Short Subjectives June 27 2007

Opening Friday

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THE BOSS OF IT ALL (R) See review. 4 stars

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EVENING (PG-13) See review. 2 stars

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GOLDEN DOOR (PG-13) Members of a deeply superstitious Sicilian family experience drastic levels of culture shock while emigrating to America in the early 20th century. Apart from the third act, set entirely within the buildings of Ellis Island, Italian director Emanuele Crialese’s film never shows or sets foot in the United States, emphasizing the mirage-like nature of the American promise. Despite its slow pace, the film deserves attention for its sympathetic (at-times surreal) portrait of the cruelties of the immigration experience, which proves particularly relevant given the hot-button status of crossing the border as a political issue. 3 stars -- Holman

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RATATOUILLE (G) See review. 5 stars

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SICKO (PG-13) See review. 5 stars

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STEEL TOES (NR) Danny Dunckelman (David Strathairn) plays a Jewish lawyer appointed to defend Mike Downey (Andrew Walker), a neo-Nazi on trial for the murder of a Pakistani man in director David Gow’s film about race, hatred and forgiveness.

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Duly Noted

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THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE (1962) (NR) As with many a 1960s horror classic, Joseph Green’s freakish sci-fi flick features a mad scientist bent on playing God as he keeps his girlfriend’s severed head alive while he looks for a body to fit it. Silver Scream Spook Show. June 30. The Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.

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E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (PG) Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic story of a cosmos-spanning friendship between a boy and a lost alien. Screen on the Green. Thurs., June 28 at dusk. Piedmont Park meadow near 10th Street and Monroe Drive. Free. 404-878-2600.

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THE HOST (R) The monstrous host of an unknown virus comes to life with state-of-the-art special effects courtesy of Weta Workshop (The Lord of the Rings) and the Orphanage (Sin City) in Bong Joon-ho’s Korean thriller. June 29-July 12. Cinefest, GSU University Center, Suite 211, 66 Courtland St. 404-651-3565. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft.

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THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) (R) The cult classic of cult classics, the musical horror spoof follows an all-American couple (Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick) to the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), a drag queen/mad scientist from another galaxy. It’s all fun and games until Meat Loaf gets killed. Midnight Fri. at Lefont Plaza Theatre and Sat. at Peachtree Cinema & Games, Norcross.

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STRANGER THAN FICTION (PG-13) The life Harold Click (Will Ferrell) leads is being written and narrated by author Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) in director Marc Forster’s comedy. Flicks on 5th. Wed., July 11. Georgia Tech, Technology Square. 404-894-2805. www.flickson5th.com.

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Continuing

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1408 (PG-13) Stephen King’s twisted mind and extensive collection spawn yet another horror flick, brought to life this time by Swedish director Mikael Håfström and actors Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack, who plays a skeptical horror novelist checking into the Dolphin Hotel’s infamous room 1408.

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28 WEEKS LATER (R) Following the outbreak of the “rage” virus in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later that turned most of the population of mainland Britain into berserkers, this sequel takes up after the crisis has passed — or so it seems. Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo may surpass Boyle’s ability to craft jittery, unnerving thrill scenes, but the script’s harsh anti-U.S. sensibility relies on plot points too nonsensical to be easily ignored in the film’s last half-hour. 3 stars — Curt Holman

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AFTER THE WEDDING (R) One of this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language film, this Danish drama depicts a schoolteacher in India (Casino Royale’s bad guy Mads Mikkelsen) who returns to his native Denmark to woo a potential philanthropist and, at a wedding, discovers family ties he didn’t know he had. Thanks to the cast’s realistic responses to some melodramatic plot points and Susanne Bier’s energetic storytelling, After the Wedding combines fish-out-of-water humor and heated family conflicts without feeling like a Danish soap opera. 3 stars — Holman

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AWAY FROM HER (PG-13) An exceptionally accomplished and thoughtful directorial debut feature from the actress Sarah Polley. An absolutely luminous Julie Christie delivers one of the best performances of her career as a Canadian woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, who along with her husband (Gordon Pinsent) makes the difficult decision to enter a nursing home. What happens after she does is unpredictable, emotionally harrowing and an incredibly moving statement about marriage, old age, death and dying. Not to be missed. 5 stars — Felicia Feaster

