"Hideous Kinky" (1999) sounds like another slasher installment: "Friday the 13th, Part XX: Jason Gets a Perm!"

Fortunately, the terrible title -- a child's word game -- is just a mask. This, instead, is the semibiographical tale of a young Englishwoman's search for self in 1970s Morocco.

Kate Winslet, freed from "Titanic," plays Julia, a whimsical and not entirely likable mum of two little girls. They and Julia's fugitive lover traipse around Marrakech and into farther reaches until the wise children force some growing up.

At times the film is as aimless as Julia. But Winslet proves she doesn't need a prow to take a bow as an adroit, luminous performer.

And Morocco, such a sad nation in recent news, is glorious here, vibrant with color, stunningly diverse, a long, curved finger on the North African coast, beckoning seekers.

Posted by Barbara Page at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you’re hungry for zombies this Halloween, then feast on two British additions to the genre.

In "28 Days Later" (2003), a virus has emptied London, except for a few survivors -- and the red-eyed, ravenous infected. Using edgy digital video, director Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting") creates a gritty, postapocalyptic adventure.

"Shaun of the Dead" (2004) blurs the line between zombies and the zoned-out until slacker Shaun (co-writer Simon Pegg) rises to the occasion with his cricket bat, vinyl records and pub hideaway. Gory in parts but dead funny. Or undead funny.

P.S., Pegg says the droll approach was inspired by "An American Werewolf in London" (1981), another Halloween treat.

Posted by Barbara Page at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Decades before metrosexual was coined, urbane men roamed the Earth. Or at least the concourse at Grand Central Station. They'd take the train back to tony Scarsdale, sip martinis with their perfectly coiffed wives and fade into quiet desperation. The sci-fi thriller "Seconds" (1966) offered a diabolical way out: a convenient "death," form-altering surgery and new digs in Malibu. A gray banker could emerge as, well, Rock Hudson. With angst. "Seconds" bombed. So much so, director John Frankenheimer said, that when you called for showtimes, the reply was "When can you get here?"

Blame fell on Hudson for taking an out-of-character role. But he's more than credible, and the seasoned supporting cast is excellent.

Add in James Wong Howe's low, wideangle camerawork and Frankenheimer's trademark tension, and "Seconds" deserves a second look.

Posted by Barbara Page at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stop the presses: Researchers say heavy drinking isn't good for you. It can make your ticker flicker. (Not to mention your sex life.)

So ease off the beer tap and ease in "This Is Spinal Tap" (1984), the trailblazing mockumentary about a British rock band on the skids.

The repertoire is dicey -- "Big Bottom," for example, with its refrain "How could I leave this behind?" -- and the drummer's sure to combust. But, hey, it's sex, dregs and rock 'n' droll.

This cult favorite launched Rob Reiner as a director and co-writer Christopher Guest as the genius behind the sendups "Waiting for Guffman," "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind."

Raise a toast to that, but remember: Laughter is the better medication.

Posted by Barbara Page at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)