, he must woo her anew every day, often with the help of his animal coterie or his wacky friends like gay Polynesian Ula (Rob Schneider) and Lucy’s oddly lisping muscleman brother Doug (Sean Astin).  The film comes equipped with the usual Sandlerian antics, but a special surprise ending partially redeems the general boorishness. (SAW)

CITY OF GOD

Brazilian Fernando Meirelles’ high-energy depiction of gang warfare in the titular Rio de Janeiro slum has been met with critical raves, four Oscar nominations, and comparisons to the mob pictures of Martin Scorsese. The protagonist, a young photographer named Rocket, succeeds in evading the gang lifestyle; his childhood friend fails to follow suit, instead succumbing to the temptations of crime and power. Dynamic, darkly funny and spitting electricity, City of God presents a strife-ridden world lurching towards destruction. (BJS)

THE DREAMERS

An NC-17 movie focusing on sexy teenagers in 1968 Paris who are obsessed with movies, sex and politics, in that order, from the director of Last Tango In Paris. The plot begins with Matthew (Leonardo DiCaprio look-alike Michael Pitt) encountering Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel) at the protest of the closing of the French cinemathéque, the classic movie theater where these three cinephiles have spent many an afternoon. Soon, Matthew is invited to stay at Isabelle and Theo’s house while their parents are away. Movie-inspired sexual games ensue. One of the more interesting devices Bertolucci uses is intercutting scenes of the three main characters with the movies that inspired the scene, references obviously geared to movie dorks. But what about the more obvious pleasure of copious nudity? Bertolucci sadly pares it down to its base elements, with the net effect of turning off the audience. Theo and Isabelle, who are revealed to be twins, bathe and sleep naked together. Although they seem to never explicitly engage in intercourse, their relationship seems quasi, if not fully, incestuous. The Dreamers is adventurous in a way that few modern films are allowed to be, but its content doesn’t measure up to its ambition and leaves us with disappointing thoughts of what the movie could have been. (SAW)

THE FOG OF WAR

Robert S. McNamara is widely regarded as one of the most reviled figures in the last century of American politics. His tenure as Secretary of Defense led him to make some of the crucial decisions in the major crises of the twentieth century. This documentary shows the making of war through his eyes, from the Cuban Missile Crisis through the Vietnam War. The documentary, directed by genre master Errol Morris (Fast, Cheap and Out of Control) utilizes frank White House tapes, startlingly surreal images, and an extraordinary Philip Glass score to engross an audience that may otherwise have little interest in the subject matter. Morris never compromises his vision of McNamara as a man whose regret has opened floodgates of wisdom (upon hearing one of the admonitions apparently directed at the current administration, an audience member actually began clapping), but who remains unable to justify a war that he prolonged. (JSG)

GOODBYE LENIN!

Pro-democracy riots and cheering mobs of happy Germans are the images most often associated with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Director Wolfgang Becker aims to capture a unique aspect of the event in his critically acclaimed film Goodbye, Lenin!, by depicting the effects of German reunification on everyday people. The most commercially successful German film in history, it centers on the experience of young East Berliner Alex Kerner, played by wide-eyed 24-year-old Daniel Brühl. After fainting during the Berlin riots, Alex’s mother (Katrin Sass) enters a deep coma for several months. Upon his mother’s release, the doctor cautions Alex that he must insulate her from any shocks, because a stressful event could kill her. Since his mother was fiercely loyal to the idealism of the DDR, Alex makes it his goal to keep her from finding out about the dramatic political changes through which she slept. This deception provides the comic meat of the film, with Alex employing a series of ever more ridiculous ruses to convince his mother that nothing’s changed. However, Brecker does not use his ample talent solely for humor’s sake. Goodbye, Lenin! is dotted with distilled illustrations of the many facets of the reunification, some of which shine much brighter than others. He does not fall into the trap of romanticizing the past at the expense of historical fact; his characters cherish their new conveniences and freedom of expression, and don’t miss the panoptic party structure of socialism. The movie does, however, shed light on the complex (and sudden) transformation of German life that resulted from the fall of the Wall. (WBP)

