Upcoming Releases
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (PG-13) The new film from stylist extraordinaire Julie Taymor (Titus, Frida) promises a lushly visual approach and wall-to-wall Beatles music bolstering a basic boy-meets-girl scenario set against the groovy, tumultuous 1960s. The characters all have Beatlesque names like Lucy, Jude, Sadie and Jo-Jo, and psychedelicized imagery inspired by the Fab's tunes reportedly abounds — but the $10 million the studio ponied up for the rights to the music apparently didn't even buy them the original versions, so Across the Universe's 133-minute running time may become tough going what with the nonmusician actors themselves being the ones doing the warbling here. We'll have to wait to see how it all turns out, since the film was screened too late for review. Stars Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs and Martin Luthor McCoy. Opens Sept. 21 at local theaters. (Not Reviewed)
RECENT RELEASES
THE 11TH HOUR (PG) Leonardo DiCaprio produced and narrates this environmental documentary that reportedly amplifies the global warming warnings Al Gore laid out in An Inconvenient Truth, tackling a daunting range of interconnected problems facing our planet today. (Not Reviewed)
2 DAYS IN PARIS (R) A brief encounter with a mixed Franco-American couple that inevitably evokes the Before Sunset/Before Sunrise projects, 2 Days in Paris stars director/screenwriter Julie Delpy as Marion, a quirky Frenchwoman on vacation with her even quirkier American boyfriend, Jack (Adam Goldberg). As its title suggests, the movie takes place during a quick stopover on Marion's Parisian home turf, where the couple spend their time strolling and engaging in mostly amusing and nearly nonstop chatter as in the Sunset/Sunrise films. There's also more than a whiff of Woody Allen here, with Delpy's goofy nervous ticks vaguely recalling the scattered charms of Diane Keaton, while Goldberg's whiney obsessiveness riffs on a lineage of neurotic Jewish comedians encapsulated by Allen. And everywhere they go, Marion's ex-lovers pop out of the woodwork, prompting Jack to suspect they're hitting on her (they are), and revealing the cracks in the couple's relationship with a forced poignancy that doesn't mesh all that well with the essentially lighter-than-air nature of Delpy's soufflé. A voice-over periodically attempts to sum up what the movie is "about," but it's completely unnecessary; what you see is what you get here. 2 Days in Paris doesn't do itself favors by inviting such close comparisons to the movies that inspired it, but the conversation is usually engaging, the scenery pretty and the price of admission a whole lot cheaper than a plane ticket to Paris. Also stars Daniel Bruhl, Marie Pillet, Albert Delpy and Aleksia Landeau. 3 stars
3:10 TO YUMA (PG-13) As in the 1957 film that inspired it, 3:10 to Yuma gives us a tightly wound cowboy cast adrift in an existential wilderness — Dan Evans (Christian Bale), a cash-strapped rancher who agrees to help transport notorious Alpha-male outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to jail. It's a journey that quickly turns tense, then treacherous, laying souls bare and, more often than not, revealing a terrible void where a conscience should be. Wade plays Hannibal Lecter to his guards' collective Clarice, taunting his captors with precision-tailored mind-games, focusing the brunt of the psychological warfare upon Dan, but taking time out now and again to show us that even monsters can be human. As Yuma heads toward its big showdown and virtually every one of the movie's heroes reveal themselves as rats deserting a sinking ship, the film drops the ball a bit, but that's almost to be expected. Without at least a glimmer of light at the end, audiences would probably never have been able to bear all the surrounding darkness. Last act problems aside, 3:10 to Yuma is a solid piece of work, a western respectful of old-school conventions while breathing some new life into the form. Also stars Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Logan Lerman and Alan Tudyk. 3.5 stars
BALLS OF FURY (PG-13) Dan Folger (one of the more supremely unattractive leading men in the entire history of cinema) stars as Randy Daytona, a former table tennis prodigy who, after a legendary defeat two decades ago, has been reduced to an obese, Def Leppard-loving clown doing dinner theater in Reno. Randy's chance at redemption comes when FBI agent George Lopez recruits the poor slob to help bring down a Chinese Triad boss (Christopher Walken), who just happens to be a huge ping-pong fan, and organizes private tournaments that give new meaning to the term "sudden death." Walken hams it up even more than usual here — with his glittery capes and mile-high pompadour, he's both Siegfried and Roy, along with a touch of Coppola's Dracula — but carpet chewing will only get you so far. The movie gets by mostly on sheer nerve, clearly delighted with the hilarity of its premise (everybody cracks up at the mere thought of ping pong, right?), but the energy level drops noticeably after less than an hour of jokes that occasionally hit their mark but more often than not feel like rejects from Dodgeball or Naked Gun 4. Also stars George Lopez, Maggie Q, James Hong, Aisha Tyler, Jason Scott Lee and Thomas Lennon. 2 stars
BECOMING JANE (PG) A very Miramaxian-sounding mish-mash of period-drama fact and fiction, zeroing in on a young Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) becoming involved in a romantic encounter that shapes the books she'll eventually write and the writer she'll eventually become. Also stars James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith and Joe Anderson. (Not Reviewed)
THE BRAVE ONE (R) In Neil Jordan's classy revenge flick/mood piece, Jodie Foster stars as a sensitive New Yorker who's nearly beaten to death and is then reborn as a remarkably efficient killing machine. For most of the movie's running time, though, Jordan places us at a distinct remove from the visceral thrill typically supplied by on-screen violence, choosing to comment on our collective impulse for revenge ("It feels good," is one bystander's succinct explanation) rather than revel in the rush of it all. The movie's bystanders mostly root for the vigilante, who becomes a sort of local celebrity in the course of things, but Foster's character is never less than conflicted about her own actions, and the individual murders are depicted as messy, unpleasant events not remotely designed to get an audience on their feet cheering. Jordan actively roots around in the escalating alienation and de-sensitization, with more than a whiff of Taxi Driver in the claustrophobic atmosphere, making The Brave One a curious contradiction in terms — a payback flick that practically goes out of its way to avoid exploitation. The single, notable exception is the movie's final murder, a controversial scene that some may see as Jordan's 11th-hour appeal, whether ironic or not, to the crypto-fascist lurking inside us all. It doesn't quite turn the genre completely on its head, but The Brave One gives it a good shot, often feeling less like a revenge movie than a peculiarly edgy chick flick in which a middle-age woman deals with grief via a 12-step program that just happens to include transforming into a Lady Terminator. Also stars Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews and Mary Steenburgen. 3.5 stars
BROTHERS SOLOMON (PG-13) If nothing else, a comedy with sheer Will power, as Arrested Development's Will Arnett and Saturday Night Live's Will Forte team up for what promises to be some seriously over-the-top antics. Bob Odenkirk directs. (Not Reviewed)
HALLOWEEN (R) Dedicated gorehound and horror-flick fanboy Rob Zombie in what, for better or worse, should be his element. John Carpenter's '70s slasher prototype gets remade by someone who cares, but will we? Stars Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Daeg Faerch, Sheri Moon, Brad Dourif, Udo Kier and Scout Taylor-Compton. (Not Reviewed)
