SF Gate Home Today's News Sports Entertainment Travel Technology Live Views Traffic Weather Health Business Bay Area Travel Columnists Classifieds Search Index Advanced Search		Get the scoop! Sign up for the New Flicks Newsletter We have the lowdown on the new releases every week. FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 5-12 Coraline You're a girl named Coraline living in a new home, the kind of change that disturbs a child's psyche. So the discovery of a secret door - make that a secret portal - would be a cool diversion. After all, who doesn't want a world with a perfect life and family? Fairy tales do come true! Unless of course, it's really a nightmare. Based on the Neil Gaiman book and directed by Henry Selick ("The Nightmare Before Christmas"). Rated PG. At Bay Area theaters. Gorgeous like a Venus flytrap. (Mick LaSalle) Watch the "Coraline" trailer. (Requires QuickTime) 2008 Academy Awards Shorts Hey, budgets may be shrinking, but there's no need to be shortsighted when it comes to cinematic creativity. Why not check out both the live action and animated short film Oscar nominees from 2008? After all, good things do come in small packages. (Chocolate, anyone?) At the Embarcadero, Smith Rafael and Shattuck theaters. The animated category beats the live-action offerings. (Walter Addiego) The Class The travails of schoolteachers - think low pay, student lack of interest, disrespect and cultural clashes - steal the spotlight in this frank French film written by schoolteacher-actor Francois Begaudeau. The school-of-hard-knocks story line may not be original, but the students are not trained actors, so what you see is what teachers really get. Director Laurent Cantet's film is France's nominee for the 2008 best foreign language film Oscar and the winner of the 2008 Palme d'Or. PG-13. At the Clay. The most realistic film about teaching that you're ever likely to see. (Mick LaSalle) Watch the "The Class" trailer. (Requires QuickTime) Donkey Punch Young adults on the prowl for a good time always think they can handle whatever fate deals them. Take that bravado, throw in a boatload of the drug ecstasy, some sexual escapades - hence the title - and you've got a group of wild things spinning out of control. Or in this case, falling into a vortex of death, cover-up and survival. Directed and co-written by Oliver Blackburn. Rated R. At the Lumiere. An interesting but flawed indie thriller. (Peter Hartlaub) Fanboys It's 1998, and the fourth "Star Wars" movie, "The Phantom Menace," hovers on the horizon, not quite ready to land in theaters. Most self-respecting geeks might start lining up outside box offices. But only those in emotional hyperdrive would plot a road trip to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to steal the film before anyone else can see it. The geeks' secondary goal: snag themselves a spot in the fanboys' hall of fame. If that doesn't make you dust off the lightsaber, consider the cameos: Seth Rogen, William Shatner, Billy Dee Williams and the princess of them all, Carrie Fisher. (But will she wear the Cinnabon hairdo?) Rated PG-13. At Bay Area theaters. Uninspired and only faintly funny. (Reyhan Harmanci) Heart of Fire Warfare in pursuit of a people's independence sounds noble enough, but parents placing their children into the hands of soldiers? No explanation can make that acceptable. For sisters Awet and Freweyini, who wind up indoctrinated in the mission of the Eritrean Liberation Front, chaos, desperation and enlightenment become way stations in an unimaginable journey. Based on Senait G. Mehari's controversial memoir. In Tigrinya with subtitles. Not rated. At the Sundance Kabuki. Worth seeing for a remarkable performance by its 10-year-old lead actress. (Walter Addiego) He's Just Not That Into You Ladies and gentlemen, here's a little tip to make rejection in the 2000s seem like a gift: It used to be your only option was to sit by the phone, at home, waiting. Now, between texting, e-mailing and cell phones, you're free to live while you whine, fret and cry. The theme is liberation! Now, do you really care if that dude or chick called or not? If so, better bond with your peeps at the film version of book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Rated PG-13. At Bay Area theaters. If a movie this well made had Spanish or French subtitles, we'd all be talking about it as a searing examination of sexual politics. (Mick LaSalle) Watch the "He's Just Not That Into You" trailer. (Requires QuickTime) The Pink Panther 2 The thief ripping off the world's treasures, including the Pink Panther diamond, must love it when Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) becomes attached to the case. After all, the bumbling Clouseau acts as a sort of alarm to thieves and suspects alike - who can't hear him coming? But there's an undeniable charm to the lawman armed with a weird accent, dashing mustache and goofy facial expressions. Rated PG. At Bay Area theaters. In the realm of bad Steve Martin movies, "The Pink Panther 2" is about as good as it gets. (Peter Hartlaub) Watch the "The Pink Panther 2" trailer. (Requires QuickTime) Push A secret government agency hands out psychic powers (the abilities to move things or plant thoughts in others' minds) to a select group of individuals. But no one said the psychics would want to do what they're told. So now the agency's searching for the rogue psychics holed up in Hong Kong. One escapee may be the savior they've been waiting for, but which side will get to her first? Rated PG-13. At Bay Area theaters. It makes no sense. (Mick LaSalle) Watch the "Push" trailer. (Requires QuickTime)
Feedback		Food & Dining  Wine  Movies  Music & Nightlife  Performance  Art  Events  Books  TV & Radio  Gay  © 2009 Hearst Communications Inc.