HIDALGO

There is little substance in Hidalgo. Ostensibly, the film is based on the true story of Frank Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen), a long-distance horse-racer who is invited to partake in “the Ocean of Fire,” a 3,000-mile horse race across the Arabian Peninsula. Hopkins’ horse, Hidalgo, is a mustang, a wild mixed-breed horse that was introduced to the Americas with the arrival of the Spaniards to the New World. In the world of horse racing these mixed-breeds are considered, according to the movie, unworthy to share the road with purebred horses, exemplified here by the sleek Arabians. The movie’s twist is that Hopkins was born to a white father and a Sioux mother—he is a half-breed himself. As expected, Hidalgo quickly devolves into yet another story about the power of the human will to overcome adversity and have pride in what you are and where you came from. Given that Disney produced the film, the outcome of the race, and the film, is a foregone conclusion. The bad guys have deep growly voices that prove their deceitfulness, the faithful sidekick/servant dies while saving important lives in the process, and there is just enough racial profiling to make their point while avoiding controversy. (DGM)

MONSTER

Director Patty Jenkins’s debut feature, Monster chronicles the sanguinous final chapter of infamous serial killer Aileen Wuornos and the personal trials that may have led to her murder of seven men. The film has garnered as much attention for star Charlize Theron’s monstrous makeover into the less-than-comely prostitute murderess as it did for the actual performance. Theron’s performance is breakthrough work, painstakingly recreating the intense discomfort of a woman desperate to find a reason not to shoot herself at any given moment. At the film’s core is Wuornos’ tumultuous relationship with flippant lover Selby Wall (Christina Ricci). Though Jenkins fails to offer a believable relationship between these two individuals and Ricci sits through an unnaturally amateurish performance, Monster is ultimately redeemed by Theron’s resonant performance. (MC)

MY ARCHITECT

If we viewed architects as celebrities, Louis I. Kahn’s life would have been made into an E! True Hollywood Story a long time ago. Kahn battled early obstacles–a fire that permanently disfigured his face, his family’s immigration from Estonia to America—to become a celebrated designer of famous buildings all over the world. Then he lost it all, falling deep into debt and finally dying of a heart attack in a train station restroom. Thirty years after his death, Kahn’s son has created a tribute to him on film, glorying in his architectural triumphs, but supplementing the laurels with an honest assessment of his personal failings. Farrah Fawcett wasn’t one-tenth as interesting as this guy. (BJS)

MYSTIC RIVER

If Clint Eastwood proved anything in Unforgiven, it was that actors don’t have to be showy to be effective. Too bad that nobody told Sean Penn, who brings his full actor-y powers to bear in Mystic River, Eastwood’s latest effort. Too often, the film feels less like the well-crafted whodunit at its center and more like a freshman acting class: Penn thrashes and grimaces, Tim Robbins acts numb, and Marcia Gay Harden wobbles her voice so much that you wonder if she’s standing on the San Andreas Fault. On the other hand, Kevin Bacon does some of the best work of his career as a reasonable cop beset by marriage problems. He strikes a note of casual verisimilitude and, in an Eastwood film, that’s about the only note that’ll work. (BJS)

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST

Director Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ represents the teachings of Jesus through a gore-drenched recreation of the final 12 hours before his death. Here, the son of God is a wholly human figure, and Gibson constantly reminds his audience of this with an unceasing depiction of shredded flesh and spattered blood. The effect is alternately piercing and numbing. Nevertheless, Gibson eventually succeeds in overwhelming his audience with the kind of potent visual poignancy unseen in his previous directorial work. The telling of the story is equally effective, as screenwriters Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald (Wise Blood) find most of their narrative might in the passion plays’ minor characters. Though violence is the film’s major theme, what resonates from The Passion of the Christ is not necessarily its brutality, but rather the significance of his sacrifice. There are only glimpses of Christ’s words in the movie, and his resurrection is given minimal screen time, but these are provided in such well-timed respites that their resounding impact is ultimately The Passion’s greatest, most awe-inspiring achievement. (BBC)

There are three fatal flaws that damage Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ for nonbelievers: almost no characterization or narrative, a spectacularly large amount of violence and almost all of the Jews are evil Christ-killers. In Gibson’s mania to present the extent of Jesus’ suffering, character is lost, and by the end of the film, Jesus begins to resemble a piñata more than a man. The effect is that it is hard to understand quite what the point of all this is. It is never clear why he is so dangerous. It is never clear why he doesn’t take his numerous opportunities to speak up and prevent his death. It is never clear why everyone is so passionate about this presence, who, in the film, shows as much depth as Tyrese in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Oddly enough, the only deeply felt character is Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov), who comes off as nuanced but ultimately unwilling to risk a rebellion to save one madman. The film’s violence is physically exhausting and, ultimately, numbing; ultimately, these shots begin to resemble pornography, complete with a money shot. (SAW)