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BLACK BOOK (R) In the Netherlands in 1944, a Jewish fugitive (Carice van Houten) turns femme fatale as an anti-Nazi resistance fighter, only to discover that things aren’t as black-and-white as it seems. Dutch director Paul Verhoeven returns to his homeland after making such lurid, visceral Hollywood product as Basic Instinct, Showgirls and Starship Troopers, with results that can be both thrilling and ridiculously melodramatic. Instead of coming across as a caricature of femininity, Van Houten’s star-making performance always feel credible and anchors the film despite its borderline-ludicrous plot twists. 4 stars — Holman

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BUG (R) William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) adapts a gritty off-Broadway script by Tracy Letts in this ambitious, if uneven, film about two dead-end types (Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon) holed up in an Oklahoma motel who believe they are infested by bugs implanted by the government. 3 stars — Feaster

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CHALK (PG-13) Director/co-writer Mike Akel’s heavily improvised faux documentary chronicles a high school year through the eyes of three teachers and an assistant principal. In welcome contrast to the usual inspirational-teacher fare, Chalk captures the drudgery of education and features sympathetic portrayals from its unknown cast, but presents such modest narrative arcs that you wonder why they didn’t just make a real documentary. 3 stars -- Holman

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CRAZY LOVE (PG-13) A very sick true-crime story about a beautiful woman, Linda Riss, and her scorned, married boyfriend Burt Pugach, who decided to punish her by hiring a thug to throw acid in her face. But the grossest twist in this lurid drama came when Riss eventually married Pugach in this documentary about a fascinatingly weird couple done in questionable taste. 3 stars -- Feaster

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DISTURBIA (PG-13) A likable but troubled teen (Shia LaBeouf) under house arrest turns self-appointed neighborhood watch and suspects the guy next door (David Morse) of being a murderer. Director D.J. Caruso proves interested in the voyeuristic POV shots of the premise, at least as a technical exercise, and LaBeouf and Morse lend snap to their roles. Despite being a transparent Hitchcock imitation, Disturbia persuasively argues that the time may be ripe to revisit Rear Window’s themes, thanks to advances in picture phones, digital cameras and other gadgets of the YouTube generation. 3 stars — Holman

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DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (PG-13) Adapted from the best-selling video game, this movie stars Devon Aoki as one of four amazon women who fight each other to the death on a remote exotic island.

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EVAN ALMIGHTY (PG) In this superficial yarn, selfish freshman congressman Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) finds his political career derailed by a holy decree from God (Morgan Freeman) to build an ark. A crass attempt to get the fundamentalists and the progressives on the same page, this misguided comedy about environmentalism-through-Scripture suggests Close Encounters of the Third Kind meets Mr. Smith Goes to Washington without either film’s integrity or skills. 2 stars -- Feaster

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FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (PG) If it weren’t for the bad casting, dialogue and direction, this sequel about a surrogate family of super-powered celebrities might be a pretty good movie. The extraterrestrial menace from the Silver Surfer (Doug Jones, with voice by Laurence Fishburne) gives some urgency and scope that’s faithful to the classic Marvel Comics series, but not enough to redeem the film’s awful sense of humor. 2 stars -- Holman

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GRACIE (PG-13) Directed by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth). Gracie is a teenage girl who struggles to overcome the death of her older brother by trying out for the boy’s varsity soccer team at her high school.

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HOSTEL PART II (R) Picking up where Hostel left off, the film follows three girls studying in Italy who make an unfortunate stop in a Slovakian hostel. Starring Heather Matarazzo, Jay Hernandez and Roger Bart; directed by Eli Roth.

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IMAX THEATER Hurricane on the Bayou (NR) Shot before and after the unprecedented devastation of Hurricane Katrina by director Greg MacGillivray, this documentary brings into focus the startling loss of Louisiana’s rapidly disappearing coastal wetlands that are New Orleans’ first line of defense against deadly storms. Starring Meryl Streep, Allen Toussaint II and Tab Benoit. Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France (NR) Explores the minds of cyclists training for the Tour de France and studies the effects of the race on their brains. Fernbank Museum of Natural History IMAX Theater, 767 Clifton Road. 404-929-6300. www.fernbank.edu.

