Capsules reviews by Desson Howe unless noted. OPENINGS THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO (G) -- With this vivid, rococo and flashingly sinister version of Carlo Collodi's cautionary children's tale, the Jim Henson Creature Shop makes both "Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Independence Day" seem a little vulgar. A seamless mix of live and animatronic acting, it dispenses with Disney's fairy, but keeps the guardian cricket Pepe (voice of David Doyle) that made Jiminy Cricket famous, so to speak. Martin Landau is Gepetto, a little exaggerated sometimes but only in keeping with the general tone, and a sort of harmonic match for the elaborate puppet operas in which Pinocchio (pre-teen heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas) stars. The Fox and Cat become human, barely, in the forms of Rob Schneider and Bebe Neuwirth. Even the pie fight seems almost fresh. But for Pinocchio to learn his lesson, the evil must be truly tempting, and it is; when the truant boys enter the valley of temptation, the inferno is visible just under the surface. Contains no violence or profanity, although a few scenes may frighten smaller children. Area theaters. -- Eve Zibart JOE'S APARTMENT (R) -- In this live-action/animation comedy (based on the 1992 MTV short of the same name), Joe (Jerry O' Connell) moves into a squalid New York City apartment only to find that he's living with 50,000 scuttling roommates -- cockroaches, who walk, talk and sing. Warner Bros. declined to screen this for reviewers. Area theaters. KINGPIN (PG-13) -- "Kingpin" purports to be a comedy about bowling, but it's really a mediocre fish-out-of-water tale, taking Ishmael (Randy Quaid) from his Amish community in Pennsylvania and planting him in licentious Reno, Nev. Imagine the yucks! He's taken there by Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson), a former bowling star who is convinced that Ish can win a million-dollar bowling tournament. The set-up is genuinely funny, with flashy disco-boy Munson defeating champ Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray) back in 1979. Murray's comic timing early in the film is brilliant, and while he plays the same arrogant cheeseball he's played in so many movies, he's never been better. McCracken exposes Munson to bowling's criminal element, and Munson ends up losing his right hand. With a prosthetic hand (a gold mine of bad sight gags), Munson spends 17 years drinking his life away until he spots Ishmael at a run-down bowling alley. Imminent foreclosure on Amish land gives Ish the moral justification for a run to Reno with Munson, and the two hit the road. Ishmael forgets his religion (those zany Amish!) and is quickly doing bong hits, getting tattooed, and working in drag at a strip club. Quaid plays him as a dolt and any possible humor to be had from his predicament is flushed down the tubes. Neither the addition of the shapely Claudia (Vanessa Angel) as Munson's love interest nor the return of McCracken in the inevitable ten-pin showdown in Reno saves this one from being anything other than a summer stinker. Contains plenty of offensive vulgarity. Area theaters. -- Eric Brace SUPERCOP (R) -- Schwarzenegger be Van Dammed: Jackie Chan is about to change the whole definition of action movies. Chan, who has been Asia's biggest star for years, and co-star Michelle Khan, who takes as many if not more hard knocks for the camera, not only do all their own stunts but do some things no American union stunt expert would touch without a new insurance policy. Chan, who was poorly showcased in "Rumble in the Bronx" last year, is here seen in a four-year-old, undercover drug-bust caper that is as poorly dubbed as any Saturday afternoon kung-fu flick. But that turns into part of its self-deprecating charm, like the edgy, video game-style credits. The fight choreography is at double-time (Chan's hands almost are quicker than the eye); the story quick-cuts between fantastic bursts of violence and slapstick comedy; and its underlying vision of Asia's "Miami Vice"-wannabe gangster culture is scary. Chan pioneered the use of outtakes under closing credits, and his ankle-breaking stunt is seen while Tom Jones sings "Kung Fu Fighting." What a concept. Contains rap-music profanity and sledgehammer violence. Area theaters. -- Eve Zibart WALKING AND TALKING (R) -- There's a glut of sweet-natured, mildly involving youth ensemble movies, whose various gal-pals, romantically bumbling nice guys, moussey haired studs and other archetypes seem recruited from NBC's "Friends." This movie, by Nicole Holofcener, blends right into this overdone subgenre. But it's a pleasantly romantic potboiler, in which two friends (played appealingly by Catherine Keener and Anne Heche) undergo mutual romantic tribulations. Laura (Heche) loves her devoted fiance (Todd Field), but she's getting nervous about the coming wedding: Will it be eternal bliss or a life sentence? And will marriage unduly affect her friendship with Amelia (Keener), who's very attached to her pal? Meanwhile, Amelia has become interested in a video store clerk named Bill (Kevin Corrigan), who likes blood-spatter movies and isn't much on looks, but is clearly a nice guy. Their roads to ultimate happiness are paved with problems: Psychoanalyst Laura thinks she's falling for a patient; and Bill discovers that Amelia finds him ugly. But satisfying resolutions are obviously part of their destiny. The movie's diverting, if unadventurous, and it's no pain to spend time with these people. But there's little more to report than that. Contains sexual situations and profanity. Key. CAPTION: Pinocchio reflects on Jonathan Taylor Thomas in the new live action/animated fairy tale. CAPTION: Woody Harrelson scores a strike, but "Kingpin" strikes out. CAPTION: Catherine Keener (left) and Anne Heche in "Walking and Talking." CAPTION: Lou Diamond Phillips in "Courage Under Fire." CAPTION: Jean Reno as a knight, left, and Christian Clavier, as his squire, find time travel a bit disorienting in "The Visitors," a goofy French comedy. CAPTION: Shaq in "Kazaam." (The electric fingers were part of the L.A. Laker deal.) CAPTION: Michelle Trachtenberg (left) with her friends in "Harriet the Spy." CAPTION: Lawrence Fishburne (right) is probably not alone in his reaction to Stephen Baldwin, his costar in "Fled."
