Film capsules -- 1997-2001

Gabbeh (Not rated) 80 min. Unreviewed.
Mohsen Makhmalbaf directs this Iranian fable about a girl who materializes from a carpet to tell a story about the power of art and passion.

Galaxy Quest (PG) 104 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
A clever, light-hearted comic parody of Star Trek, in which the out-of-work actors from a defunct TV series are recruited by real-life aliens to battle space monsters for real. A superb cast helps sustain the one-joke premise. Starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Tony Shalhoub. Directed by Dean Parisot. DreamWorks. Rated PG, with cartoonish violence.

The Game (R) 128 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A tightly coiled tycoon (Michael Douglas) goes through experiences that literally scare the daylights out of him -- and the humanity back into him. In a scenario that careens all over the place, Douglas is steadiness itself. Polygram Films. Rated R, with sex, violence and profanity.

Gang Related (R) 111 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
James Belushi and Tupac Shakur co-star in Jim Kouf's gritty, violent police drama about crooked cops who have created a web of corruption that becomes more and more entangled the more they try to get out of it. Both actors deliver fine performances, and are ably supported by Dennis Quaid, David Paymer, James Earl Jones and Lela Rochon. It's Shakur's last film. Orion. Rated R, with profanity, violence, nudity and drug use.

Gattaca (PG-13, violence, profanity) 112 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An intriguing futuristic story about a world in which genetics determine one's future -- and one young man who defies the odds, to achieve something greater. Starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. Directed by Andrew Niccol. TriStar Pictures. Rated PG-13, with profanity and mild violence.

The General (R) 129 min. Our rating: 6 Review · Clips
This film tells the true story about the life and death of career criminal Martin Cahill in Dublin. Brendan Gleeson, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Adrian Dunbar star. Directed by John Boorman. Sony Picture Classics. Rated R, for profanity.

The General's Daughter (R) 116 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
The Long Gray Line of West Point Army lore becomes a stone wall of silence in Simon West's muddled mystery tale of rape and murder on a steamy Georgia military base. John Travolta enlivens the project as the wisecracking military investigator. James Woods and Madeleine Stowe co-star. Rated R, with profanity, violence, rape and rough sex.

Genghis blues (U) 80 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review
A marvelous documentary about an eccentric meeting of musical styles, profiling a San Francisco blues musician who travels to exotic Tuva, north of Mongolia, to participate in a throat-singing music festival. If you like films that take you places you've never been, check it out. Roko Belic directs. Roxy Releasing. Unrated, and inoffensive.

George of the Jungle (PG) 90 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A vaguely amusing live-action film version of the late-1960s' TV cartoon series that will amuse children (with its slapstick) and make sentient adults wonder just what's wrong with the world when someone will spend $50 million-plus making a movie like this. Starring Brendan Fraser, Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church. Directed by Sam Weisman. Walt Disney Pictures. Rated PG, with mild profanity and bodily-function humor.

Get Bruce (R) 75 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Documentary about hard-working comedy writer Bruce Vilanch, the laugh doctor to some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Includes interviews from clients Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Bette Midler and Paul Reiser. Rated R.

Get Carter (U) 102 min. Not reviewed. Clips
Sylvester Stallone returns to the screen with a vengeance as a vicious hitman who returns home to seek his brother's killers. Remake of the 1971 thriller. Co-starring Miranda Richardson and Mickey Rourke. Rated R, with violence, rough language and drug use.

Get Over It (PG-13) 94 min. Not reviewed. Clips
Jilted athlete Ben Foster is so desperate to win back his girlfriend that he quits basketball and tries out for a Shakespeare play. But soon he takes interest in his best friend's little sister (Kirsten Dunst).

Get Real (R) 110 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A gay high school student who fantasizes about his school's hunky jock finds that a relationship may not be so unattainable, in this British import. Stars Ben Silverstone, Brad Gorton, Charlotte Brittain, Stacy A. Hart and Kate McEnery. Directed by Simon Shore. Paramount Classics. Rated R, for language and sexual content.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (R) 116 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A quirky comedy from writer-director Jim Jarmusch, blending mafia gangsters, Eastern philosophy, a black assassin who envisions himself a samurai, and hip-hop music. Forest Whitaker stars. Fans of the eccentric and off-beat will have a ball. Others will be puzzled. Artisan. Rated R, with strong violence and profanity.

