Film capsules -- 1997-2001

Haiku Tunnel (R) 92 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
Co-director and co-writer Josh Kornbluth stars as a guy named Josh Kornbluth in this low-budget comedy. He's a stellar temporary worker who takes a permanent job as a secretary at a law firm -- and immediately becomes a problem employee and a liar to boot. Rated R, with rough language and some sexuality.

Half Baked (R) 88 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Three dimwitted friends cook up an outrageous fund-raising scheme to bail a friend out of jail. Comedy starring Harland Williams, Jim Breuer, Dave Chappelle, Guillermo Diaz and Tommy Chong. Universal. Rated R.

Halloween H20 (R) 82 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A lean and scary thriller that catches up with the battle between the psychotic Michael Myers and his sister (Jamie Lee Curtis), 20 years after their original, horrific encounter. Adam Arkin, Josh Harnett, Michelle Williams, and LL Cool J co-star. Dimension Films. Rated R, with strong violence and profanity.

Hamlet (R) 112 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
An intriguing modern-day interpretation of Shakespeare's great tragedy, with Ethan Hawke and Julia Stiles. Michael Almereyda adapts and cuts the Bard's work, and directs admirably. Miramax. Rated R, with violence.

Hamlet (PG-13) 242 min. Garner's rating: 9 Clips
Kenneth Branagh's gorgeous epic version of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, filmed completely for the first time. Branagh stars, along with Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet and Richard Briers. A version of unprecedented clarity and deep emotion. Castle Rock. Rated PG-13, with the strong violence that's typical of Shakespeare's tragedies.

Hanging Garden (R) 95 min. Unreviewed.
Absorbing account of a young man's homecoming to his supremely dysfunctional family. Starring Chris Leavins. Rated R, with strong sexuality, language and drug use.

Hanging Up (PG-13) 93 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Despite a valiant effort from its star -- Meg Ryan -- this new comedy about grown sisters from producer Nora Ephron and director Diane Keaton is jittery and irritable, and nearly all its characters whine, whine, whine. Keaton, Lisa Kudrow and Walter Matthau co-star. Columbia. Rated PG-13, with profanity and sexual references.

Hannibal (R) 131 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Sequel to The Silence of the Lambs, starring Anthony Hopkins as the brilliant but cannibalistic Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Julianne Moore as Clarice Starling. MGM. Rated R, with violence and profanity.

Happiness (NR) 134 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
Black comedy, centered around three sisters that examines the lives of a group of New Jersey suburbanities whose veneer of affluence and well-being disquises a variety of secrets. Starring Jane Adams, Dylan Barker, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Camryn Manheim.

Happy Accidents (R) 105 min. Not reviewed. Clips
Marisa Tomei stars as an unlucky-in-love Manhattanite who falls for a man (Vincent D'Onofrio) who says he comes from Dubuque, Iowa. When we learn he means Dubuque in the year 2470, she must decide whether to believe him or throw him over. Rated R, with rough language.

Happy, Texas (PG-13) 104 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
An often-hilarious comedy about two escaped convicts who are mistaken for beauty pageant co-ordinators in a small Texas town. Jeremy Northam and a very funny Steve Zahn co-star for director-co-writer Mark Illsley. Miramax. Rated PG-13, with profanity and sexual references.

A Hard Day's Night (Unrated) 87 min. Not reviewed. Clips
George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr play jubilant versions of themselves in this reissued 1964 classic. Unrated.

Hardball (PG-13) 102 min. Our rating: 6 Review · Clips
Off-kilter tale about a debt-ridden scalper who agrees to coach a poor youth baseball team for much-needed cash. The film is often touching, but builds too many jokes around youngsters spouting expletives. Keanu Reeves stars for director Brian Robbins. Paramount. Rated PG-13, with profanity, violence and adult themes.

Hard Rain (R) 98 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Directed by Mikael Salomon, who is experienced with wet and wild movies, having earned Oscar nominations as cinematographer on The Abyss and Backdraft. And, certainly, special effects aren't a problem here. In fact, it's impressive to watch an entire film created in pouring rain. Rated R.

