Short Subjectives August 29 2007

Capsule reviews of recently reviewed movies

Opening Friday

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THE 11TH HOUR (PG) Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners, The 11th Hour, explores solutions to the problem of global warming and warns that humans must take action soon to save the planet.

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DEATH SENTENCE (R) Kevin Bacon stars in James Wan’s action drama about a father sworn to kill each member of the gang that murdered his son.

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HALLOWEEN (R) Musician and writer/director of the latest Halloween chapter, Rob Zombie promises new thrills as he revisits Michael Myers’ horror story that began in 1978.

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LADRON QUE ROBA A LADRON (PG-13) Produced in Spanish, Joe Menendez’s action-heist movie brings the diverse Latin American culture to the fore as it chronicles a team of underdog thieves setting out to rob a big-time crook.

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PIERROT LE FOU (NR)

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TWO DAYS IN PARIS (NR) See review.

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VITUS (R) See review.

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Duly Noted

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DRAGON*CON INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (NR) Presented as part of the Dragon*Con fantasy convention, this film festival presents panel discussions, four feature films (including the local productions The Signal and Blood Car) and more than 70 short films, primarily in such “genre” categories as horror, science fiction and animation. Memorable titles include “Zombie Love,” “Sperm! The Motion Picture” and “Night of the Hell Hamsters.” Aug. 31-Sept. 3. Dragon*Con. Atlanta Hilton, Hyatt Regency Hotel and Mariott Marquis Atlanta. $85, four-day membership. 770-909-1105. filmfest.dragoncon.net.

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DRIVE-INVASION (NR) See preview.

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FLASH GORDON (PG) (1980) The 1930s Buster Crabbe sci-fi serial inspired Star Wars, so it’s not surprising that the Flash Gordon remake features all the camp of George Lucas’ space opera, but none of the grandeur. With a kitschy production design and a score by Queen, the film probably gets more entertaining the more dated it becomes. Midnight at Midtown Arts Center, 931 Monroe Drive. 678-495-1424. www.landmarktheatres.com. -- Curt Holman

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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. Dress as your favorite character and participate in this musical on acid. Midnight Fri. at Lefont Plaza Theatre and Sat. at Peachtree Cinema & Games, Norcross.

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Continuing

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BALLS OF FURY (PG-13) In the high-stakes underground world of pingpong, a former professional pingpong phenom (Dan Fogler) is the government’s only hope of bringing down the tournament organizer in Robert Ben Garant’s comedy.

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BECOMING JANE 3 stars (PG) Though it employs the familiar touches of a Jane Austen original, Becoming Jane never fully becomes the kind of Austen piece we know and love. In a pleasant, improbable manner, a feisty Jane (the porcelain Anne Hathaway) and her conflicted, Darcy-esque love interest (James McAvoy) dutifully deliver the expected wry banter and repressed affection to convince us of their love, yet the film’s oddly somber tone, which lingers like English rain, hinders any real chance of doing justice to Austen’s own bright mastery of wit and observation. -- Allison C. Keene

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BLAME IT ON FIDEL (NR) Told from the point of view of 9-year-old Anna, documentary filmmaker Julie Gavras’ fiction debut shows how children suffer when parents take political sensibilities too far.

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THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM  3 stars (PG-13) In the third Bourne movie, amnesiac super-spy Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) crosses the globe to reclaim his memory and outwit his former CIA spymasters (including David Strathairn). Paul Greengrass also directed the trilogy’s previous entry and again masterfully employs shaky camera work and soundtrack percussion to raise the audience’s pulse rate; he could make doing laundry unbearably exciting. Nevertheless, given the identical plots (and impassive acting from Julia Stiles) in all three, it’s no wonder Bourne can’t remember anything. — Holman

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BRATZ (PG) With characters based on the popular dolls, Sean McNamara’s comedy chronicles the trials of four teenage girls who share an enduring friendship.

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COLMA: THE MUSICAL 3 stars (NR) Three recent high school graduates (Jake Moreno, L.A. Renigen, and scripter/lyricist/composer H.P. Mendoza) long to escape their sleepy hometown of Colma, Calif., in this exuberant indie musical. The thin plot and self-involved, unlikable characters prevent Colma from becoming a cult classic, but Mendoza and director Richard Wong clearly have enough ideas and talent to support the idea that the future of the movie musical may be at the art house, not the cineplex. — Holman

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DEATH AT A FUNERAL 2 stars (R) This calculated British farce milks a strained brand of comedy from the the solemn occasion of a death, where disclosures of homosexuality (a less shocking revelation in 2007 than the filmmaker seems to think), midgets and accidental murder show director Frank Oz’s effort in keeping the plot moving. -- Feaster

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EL CANTANTE (R) Spanning roughly 30 years, Leon Ichaso’s biopic drama chronicles the rise of the Puerto Rican salsa singer Hector Lavoy and stars Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez.

