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, Bowling for 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. Winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary. Bowling for Columbine screens at 1:40 and 9:30 p.m. (CJF)

LAUREL CANYON. Frances McDormand plays against type in Laurel Canyon, a well-crafted family dramedy by director Lisa Cholodenko. McDormand, the overbearing mom in Almost Famous, this time plays the type of fast-moving music producer scorned by her character in Cameron Crowe’s amusing 2000 cult favorite. Among her character’s transgressions: inviting Alex (Beckinsale), her future daughter-in-law, to join a three-way as part of an unconventional “getting to know you” exercise. Sam, her uber-straightlaced son (Christian Bale), would not approve. Sam and Alex are the best-looking Harvard grad school alums since Reese Witherspoon’s law school party girl in Legally Blonde. Family issues aside, one leaves the film wishing that life imitated art more often. Laurel Canyon screens at 2, 4:35, 7:10 and 9:35. (NKB)

LAWLESS HEART. Friends and family converge on a small town in northern England for a funeral in Lawless Heart. Stuart, the deceased, was a young gay man who leaves behind a healthy bank account and successful restaurant when he drowns off the Isle of Man. Nick, his partner, and Dan, his brother-in-law, immediately begin competing over the restaurant. Both are sidetracked by unexpected relationships: Nick with his first woman, and Dan with an inappropriately frisky female guest at Stuart’s funeral. The film’s structure is initially somewhat confusing-it revisits the funeral and other scenes three times from the perspectives of three different people. But once the story gets going, it’s surprisingly humorous and heartfelt. Lawless Heart screens at 2:30, 4:55, 7:25 and 10. (NKB)

LEVITY. In some alternate universe, I’m sure that Billy Bob Thornton can go two years at a time without being cast as a killer, a psycho or a racist. In our universe, though, he is headlining the find-yourself drama Levity, playing a convicted murderer who has just been released from prison after 22 years. Back in the free world, he finds his way with the help of Holly Hunter as the sister of Thornton’s victim and Morgan Freeman as a local reverend (playing a man of God before warming up to play the big guy himself in Bruce Almighty). Kirsten Dunst also stars as the resident good-looking rebellious teen; who will be able to set her straight? Could it be America’s Favorite Psycho? Levity screens at 1:45, 4:15, 6:50 and 9:50 p.m. (BJS)

NOWHERE IN AFRICA. This year’s Oscar winner for best foreign film sheds new light on the exodus of one small group German Jewish refugees in the late 1930s. It’s the tale of Walter Redlich, a Jewish lawyer who goes to Africa to live with the European expatriate community (which is now mostly Jewish) in and around Nairobi. After opening with scenes of his family’s comfortable home life back in Germany, the film depicts the Redlichs adapt to their new home on a desolate Kenyan farm and struggle with relationships between family members and other refugees from Nazi-controlled Europe . Particularly interesting is Walter’s daughter, Regina, who quickly transitions to life Kenya, embracing the country as her true home and being accepted by native Kenyans after learning their language. The story ultimately questions what a home is. Despite early misgivings, Jettel, Regina’s mother, is ultimately won over as well. They grudgingly accompany Walter “home” to Germany-the country which rejected them and butchered the rest of their family-so that he can help rebuild the judicial system. The poignant story is enhanced by the Nowhere in Africa’s beautiful cinematography and evocative soundtrack. Winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Nowhere in Africa screens at 3, 6:15 and 9:20 p.m. (EC)

THE PIANIST. Adrien Brody’s magnetic, largely silent performance in Roman Polanski’s Holocaust drama almost compensates for The Pianist’s inconsistent tone and distasteful politi

cal sensibilities. Brody’s Wladek Szpilman, who could hardly have picked a worse time and place to be Jewish, transforms from cocky concert pianist to starving phantom hunted by Nazis after escaping death in the bombed-out ghetto. The film soars briefly as it reflects on the redemptive power of music and the Szpilman’s commitment to survival; it stumbles badly in its misleading depiction of universally heroic Poles and in its sympathy for an officer of Hitler’s vicious army to the east. Winner of this year’s Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay. The Pianist screens at 2:50, 6 and 9:10 p.m. (NKB)

TALK TO HER. The only recognition that Pedro Almodovar’s pretentious Talk to Her deserves is as the year’s most overrated film. Though beautifully shot and populated with a set of unusually complicated characters, Talk to Her shamelessly and outrageously asks its audience to sympathize with a rapist. The film manages, paradoxically, to be both sloppily edited and deadeningly self-conscious. As it progresses, the audience is slowly but surely ushered into a stupor very closely resembling that of the coma victim at the story’s inane center. Winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Talk to Her screens at 4:20 and 6:55 p.m. (NKB)

—Happening was edited by Michelle Chun ’05 and compiled by Tiffany I. Hsieh ’04, Ryan J. Kuo ’04, Benjamin J. Soskin ’04, Jayme J. Herschkopf ’06, Nathan K. Burstein ’04, Clint J. Froehlich ’05, Ashley Aull ’06, Christopher W. Platts ’06, Samuel H. Perwin ’04, Ben B. Chung ’06, Emily Caplan ’06, Gary Ho ’06, Josiah P. Child ’05, Julia E. Twarog ’05, Thomas J. Clarke ’04, Anthony S.A. Freinberg ’04 and Alexandra B. Moss ’05.