film

I AM CURIOUS (YELLOW) and I AM CURIOUS (BLUE). Olof Palme, the former Prime Minister of Sweden, appears in the highly controversial and celebrated 1967 film I Am Curious (Yellow). The 1968 counterpart is just as erotic and just as blunt in its portrayal of contemporary youth. Directed by Vilgot Sjˆman. Screenings Saturday Feb. 8. 7 pm and 9:30 pm, respectively. Tickets $7/students $5. No one under 18 admitted. Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center. (TIH)

BOSTON FAITH AND FILM FESTIVAL. This weekend, Brattle hosts the 2003 Boston Faith and Film Festival, a two-day, seven-film extravaganza. Revered classics from Bunuel and Dreyer will share space with such recent works as Malcolm X, Amelie and The Apostle. Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8. Tickets $8.50, $7.50 matinees, $5.50 seniors/children under 12. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., (617) 876-6837. (BJS)

HARVARD SQUARE LOEWS

10 CHURCH ST., (617) 864-4580

ABOUT SCHMIDT. About Schmidt, in a bizarrely somber, comedic fashion, is possibly the most depressing film of Jack Nicholson’s long career. His performance as a retired insurance executive is a deeply complex and hilariously tragic portrayal of the most banal aspects of one man’s post-mid-life crisis. Director Alexander Payne, famous for his digressions on suburban angst in films such as Election and Citizen Ruth, keeps the tone light and the characters archetypally and delicously bizarre. About Schmidt screens at 12:15, 3:15, 7 and 10 p.m. (CJF)

ADAPTATION. At its core, Adaptation is an analysis of the intellectual diseases that plague every writer, from editorial pressure to sibling rivalry to unrequited love. But its narrative edges make it a unique experience. Nicolas Cage plays writer Charlie Kaufman (the real-life writer of the film), who becomes consumed by his assignment to adapt Susan Orlean’s meditative nonfiction novel The Orchid Thief and his own personal eccentricities. Like Kaufman and director Spike Jonze’s previous film Being John Malkovich, several plots overlap and intertwine with surprising dramatic twists, creating a frustrating, complex film that is infinitely insightful and weirdly moving. Adaptation screens at 12:30, 3:30, 6:15 and 9:15 p.m. (CJF)

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Steven Spielberg takes a breather from sci-fi/adventure romps and historical morality plays to dust off his moribund ‘lost boy’ conceit, reigniting it to power this breezy, rambling 1960s-set caper. Leonardo DiCaprio spends the movie perpetrating a richly entertaining string of identity cons and check fraud that Spielberg tempers with rather obvious meditations on the state of the nuclear family. Amidst the mischief and philosophizing, Tom Hanks, as the dry, wry FBI man tailing DiCaprio, ends up stealing the movie by internalizing his ‘decent everyman’ persona. Hanks begins the film with a lid on his personality, but gradually relaxes enough to reveal a remarkable warmth. Catch Me If You Can screens at 12, 3, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. (BJS)

CHICAGO. The potential revival of the Hollywood musical is upon us with Chicago—for better or worse. Ignoring its politicized ramifications as a genre revival, Chicago on its own is a pretty wild ride, showcasing once and for all that the new school of glitzy film stars can sing better than Jennifer Lopez. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, and especially John C. Reilly are surprisingly watchable in this furiously edited, expensive adaptation of the murderous Broadway classic. Die-hard Bob Fosse fans may leave screaming in disgust, but fortunately for the rest of us director Rob Marshall knows the difference between film and theater, and milks it with remarkable excess. Chicago screens at 1, 4, 7:30 and 10:10 p.m. (CJF)

THE HOURS. This adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer-winning novel is unapologetically Oscar bait, a solemn, century-spanning “what is life?” treatise backed by a triumvirate of A-list actresses (Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore) and directed by Billy Elliot vet Stephen Daldry. Yet for a film of its ostensible weight, The Hours certainly takes easy shots at its lead trio – three colossally boring straw women who rediscover their lost vitality in drearily obvious ways as the picture progresses. Perhaps The Hours’ greatest value rests in its side-by-side comparison of Moore, the greatest actress of

her generation, and Streep, the most acclaimed actress of hers; when judged head-to-head, Moore ends up easily topping Streep, if for no other reason than that Streep persists in being an actress onscreen while Moore is content to be a person. The Hours screens at 12:45, 3:45, 6:45 and 9:45 p.m. (BJS)

KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA

ONE KENDALL SQ., (617) 494-9800

25TH HOUR. Spike Lee’s latest film isn’t much of a narrative departure from his previous efforts. Money and shattered dreams rule this story of drug dealer Monty Brogan’s (Edward Norton) last day of freedom before his seven-year jail sentence begins. The final act packs a phenomonal punch, but its dealer-with-a-heart-of-gold premise is predictable and derivative, typical of Lee’s long-time filmic obsession with the soft side of seemingly reprehensible humanity. 25th Hour screens at 2:45, 6:25 and 9:25 p.m. (CJF)

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE. Michael Moore’s quintessential documentary on red-neck Americana and its political basis has turned more heads in curiosity than a gun show in Harvard Square would. Criticized for its self-indulgence and questionable objectivity, Bowling for Columbine is nonetheless a dazzling example of the power of politically charged cinema. Probably the most talked-about film of the year, Columbine effectively condenses nearly a decade of American history into a digestible, moving meditation on the sources of American gun violence. That’s no small feat. Bowling for Columbine screens at 1:35, 4:15, 7:10 and 9:50 p.m. (CJF)