Ghosts of Mars (R) 98 min. Our rating: 3 Review · Clips
Police go to Mars to take custody of a murder suspect but discover the mining town where he's being held has been overrun by possessed miners. Starring Ice Cube and Natasha Henstridge. Directed by John Carpenter. Screen Gems. Rated R, with strong violence, gore, rough language and some drug content.

Ghosts of Mississippi (R) 130 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
The saga of the 30-year fight to convict Byron de la Beckwith, the man accused of killing civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963. Whoopi Goldberg plays Evers' widow; Alec Baldwin the district attorney. Directed by Rob Reiner. Castle Rock. Rated PG-13, with profanity and violence.

Ghost World (R) 98 min. Not rated. Clips
Terry Zwigoff, who last directed the offbeat documentary Crumb, returns with an adaptation of Daniel Clowes' acclaimed comic book series. As Rebecca (Scarlet Johansson) and Enid (Thora Birch) graduate from high school, they reject most of humanity as "creeps, geeks and losers" until Enid meets uber-geek (Steve Buschemi). Rated R, with language and sexual content.

The Gift (R) 110 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
Sam Raimi's uneven Southern Gothic psychic thriller, with Cate Blanchett as a young widow whose paranormal skills involve her in a murder mystery. Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes and Giovanni Ribisi head an impressive supporting cast. The screenplay is an early work from Billy Bob Thornton, teamed with Tom Epperson. Paramount Classics. Rated R, with violence, profanity and nudity.

G.I. Jane (R) 125 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
One-handed push-ups and a shaved head are only the most obvious examples of Demi Moore's commitment to the engrossing and topical new military drama from directer Ridley Scott. Moore has never been better than she is as Lt. Jordan O'Neil, a woman fighting for the right to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her male counterparts as a Navy SEAL. Viggo Mortensen and Anne Bancroft co-star. Hollywood Pictures. Rated R, with strong profanity and brief nudity.

The Gingerbread Man (R) 115 min. Garner's rating: u
A woman (Embeth Davidz) enlists the aid of a lawyer (Kenneth Branagh) to win control of her father's estate on the grounds he is insane in thes thriller directed by Robert Altman. Co-starring Robert Duvall, Daryl Hannah, Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Barenger.

Girlfight (R) 122 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
This film puts a novice actress and first-time filmmaker in the boxing ring -- and both score a knockout. As written and directed by Karyn Kusama, Girlfight puts a refreshing, cross-gender spin on the classic fight-game scenario. In it, a young Brooklyn girl struggles for direction and self-worth. Michelle Rodriguez stars for director Karyn Kusama. Screen Gems. Rated R, with profanity, violence and sex.

Girl, Interrupted (R) 127 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Winona Ryder stars as an adolescent mental hospital patient who discovers there's only the slightest difference between the sane and the insane -- and that difference isn't easily understood. Angelina Jolie is fabulous as a likable but dangerous sociopath who befriends her. James Mangold directs. Sony Pictures. Rated R, with strong profanity, and violence.

Girl on the Bridge (R) 90 min. Our rating: 9 Review
A 22-year-old woman contemplating suicide on the edge of a bridge is offered a job from a professional knife-thrower. When she refuses and jumps, he follows and the two find themselves in Monaco where her luck changes dramatically. Rated R, with some sexuality.

Gladiator (R) 154 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Director Ridley Scott brings back the glory that was Rome -- on the big screen. Russell Crowe is propelled to stardom in the first full-fledged Roman epic in more than three decades. Joaquin Phoenix and Oliver Reed co-star. DreamWorks. Rated R, with much strong violence.

The Glass House (PG-13) 118 min. Unrated. Clips
Two orphans (Leelee Sobieski and Trevor Morgan) suspect their adoptive parents of hiding a dark secret. Rated PG-13 with thematic events, violence, drug content and language.

Glitter (PG-13) 120 min. Not rated. Clips
This rags-to-riches, semi-biographical saga stars Mariah Carey as Billie Frank, a girl who rises from New York City night clubs to become a pop superstar. Max Beesley is the boyfriend who aids her in her rise to the top. Rated PG-13, with some sensuality, adult language and brief violence.

