Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Movie picks
Films recommended by our reviewers are indicated by an *.
*127 Hours (R)
For a movie about a brush with death, Danny Boyle's 127 Hours bursts with life. Its first 20 minutes are a rush of joie de vivre, with pulsing, jubilant Slumdog Millionaire-esque music. — Tricia Olszewski
Kimball's Peak Three
Burlesque (PG-13)
A small-town girl heads toward the coast, and a job in a burlesque club in Los Angeles. — Not reviewed
Carmike 10, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG)
It doesn't help, that the adventures here have no heft or emotion, and that the only truly involving characters are the talking warrior mouse and a dragon who enters the story literally out of nowhere. — MaryAnn Johanson
Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown
Despicable Me (PG)
There's nothing actively wrong with Despicable Me. It's just that the whole enterprise feels somewhat lazy. — Scott Renshaw
Picture Show
*Due Date (R)
When two mismatched souls are Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, even when the structure supporting them is sometimes shaky, it's still hard to resist. — Scott Renshaw
Tinseltown
Easy A (PG-13)
Easy A is not terrible, but it's not indelible, either; it's simply an agreeable and relatively witty surprise. — Tricia Olszewski
Picture Show
*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (PG-13)
This Potter falls somewhere between ambitious and momentous in its own way, yet never quite as powerful as it wants to be. — Scott Renshaw
Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown
Hereafter (R)
Like virtually every film that addresses the world beyond, this one simply regurgitates a bland pudding of comforting nondenominational platitudes. — Scott Renshaw
Picture Show
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (PG)
Despite some exceedingly familiar genre elements, Legend of the Guardians proves compelling because it doesn't do everything you would expect an animated feature to do. — Scott Renshaw
Picture Show
Megamind (PG)
Megamind is the most brilliant supervillain the world has ever known, and the least successful. Over the years, he has tried to conquer Metro City and each attempt is a colossal failure thanks to Metro Man, an invincible hero until the day Megamind actually kills him. Suddenly, Megamind has no purpose. — Not reviewed
Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown
Paranormal Activity 2 (R)
The terror continues as a young couple copes with a potentially evil spirit in their suburban home. — Not reviewed
Picture Show
RED (PG-13)
It's not that Red doesn't provide individually entertaining moments. But satisfying performances and a few kicks of adrenaline aren't quite enough to make me care if this particular gun-toting badass can find inner peace. — Scott Renshaw
Picture Show, Tinseltown
Skyline (PG-13)
Survivors must fight for their lives as the extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth. — Not reviewed
Picture Show
The Social Network (PG-13)
For all its real enough ideas — about young people making jobs instead of taking them — The Social Network falls short of full articulation. — Jonathan Kiefer
Tinseltown
*Tamara Drewe (R)
For all the familiar ground it covers, Tamara Drewe seems refreshingly like a rarity. — Jonathan Kiefer
Kimball's Peak Three
*Tangled (PG)
Why is something with such familiar components so praiseworthy? Because it simply nails those components. The songs are Broadway-catchy, all three central voice performances are terrific, and the comic relief proves genuinely amusing. — Scott Renshaw
Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown
The Tourist (PG-13)
The Tourist revolves around Frank, an American tourist visiting Italy to mend a broken heart. — Not reviewed
Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown
*Toy Story 3 (G)
The 11 years since Toy Story 2 have passed almost in real time. Due to a mixup, Woody, Buzz and company end up at Sunnyside Day Care, in yet another triumph of profoundly felt storytelling from Pixar that explores the theme of letting go. — Scott Renshaw
Picture Show
*Unstoppable (PG-13)
Having played with fighter jets, race cars, submarines and subway trains in Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Crimson Tide and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, director Tony Scott still isn't done hurling around huge deadly vehicles. — Jonathan Kiefer
Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown