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (PG-13) The fifth installment in J.K. Rowling's series about the resilient young magician is considerably darker than its predecessors. Harry (played by Daniel Radcliff), his friends, Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix — a secret assembly of dark arts-fighting witches and wizards — are having trouble convincing the magic-practicing public that Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has returned to wreak havoc. It doesn't help that the Ministry of Magic not only denies Voldemort's return but is determined to discredit Harry by any means possible. While filmmaker David Yates (best known for TV dramas like Girl in the Café) gets the dark, gritty ambiance of the story right and reveals Harry's discontent in the most general sense, he fails to deliver the charming magical quality that the other four films possessed and the visually spectacular moments for which the Harry Potter franchise is so well known. British star Imelda Staunton plays loathsome Ministry Agent Dolores Umbridge with great skill and Helena Bonham Carter's cameo as psychotic Azkaban prison escapee Bellatrix Lestrange is quite memorable, but the plot has been oversimplified to such an extent that formerly fleshed-out characters come off as two-dimensional caricatures of themselves. Also stars Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon and Gary Oldman. 2.5 stars —Leilani Polk
THE INVASION (PG-13) Every era probably gets the Invasion of the Body Snatchers it deserves, and this might just be ours. Don Siegel's original take on alien pods turning humans into emotionless robots was the perfect '50s sci-fi flick as thinly veiled critique of communism; Philip Kaufman's 1978 remake pumped up the existential dread in exciting and strangely believable ways; and Abel Ferrara's 1993 version reimagined the tale with the director's lurid and vaguely nihilist panache. Now, director Oliver Hirschbiegel (whose last-days-of-Hitler romp, Downfall, was one of 2005's best films) takes a crack at the tale, with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig starring as the hapless humans in danger of losing their souls. Also stars Jeremy Northam, Jeffrey Wright and Jackson Bond. (Not Reviewed)
LADRON QUE ROBA A LADRON (PG-13) Ladron Que Roba a Ladron blithely riffs on classic heist films from Rififi to Ocean's Eleven while putting a unique ethnic and socio-political spin on the proceedings. The heroes here are Alejandro and Emilio (Latino megastars Fernando Colunga and Miguel Varoni), two illegal immigrants in the tradition of Robin Hood and Abbie Hoffman — "good thieves" targeting an unscrupulous "bad thief" whose infomercials have made him rich at the expense of poor, mostly Spanish-speaking consumers. With a crew assembled from the "invisible" ranks of the immigrant work force — gardeners, mechanics, parking valets and fry cooks — our heroes put into action a plan to steal the creep's cash and give the money back to the bilked Latinos. Sometimes the movie's cultural variations on genre clichés are amusing, but at other times they're just more of the same, and there are a few places where this mostly breezy and cheeky outing stops dead in its tracks in order to allow one of the characters to sneak in some overly earnest advocacy of immigrants' rights. There's not much going on in Ladron Que Roba a Ladron that's particularly original, but the movie wins points for its rendering — sort of like a novel sauce pairing for broiled chicken. Also stars Saul Lizaso, Ivonne Montero, Julie Gonzalo, Oscar Torres, Richard Azurdia, Gabriel Soto and Jojo Henrickson. 2.5 stars
MR. WOODCOCK (R) Phallic shadows fall mightily all over Mr. Woodcock, but, sadly, the film lacks the frenetic energy or even the gross-out bravado of Balls of Fury. Seann William Scott stars as John Farley, a successful self-help author who returns to his hometown only to find his mom (Susan Sarandon) dating the titular Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton), the sadistic, ultra-macho gym teacher who tormented him all through high school. A heated pissing contest naturally results, with the two men competing for the affections of Sarandon, engaging in a movie-long match of wits and brawn, and all but whipping out their johnsons while running for the measuring sticks. Thorton's Woodcock (and yes, the name means exactly what you think it does) is cut from much the same cloth as his self-involved jerk-offs in Bad Santa, Bad News Bears and School for Scoundrels, but a little bit of this sort of concentrated obnoxiousness goes a long way. There's an undeniable charisma that Thornton brings to the role, but the movie itself is dull and, for the most part, painfully void of real laughs. Also stars Amy Poehler and Ethan Suplee. 1.5 stars