Gloria (R) 114 min. Clips
Sharon Stone stars as a streetwise neighbor who protects a young boy after his family is killed by the Mafia. Sony. Rated R, for violence and language.

Go (R) 100 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A serio-comic adventure that recounts quite a night of casual drugs, casual sex and desperate measures in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. And it does it amusingly, in an irreverent, cynical, gritty-chic tone that'll score with the film's 18-to-30-year-old target audience. Doug Liman directs Sarah Polley, William Fichtner, Jay Mohr, Scott Wolf, Taye Diggs and Katie Holmes. Rated R, with strong profanity, violence, nudity, sex and drug use.

Gods and Monsters (R) 105 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Ian McKellen stars in this fictional recreation of director James Whale's final days of life and his relationship with a young gardener. Co-starring Brandon Fraser and Lynn Redgrave. Lions Gate Films. Rated R, with profanity, violence and adult themes.

Godzilla (PG-13) 139 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
Spectacular effects overtake a mediocre script as hot filmmakers Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin deliver a big-time summer monster movie. Their creature is a stupendous visual effects wonder. His struggling co-stars include Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Hank Azaria, and Maria Pitillo. Columbia Tri-Star. Rated PG-13, with profanity and rampant action-movie destruction.

Godzilla 2000 (PG) 97 min. Garner's rating: 2 Review · Clips
This is NOT a big-budget Hollywood sequel to the 1998 big-budget Hollywood film with Matthew Broderick. This is a return to the low-budget guy in the dinosaur suit, traipsing across a cardboard model landscape, as sparks fly from knocked-down, high-tension wires. Rated PG.

Golden Bowl (R) 130 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A polished Merchant-Ivory adaptation of the Henry James novel about romantic complications among two couples in Europe near the turn of the last century. Uma Thurman and Nick Nolte star for director James Ivory. Rated R, with brief violence, sexuality, adult issues.

Gone Fishin' (PG) 100 min. Unreviewed.
Joe Pesci and Danny Glover star as fishing buddies who get reeled into a jewel heist.

Gone in 60 seconds (PG-13) 119 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
From its revved-up attitude to its chrome heart, Dominic Sena's action flick replaces the musclebound stars of previous summers with 50 muscle cars -- all to be stolen on one night by a master car thief (Nicolas Cage) and his accomplices, just so we can watch them race across Los Angeles with other thieves and the cops in rubber-laying pursuit. Angelina Jolie and Robert Duvall co-star, with not much to do. Touchstone. Rated PG-13, with in-control violence and profanity, and brief implied sex.

Gone With the Wind (G) 222 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Hollywood's all-time favorite epic, back on the big screen in a spiffy, new digitized edition. Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland co-star for credited director Victor Fleming. New Line. Rated G.

Good Burger (PG) 90 min. Our rating: 5 Review
A high-spirited if highly inconsistent comedy aimed at a pre-teen audience, who know the comedy team of Kenan and Kel from their Nickelodeon TV shows. Starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. Paramount. Rated PG, with mild profanity and sexual suggestions.

Goodbye Lover (R) 104 min. Our rating: 3 Review · Clips
Money is the motive in this overwrought story of double and triple crosses. Stars Patricia Arquette, Dermot Mulroney, Mary-Louise Parker and Ellen DeGeneres. Warner Bros. Rated R, with profanity, violence and sex.

Good Will Hunting (R) 126 min. Our rating: 10 Review · Clips
Gus Van Sant's perceptive, funny, moving film about a brilliant but emotionally disturbed young man and the troubled therapist who helps him. Matt Damon (who also co-wrote the script) and Robin Williams are both fabulous. Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver and Stellan Skarsgard co-star. Rated R, with much coarse language, sexual references and brief violence.

Gosford Park (R) 137 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Robert Altman's entertaining social satire of 1930s England, delightfully blending Upstairs, Downstairs and a mystery in the Agatha Christie tradition. The cast is a virtual who's who of British acting nobility, from Maggie Smith and Alan Bates to Emily Watson and Derek Jacobi. USA Films. Rated R, with profanity.

Gossip (R) 90 min. Our rating: 2 Review · Clips
Back-stabbing yakkers snowball an idle rumor about one of their crowd into a major campus incident in this hollow tale. Stars James Marsden, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus and Kate Hudson. Warner Bros. 90 minutes. Rated R, with rape, substance abuse and rough language.

