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Mission: Impossible 2 (2000, 123 min, PG13) *** – Directed by John Woo, starring Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, and Thandie Newton. God only knows whether “M:I2” was intended to be as tongue-in-cheek as it is, but the result is a thoroughly enjoyable, absolutely ludicrous adventure. Cruise and Scott are surprisingly sincere as two spies chasing one another for a MacGuffin, while Newton plays the woman they both want. Director Woo, famous for his impossible ballet-style stunt sequences, is in top form.
Monster (2003, 109 min, R) *** - Directed by Patty Jenkins, starring Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci. Real-life story of a truck stop serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Theron), her freaked-out girlfriend (Ricci), and the strange life they live on the run. A gory, unpleasant, but powerful film. Oscar winner for Best Actress.
Monument Avenue (aka Noose, aka Snitch) (1998, 93 min, R) *** - Directed by Ted Demme, starring Denis Leary, Colm Meaney, Famke Jansen, and Martin Sheen. Good acting, characterizations, writing, and an eye for detail enliven a generic story of a new crime boss (Meaney) in a tough Irish neighborhood. Leary plays a low-level hood who knows what he must do. The movie feels as much about the neighborhood, if not more so, than the organized crime.
Moulin Rouge! (2001, 127 min, PG13) **1/2 – Directed by Baz Luhrman, starring Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, and Richard Roxburgh. Energetic, electric, and visually resplendent musical that begins well but sinks into an overwrought, overloud, and overly-sentimental morass in its final act. A courtesan singer at a French nightclub (Kidman) must choose between a wealthy duke (Roxburgh) and a penniless painter (McGregor). All the pop music, clever edits, and wild visual strategies start out well but become tedious by their millionth repetition.
My Best Fiend (1999, 95 min, NR) *** - Directed by Werner Herzog. Fascinating documentary about the sublime love-hate relationship between soft-spoken German filmmaker Herzog and the late, deranged actor Klaus Kinski. They brought out the best and the worst in each other, making mystically powerful films together, like “Aguirre, The Wrath of God” and “Fitzcarraldo,” but also calmly and deliberately planned on murdering each other. “My Best Fiend” contains many stories about the mad Kinski but is also very revealing about Herzog’s theories of film.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962, 126 min, B&W, PG13) **** - Directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh, and Angela Lansbury. Fiendishly clever thriller about an army platoon that returns from a brief imprisonment in Korea…but there’s something not quite right about the guys. The captain (Sinatra) is suspicious of the sergeant (Harvey), whose creepy mom (an unforgettable Lansbury) is married to a man running for president. Throw in some thinly veiled McCarthyism, a sniper rifle, and some really weird flirting from Leigh, and you have a political commentary that hasn’t lost any of its bite. Why don’t you play a game of solitaire?
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993, 108 min, PG) *** - Directed by Woody Allen, starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, and Alan Alda. A charming cross between Agatha Christie and “Annie Hall.” A middle-aged and upscale New York couple (Allen and Keaton) is suspicious of its new neighbor. Is there foul play afoot, or has the sizzle simply gone out of Woody and Diane’s marriage?
Manhunter (1986, 119 min theatrical release, 124 min director’s cut, R) ***1/2 – Directed by Michael Mann, starring William L. Petersen, Brian Cox, and Tom Noonan. The first film to use the character of the insane cannibal Hannibal Lector (Cox, five years before Anthony Hopkins) follows an unbalanced FBI agent (Petersen) who uses an imprisoned Lector as a resource in catching another murderer (Noonan). The film combines the step-by-step police procedural with a chilling portrait of the killer as well as the detective’s willingness to distance himself from his family. The real star is director-screenwriter Mann, whose deliberate pacing, long shots, and cool blue atmosphere portrays the world as cold and morally indifferent, making the detective’s pursuit all the more difficult.
The Man on the Train (2002, 90 min, R) ***1/2 – Directed by Patrice Leconte, starring Jean Rochefort and Johnny Hallyday. Mellow character study takes the two great personality types, makes them old men, and let’s them wonder what life would have been like if their places were reversed. The man who sees life as concrete is a bank robber (European rock star Hallyday) and the man who always wonders about the meaning behind things is a small-town poetry teacher (Rochefort, a mainstay of French cinema). The movie is more charming than epic, thanks to the casual, subtle performances of the leads, and to Leconte’s light touch.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003, 138 min, PG13) **** - Directed & co-written by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. Straight-ahead tale of a British warship stalking a French adversary in the days of Napoleon is a refreshingly uncluttered adventure, free of speeches, frenetic camera work, Oscar-clip acting, and overwrought music. “Master & Commander” is almost Kubrickian in its decision to be observant and not judgmental, yet, like Kubrick, it asks us to admire the humanity of its characters even as they are trapped in the dehumanizing shackles of war and being pressed into service. 10 Oscar nominations include Best Picture and Director, Oscar wins for Sound and Cinematography