'Quills' Great Year-End Write-Off

Season's greetings! I hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday stretch. Please forgive me for not featuring an interview piece this week -- as I am feverishly analyzing the year in film 2000 for my annual Top 10 list. If I can drop a hint, if you like cool, calm and collected Aussie actors or talking chickens made of clay, then you will not be disappointed!

There is plenty to talk about this week, though, as limited film releases start to go wide and a batch of new videos hit the shelves. Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve and day ? and we'll see you @ The Movies in 2001!

New In Theaters This Week

'Quills' (R)

"Quills" star Geoffrey Rush gives a take-no-prisoners performance as the mysterious, masochistic and totally mad Marquis de Sade. "Quills" originally took shape as a controversial play that took liberties with the actual events in the life of the man whose name is almost synonymous with sadomasochism.

The film is not for the squeamish or prudish, but if you can get past the subject matter you will be rewarded by stellar performances by Joaquin Phoenix as Abbe Coulmier, Kate Winslet as a laundry girl who smuggles out Sade's books and Michael Caine as a cruel doctor sent by Napoleon to stop the author from writing his lewd and lascivious subject matter. You will also get a surprisingly insightful peek into the nature of obsession and what constitutes pornography. If you like to be challenged, get your quill and make and appointment to see "Quills." --Debra Scott

"Quills" is currently playing in limited release and opens nationwide Dec. 29.

Finding Forrester (PG-13)

"Finding Forrester" could have been a standard opposite "worlds collide" type of movie, but in the hands of Gus Van Sant ("Good Will Hunting") it turned out to be much more. Much of the credit goes to newcomer Rob Brown, who plays Jamal Wallace, a basketball star from the projects who is hiding a secret ? he is brilliant writer. Through a chance encounter he finds a mentor in reclusive novelist William Forrester (Sean Connery) and they teach each other how to trust again.

Brown, who has never studied acting, is a natural talent, and his blend of street toughs and raw intelligence transcend the script and help make Connery even better in a role that seems to fit like a glove. An eclectic musical score also adds dimension to the story that challenges our preconceptions of where inspiration and talent can be found. --Debra Scott

"Finding Forrester" is currently playing in limited release and opens nationwide Jan. 12, 2001.

New On Video This Week

After realizing how much "size didn't matter" in the 1998 American version that turned "Godzilla" in a computer-generated disappointment, the monster's founding fathers -- Toho Studios -- smartly took its franchise back home to Japan for a revival. And judging by this year 2000 chapter (it's not a remake), this mean green mother has once again found an environment where it can truly thrive.

This time, the human-scorned anti-hero protects Tokyo from an alien craft that transforms itself into a metallic monster, and the result classic "Godzilla" at its cheesy best. Despite improved film technology, remaining mostly intact are the horribly mismatched English voice dubs (of weak dialogue to boot), toy model sets just begging to be crushed, and a bevy of Z-grade special effects. Most importantly, though, "Godzilla 2000" has the guy dressed up in a big green rubber suit, some bad burning breath and the sweet sound of that squealing, echoing roar. Fans of the original films will revel in its nostalgic feel, although may be shocked to discover that Godzilla's co-stars have become a bit more foul-mouthed in the new millennium. While "Godzilla 2000" is far from brain surgery (although like it's predecessors, bits of ecological parable are layered in) it sure is pure, escapist fun. It's a perfect rent for a Saturday-afternoon popcorn movie. --Tim Lammers

Also New On Video

Wesley Snipes stars as a FBI agent framed for murder and on the run in "The Art of War" (R), an espionage thriller directed by Christian Duguay and co-starring Donald Sutherland and Anne Archer.

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