REVIEW: Amelia

Amelia Earhart, the American aviator who disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 while trying to become the first woman to fly around the globe, didn’t wear bodices, as far as I can tell from the new biographical movie starring Hilary Swank.

PREVIEWS

Kenny Ortega’s documentary glimpse into the final days of Michael Jackson, compiled from an estimated 80 hours of rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage of Jackson preparing for his 50 sold-out London shows, plus interviews with collaborators and close friends.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Cameron Diaz plays a teacher who is faced with a terrible choice: a box with a button that, if pushed, will bring her a million dollars but simultaneously will also take the life of someone she doesn’t know.

ON FILM Films are like horses: Slow starts often fatal

One thing I hate about the movies is the way every weekend has become a Darwinian battleground, with those films that draw more customers than others surviving to fight another week while the perceived losers are subject to having their studios pull the plug on their promotional budgets.

ON CHRISTIANITY

DEAR REV. GRAHAM: I read an article the other day about a survey someone had done on prayer. It concluded that it didn’t do any good to pray when we’re sick, because people who didn’t pray got well just about as often as people who did pray. What would you say about this? — F.M.

Home movies

Recent DVD releases

Screen gems

Now that the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is over and the Little Rock Film Festival won’t get here until June 2, what’s an Arkansas film fan to do? Hit the road to Northwest Arkansas!

Check your knowledge

1. What is “fool’s gold” ? 2. Identify the space hero played on television by Steve Holland. 3. What was the native country of the late entertainer Victor Borge? 4. What type of skin is epicanthus?

HELPFUL HINTS

DEAR HELOISE: I’m going to paint my living room, and I want to wash the walls first. What’s the best cleaning solution to use?

HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY

Happy birthday. Your radiant personality attracts abundant love and attention. Friendships become central to your activities. Bonds are made stronger. January brings a wave of interest in your pet project. Follow through. Your influence will be far-reaching.

Skating away

Ellen Page becomes a roller girl in Drew Barrymore's

Whip It 81 Cast: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Alia Shawkat, Eve, Jimmy Fallon, Daniel Stern, Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore Director: Drew Barrymore Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, crude dialogue, language and drug material Running time: 111 minutes

REVIEW: (500) Days of Summer

"This is not a love story," intones a voiceover at the beginning of Marc Webb's smart, funny (500) Days of Summer, and we learn in the course of the film that this nameless voice is right and wrong.

Marketing blows up Basterds' audience

During a season when studios have become all but convinced audiences are losing interest in big-name movie stars and R-rated adult fare, perhaps it's appropriate that the end of summer brings a surprise hit embodying both qualities.

ON FILM: Tarantino's a transparent genius

Sometimes it is a relief for me to go to an "important" movie like Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds knowing I won't be required to write a word about it unless I choose. Going to the movies for me is a busman's holiday, but a holiday nevertheless - it's great to feel released into a film without the expectation of having to develop a theory of it.

Re-Taking Woodstock

Groovy characters rescue Ang Lee production from being a bad trip

A light comedy that feels like a make-work scheme between more ambitious projects, Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock is at once a fluent display of technical precision and an under-realized reiteration of '60s cliches.