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JINDABYNE (R) Australian director Ray Lawrence expands Raymond Carver’s short story about how four fishing buddies’ discovery of a dead body fails to interrupt their vacation. A rich, complex and grim work, Jindabyne may be too sprawling and enigmatic for its own good, but it features powerful, implosive performances from Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney as spouses sharing a failing marriage. 3 stars — Holman

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KNOCKED UP (R) On the foundation of just two films, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and now Knocked Up, writer/director Judd Apatow is rewriting the adolescent sex comedy a la Porky’s and American Pie with smarter, more incisive — and hilarious — results. The story of an overachieving beauty (Katherine Heigl) whose one-night stand with overgrown slacker Seth Rogen leaves her with child, the gimmick is a little creaky, but the humor and generational read on savvy women and Peter Pan men is spot-on. 4 stars — Feaster

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LA VIE EN ROSE (PG-13) An extraordinary, transcendent bio-picture treating the trauma-plagued life of parental neglect, drug addiction and loss but also the amazing, artistic legacy of French national icon and chanteuse Edith Piaf. Olivier Dahan’s direction is stunning and star Marion Cotillard disappears into the role with a remarkable ease. 5 stars -- Feaster

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LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (PG-13) See review. 3 stars

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A MIGHTY HEART (R) Based on Mariane Pearl’s memoir, this restrained and intelligent film feels too careful and moored to the technicalities of the situation to really deliver the emotional or insightful goods. Director Michael Winterbottom focuses on Mariane’s (Angelina Jolie) search for her kidnapped (and eventually brutally murdered) Wall Street Journal reporter husband, Daniel Pearl, in 2002 Pakistan. 3 stars -- Feaster

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MR. BROOKS (R) Kevin Costner and William Hurt prove eerily entertaining as a Portland pillar of the community and the imaginary friend who encourages his “addiction” to murder. Director Bruce A. Evans’ thriller features numerous surprising twists, but suffers enormously when the plot shifts to Demi Moore’s drab turn as a millionaire police detective stalked by a standard-issue crazed killer. 3 stars — Holman

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THE NAMESAKE (PG-13) Mira Nair’s (Monsoon Wedding) latest foray into cross-cultural ennui is a bit of a disappointment. When her adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel is focused on recent newlyweds Ashima (Tabu) and Ashoke (Irfan Khan) as they make the difficult immigrant’s journey from bright, warm Calcutta to grim Queens in the ’70s the film succeeds beautifully. But when Nair’s attention turns to their dour teenage hatchling Gogol (Kal Penn) in this epic family drama of cultural collision between the old world and the new, the film loses some energy. 2 stars — Feaster

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NANCY DREW (PG) Often suggesting a tween “Murder She Wrote,” this film based on the classic book series features Emma Roberts as a ’50s-style wholesome-girl detective stuck in a contemporary L.A. full of Bratz-like decadent teens. The film doesn’t live up to that comic culture-clash premise, though it may provide a welcome plucky, adventurous girl role model for younger tweens. 3 stars -- Feaster

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OCEAN’S THIRTEEN (PG-13) In Steven Soderbergh’s latest fizzy, flashy caper film, unflappable Danny Ocean (George Clooney) enlists his band of hipster heisters to sting scuzzy casino magnate Willie Bank (Al Pacino with a mesmerizing fake tan). Despite few emotional stakes and plot complexity that crosses the line into incoherence, Soderbergh and company’s cool cleverness hits the jackpot anyway. 4 stars -- Holman

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OFFSIDE (NR) Director Jafar Panahi (The White Balloon, The Circle) whose films seem to play everywhere but his native Iran, addresses the sad gender divisions in his country by focusing on the soccer-crazed girls who dress as boys to sneak inside male-only sports stadiums. But what begins as an examination of this gender prejudice enlarges into a portrait of the ties that bind Iranians, and a portrait of the warm and convivial relationship among its citizens. 3 stars — Feaster

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ONCE (R) The Guy (Glen Hansard) works part-time helping his father run a small vacuum-cleaner-repair business in Dublin, Ireland, but dreams of one day landing a record deal. His life changes when he meets the Girl (Marketa Irglova), an Eastern European woman who has moved to Ireland to start a new life for herself. Directed by John Carney.

