PUSHING JOHN

Published Feb 8 2002

THEATER These ongoing events, reviewed previously by our critics, also are best bets:

Published Feb 8 2002

Danny McKnight recently went to a suburban Georgia mall to see "Black Hawk Down," director Ridley Scott's film based on a real event -- the longest sustained U.S. firefight since Vietnam. He sat alone in a corner of the theater.

Published Feb 8 2002

The cows must be quaking in their stalls. Just look at what's being done to them in the movies. It started out slowly -- the mud-splattering cow-tipping scene in 1989's "Heathers," the tossed-about Bessy in 1996's "Twister." But lately, there has been a bevy of bovine abuse. Talk about milking an idea for all it's worth.

Published Feb 8 2002

Halle Berry doesn't want to hear any talk about her performance in "Monster's Ball" being included among next Tuesday's Oscar nominations.

Published Feb 8 2002

Early in "No Man's Land" two wounded soldiers -- one a Bosnian, the other a Serb -- trapped in a trench between enemy lines begin arguing furiously about which side started the war.

Published Feb 8 2002

THE BIG O

Published Feb 8 2002

FRIDAY

Published Feb 8 2002

DIVERSIONS

Published Feb 8 2002

ATLANTA -- "It seems like everybody has something to say about my appearances of late," Greta Van Susteren said Monday at the start of "On the Record," her new hourlong show on Fox News.

Published Feb 8 2002

''Diamond Men" is a small film but a sweet one, an easy-going venture that offers something that larger pictures often lack: an excellent performance by its star, Robert Forster.

Published Feb 8 2002

It seems you can't turn around in these Twin Towns without running into a new restaurant. They're popping up faster than you can say "creative Enron accounting practices."

Published Feb 8 2002

Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Collateral Damage" has garnered more attention for not opening than most movies ever get. Now that it's finally here, it will be remembered less for its generic content than for the real-life events that give it an eerie resonance.

Published Feb 8 2002

''Big Fat Liar" is a movie about the movie business made by people who think moviegoers don't know anything about the movie business.

Published Feb 8 2002

''Monster's Ball" is no party, but this dark and disturbing drama offers a celebration of fine acting.

Published Feb 8 2002

OPENING

Published Feb 8 2002

'Rollerball" is a limp retread of a 1975 B-movie that wasn't strong to begin with. The music is loud, the editing frenetic, the narrative disjointed and the acting just a hindrance to the special effects.

Published Feb 8 2002

Dear Ann: I am a consumer advisor for the American Dental Association and an advocate of high-quality dental care. I would like to respond to "Anonymous in the USA," the dental hygienist who criticized her employer.

Published Feb 8 2002

Hi Carolyn: My sister is losing it. I'm going to change the names to protect the stupid, but this is it in a nutshell: Stella is just out of college, and moved in with me to get started in the world and find a job. She is madly in love with Bob, the dud, who's in his senior year a few states away. They talk on the phone endlessly about nothing -- "Baby! I miss you. What? What?" -- and all the money she spends on travel and phone bills is defeating the purpose of moving in with me. But her obsession isn't the worst part.

Published Feb 8 2002

IT WAS JUST OFFAL

Published Feb 8 2002

For more details about films, go to www.startribune.com/freetime/

Published Feb 8 2002

Out in placid Plymouth, they're singing about sex. The words are PG, but rate the thoughts X. They're howling and hollering and showing it too, making folks red-faced in language that's cleverly blue.

Published Feb 8 2002

Whoopi Goldberg's Academy Award statue for her part in the 1990 movie "Ghost," apparently stolen while en route to Chicago for cleaning, was found this week in a trash bin at Ontario International Airport in California.

Published Feb 8 2002

WHO'S UP

Published Feb 8 2002

Hollywood makes more than its share of "grown-up" movies aimed at teen audiences, so it's refreshing when the converse occurs, à la "Ghost World" (**** out of four stars, rated R).

Published Feb 8 2002

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