The Harmonists (R) 115 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
The true-life, bittersweet story of the Comedy Harmonists, a popular, half-Jewish singing group whose rise to popularity in Germany was shadowed ominously by the corresponding rise of the Nazis. Joseph Vilsmaier directs Ben Becker, Ulrich Noethen and Meret Becker. Miramax. Rated R, with brief nudity. In German, with English subtitles.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (PG) 153 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
A magical, first-rate adaptation of the oh-so-popular novel about an abused English orphan who discovers he's a famous wizard. Newcomer Daniel Radcliffe heads a cast of esteemed English pros, working for director Chris Columbus. Warner Bros. Rated PG, with a few dark moments that may be too intense for pre-schoolers, and mildly offensive language.

The Haunting (PG-13) 117 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
State-of-the-art special effects and the talents of Liam Neeson and Lili Taylor can't overcome a mediocre script in this lackluster remake of the superior 1963 film. The tale -- from a Shirley Jackson novel -- involves ghosts and secrets in an elaborate country mansion. DreamWorks. Rated PG-13, with profanity and brief but strong violence.

Hav Plenty (R) 93 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Romantic comedy about a struggling writer spending New Year's with a well-to-do college sweetheart for whom he still has feelings. Starring Chris Cherot, Tammi Jones and Robinne Lee. Miramax. Rated R, with profanity and sexuality.

Head Over Heels (PG-13) 90 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
An uneven romantic comedy with Freddie Prinze Jr. and Monica Potter as a couple establishing a romance despite their loony associates and dark suspicions. Mark Waters directs. Universal. Rated PG-13, with profanity, implied sex and innuendo.

Heartbreakers (PG-13) 123 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt play mother-and-daughter con artists, trying to hoodwink romantic prospects Ray Liotta and Gene Hackman out of millions. Played broadly, the film is an often-funny distaff variation of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, but is at least 20 minutes too long. David Mirkin directs. MGM. Rated PG-13, with considerable sexual innuendo and teasing suggestiveness.

Hearts in Atlantis (PG-13) 101 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Scott Hicks' elegiac coming-of-age tale, adapted from Stephen King stories, about a lonely boy who gets an emotional lift and sage advice from a boarder, a mysterious old psychic, played by Anthony Hopkins. Warner Bros. Rated PG-13, with violence.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (R) 91 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A gender-bender rock musical, about an androgynous performer's search for self-worth. Adapted from a cult Off-Broadway musical, it stars the charismatic John Cameron Mitchell, who also wrote and directed the strange, funny and engrossing saga. Fine Line. Rated R, with profanity, sex and violence.

He Got Game (R) 131 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A hard-edged look at big-time basketball and the stressful world of college recruiting. Real-life Milwaukee Bucks star Ray Allen makes an impressive acting debut as Jesus; Denzel Washington stars as his father, Jake. Rated R with profanity, nudity and sex.

Heaven's Prisoners (R) 140 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A Louisanna bayou murder mystery with Alec Baldwin and Teri Hatcher. Nudity, violence, sex, profanity. Steamy Louisiana swamp mystery; for the over-17 crowd only.

Heist (R) 111 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A crime caper with echoes of the earlier Score, but fueled by David Mamet's distinctive, entertaining writing and fine performances from Gene Hackman and Delroy Lindo. Danny DeVito and Rebecca Pidgeon also co-star. Mamet directs. Warner Bros. Rated R, with violence and strong profanity.

Held Up (PG-13) 100 min. Unreivewed. Clips
In this comedy, television's Jamie Foxx stars as a vacationer going through a period of bad luck. After losing his girlfriend and prized car, he finds himself caught in the middle of a hostage situation. Co-starring Nia Long and Jake Busey. Rated PG-13, with rough language, violence and sensuality.

Hellraiser 4: Bloodline (R) 90 min.
The return of Pinhead, with creator Clive Barker present only as the producer. Violence, profanity and nudity.

Henry Fool (R) 140 min. Our rating: 7 Clips
Thomas Jay Ryan and James Urbaniak star as a seedy stranger and an introverted trash collector whose paths cross, inalterably upending their lives. Sony Classics. Rated R, with strong sexuality, violence and profanity.

Here on Earth (PG) 100 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A Love Story clone for the new millennium, about an arrogant preppie forced to spend the summer working among the common folk -- and the blue-collar girl who wins his heart. Too sensitive by half. Starring Chris Klein and Leelee Sobieski. Directed by Mark Piznarski. Fox 2000 Pictures. Rated PG-13, with profanity, partial nudity and violence.

