Film

By ROBERT DENERSTEIN
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
At age 73 and after appearing in more than 90 movies, Michael Caine doesn't need to work. But Caine found the script for "The Prestige" unlike anything he'd previously read.

By ROBERT DENERSTEIN
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
The more complex the better for Christopher Nolan.

The director attracted his first major attention with 2001's "Memento," a film that began at the end, telling its story in dizzying backward strokes.

By BRUCE DANCIS
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin once wrote, "The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them."

Lenin's quote came to mind while watching the new 25th anniversary edition DVD of "Reds," Warren Beatty's epic love story about writers John Reed and Louise Bryant, set amid the turbulence of American radical politics in the 1910s, World War I and the Russian Revolution (two discs, Paramount Home Entertainment, $19.99, rated PG).

There's Barry Diller, CEO of Paramount (at the time a division of the Gulf & Western conglomerate), interviewed in a DVD documentary on the making of "Reds," saying how much he supported Beatty's artistic vision.

By BETSY PICKLE
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
In a pop-culture climate in which horror equals gore, it's refreshing to see a film like "The Grudge 2." Aside from messy housekeeping and far too much stringy black hair, there's nothing in it to provoke judgment from the squeamish, but the movie still provides numerous good scares and an overall unsettling tone.

A sequel to the 2004 hit directed by Takashi Shimizu and based on his own earlier Japanese hit, "The Grudge 2" brings back director Shimizu and star Sarah Michelle Gellar.

By MIKE PEARSON
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
("Over the Hedge." DreamWorks. DVD. 83 min. Rated PG. $19.95. Grade: B+)

"Over the Hedge" is a comedy about what happens when man and nature collide.

Being an animated movie, it's naturally told from the animals' point of view.

The plot finds resourceful raccoon RJ (voice by Bruce Willis) given two weeks to replace the food supply he stole from a grouchy bear.

By ALLAN WALTON
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
"Frankenstein: 75th-Anniversary Edition"

"Dracula: 75th-Anniversary Edition"

Freddy, Jason, Michael ...

None holds a candle to the B boys, Boris and Bela.

By BARBARA VANCHERI
Monday, October 23, 2006
Sienna Miller exiled in Pittsburgh had nothing on Truman Capote, captive in Kansas.

Starved for respect, attention and access, not to mention civilized provisions, Capote (Toby Jones), is thrilled to find a care package from Manhattan.

By PHIL VILLARREAL
Friday, October 20, 2006
Walter heads to Phyllis' home to sell an insurance policy. She ends up selling him a caper: Help her murder her husband, make it look like an accident and collect some insurance money they can use to run away together.

We know from the beginning of "Double Indemnity" that the plan will fail, since Walter (Fred MacMurray) is dictating his confession, with his forlorn words drifting over the swirling shadows to serve as narration as the story plays out.

Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck), a dagger-eyed dame who eats men's hearts for breakfast and picks her teeth with the shards of their broken will, is nowhere in sight, meaning she's either dead or has run off and stuck Walter with all the blame.

Walter walks us through the ruination of his life with bemused detachment, taking pleasure in recalling the cleverness of the scheme while lamenting its outcome.

Friday, October 20, 2006
A guide to movies from a family perspective:

"Man of the Year"

_ Rated: PG-13.

_ Suitable for: Teens and above.

_ What you should know: The TV commercials for this Robin Williams movie, about a comedian running for president, are somewhat misleading.

By ROBERT DENERSTEIN
Friday, October 20, 2006
John Lennon's protest activities during the Vietnam War and the U.S. government's subsequent attempts to deport him are chronicled in the documentary "The U.S.