The Governess (R) 114 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An often-intriguing tale of a Jewish woman in 1840 London who disguises herself as a Christian to work as a governess for a Scottish family. Minnie Driver stars for capable first-time writer-director Sandra Goldbacher. Sony Classics. Rated R, with nudity and sex.

Goya in Bordeaux (R) 98 min. Garner's rating: 7
Carlos Saura's highly stylized, surreal exploration of the career of the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya is best approached by a knowledgable audience. The Spanish-language film is exquisitely shot, though, by noted cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, who meticulously re-creates the scenes of some of Goya's most famous paintings. Rated R, with violent imagery.

Grateful Dawg (PG-13) 81 min. Npt rated. Clips
Gillian Grisman directs a homegrown documentary exploring the friendship and roots music shared by her father, David Grisman, and Jerry Garcia.

Gray's Anatomy (Not rated) 80 min. Our rating: 9 Review
An engaging and entertaining monologue by Spalding Gray, about his travels in search of a new-age cure for an eye ailment. Starring Spalding Gray. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Northern Arts Entertainment. Not rated, with profanity.

Grease (PG) 110 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
Untrammeled by time, fresh-faced John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John return in their adorable, big-blue-eyed youth as the adolescent '50s' lovers of the re-released, spiffed-up musical Grease. Directed by Randal Kleiser. Rated PG, with suggestiveness.

Great Expectations (R) 120 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clip
A modern remake of the Dickens classic, starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow as star-crossed lovers, and Anne Bancroft and Robert De Niro as eccentric characters who influence their lives. Uneven but valiant, the new version is alternately ultra-romantic or sudsy; and not always plausible as a tale of the late 20th century. Alfonso Cuaron directs. Fox. Rated R, with profanity and relatively discreet nudity.

Greenfingers (R) 91 min. Our rating: 7 Review · Clips
Greenfingers strikes a perfect larky tone even though it is unafraid of the occasional sentimental flourish. It's a small enchantment of a movie, distinctive for both its freshness and finesse. Starring Helen Mirren and Clive Owen. Directed by Joel Hershman. IDP. Rated R, with rough language and some sexuality.

The Green Mile (R) 187 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
The long but intriguing tale of a Southern prison guard of the 1930s and his relationship with a strange, mystical death row inmate. Tom Hanks stars. Written and directed by Frank Darabont. Warner Bros. Rated R, with profanity and strong violence, including a horrific electrocution that goes wrong.

Gridlock'd (R) 91 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A hard-edged, darkly funny satire about two Detroit junkies who want to go straight, but find the entanglements of government bureaucracy hard to overcome. Tim Roth and the late Tupac Shakur co-star for writer-director Vondie Curtis Hall, who has created a sort of urban America variation of Trainspotting. Gridlock'd grabs "the system" by the collar and tries to shake some sense into it. Gramercy. Rated R, with strong profanity, violence, drug use and nudity.

Groove (R) 90 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A group of young San Franciscans spend a night at an illicit rave, taking drugs and dancing. Lots of music, little plot and even less purpose. Starring Lola Glaudini, Hamish Linklater and Steve Van Wormer. Directed by Greg Harrison. Sony Pictures Classics. Rated R, with profanity and adult themes.

Grosse Pointe Blank (R) 106 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
The season's best comedy, a hip and humorous saga about a hit man (John Cusack) whose mid-life crisis comes to a head when he walks into his 10-year high school reunion. Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd and Joan Cusack co-star for director George Armitage. John Cusack also co-wrote and produced. Hollywood Pictures. Rated R, with profanity and violence.

Guinevere (R) 104 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A May-September romantic comedy that's short on laughs, about a recent college grad who falls for a seductive older wedding photographer who wants to school her in the art of life. Stars Stephen Rea and Sarah Polley. Directed by Audrey Wells. Miramax Films. Rated R, with profanity and nudity.

Gummo (R) Unreviewed.
Gritty tale that explores the dysfunctional lives of residents of a poverty-stricken Ohio town. Starring Jacob Reynolds, Nick Sutton and Chloe Sevigny. Directed by Harmony Korine (Kids). Rated R.