SPARTAN

After the president’s daughter is kidnapped from Lowell House, shadowy super Secret Agent Scott (Val Kilmer) is assigned to track her down using whatever means necessary, in writer-director David Mamet’s newest film. Although the dialogue often bounces with Mamet’s rat-a-tat flair, this movie’s deep flaws destroy the elgently crafter political thriller that might have been. Cheap budgets, mind-numbing incoherence and incoherent plotting overshadow the few genuine surprises and admirable political idealism to leave only a square-jawed action movie for pseudo-intellectuals that doesn’t live up to its ambition. (SAW)

TOUCHING THE VOID

This story of a 1985 Andes mountain-climbing disaster comes courtesy of director Kevin MacDonald, whose film One Day in September won the Oscar for Best Documentary a few years ago. But in the vein of his last work, Touching the Void is not a clear-cut documentary; the events it examines are real, but MacDonald uses re-enactments of the story’s events to supplement a narrated account from the disaster’s survivors. The nut of their crisis: halfway through a climb, one of the two team members falls and breaks several leg bones. The other climber decides to lower his injured partner to safety, 300 feet of rope at a time, until he accidentally lowers him over a precipice. Knowing that soon both of them would tumble to their deaths, he makes a critical decision and cuts the cord. (BJS)

THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE

This film bears absolutely no resemblance to Japanime or any Disney movie, and is undoubtedly the best animated feature released in 2003. Sylvain Chomet’s film aims for a multinational texture and is largely devoid of dialogue, but nevertheless retains a distinctly French sensibility with a penchant for shrewd cultural allusions. A clubfooted widow, Madame Souza, trains her chubby grandson Champion to become a stick-thin cyclist with the help of bulky canine Bruno and her restless whistle. One day, Champion is mysteriously kidnapped, along with two of his fellow Tour de France riders, by amusingly ominous members of the French mafia. In hot pursuit, Madame Souza travels to the Dionysian metropolis Belleville, where she enlists the help of the eponymous triplets—former scat singers turned household-item instrumentalists—in liberating Champion from the clutches of a diminutive wine magnate. A marvelous fusion of color, music, and caricature, each splendid offbeat frame restores faith in traditional hand-drawn animation, and we have Chomet’s superbly macabre imagination to thank. (TIH)

TWISTED

Although a formulaic thriller at heart, director Philip Kaufman’s Twisted still manages to entertain, effectively playing on its setting in the San Francisco Harbor area to create a dark and seedy atmosphere. Combined with dank sexual undertones, the ambience gives Twisted the key components of a suspense film to hold the attention of a thrill-seeking audience. The mystery begins when homicide inspector Jessica Shepard (Ashley Judd) finds herself deeply intertwined in the new series of murders she is investigating. It turns out the victims are all past lovers, and soon Jessica is the primary suspect in the case. The police commissioner (Samuel Jackson) and Jessica’s partner (Andy Garcia) work hard to keep her on the case, but it becomes increasingly difficult with each new murder. Soon, Jessica’s own life becomes endangered. (HRM)

WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT

Like his hit CBS sitcom, Ray Romano’s first foray into the world of live action movies is straight out of the 1950s, in ways both amiably amusing and jarringly old-fashioned. Welcome to Mooseport finds Romano in the role of Handy Harrison, a small-town plumber whose most ambitious plans involve buying a new pick-up. As Handy’s long-suffering girlfriend of six years, Sally, Maura Tierney does a great impression of Patricia Heaton, Romano’s similarly impatient TV wife. Mooseport and Handy’s relationship are shaken up by the tumultuous arrival of the recently retired U.S. president, a Clinton-hating, Yale-loving jerk named Monroe “Eagle” Cole (Gene Hackman). Through a series of mind-numbing mix-ups (the less said, the better), Handy and the ex-president end up running against each other in the town’s mayoral race. Soon they’re playing a round of golf to decide not only their respective political futures, but who gets to date Sally. In one significant way, Mooseport diverges from its “Leave It to Beaver” sensibilities, ultimately telling its audience that government is best left to cheats and liars. It’s a message that dovetails nicely with the film’s in-your-face easygoingness, but one that seems distastefully simpleminded near the start of an election year that is likely to be one of America’s most ugliest and most bitter. (NKB)

—Happening was compiled by Nathan K. Burstein, Michelle Chun, Ben B. Chung, Adam C. Estes, Julie S. Greenberg, Tiffany I. Hsieh, Lucy F. Lindsey, Halsey R. Meyer, Mickey A. Muldoon, Douglas G. Mulliken, Will B. Payne, Gina C. Schwartz, Nate E. Smith, Sarah L. Solorzano, Benjamin J. Soskin, and Scoop A. Wasserstein.