NEW RELEASES

“School of Rock (2003)”
(108 minutes, Rated PG-13 for some rude humor and drug references)

Jack Black is becoming one of my favorite leading movie comedians. In “School of Rock,” he plays an obsessed, but down-on-his-luck rocker who secretly accepts his roommate’s teaching assignment at a private school to make some extra money. But rather than teaching his students the basics, he instead gets caught up in exposing them to the great rockers of the ‘70s’, and in assembling a school rock band to participate in a local battle-of-the-bands competition. This is not a film for scholars seeking enlightenment, but is a fitting tribute to the irreverence of rock-and-roll and to the euphoria of music and performing. And at its innocent center is Black who single-handedly, with an intensity and charisma rarely seen in the movies, takes this film of fluff and makes it something magical and, dare I say, uplifting.

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“ Mona Lisa Smile” (2003)
(117 minutes, Rated PG-13 for sexual content and thematic issues)

In what portends to be a movie about female empowerment at a closed-minded Wellesley College in the 1950’s, “Mona Lisa Smile” is so concerned with its PC messages that director Mike Newell sacrifices all reality in favor of repeating the mantra that women can grow up to be more than the future wives of America. I agree with the message, but then again who doesn’t? This is a movie made a few decades too late to be a revelation. And as each character becomes a cliché – either the passive, downtrodden female or the bitter woman who wants to maintain the status quo – Katherine (Julia Roberts), “Lisa’s” perfect heroine, looks less like a believable motivator and more like an artificial, idealized saint; propped up by one unbelievable melodrama after another.

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BACK SHELF PICKS

“The Blues Brothers” (1980)
(133 minutes, Rated R)

With the release of “Starsky and Hutch” in theaters and “School of Rock” on video, I’m reminded of another movie based on a television show that brought back the magic of music. “The Blues Brothers,” starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi from their popular Saturday Night Live sketch, is technically a movie about two ex-convict brothers who put a blues band together in order to pay off their church’s tax debt. But really this is nothing more than a musical revue with a broad comedy tying together the loose ends, bringing together such artists as John Lee Hooker, Aretha Franklin and James Brown to celebrate music in a way that no other film has successfully replicated. The fact that behind the music is the hilarious chemistry of the reserved Aykroyd and the uncontrollable Belushi only makes it more endearing.

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“You Can Count On Me” (1999)
(109 minutes, Rated R for language, some drug use and a scene of sexuality)

Sammy (Laura Linney) is one of the strongest women depicted in films of the last decade. Unlike message films, like “Monster’s Ball” or “Mona Lisa Smile,” which go to great lengths to distort reality in their repetitive praise of their heroine, “You Can Count On Me” is about a woman so independent and free-spirited that it never need be mentioned. The movie is about a reunion of sorts, the bad-seed brother (Mark Ruffalo) returning to his rural home, in need of a spiritual realignment. The film’s deceptively simple themes about family, loyalty, and the dichotomy of home - always constant yet always changing - will strike a chord with everyone who reminisces about their past, simultaneously wishing they could return while aware it will never again be the way it was.

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Best Viewed at 800 X 600 or greater
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