Film

By PHIL VILLARREAL
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Give Terry Gilliam this much: His movies are never boring.

The imaginative director crafts movies that defy expectations. "The Fisher King," "Twelve Monkeys" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" are all eye-poppers that leave you much to ponder.

By BRUCE DANCIS
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
It would be damning with faint praise to call "49 Up" the best and longest-running "reality" series in history. While such shows as "The Real World" put photogenic people in decidedly unreal situations, "49 Up" chronicles the life changes of 14 people over nearly five decades.

Available on DVD this week (First Run Features, $29.95, not rated) following a short theatrical run in selected U.S.

By PHIL VILLARREAL
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Everyone knows penguins can march, but the animated dramedy "Happy Feet" shows they can dance. And sing. And preach.

While funny and filled with music, the film is also a think piece rather than a laughy-daffy slapstick fest.

By BETSY PICKLE
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Thanks to the movies, James Bond has lived many lives over 42 years. "Casino Royale" takes him back to where he started in Ian Fleming's first novel.

Rough around the edges and markedly misogynistic, the British secret agent is reborn for the next-to-new millennium in his first outing since "Die Another Day." Daniel Craig takes over from Pierce Brosnan with no hesitance and gives notice that the 007 franchise is far from heading the way of the dinosaur.

After a black-and-white prologue set in Prague that shows James Bond (Craig) getting his double-0 stripes, James pops up in Africa, where he makes a messy public show of killing a man who appears to be unarmed.

By MIKE PEARSON
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
("The Da Vinci Code." Sony. DVD. 149 min. Rated PG-13. $29.96. Grade: B.)

Fans of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" already know how it ends. The suspense in Ron Howard's screen adaptation lies in how deftly he executes the twists and turns in the complex tale of religion, murder and faith.

Tom Hanks is Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon, who finds himself suspected of killing the curator of the Louvre.

By ROBERT DENERSTEIN
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
A GOOD YEAR (C-) Director Ridley Scott and actor Russell Crowe, who worked together on the Oscar-winning "Gladiator," stumble in this comedy about a ruthless London financial trader who inherits his uncle's vineyard estate in France.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006
A guide to movies from a family perspective:

"Stranger Than Fiction"

_ Rated: PG-13.

_ Suitable for: Mature tweens and up.

_ What you should know: This is a quirky, smart comedy starring Will Ferrell as an IRS agent who hears a voice in his head narrating his life.

By PHIL VILLARREAL
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
In 1998, two films based their premises on the campus legend that if your roommate dies during the school year, you'll be consoled with automatic straight A's.

One was "The Curve," a forgettable thriller about a series of mysterious college murders meant to take advantage of the rule.

By CARLA MEYER
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Imagine you're Russell Crowe, recipient of nearly every honor available to an actor, including an Academy Award. Yet one prize has eluded you: a high-profile romantic comedy role.

By PHIL VILLARREAL
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
"Driving Lessons" is one of those mentor-neophyte dramas that mashes together an outcast old youngster with an outcast young oldster, has them hit it off after they discover they have a lot in common, then tries to jerk tears out of your eyes when death or cruel society severs the misunderstood relationship.

Usually, it's the old character who's slow and stodgy yet inspired by the impulsive joy of the youngster, who in turn benefits from the oldster's wisdom.