The End Is Near!

--M. D.

TITUS

Shakespeare was 30 when he wrote Titus Andronicus, and quite apart from bristling with the sort of gruesomely inventive, melodramatic bloodshed one associates with our own first-time filmmakers, it vividly prefigures the themes and characters of the Bard's mature tragedies. Before she became better known for taking Disney's The Lion King to Broadway, theater director Julie Taymor made her reputation mounting Titus onstage, using abstract, surrealist masks of her own brilliant design. Now -- The Lion King's clout having paved the way -- she translates her vision to film (her first, a terrific debut), mixing masks, ancient ruins and modern high-rises to complement the fiery, disobedient spirit that marked early Shakespeare. Anthony Hopkins is Titus, the victorious Roman general who snubs the people's offer to make him emperor -- a cavalier gesture that costs him dearly. The queen of the Goths -- whom Titus wronged when she was his captive -- is suddenly raised to the station of Roman empress, and Jessica Lange enacts this avenger with every ounce of fury and beauty in her arsenal. The theme that power, justly earned, should never be shrugged off foretells Lear. Taymor has done an inspired job of resurrecting one of Shakespeare's unruliest works, just in time for the new century.

--F.X. Feeney

ANGELA'S ASHES| Directed by ALAN PARKER | Written by PARKER and LAURA JONES | Based on the book by FRANK McCOURT | Produced by DAVID BROWN, PARKER and SCOTT RUDIN | Released by Paramount Pictures | At Cineplex Beverly Center, AMC Century 14, Mann Criterion

ANY GIVEN SUNDAY| Directed by OLIVER STONE | Written by STONE and JOHN LOGAN Produced by LAUREN SHULER DONNER, CLAYTON TOWNSEND and DAN HALSTED | Released by Warner Bros. | Citywide

GALAXY QUEST| Directed by DEAN PARISOT | Written by DAVID HOWARD and ROBERT GORDON | Produced by MARK JOHNSON and CHARLES NEWIRTH Distributed by DreamWorks | Citywide

GIRL, INTERRUPTED| Directed by JAMES MANGOLD Written by MANGOLD, LISA LOOMER and ANNA HAMILTON PHELAN | Based on the book by SUSANNA KAYSEN Produced by CATHY KONRAD and DOUGLAS WICK Released by Columbia Pictures | At selected theaters

MAN ON THE MOON| Directed by MILOS FORMAN Written by SCOTT ALEXANDER and LARRY KARASZEWSKI | Produced by DANNY DeVITO, MICHAEL SHAMBERG and STACEY SHER | Released by Universal Pictures | Citywide

PLAY IT TO THE BONE| Written and directed by RON SHELTON | Produced by STEPHEN CHIN Released by Buena Vista Pictures | At the UA Westwood for a one-week Academy consideration; reopens in January

SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS| Directed by SCOTT HICKS Written by HICKS and RON BASS | Based on the novel by DAVID GUTERSON | Produced by BASS, KATHLEEN KENNEDY, FRANK MARSHALL and HARRY J. UFLAND | Released by Universal Studios | At Mann Festival

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY| Directed and written by ANTHONY MINGHELLA | Based on the novel by PATRICIA HIGHSMITH Produced by WILLIAM HORBERG and TOM STERNBERG | Released by Miramax Films and Paramount Pictures | Citywide

TITUS | Directed and written by JULIE TAYMOR | Based on the play by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE | Produced by JODY PATTON, CONCHITA AIROLDI and TAYMOR Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures | At NuWilshire