Friday, Feb. 3, 2006 | 1:52 a.m.
Editor's Note: Movies reviewed by Roger Ebert, unless otherwise noted. "God's Army 2: States of Grace" (PG-13, 100 minutes) A compelling and hard-hitting drama in which director-writer-editor Richard Dutcher breaks all the rules of the Mormon cinema genre he singlehandedly launched five years ago. Like his 2000 film "God's Army," "States of Grace" follows the exploits of LDS missionaries in Los Angeles and features some of the same supporting players. But comparisons end there. Where the first movie was an easygoing, year-in-the life story of a typical missionary experience, this new film is filled with dramatically atypical characters and situations. The qualities that make it so powerful - its gritty authenticity and its portrayal of Mormons struggling with their faith - are the things that might alienate the core LDS audience. But for those willing to purge their preconceptions, the rewards will be great. Rating: (Reviewed by Sean Me! ans, Salt Lake Tribune). Playing at Century Sam's Town, Regal Cinemas Colonnade 14, Regal Cinemas Texas Station 18, Regal Cinemas Village Square 18. "Mrs. Henderson Presents" (R, 103 minutes) Dame Judi Dench buys an old theater and Bob Hoskins manages it in a loving tribute to London's Windmill, which presented vaudeville enlivened by "artistic tableaux" in which nude women posed. If they moved, the Lord Chamberlain (Christopher Guest) ruled, the show would be obscene; if they did not, they were art in the same sense as the nudes in the National Gallery. The theater's great claim was, "We Never Closed," and during the Blitz the bombs fell and so did the feather boas, as Mrs. Henderson offered her bit, and her girls their bits, for troop morale. Rating: Playing at Regal Cinemas Village Square 18. "Something New" (PG-13, 100 minutes) Sanaa Lathan stars as a successful black accountant whose workaholism has eliminated a so! cial life. She meets a landscape architect (Simon Baker! 1;, and they're attracted - but he's white, and she prefers to date within her race. The movie deals with romance, race and careers not in a sitcom way, like "Guess Who," but with frankness and realism. It's surprisingly involving, and although it delivers in laughs (and maybe a few tears), it's a film of unexpected substance. With this film and the completely different but also observant Queen Latifah comedy "Last Holiday," black women are paid a kind of attention they deserve but rarely get in the movies. Rating: 1/2 Playing at Brenden Theatres Las Vegas 14, Century Sam's Town, Century 16 South Coast, Crown Theatres Neonopolis 14, Regal Cinemas Green Valley Ranch 10, Regal Cinemas Sunset Station, Regal Cinemas Texas Station 18, Regal Cinemas Village Square 18, Santa Fe Station, UA Showcase 8. "When a Stranger Calls" (PG-13, 83 minutes) A high school student's babysitting gig ends in a nightmare when she receives increasingly thr! eatening phone calls at the house. Years later, the traumatized woman must fight for her life when the stranger starts calling for her. Directed by Simon West ("Lara Croft: Tomb Raider"), with Camilla Belle in the role originated by Carol Kane in the 1979 version. Rating: None (film not screened for critics.) Playing at Century Cinedome 12 Henderson, Century Orleans 18, Century Sam's Town, Century 16 South Coast, Century Suncoast, Crown Theatres Neonopolis 14, Las Vegas Drive-In, Regal Cinemas Boulder Station, Regal Cinemas Colonnade 14, Regal Cinemas Sunset Station, Regal Cinemas Texas Station 18, Santa Fe Station, UA Rainbow Promenade 10, UA Showcase 8. "The World's Fastest Indian" (PG-13, 127 minutes) Anthony Hopkins plays Burt Munro, a codger from New Zealand who takes nitro pills for his heart condition, and has spent years tinkering with a 1920 Indian motorcycle. In 1967 he thinks the bike is ready for a trip to Speed Week at the B! onneville Salt Flats. The millionaire racing teams have never ! seen any thing like Burt and his Indian. Is that a cork in the gas tank? Directed by Roger Donaldson, and based on a true story. Did Burt set a new record in his category? Spoiler warning: The movie is not titled "The World's Second-Fastest Indian." Rating: Playing at Regal Cinemas Village Square 18.
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