Now I realize why James Cameron’s TITANIC wasn’t like a Robert Altman film, because Roy Ward Bard’s A NIGHT TO REMEMBER already was. Without the super bells and whistles of the Oscar-winning blockbuster, this film tells the doomed voyage of the Titanic.

If one central character could be pointed out it would be Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller (Kenneth More, THE LONGEST DAY). First and foremost the film allows the tragedy of the ship’s impending doom to provide all the drama the film needs. No trumped up gunfights and mysteries about missing jewels in this film. The film plays out as naturally as a documentary.

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I’ve been curious about this film for about a year, but I just kept missing it. I recommend that you don’t miss it. It’s the best mainstream film about high school that I’ve seen in ages.

Based on a book by Rosalind Wiseman and adapted to the screen by SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s Tina Fey, the film has a keen eye and ear for the way teenagers interact. Cady (pronounced like Katie) Heron (Lindsay Lohan, HERBIE: FULLY LOADED) lived in Africa for most of her life and at the age of sixteen moves to Chicago and attends public school for the first time. She is very unprepared for the ways of life in an American high school with its various cliques and traditions. She finally makes friends with outsiders Janis (Lizzy Caplan, ORANGE COUNTY) and Damian (Daniel Franzese, BULLY).

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Man, what a downer of a film. But it’s also extremely well written and well performed. This is probably the third time I’ve seen the film and I really took notice to the fact that Nicolas Cage’s Ben Sanderson really isn’t the central character in the film. That role belongs to Elisabeth Shue (KARATE KID) as prostitute Sera. This is emphasized in the beginning with having a lengthy prologue with Ben in L.A.

The film establishes the reasons for Ben’s quest to drink himself to death then once Ben heads to Vegas the credits finally kick in. At this point Ben’s fate is virtually sealed. That beginning part is all set up and now the film can really begin. How things turn out for Sera are still up in the air though. Sera is still haunted by her pimp/boyfriend Yuri (Julian Sands, TIMECODE), who is in debt with some gangsters.

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If the Criterion Collection puts out a title on DVD, I always pay attention. I’ve hated some of them, but I never wonder why they put it out. KILL! is one of the titles that I never heard of, but now know why they found it worthy.

It’s like YOJIMBO crossed with THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY with dashes of slapstick humor that you’d find in TOM JONES. In fact, the book the film is based off of is the same Akira Kurosawa used as the basis for his YOJIMBO sequel, SANJURO. If I had any complaint with the film it would be that I lost track of the numerous characters very quickly. However, I loved the film anyway and wouldn’t know what to cut if asked.

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This interesting thriller presents an intriguing premise. Government agents, lead by Lipton (Cliff De Young, GLORY) and Col. Mason (Mason Adams, UNDER SIEGE), hire special effects wizard Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown, COCKTAIL) to help them fake the murder of gang informant Nicholas DeFranco (Jerry Orbach, TV’s LAW & ORDER). But as in cases like this who can be trusted is questionable.

Aiding Rollie is his actress girlfriend Ellen (Diane Venora, HEAT) and f/x assistant Andy (Martha Gehman, THE LEGEND OF BILLY JEAN). Once things get really hairy, detective Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy, COCOON) is assigned to the case and smells something funky.

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I swear this film gets better every time I see it. Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy, THE COOLER) can’t get a lucky break in life. He works for his father-in-law Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell, LEGALLY BLONDE), who owns a car dealership among other businesses. He’s got a sweet business deal he wants to put together, but can’t get the money for it. So he devises a plan to have Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi, DESPERADO) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare, MINORITY REPORT) kidnap his wife Jean (Kristin Rudrud, PLEASANTVILLE) forcing his father-in-law to pay a ransom, which part will go to the kidnappers and part will go to him so he can pay off his mounting debts and start his new business.

But like I said, Jerry can’t get a break and the kidnapping leads to a triple homicide. This is the point when pregnant sheriff Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand, BLOOD SIMPLE) enters the story. She’s investigating the murders as the kidnapping plot plays out.

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The gender flipped version of PRETTY WOMAN doesn’t even understand why that fantasy worked. Kat Ellis (Debra Messing, TV’s WILL & GRACE) is desperate to make her ex-fiancee Jeffrey (Jeremy Sheffield, TV’s MERLIN) jealous at her sister Amy’s wedding that she hires legendary male prostitute Nick Mercer (Dermot Mulroney, ABOUT SCHIMDT). Jeffrey is the best man for Edward (Jack Davenport, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL) who is marrying Amy (Amy Adams, JUNEBUG).

Messing’s character is annoying and rude. Mulroney’s character is the cool and calm “perfect man,” who knows how to woo any woman. Never works for one second. Then the film tries to have Kat and Nick fall for each other. There’s less chemistry here than in a social studies class. There’s also a twist-secret that Nick finds out before Kat that is so lamely executed.

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South Korea is a hotbed of a lot of really cool cinema right now. Director Chan-wook Park is leading this revolution. His OLDBOY from earlier in the year has grown on me the more and more I think about it. The twist at the end of that film is truly shocking. Like OLDBOY, SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE grips you from the start with its kidnapping tale and then spins in directions that you can’t imagine where it will go next.

Ryu (Ha-kyun Shin, SAVE THE GREEN PLANET!) is deaf and dumb and works a hard labor job in an effort to take care of his sick sister (Ji-Eun Lim), who desperately needs a kidney transplant. When he is laid off, his anarchist girlfriend Cha Yeong-mi (Du-na Bae) devises a plan to kidnap the daughter of his former boss, Park Dong-jin (Kang-ho Song, JOINT SECURITY AREA).

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Disney really let a potential blockbuster slip through their fingers with this one. It’s HARRY POTTER with superheroes and they didn’t see the potential in a great franchise. The film got dumped in August with little support and wasn’t even screened for all the critics.

Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano, LORDS OF DOGTOWN) is the son of the two most famous superheroes in the world — The Commander (Kurt Russell, ESACPE FROM NEW YORK) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston, JERRY MAGUIRE). He is about to attend a special high school for superheroes and is an instant celeb because of his parents. Making things worse is that his powers haven’t materialized yet.

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This supernatural thriller is well-crafted and engaging, but only to a point. Caroline Ellis (Kate Hudson, ALMOST FAMOUS) is a caretaker for older people in New Orleans. She takes a position with Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands, THE NOTEBOOK) to take care of her husband, Ben (John Hurt, ALIEN), who cannot speak and can barely walk after an accident in their home. The Devereaux’s lawyer Luke (Peter Sarsgaard, SHATTERED GLASS) informs Caroline that several nurses have not worked out, which adds to her suspicion that maybe Violet has something to do with Ben’s affliction.

While snooping around, Violet finds strange things in the attic. Her friend Jill (Joy Bryant, ANTWONE FISHER) informs her that its hoodoo, which is a form of magic that sprung up in the bayou years ago and can only have an affect on those who believe in it.

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