FAMILY FILMGOER By Jane Horwitz Special to The Washington Post Friday, September 29, 2000

Also Playing Mature Pre-Teens and Older "Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport" (PG) Moving documentary about 10,000 refugee children, mostly Jewish, brought from Europe to England just before World War II in unprecedented rescue. Wrenching accounts of goodbyes between children, parents; brief concentration camp footage; intense descriptions of loneliness, loss, gratitude. PG-13's "Bring It On." Kirsten Dunst as captain of cheerleading squad at wealthy high school in refreshing, smart, subversive teen comedy that celebrates the sport, but chides backbiting, fanaticism. Crude language, profanity; verbal and visual sexual innuendo; homophobic jokes; flatulence; vomiting; gross bloody nose. < R's and One Unrated "Almost Famous." Innocent 15-year-old rock fan wins assignment from Rolling Stone to profile rising band circa 1973 in charming, fondly remembered autobiographical tale by writer-director Cameron Crowe. Non-explicit sexual situations, strong sexual innuendo, profanity; drugs, drinking. High-schoolers. "Urban Legends: Final Cut." Film students meet untimely ends in satiric slasher-on-campus sequel that also spoofs Hollywood. Graphic, bloody stabbings, bashings, hanging, beheading; profanity; steamy sexual situations; implied suicide; smoking, drinking. High-schoolers. "Woman on Top." Penelope Cruz as gorgeous Brazilian chef who leaves unfaithful husband, comes to America, hosts TV cooking show, enthralling men with sensuality, spicy recipes in sunny, sophisticated fantasy that doesn't quite sustain early magic. Steamy, explicit sexual situations with partial nudity; rare profanity. 16 and older. "The Exorcist." Re-released 1973 thriller based on William Peter Blatty novel still an intense, slow-burning parable about girl's satanic possession and priests who help her; with added footage, enhanced sound. Devil's obscene invective; gross effects-swiveling head, green vomit, violent deaths; ordinary profanity, drinking, smoking. High-schoolers. "Nurse Betty." Renee Zellweger as waitress who lapses into delusions after seeing brutish husband murdered, in witty, humane tale of searching. Brief intense violence; graphic sexual situation; profanity, toilet humor. 15 and up.

"Remember the Titans" (R)
An inspiring fact-based but sugarcoated tale of Alexandria school integration in 1971, "Remember the Titans" might be a gentle way to introduce kids 10 and older to the story of race in 20th-century America. It contains a few racial slurs, rare profanity and understated violence – fistfights, a brick through someone's window – though the football field collisions seem the most life-threatening. Denzel Washington stars as real-life coach Herman Boone, who came from South Carolina to be head coach of the Titans at Alexandria's newly (and uncomfortably) integrated T.C. Williams High School. He was hired because the federal government was nagging the school district to integrate students and faculty. The soft-spoken white assistant coach, Bill Yoast (Will Patton), who was passed over for promotion in favor of Boone, eventually became his ally and friend. The resentment among players, students and parents tested Boone's resolve, but his stubborn insistence on trust, respect and a championship team won out. "Remember the Titans" is no more subtle than a made-for-TV message movie, but it achieves a teary touchdown.

"Beautiful" (R)
This tiringly cute story of female bonding and the near-tragic narcissism behind the beauty pageant scene brims with good acting, which you'd expect when the director (making her feature debut) is Sally Field. But the movie's also an arch, sentimental, meandering mess. It may appeal to teenage girls who like character-driven sagas and are interested in the subject, but it could eventually put off even them. Appropriately rated PG-13, "Beautiful" contains a strongly implied but unrealized attempt by a man to molest his stepdaughter. It also includes the sleeping-pill suicide of an elderly woman, an unwed pregnancy, rare profanity and drinking.

"Beautiful" chronicles the unlikely preteen-to-adulthood friendship of Mona (Minnie Driver) and Ruby (Joey Lauren Adams). Mona grows up with an alcoholic mom and an equally sodden stepfather. She seeks fulfillment in teen beauty pageants but never wins, though she plays dirty tricks on the competition. At school she finds a pal in Ruby, a sweet-natured kid who sees the well-concealed good in her. The grown-up Mona is a self-absorbed monster, but still she and Ruby share an apartment and rear a daughter (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) – we won't reveal whose child she is – while Mona continues fighting for a beauty queen's tiara.

"Barenaked in America" (R)
Yes, one hears profanity and sees a few flashes of partial, nonsexual nudity (enthusiastic fans of both genders) and crude toilet humor in this documentary about the gifted Canadian band Barenaked Ladies. Still, what comes through most is how squeaky-clean the guys and their audiences seem, at least in this good-naturedly biased debut feature by their fellow countryman Jason Priestley (best known as an actor, but also a fairly experienced TV director). Teenagers into metal or rap may not like the group's complex pop-jazz-rock fusion – too nice, too brainy, too musical – but you never know. Compared with bands portrayed in other such films, most recently the rap stars in "Backstage" (R) but also the classic rockers of the '70s, the Barenakeds are sober, yet irreverent – what a concept. "Barenaked in America" chronicles two weeks of a 1998 tour, but also looks at the group's 12-year history. A serious note involves band member Kevin Hearn's battle with leukemia.