Aside from the kiddie flicks, this past holiday season was marked by a barrage of three-hour epic films, hoping for Oscar attention and big box office numbers. Here are a the major films that made news over the past month.

"Man on the Moon"

A performer who seemed to thrive on controversy stemming from his unconventional routines and attempts at humor, Andy Kaufman was perhaps the best cinematic definition of the old saying about a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

"Man on the Moon" is an episodic and mostly satisfying look at the comedian and his many antics. Named after a song by R.E.M. and directed by Milos Forman ("Amadeus"), the film comes off as not much more than a impressively recreated highlight reel of Kaufman's more famous and infamous routines and appearances.

Without it ever really fully explaining his actions or getting the audience to truly care about him, the film often feels as if it's missing some soul.

However, Jim Carrey's performance (a guaranteed Oscar nomination) is a certifiable triumph of physical imitation. His "Andy" is so good and dead-on that anyone remotely familiar with the late comic may often forget it's not Kaufman himself.

Where the film may disappoint viewers is in the fact that like many other films about comedians (such as "Punchline"), this one is rarely outrageously hilarious, and actually only offers a few truly funny moments. And although a clever opening starts the film off with a great bit, the rest of film doesn't live up to anything Kaufman himself would have approved of.

For those with no sense of Kaufman's career or brilliance, this movie might act as a nice introduction. But fans of the comic will find themselves frustrated by the lack of interpretation into the man's life and will probably look to documentaries for a taste of the real thing. Three and a half shamrocks.

Review by MATT NANIA

"The Hurricane"

Through the sheer power of his acting, Denzel Washington single-handedly elevates "The Hurricane," an ambitious but flawed movie based on the true story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.

Portraying Carter, a middleweight boxer wrongly accused and imprisoned for 20 years for a 1966 triple murder, Washington gives one of the best performances of his career, one likely to earn him an Oscar nomination. Through the course of the film, Washington hurls through a range of emotions. He is proud and swaggering, frustrated, humiliated and broken down, and finally, still and smoldering, trying to contain a hate running underneath his skin.

Hate is what Carter struggles against. When the teenager Lesra Martin, played by Vicellous Reon Shannon, befriends the boxer, Carter struggles to trust. In a world of lies and racism, Carter is afraid to open up, afraid to believe in the possibilities of love and goodness.

Unfortunately, Washington's performance is wasted in a movie, while at times riveting, is ultimately a fractured and even melodramatic work. To begin with, the film jarringly flips between Washington's plight in prison and the efforts of three Canadians. That's right, Canadians — who are determined to prove him innocent. While Washington lights up the screen, the Canadians, underdeveloped and unanimated, come off as nothing more than a group of happy-go-lucky do-gooders

Also not fully fleshed out is racist policeman Della Pesca, portrayed by Dan Hedaya, whose sole purpose in life seems to be to destroy Carter. Without adequate explanations for his motives, Pesca is about as cartoonish as a Disney movie villain. Three shamrocks.

Review by JOHN CRAWFORD

"The Talented Mr. Ripley"

Dare to go where you've never been before. Such is the task Matt Damon took on with his subtly maniacal role as Tom Ripley, a nobody who wants to be a somebody.

Set in 1950s Italy, "The Talented Mr. Ripley" takes viewers on a wicked trip inside the mind of a man who will do anything to become anyone but himself. Initially narrating the film with regret, Damon introduces the unlikely thought that despite his murderous ways, Ripley is the film's hero, however tragic he may be.

But once viewers become acquainted with the laid back lifestyle of the Mediterranean, the film's slow pace becomes enthralling. Little by little, viewers watch Ripley envelope the people he admires, making damn sure no one gets in his way as he obsesses over his own nothingness.

Jude Law plays Ripley's prime object of desire, American Dickie Greenleaf, whose tanned, happy-go-lucky demeanor becomes addictive even to viewers.

Gwyneth Paltrow's Marge, Dickie's fiance, is a small but integral character. She is manipulated by Ripley, unguardedly allowing him into her and Dickie's lives. Eventually she suffers because of this trust.

Clearly, the homosexual feel of Damon's character provides an uncharaceristic twist considering the tough-guy image Damon has built in his films to date. But the fact that he pulled off the emotional weights of a man in love and in lust with another man, with such believability proves that Damon is this generations true great actor.

Several Oscar nominations are sure to come to "The Talented Mr. Ripley," proving the film to be one of the big surprises of 1999. Four shamrocks.