THE NANNY DIARIES (PG-13) Working class girl Scarlett Johanssen lands a gig as a nanny for a wealthy Manhattan family and gets put through the ringer while learning how the other half lives. Also stars Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti, Alicia Keys, Chris Evans and Donna Murphy. (Not Reviewed)
RESURRECTING THE CHAMP (PG-13) A boxing flick, a father-son drama and the tale of an ethically challenged journalist all collide in Resurrecting the Champ, a movie that almost certainly would have benefited by honing at least one or two of its multiple personalities. Josh Hartnett stars as a mediocre sports writer who senses an opportunity for a career-making story when he befriends a local homeless man (Samuel L. Jackson) claiming to be a former heavyweight contender. Jackson delivers a strong if somewhat gimmicky performance as the dilapidated ex-fighter — buried under a matted, gray wig and wrinkly latex, the actor slurs and grunts in a hoarse, defeated croak aimed squarely at an Oscar — and singlehandedly holds together the movie's disparate narrative strands by his sheer presence. The movie takes a few interesting turns when the writer's story is published and his career skyrockets, only to plummet just as quickly, but the film never settles on one element long enough to become truly satisfying. Also stars Teri Hatcher, Kathryn Morris, Rachel Nichols, Alan Alda and David Paymer. 3 stars
SEPTEMBER DAWN (PG-13) The September 11 so luridly detailed in September Dawn occurred in 1857, when 120 innocent Christian settlers were massacred by Mormon zealots, but the movie sinks its teeth into the parallels between the two 9/11s and doesn't let go until it's drawn blood. September Dawn is an unusually fanatical screed against religious fanaticism, and it's not above some ruthless embellishing to drive home connections to our contemporary clash of civilizations. Rife with the sort of clunky dialogue and narrative shortcuts associated with bad made-for-TV movies, the film has a field day crosscutting between the gentle Christians and the oppressive, fear-based community of Mormons. The two communities are portrayed as so wildly dissimilar that it should come as small surprise that a movie as single-minded as September Dawn filters its culture clash through a simplistic Romeo and Juliet story between a hunky Mormon horse whisperer and the minister's cherubic blonde daughter. The movie ends with what it's been promising all along — a slo-mo bloodbath on a scale that might have made Sam Peckinpah weep with envy — but despite appropriately elegiac music, there's no moment of truth to be found here. The violence is plain and predictably exploitative, catering to pretty much the same dreary impulses that dictate every porn flick gets its money shot. Lacking either the kick of camp or the authority of meaningful drama, the movie methodically drains the nuance from what might have been a consummate tragedy of miscommunication, substituting old-school sensationalism masked as insight. Stars Jon Voight, Trent Ford, Tamara Hope, Terrence Stamp, Jon Gries, Taylor Handley, Lolita Davidovich and Dean Cain. H 1/2
SHOOT 'EM UP (R) Shoot 'Em Up is nothing if not a Looney Tune of epic proportions, filled with outrageously kinetic action and stylized violence. Too much is never, ever enough here, where the obvious influences are Tarantino and Rodriguez, and, even more significantly, the early John Woo bullet ballets that inspired them. Clive Owen stars as the nameless hero (known only by the alias "Smith") who comes to the aid of a pregnant woman in the film's opening moments, delivers her baby and spends the rest of the movie trading bullets with the legions of bad guys who, for nefarious reasons revealed in due time, want the infant dead. The baby's nothing but a Maguffin, though, and the "plot" a transparent excuse for a succession of gleefully over-the-top action scenes set to the soothing sounds of Motley Crüe, Motorhead and AC/DC. The movie's hero leaps through space with both barrels blazing, engaging in gun battles while holding an infant in his arms (an obvious nod to Woo's Hard Boiled), fornicating and even parachuting. It's all as bloody as it is ridiculous and mindless, but it's also an awful lot of fun.
