Monday, May 20, 2013
Movie picks
Accepted (PG-13)
Accepted wants to find its place in that underappreciated subgenre of American movie-making, the "slobs vs. snobs" comedy. The film begins as a rebel yell but refuses to go any farther than a PG-13 rating will withstand. Scott Renshaw
Chapel Hills 15
*All the King's Men (PG-13)
Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel, the movie tells the story of a politician popular for denouncing government corruption who becomes corrupt himself. It's worth seeing for its powerful, vivid cinematography and its excellent cast, though it maddeningly misses the opportunity to be a great movie. David Wildman
Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
Barnyard (PG)
In this animated children's comedy, a farmer leaves his land in the care of the livestock. Celebrity voices include Steve Oedekerk, Sam Elliott and Danny Glover. Not reviewed
Carmike 10, Tinseltown
The Black Dahlia (R)
In this story of a 1947 Los Angeles murder involving the mutilated corpse of a beautiful woman, Director Brian DePalma turns the lurid underworld of James Ellroy's novel into an exercise in high-camp pseudo-noir. In an effort not to leave a mess in his wake, DePalma re-applies all the Hollywood artifice Ellroy spent his career trying to strip away. Scott Renshaw
Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
Cars (G)
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Click (PG-13)
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The Covenant (PG-13)
Four boys who belong to a supernatural legacy must stop the forces they released into the world years ago without turning on one another. Not reviewed
Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
Crank (R)
Jason Statham stars as a hit man who's been injected with a poison that will kill him if his heart rate drops below a certain point. Not reviewed
Carmike 10
The Devil Wears Prada (PG-13)
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Everyone's Hero (G)
An animated adventure of perseverance and a boy's quest to help Babe Ruth and the Yankees win the World Series. Not reviewed
Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
*Flyboys (PG-13)
The movie highlights the dramtatic, short careers of the first World War I fighter pilots in their bi-planes over France. It's a grand yarn of adventure and catastrophe with lots of exciting air battles big, emotional and sentimental (without being sappy), and sweet enough that a passionate kiss is the "big sex scene." MaryAnn Johanson
Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
Gridiron Gang (PG-13)
Led by their counselor, teens at a juvenile detention center band together on the football field to learn life lessons. Not reviewed
Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
How to Eat Fried Worms (PG)
Chapel Hills 15, Picture Show
The Illusionist (PG-13)
Paul Giamatti and Edward Norton star in this tale of a magician who uses his talents to seduce a woman above his social standing. Not reviewed
Chapel Hills 15, Tinseltown
Invincible (PG)
A part-time bartender and full-time Philadelphia Eagles fan, Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg), tries out for the team during an open call and becomes an NFL player. Not reviewed
Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
Jackass: Number Two (R)
The original creators and cast of the MTV series return, unleashing even more outrageous and over-the-top stunts. Not reviewed
Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
Jet Li's Fearless (PG-13)
Li plays the histroic Chinese martial arts master Huo Yuanjija, the spiritual guru and founder of the Jin Wu Sports Federation. Not reviewed
Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
The Last Kiss (R)
In this remake, a 30-year-old man weighs the merits of settling down with the perfect girlfriend against risking it all with an attractive co-ed. Not reviewed
Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16
*Little Miss Sunshine (R)
Even with Little Miss Sunshine's occasional notes of wackiness, the cast is uniformly excellent, and its script so deftly captures the emotion of a dysfunctional family road trip that it's less like a sitcom than like a clan's real day-to-day life squashed into 101 minutes. " Tricia Olszewski
Cinemark 16, Kimball's Twin Peak
Miami Vice (R)
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Nacho Libre (PG)
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Over the Hedge (PG)
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*Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (PG-13)
Dead Man's Chest is over-plotted. By all rights, the 150 minutes should feel like a slog and a half through its plot points, but instead it's actually a crackling piece of action filmmaking. Scott Renshaw
Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
Pulse (PG)
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Superman Returns (PG-13)
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*Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (PG-13)
It doesn't take long for Talladega Nights to get the stereotypes of its target out of the way: Ricky Bobby's (Will Ferrell's) car is sponsored by Wonder Bread, his family eats a buffet of fast food every night, Skynyrd's king, foreigners are weird, etc. The subject's a softball, but Ferrell's vaguely Dubya-accented shtick makes it work for a while. Tricia Olszewski
Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown
The Wicker Man (PG-13)
Nicolas Cage stars as a sheriff investigating a missing girl on a secretive, Christian neo-pagan island. Not reviewed
Carmike 10, Tinseltown
Wired to Win (NR)
A documentary about the Tour de France that combines live-action footage with computer and medical imagery to demonstrate how the human brain responds to physical challenge. Not reviewed
Cinemark 16 IMAX
Zoom (PG)
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