new this week
BRIDESMAIDS (R) SNL's brilliant and funny Kristen Wiig tries (yet again) for the box office success that has thus far eluded her. Hopefully, the solid supporting cast (including the wonderful Maya Rudolph) and producer Judd Apatow have her back. Check out Daniel Feingold's full review of Bridesmaids by clicking here.
EVERYTHING MUST GO (R) Will Ferrell drifts back into serious territory with the story of a past-his-prime salesman dealing with alcoholism and a crumbling relationship. The last time Ferrell attempted to play it straight, he hit a solid triple with Stranger Than Fiction, but that movie was funny, even if Ferrell wasn't. Will Ferrell's fans accept him in a serious role in an unfunny movie? Joe Bardi will let you know in his full review of Everything Must Go, which will be posted at cltampa.com/movies on Fri., May 13.
PRIEST (PG-13) Paul Bettany stars in this tale of a renegade priest who attempts to rescue his niece from a legion of bloodsucking vampires. How is the horror movie the only flick NOT rated R this weekend? (Not reviewed)
recent releases
ARTHUR (PG-13) It's a hard act to follow, but the remake of the 1981 classic starring the late-great Dudley Moore is actually pretty good. Many of the elements are in place: Dorothy Parker-esque one-liners; a dignified and generous female-nanny-spin on Hobson by Helen Mirren — like John Gielgud's original, hers are the best moments of the film and she turns in a likewise Oscar-worthy performance — and a touching romance between Russell Brand's reluctantly engaged millionaire and Greta Gerwig's working-class Naomi. Brand is affable and convincing as Arthur with several laugh-out-loud lines. One improvement: increased camera time between Hobson and Arthur. Some over-the-top choices are ill-advised, such as the Batmobile and Jennifer Garner's psychotic version of Susan. —Julie Garisto
FAST FIVE (PG-13) As the opening sequence to Fast Five reaches its astonishingly stupid payoff, The Onion's satiric conceit that the film was scripted by a 5-year-old doesn't seem too far off. Because nothing regarding Fast Five would make more sense than discovering that two enthusiastic 15-year-old boys raised on the worst Hollywood blockbusters had penned its screenplay. A movie as nonsensical, aimlessly energetic and full of testosterone as Fast Five is borne of the kind of adolescent enthusiasm whose creative process is propagated by questions that start with "Wouldn't it be cool if …" Ridiculous from start to finish in nearly every respect, Fast Five is fueled by copious amounts of hammy acting, macho posing and the kind of trash-talking banter that passes for comic relief in big, dumb action pictures like this. But even big, dumb action flicks need at least a trace amount of wit to be entertaining. Instead, Fast Five functions as a kind of black hole from which no intelligence can escape. —Anthony Salveggi
HANNA (PG-13) Raised in the forest by her father (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA agent, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is a smart, attentive teenager who is also an expert at self-defense and survival. Her training in the woods is just the first of many rites of passage, including a looming showdown with the ruthless CIA agent (Cate Blanchett) responsible for Hanna and her father's exile. Working from a screenplay that keeps viewers off balance, director Joe Wright (Atonement) builds the suspense with a watchmaker's precision. Potent as Wright's direction is, the movie belongs to Ronan, who is astonishing in the title role. —AS
RIO (G) An animated comedy from the makers of Ice Age that features colorful birds and the voices of Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg. As kid-friendly as they come. (Not previewed)
SCREAM 4 (R) Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette are all back for director Wes Craven's fourth spin in Ghostface's stabby neighborhood. The original Scream was a horror breakthrough in the '90s, but the two sequels that preceded this fourth outing basically sucked. (Not previewed)
SOMETHING BORROWED (PG-13) Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) is always putting others first, especially her best friend, the conniving and self-centered Darcy (Kate Hudson). Then Rachel shares a kiss with Darcy's fiancé Dex (Colin Egglesfield) after her 30th birthday party. This is in no way anything other than a horrible mistake made in the haze of intoxication, right? Well, no. Dex readily admits that he just wasn't that drunk and continues to pursue Rachel, which would be fine as the premise for a film if we weren't meant to feel all squishy and romantic about what they're doing. As it stands, Dex isn't supposed to be a douche, he's supposed to be the romantic lead. The lone voice of reason throughout this thing is Rachel's best friend, Ethan (John Krasinski — essentially still playing The Office's Jim Halpert). He has a healthy disdain for most of the people involved in this sordid love triangle, and you will too. —Shannon Bennett
THOR (PG-13) After previously introducing Iron Man and Hulk, Marvel now gives us Thor, bringing the God of Thunder from the comics into the cinematic Marvel universe. Thor (well played by Chris Hemsworth), a prince in a realm of powerful Viking-type guys, is banished to Earth by his angry father (Anthony Hopkins). Powerless and earthbound, he meets a hot scientist (Natalie Portman) and agents from S.H.I.E.L.D., a government agency that seems to be collecting superheroes. It's only when Thor's homeworld is threatened that he becomes worthy of his god status and harnesses the power he commands (plus one giant hammer) to save our world and his. Thor is an entertaining popcorn flick with something for the men (big action, hot nerd Natalie Portman), something for the ladies, and some of the men (ripped, shirtless Chris Hemsworth) and lots and lots of people getting hit with a hammer. Is it perfect? Not even close. But as the official start to a superhero-laden summer movie season, I guess Thor will do. —Kevin Hopp
SOURCE CODE (PG-13) In this cerebral and engrossing sci-fi mystery, the titular "code" is a top-secret government project that promises to send the consciousness of one person (say, a soldier played by Jake Gyllenhaal) into the body of another. Two catches: You can only jump into people after they're dead, and you only get to replay the last eight minutes of their lives. Gyllenhaal is tasked with jumping into the body of a man on a commuter train bound for Chicago that has already been destroyed in a terrorist attack and flushing out the bomber. Source Code is wonderful, heady, entertaining sci-fi that owes a large part of its success to fleshed-out characters that the audience will genuinely care about. —Joe Bardi
This article appears in May 12-18, 2011.