Hideous Kinky (R) 99 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A thin, wispy tale of a seeker who drags her daughters around Morocco in the early 1970s. Despite a solid performance by Kate Winslet, the film can't make up its mind whose story it wants to tell and, as a result, never gives us enough information about any of the characters. Stars Kate Winslet and Said Taghmaoui. Directed by Gillies MacKinnon. Stratsophere Entertainment. Rated R with profanity, nudity and violence.

High Art (R) 101 min. Not reviewed. Clips
Drama about a young editor ata photography magazine whose career advances when she becomes involved with a reclusive photographer. Starring Ally Sheedy, Radha Mitchell. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko. October Films. Rated R, with strong sexuality, nudity, drug use and vulgar language.

High Fidelity (R) 113 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A quirky, refreshing romantic comedy about a vinyl record store manager who's smarter at making top five fantasy record lists than he is at holding on to his girlfriends. John Cusack stars (and produces and co-writes). Stephen Frears directs. Touchstone. Rated R, with strong profanity and implied sex.

Highlander: Endgame Not reviewed. · Clips
The fate of mankind hangs in the balance as immortals Christopher Lambert and Adrian Paul unite the clan MacLeod against the forces of evil.

Hilary and Jackie (R) 120 min. Garner's rating: Review · Clips
Life of the late cellist Jacqueline du Pre as seen through the prism of her troubled relationship with her sister. Starring Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths and James Frain. October Films. Rated R, with nudity, profanity, sexuality and adult themes.

The Hi-Lo Country (R) 114 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
This atmospheric but uneven latter-day Western stars Woody Harrelson and Billy Crudup as Big Boy and Pete, life-long buddies and cowboys in the New Mexico of the years just after World War II. Sam Elliott and Patricia Arquette co-star for director Stephen Frears. Gramercy, 114 mins. Rated R, with profanity, violence and sex.

Himalaya (Not rated) 104 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review
A fascinating, beautifully filmed saga about Nepalese villagers vying for leadership of the annual salt-delivery caravan across the Himalayas. As created by Eric Valli, it's an exotic, deeply engrossing film. Kino International. Unrated, but of PG quality. In Tibetan, with English subtitles.

The Hollow Man (R) 114 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
A visual effects spectacular about a warped scientist who figures out how to make humans invisible. Though the effects astonish, the film falls short in more conventional script matters. Kevin Bacon and Elisabeth Shue co-star for director Paul Verhoeven. Columbia. Rated R, with profanity, violence, and nudity.

Hollow Reed (Not rated) 106 min. Our rating: 8 Review
A compelling if confused film about the struggle between a divorced couple over custody of their son in a story involving abuse and homophobia. Starring Martin Donovan and Joely Richardson. Directed by Angela Pope. Cinepix. Not rated; with profanity, violence, nudity and sexuality.

Holy Man (PG) 114 min. Our rating: 3 Review · Clips
Comedy starring Eddie Murphy as an unlikely TV evangelist who brings new life to a home-shopping network. With Jeff Goldblum as a perplexed network executive. Touchstone Pictures. Rated PG, with profanity and adult themes.

Holy Smoke (R) 120 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
An alternately engrossing and silly film about an American cult deprogrammer who goes to Australia to try to reclaim a young woman, who has joined a cult in India. Instead, he falls in love with her in a finale that seems calculated only to create large, moments for the actors. Stars Harvey Keitel and Kate Winslet. Directed by Jane Campion. Miramax Films. 120 minutes. Rated R, with profanity, nudity and violence.

Home Alone 3 (PG) 95 min. Our rating: 4 Review · Clips
A ridiculous remake of the original Home Alone, disguised as a sequel, in which one small child holds off a band of four high-tech home-invaders, using only his imagination and the tools in his dad's workshop. Kids will love it; adults will despair at its insipidity. Starring Alex D. Linz, Haviland Morris. Directed by Raja Gosnell. Twentieth Century-Fox. Rated PG, with cartoon violence and mild profanity.

Home Fries (PG-13) 97 min. Our's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Determinedly whimsical but seldom amusing, Home Fries is a movie that tries to hard to be offbeat and winds up just being off. Starring Luke Wilson, Drew Barrymore and Catherine O'Hara. Directed by Dean Parisot. Warner Bros. Rated PG-13, with profanity and violence.

Hoodlum (R) 142 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
An ambitious, but flawed gangland saga depicting battles between black numbers gangster Bumpy Johnson and white mobster Dutch Schultz in the Harlem of the mid-1930s. Though Tim Roth is fascinating as the psychotic Schultz, Lawrence Fishburne never manages to develop much deep for Johnson. Andy Garcia, Cecily Tyson and Vanessa Williams co-star for director Bill Duke. United Artists. Rated R, with much strong violence and profanity.

Hope Floats (PG-13) 114 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Sandra Bullock stars in this overly manipulative tear-jerker about a small-town girl who returns home after her marriage collapses. Her eccentric mother (Gena Rowlands) and an old boyfriend (Harry Connick Jr.) try to pull her out of her doldrums. Forest Whitaker directs. Twentieth Century Fox. Rated PG-13, with profanity and adult situations (including painful parent-child separations).

The Horse Whisperer (PG-13) 164 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review | Clips
Robert Redford directs and stars in this adaptation of Nicholas Evens' best-selling novel about a Montana wrangler with a magical ability to calm horses and repair broken spirits. Co-starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill and Scarlett Johansson.

The House of Mirth (PG) 140 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
The cruelty of class and the shame of an unforgiving society have seldom been as forcefully displayed as they are in Terence Davies' flawless adaption of the classic Edith Wharton novel of a century ago. Gillian Anderson contributes a revelatory performances as Lily Bart, a woman who falls victim to the cold-hearted wiles of her society. Eric Stoltz and Dan Aykroyd co-star. Sony Classics. Rated PG, with adult themes.

The House of Yes (R) 87 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Screwball comedy finds trouble brewing, along with a hurricane, when a dysfunctional upper-middle-class family unites for the holidays. Stars Parker Posey, Josh Hamilton, Tori Spelling, Genevieve Bujold and Freddie Prinze Jr. Miramax. Rated R, with profanity, sexual situations and adult themes.

The House on Haunted Hill (R) 115 min. Unreviewed. Clips
An eccentric millionaire (Geoffrey Rush) offers amoney to a group of unlikely daredevils (including Taye Diggs, Elizabeth Hurley, Famke Janssen and Lisa Loeb) if they can survive one night in a house with a murderous past. Rated R.

How High (R) 93 min. Our rating: 4 Review · Clips
The spirit of Cheech and Chong lives on in this latest entry to the rap-stoner genre. One problem: Cheech and Chong were comedians, while the rappers in this film about a pair of pot-smoking homeboys whose magical strain of weed makes them smart enough to get into Harvard are not. Starring Method Man, Red Man, Fred Willard, Obba Babatunde. Directed by Jesse Dylan. Universal Pictures, 93 mins. Rated R for profanity, violence, nudity, drug use.

How Stella Got Her Groove Back (R) 128 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review | Clips
Angela Bassett stars as an American career woman who falls for a much younger man while vacationing in Jamaica. Co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Taye Diggs. Rated R, with profanity, brief nudity, and sex.

(Def Jam's) How to Be a Player (R) 112 min. Unreviewed.
MTV's Bill Bellamy stars in this urban comedy as a lovable rogue with a commitment problem, whose friends attempt to teach him a lesson. with Natalie Desselle. Rated R, with nudity and profanity.

Hurlyburly (R) 105 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Anthony Drazan's screen version of David Rabe's play about the drug-addled antics of refugees from the Me Generation. The brutish, self-absorbed young men (Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri) aren't just unappealing; they're uninteresting. Robin Wright Penn, Anna Paquin, and Meg Ryan co-star. Fine Line Features. Rated R, with strong profanity, violence and sex.

The Hurricane (R) 125 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
The story of former boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's long fight for freedom after a bogus murder conviction, and the efforts of a group of Canadians to help him leave prison. Denzel Washington is stunning in the title role. Norman Jewison directs. Universal. Rated R, with profanity and violence.

Hurricane Streets (R) Not reviewed. Clips
Two young lovers (Brendan Sexton III and Isidra Vega) try to escape the crime and hopelessness of their Lower East Side neighborhood. Sundance Film Festival winner. Rated R, for language, violence and drug use.

Hush (R) 93 min. Garner's rating: 2 Review · Clips
Jessica Lange plays the mother-in-law from hell in this sordid and silly soap opera from first-time writer-director Jonathan Darby. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars as the tortured daughter-in-law -- but the real torture awaits filmgoers. TriStar. Rated R, with profanity, violence and brief nudity.