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PAPRIKA (R) Director Satoshi Kon pushes the surreal possibilities of animation to their absolute limit in this mind-boggling tale of scientists trying to wrestle with technology that manipulates dreams. Even when the film seems reckless with its plot and rules, its use of dreams as metaphor for terrorism, cinema and the Internet provide more than just eye candy. 4 stars ­-- Holman

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PARIS JE T’AIME (R) Twenty filmmakers, including Alfonso Cuarón, the Coen brothers and Gérard Depardieu, bring their own personal touches to the film, which features 20 interconnected narratives set in Paris.

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PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END (PG-13) Jettisoning clarity of plot and character like so much ballast, the overstuffed final film in Gore Verbinski’s swashbuckling trilogy lives up to its origins as a diverting theme-park ride, particularly in a pitched battle between two ships in a whirlpool and the surreal sequence of Capt. Jack Sparrow’s (Johnny Depp) rescue from Davy Jones’ Locker. 3 stars — Holman

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RED ROAD (NR) British director Andrea Arnold’s skin-crawling, corkscrew debut feature centers on a security operator (Kate Dickie) at Glasgow’s City Eye Control who begins to stalk an ex-con (Tony Curran) she spies one day on the city’s surveillance cameras. 5 stars -- Feaster

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SEPTEMBER DAWN (R) Academy Award winner Jon Voight stars as Jacob Samuelson in Christopher Cain’s fictionalized love story set against the historical backdrop of the 1857 massacre of more than 100 men, women and children supposedly ordered by one of the nation’s most controversial religious figures.

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SEVERANCE (R) A bus-load of white-collar office drones experiences a high mortality rate on a “team-building weekend” at a remote Eastern European lodge. Director Christopher Smith strikes a sharp balance of humor and horror in this lightly satirical slasher flick with a keen political edge. 3 stars -- Holman

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SHREK THE THIRD (PG) Slovenly ogre Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) shirks his royal duties by trying to enlist the only other heir, meek teen Arthur (de facto king of pop Justin Timberlake). Smug and self-congratulatory, Shrek the Third lacks the freshness and energy of its predecessors and takes perfunctory potshots at such cutting-edge topics as high school, dinner theater, hippies and vain, snobby princesses (although such voice actresses as Amy Sedaris offer amusingly ditzy turns). 2 stars — Holman

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SPIDER-MAN 3 (PG-13) In the third and most entertaining of director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, the darker impulses of normally sunny superhero Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) take over thanks in part to an alien parasite. Spider-Man 3 keeps the conflicts rooted in character while improving on the spectacular special effects of the earlier films. If it’s a little tiresome to see girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) constantly in peril, the creativity and excitement of freaky, poignant villains take up the slack in Raimi’s own web. 4 stars — Holman

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SURF’S UP (PG) Another CGI film about adorable penguins, except this time a “documentary” crew takes audiences behind the scenes at the Penguin Surfing World Championship, following the world’s greatest penguin surfers. The tuxedoed surfer dudes are voiced by Shia LeBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, and more.

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TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT (NR) Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg’s harrowing documentary shows how racism and police incompetence led to a 19-year stretch in prison for Darryl Hunt, a young Winston-Salem, N.C., man falsely accused of a 1984 rape and murder. Only the unceasing work of his tenacious defense attorney and community advocates secured his release. 4 stars ­-- Feaster

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THE VALET (PG-13) A parking valet (Gad Elmaleh) agrees to pass in public as the boyfriend of a supermodel (Alice Taglioni) in this farce from The Closet director Francis Veber. The plot features almost nothing that would be out of place in a “Friends”-style sitcom, but the understated leads make the broad humor go down easy. 3 stars -- Holman

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WAITRESS (PG-13) From director Adrienne Shelly comes this romantic comedy about a small-town waitress (Keri Russell who is pregnant with her abusive husband’s baby and finds love with the new doctor in town.