Review by MIKE VANEGAS

"Magnolia"

After viewing some very odd occurrences in the opening scene of Paul Thomas Anderson's (writer, director and co-producer) "Magnolia," the narrator says, "these things just happen." The audience is not told that this line is taken from Anderson's first feature film "Hard Eight" and the full line is "these things just happen — you just deal with it." This is a major theme in "Magnolia."

The storyline is based on the loose interaction of nine main characters during one rainy day in California's San Fernando Valley. Tom Cruise plays T. J. Mackey, a "seduce and destroy" motivational speaker who teaches men "How to fake like you are nice and caring."

A live-in nurse played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman attempts to reunite Mackey with his dying father Earl Partridge, a game show producer played by Jason Robards. Julianne Moore plays his high-strung trophy wife. The game show Partridge produces has an alcoholic host Jimmy Gator (Phillip Baker Hall) forsaken by his daughter Claudia, wonderfully played by Melora Walters. She is the romantic interest of police officer Kurring (John C. Reilly). The star of the game show is the "cute" brainiac Stanley (Jeremy Blackman). He reads up on the former star of the show quiz kid Donnie Smith played by William H. Macy. The movie is splendidly told by these characters, though there is no clear cut star — except behind the camera.

Anderson is a writer in love with telling the whole story, he creates a viewer connection challenged by none. His binary dialogue is both serious and humorous. Many MTV-attention spans and "fart joke" lovers will not catch Anderson's situational humor. As a director he is most concerned with the tempo of the film. He has a great ear for setting the pace, so much that at over three hours ("just deal with it") the film appears fast paced, which is also a tribute to his segue skills. He is in love with long, held shots and extreme close-ups.

Brilliant and original, look for "Magnolia" at the podium of the Academy Awards. Five shamrocks.

Review by JEFFREY Q. IRISH

"Snow Falling on Cedars"

"Snow Falling on Cedars" is a pretty film but it suffers from visual overkill. Based on the David Guterson novel, it's part love story, part murder mystery, and the director does an admirable job interweaving the two. Unfortunately, the skillful narrative can never breathe under the weight of its images.

In director Scott Hicks' follow up to the acclaimed "Shine," Ethan Hawke plays Ishmael Chambers, a journalist reporting on a local murder trial in which the accused is a Japanese fisherman. The setting is just after World War II and most of the population is still paranoid around Asian immigrants. As the trial unfolds, Ishmael reflects back on his former Japanese girlfriend while deciding whether or not he can help against the town's prejudices.

The trials of the Japanese-American are moving but most characters whither away as the imagery gets stronger. Hawke does fine but any actor with a beating heart could have probably taken his place.

The film is pretty much what the title says: a movie of snow and trees. There's enough extraneous landscapes to comprise many Kodak ads and while it looks sumptuous, the viewer can only watch so much before finally getting lulled to sleep. Three shamrocks.

Review by GUNDER KEHOE

"Any Given Sunday"

"Any Given Sunday" is Oliver Stone's ("Platoon," "JFK," "Talk Radio") vision of professional football in the '90s. The story examines the stress and difficulty of an aging coach, Al Pacino ("Heat," "The Godfather" trilogy) and his geriatric quarterback, Dennis Quaid ("Undercover Blues") who is replaced by a more youthful, athletic and controversial figure in Jaime Foxx ("The truth About Cats and Dogs," "The Jaime Foxx Show"). Foxx plays an arrogant player who has trouble keeping his lunch down and constantly in friction with the other players and coaches.

The audience learns of the intense pressure involved with a desperate Florida football team and their pursuit of home-game advantage for the start of the playoffs. With pressure from a young, beautiful and ambitious new owner, Cameron Diaz, ("The Mask," "Being John Malkovich," "There's Something About Mary") everyone involved with the team feels the pinch including the players, doctors and coaching staff.

Stone takes viewers inside the player's world, which includes drug use, lavish parties and money-hungry women. It seems that everyone is after something. The players want more money, the trainers want beautiful girls and the coach just wants everything to return to the way things were when the organization was winning.

There was great potential for the film based on the stellar cast that included James Woods, Mathew Modine, Lauren Holly and Charlton Heston. But the surprise comes with the acting ability of some NFL greats who have bit parts in the movie. Dick Butkus, Johnny Unitas and Laurence Taylor give strong performances as men who have seen the industry firsthand, and acted in that fashion. The idea was good, but it wraps up too nicely in the end making it very unbelievable. To the film's credit however, the sound is fierce, which makes viewers almost feel the violent tackles and hits. Two shamrocks.

Review by V. VAN BUREN GILES

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