Head bad guy Paul Giamatti makes a fine, frustrated Elmer Fudd to Owen's roguish Bugs, a hero who displays all the depth of a cartoon but still manages to be hugely entertaining. Also stars Monica Bellucci and Daniel Pilon. 3.5 stars
STARDUST (PG) An appealing concoction that honors the spirit of fairy tales while putting a clever, gently ironic spin on everything it touches. Some might be tempted to call the approach a little calculated, too Shrek postmodern-lite by way of The Princess Bride (with a touch of Gilliam's Baron Munchausen thrown in for good measure) — but even if Stardust doesn't quite achieve the same heights as its prototypes, the air up there is often pretty exhilarating. The movie's forward momentum eventually takes on a life of its own as our heroes (Charlie Cox and Claire Danes) leap from frying pan to fire, out of witches' cauldrons and straight into flying pirate ships. Fireworks ensue, love finds a way, and the movie sends us off out of the theater with a crescendo of digital mayhem and one final Happily Ever After. Danes is just awkward enough to be immensely appealing here (she's turning into Hollywood's coolest big-boned blonde since Uma Thurman), Michelle Pfeiffer is perfectly cast as an aging witch desperate to hang on to her beauty, and, just when your attention might be about to flag, in marches Robert De Niro, chewing up the scenery as a big, bad pirate screaming to unleash his inner queen. Also stars Sienna Miller, Jason Flemyng and Rupert Everett. 3.5 stars
SUPERBAD (R) The next generation in American Pie's mutated strain, Superbad is so hilariously dirty that we don't always recognize its jokes can also be pretty darned smart. Our horndog heroes are Evan (Arrested Development's Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill, the flabby roommate from Knocked Up), best pals who, along with their even more pathetic friend, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), embark on a mission to buy booze and get laid at the big, end-of-high-school party. A comedy of errors ensues where absolutely everything goes wrong, and the more wrong things go, the funnier they get. One bizarre detour leads to another, until Superbad finally arrives at an extremely odd and — hang on, now — poignant place where the kids' sexual and romantic fantasies all come true, albeit in classic Monkey's Paw fashion, with every major and minor triumph compromised by something a little bit sad or unpleasant. The script here (by Ali G Show writers Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan, who also starred in Knocked Up) practically assures our helpless, guilty laughter but grounds the gross-out shenanigans in a coming-of-age narrative that bends clichés to its will, even as it grants flesh and blood to even its most obnoxious characters. But don't let that fool you; Superbad is rarely less than rude, crude and ridiculous, thank goodness, and no one gets let off the hook here. Also stars Emma Stone, Martha MacIssac, Bill Hader and Seth Rogan. 3.5 stars
TEN QUESTIONS FOR THE DALAI LAMA (PG) Part travelogue and part how-to guide for the spiritually restless, Rick Ray's not-quite-documentary is nothing if not earnest, but it's also often extremely bland. The 45-minute interview with the Dalai Lama that's sprinkled throughout the film is interesting enough — His Holiness is quite a character, and his words carry an unmistakable weight, even when the substance of his arguments isn't exactly revelatory — but Ray (who serves as interviewer here, as well as cinematographer, writer, director and God knows what else) doesn't hold up his end of the bargain. The filmmaker lobs some pretty insipid questions at his subject ("Why are poor people so much happier than rich people," he queries with a perfectly straight face), and about half of the movie is padded with pedestrian footage of Ray's trip to India, complete with blazing insights about what's being served for breakfast. Ten Questions is worth seeing for its succinct and moving mini-history lesson on China's brutal occupation of Tibet — and any time spent with the thoughtful, giggly, science-loving 14th Dalai Lama is time well spent — but seekers holding out hope here for some life-changing spiritual possibilities are advised to immediately lower all expectations. 3 stars
TRANSFORMERS (PG-13) Armageddon and Pearl Harbor director Michael Bay plays with the most expensive toys in the planet in this loud, destructive live-action version of the Hasbro properties. The plot, themes and characterization are laughable at best (except for Shia LaBeouf's ingratiating, steadying work in the leading "human" role), but the special effects extravaganza of giant robots whaling on each other is kind of awesome. 3 stars — Curt Holman
UNDERDOG (PG) Yet another vintage Saturday morning cartoon comes wagging its tail all the way to the big screen. Everyone's favorite talking, super-powered beagle protects truth, justice and a really cute cocker spaniel, with Jason Lee providing the canine hero's voice — a casting coup reeking of pomo irony and undoubtedly dreamed up by the same geniuses who put Bill Murray and Garfield together. Also stars Patrick Warburton, Amy Adams, Peter Dinklage and Jim Belushi. (Not Reviewed)
This article appears in Sep 19-25, 2007.