A coed cracks, the earth almost stops and a troublemaker electrifies the screen

PREVIEW: 8 MILE (Universal)

Directed by Curtis Hanson

Reunited after 1997's L.A. Confidential, Hanson and Kim Basinger join the platinum-haired and platinum-selling Eminem in his acting debut. This urban drama follows a white kid with a raw mouth and raw talent as he struggles to become a rap superstar. Sound familiar? Yeah--it's largely biographical--and with support from Brittany Murphy and Mekhi Phifer, it sounds great, too. With Hanson at the helm, Eminem may need to push aside all those Grammys to make room for some Oscars. Susan Johnston

PREVIEW: I SPY (Columbia)

Directed Betty Thomas

Owen Wilson and Eddie Murphy star in this updated version of the classic Robert Gulp/Bill Cosby 1965 television series, a show that stood out for its wit and cool, casual chemistry. Whether the new team can match the original remains to be seen, but the buzz suggests a fast and funny free-for-all, with an excess of spirited zingers. Henry Cabot Beck

PREVIEW: THE CORE (Paramount)

Directed by Jon Amiel

Geophysicist Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) discovers that the Earth's center is about to stop spinning. To try to save the planet, he and his able team of intrepid high-techies (including Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci, DJ Quails and Delroy Lindo) travel to deep inner space. Their goal: to set off a nuclear blast that will reactivate the stagnant core. What a trip!

Diane Baroni

REVIEW: FRIDA (Miramax)

Directed by Julie Taymor

Salma Hayek courts Oscar as Mexican artist and icon of female pain and transcendence, Frida Kahlo. Taymor's imaginative biopic' falters by treating the painter's affair with revolutionary Leon Trotsky (a miscast Geoffrey Rush) as a speed bump in her marriage to philandering muralist Diego Rivera (the bountiful Alfred Molina), but that's a quibble in a drama this stir ring and visually alive.

Thelma Adams

REVIEW: FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features)

Directed by Todd Haynes

Writer-director Haynes recaptures with Julianne Moore the suburban unraveling they explored in 1995's Safe, but this time without the same sense of mystery. Set in 1950s Hartford, Connecticut, the film is a lush, obsessive homage to the domestic dramas of the period--sets, color, titles, score and costumes all feed the oppressive mood. Moore is startling as usual, but she labors under the weight of Haynes' familiar ideas about suburban repression and unlikely, transgressive love.

Vince Passaro

REVIEW: ABANDON (Paramount)

Directed by Stephen Gaghan

University senior Katie Burke (Katie Holmes) seems to have it all: looks, grades, job opportunities. But when a cop (Benjamin Bratt) investigating the disappearance of her ex-boyfriend (Charlie Hunnam) starts digging around, this seeming perfection proves to be a thin veneer, full of deep, dangerous cracks. An impressive debut for Gaghan--the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Traffic (2000)--and a breakthrough for Holmes, who swims away from Dawson's Creek into more adult material.

Scott Lyle Cohen

RELATED ARTICLE: MICHAEL MOORE'S CALL TO ARMS

Bowling For Columbine, the latest documentary from Michael Moore, explores the complex and convoluted sources fueling America's predilection for gun violence. The man behind Roger & Me (1989), TV Nation (1995) and the surprise best-selling book Stupid White Men (Regan Books), Moore is no stranger to controversy and admits that his new film may be a bitter pill for a country still struggling for answers in an ever-changing world.

Moore himself finds difficult to swallow any claims--and there have been many--that the film exploits its subject and subject matter. Though many may find his bailing of Dick Clark, Kmart executives and Charlton Heston essentially harmless, his use of raw, shockingly graphic footage from the Columbine High School shootings and World Trade Center attacks (from both 1993 and 2001) is harder to dismiss. "This is a movie made by an American who loves his country and thinks we can do better," says Moore. "But we have to admit our mistakes. We are not just victims of violence, we're also the master of violence. It doesn't mean we don't do good but we've caused a lot of suffering. We should own up to it and then try to build a better world."

Ultimately, Moore intends his film to be call not to arms, but to action, hoping that people will be inspired to question and participate in their government. "I'm a citizen in a democracy," he explains. "To call me an activist would be redundant. It's not a spectator sport. If we all become nonparticipants, it no longer works."

Mark Olsen is a frequent Interview contributor.

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