Writer-star Nia Vardalos’ follow-up to indie smash My Big Fat Greek Wedding treats gay transvestites with the same loving care she previously slathered over the Greeks: she reduces them to the sparest possible stereotypes in order to make as many “ain’t this wacky” jokes as is possible in this wildly mediocre rehash of Some Like It Hot. Like in that classic comedy, two performers witness mob violence and go on the run. This time the heroes find refuge on the gay circuit, where they pretend to be men dressing up as women. Eventually David Duchovny shows up to provide a heterosexual love interest. (SAW)

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

In director Michel Gondry’s latest effort, a company named Lacuna Incorporated has acquired the technology to erase the foul taste of a past partner. Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) discovers this after tracing a note to ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet), asking mutual friends not to raise his name in conversation with her. Since the ex is not supposed to see these notes, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson), the inventor of the treatment and the founder of Lacuna, agrees to perform the operation on Joel as well. The centerpiece of the movie begins as Joel slowly realizes that, though his final memories of the relationship are tough to handle, he wants to remember at least some of the more pleasant aspects. Jim Carrey is actually quiet for significant pieces of the role: he underplays, giving Joel a quiet dignity that makes the eventual disgrace in losing control over his own mind that much sadder. Exiting Sunshine is looking at the world with new eyes, possibly the highest tribute that can be paid to art. (SAW)

GOOD BYE LENIN!

Good Bye Lenin! centers on the experience of East Berliner Alex Kerner, played by wide-eyed 24-year-old Daniel Brühl, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. After fainting during the Berlin riots, Alex’s mother (Katrin Sass) enters a deep coma for several months. Upon his mother’s release, the doctor cautions Alex that he must insulate her from any shocks, because a stressful event could kill her. Since his mother was fiercely loyal to the idealism of the DDR, Alex makes it his goal to keep her from finding out about the dramatic political changes through which she slept. Good Bye Lenin! is dotted with distilled illustrations of the many facets of the reunification, some of which shine much brighter than others. He does not fall into the trap of romanticizing the past at the expense of historical fact; his characters cherish their new conveniences and freedom of expression, and don’t miss the panoptic party structure of socialism. (WBP)

HELLBOY

Although this had all the makings of a routine genre exercise—only one man can stop a madman from taking over the world—director Guillermo del Toro and star Ron Perlman are too witty to settle into cliché. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable action-comedy that takes obvious pleasure in its faith to its comic book roots and Jeffrey Tambor. Really, what more can you ask? (SAW)

JERSEY GIRL

After the death of wife Gertrude (Jennifer Lopez), Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck), a workaholic music publicist whose pathological impatience is both his greatest asset and worst liability, is left to take care of their baby, a daughter he names Gertie. Unable to cope with his wife’s death or his new role as parent, Trinke immerses himself in work until his father, Bart (George Carlin), refuses to take care of Gertie any longer. Flustered, abandoned, and completely covered in baby powder, Trinke has a very public nervous breakdown at a news conference. Though Affleck should never attempt to cry on film (or say the line “I’m gonna be the best daddy in the world!”), Jersey Girl nevertheless benefits from his non-method approach to acting, which fits in with the film’s down-to-earth style and subject matter. Like all of Smith’s previous movies, Jersey Girl is almost as littered as New Jersey itself with curse words, sex jokes, and an long list of A-list cameos (some amusing if predictable, others genuinely surprising). Having based his career thus far on sexual innuendoes and pot references, Smith has produced a surprisingly insightful movie about definitions of family and success in an ever-accelerating world. With an ending that is predictable without being formulaic, Jersey Girl should appeal to a wide spectrum of moviegoers. (NKB)

JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION

Take another trip with this update on the Chevy Chase vacation saga. Cedric the Entertainer is the patriarch of an adorably wacky family—which features the no longer lil’ Bow Wow—traveling cross-country for a family reunion. Watch as the antics get more and more clichéd, but enjoy the random bursts of dumb fun, like the hot tub antics with two obese white women and the legitimately humorous guest appearance of frequent Cedric collaborator Steve Harvey as Cedric’s brother. (SAW)

KILL BILL: VOL. 2

Kill Bill: Vol. 2, is an ode to the most cunning and sensuous lips ever to grace the screen. Under the lens of Robert Richardson, an emerging master of the close-up, Uma Thurman’s lips star in Vol. 2 as though they were themselves a separate character. Indeed, an entire subplot could be drawn merely among the players’ lips, which Tarantino leaves under scrutiny through his final scene. Surely most moviegoers will reject this lip thesis in favor of the fairly blatant kung fu theme which runs through—and, admittedly, uplifts—both volumes of Kill Bill. And certainly Quentin Tarantino has created a mildly epic tribute to his favored genre. But Vol. 2 makes a compelling case for a more serious interpretation of Tarantino’s talent, and the film justifies the otherwise vapid (and very cool) Vol. 1, which should never have existed as a separate film. Indeed, Tarantino’s lip fetish is itself enough to empower Vol. 2 with far more powerful scenes than Vol. 1: when a tied-up Beatrix must wrap her lips around a flashlight, the degrading image is worth more than any moment in the first volume. Here Tarantino employs the same technique as in Reservoir Dogs, where he subtly focused on his characters’ ears before slicing one off in the end. It’s a cruel trick, but a crafty one—and proof that Tarantino plays more than lip service to the art of film. (ZMS)

THE LADYKILLERS