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GOYA’S GHOST  3 stars (R) Stellan Skarsgard is the 19th-century doom-tripping painter Francisco Goya, witness to war and political and religious evildoing in Milos Forman’s historical epic. But it’s Javier Bardem who brings real charisma and grit to his role as a religious zealot priest who takes advantage of an aristocratic Spanish girl (Natalie Portman) during the Inquisition. With his tendency for soap-opera drama in treating Goya’s life, Forman’s film may be more interesting as a reflection of his auteurial fixation with institutional abuses of power. -- Feaster

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HAIRSPRAY  4 stars (PG) Yes, it lacks the funky soul sounds of John Waters’ original 1988 film of race and tail-shaking in 1962 Baltimore. But director and choreographer Adam Shankman clearly understands the value of keeping things moving in this rousing, infectiously toe-tapping film version of the Broadway musical. Shankman retains Waters’ smart-aleck, golly-gee-for-grime spirit and manages to distract from the relative horror of John Travolta (in the Divine role) in a female skin suit. Nikki Blonsky is sassy as the chubby, dance-crazy, integrationist teenager Tracy Turnblad, but it’s Christopher Walken as her joshing dad who often steals the show. -- Feaster

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HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX  4 stars (PG-13) Harry Potter’s (Daniel Radcliffe) attempts to defend against evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) are hindered when cruel but cutesy-voiced Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) seizes control of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Low on jokes and wonder, Phoenix offers the tightest, most focused film in the franchise, that plays like a taut, anti-authority thriller rich with political metaphors. It’s The Empire Strikes Back of the franchise. -- Holman

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HOT ROD (PG-13) “Saturday Night Live” newcomer Andy Samburg hits the big screen as a clumsy, moped-riding daredevil in “SNL” writer Akiva Schaffer’s action/comedy.

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I KNOW WHO KILLED ME (R) Lindsay Lohan stars in Chris Sivertson’s thriller as a young woman abducted by a sadistic killer, then tortured and convinced that she is not who everyone else claims she is.

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I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY (PG-13) Adam Sandler and Kevin James star as straight firefighters posing as gay life partners to take advantage of the insurance benefits in Dennis Dugan’s comedy.

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ILLEGAL TENDER (R) From John Singleton, the producer of Four Brothers, and writer/director Franc Reyes comes a thriller about a woman and her teenage son who seek revenge on the people who killed her husband.

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IMAX THEATER The Alps Follow John Harlin III in MacGillivray Freeman’s visually breathtaking documentary as he attempts to climb the same summit that proved fatal to his father 40 years ago. Coral Reef Adventure IMAX cameras travel farther than ever before to capture underwater images of the Pacific Ocean’s beautiful coral reefs for this documentary. Fernbank Museum of Natural History IMAX Theater, 767 Clifton Road. 404-929-6300. www.fernbank.edu.

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INTERVIEW  2 stars (R) As artificial and airless as some actorly exercise, Steve Buscemi’s psychodrama pits a shallow TV actress (Sienna Miller) against a conceited political writer (Buscemi) who thinks it’s slumming to profile an actress. The characters are a bore and the table-turning scenario not much better. -- Feaster

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THE INVASION 2 stars (PG-13) Forget communists; Invasion invokes a fear of remakes. This latest member of the Body Snatchers family begs the question: If becoming a pod person means such overacted and poorly scripted films will cease to exist, is there really a problem? Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig play matching bleached-blonde heroes, with Jackson Bond as the requisite cute kid with big eyes who might can save us all. -- Keene

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LA VIE EN ROSE 5 stars (PG-13) An extraordinary, transcendent biopicture 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 remarkable ease. -- Feaster

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LADY CHATTERLEY (NR) Pascale Ferran’s screen adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s story stars Marina Hands and Jean-Louis Coullo’ch as two vastly different characters whose torrid love affair reawakens the life in their formerly stagnant existence.

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MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES 5 stars (NR) Capable of inspiring a cold shiver of fear at the future laid out for us, Jennifer Baichwal’s documentary centers on the Canadian filmmaker Edward Burtynsky as he photographs the encroachment of industry and the erasure of nature and history from contemporary China. -- Feaster

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MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY 3 stars (G) A silly throwback to the physical pratfalling of Keaton and Jacques Tati, this fluffy tale of semi-retarded Brit Mr. Bean vacationing in the South of France is a nice break from the usual scatological kid movies. A campy cameo by Willem Dafoe as a pretentious American director in Cannes only ups the escapist fun. -- Feaster

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MOLIÈRE (PG-13) Laurent Tirard’s period drama is both romantic and comedic, staring Romain Duris as a 22-year-old Jean-Baptiste Poquelin fresh out of prison but long before he goes down in history as France’s greatest dramatist.

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MY BEST FRIEND  4 stars (PG-13) Patrice Leconte’s (Man on the Train) tale of a silly wager, in which a nonsocial antiques dealer (Daniel Auteuil) tries to prove he is likable by producing a best friend in 10 days, develops into a rueful commentary on the poignancy of human connection. The likable Dany Boon is the gregarious taxi driver who helps “teach” Auteuil how to be a friend. ­-- Feaster

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THE NANNY DIARIES 2 stars (PG-13) A toothless social comedy that seriously misses the mark, directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor) adaptation of the best-selling chick lit by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus aims to recreate the success of The Devil Wears Prada. This time the misunderstood boss from hell is a Park Avenue socialite (Laura Linney) who is both feared and pitied by her put-upon nanny (Scarlett Johansson). ­-- Feaster

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NO END IN SIGHT 4 stars (NR) Charles Ferguson’s quietly haunting documentary is centered on interviews with a number of shockingly high-placed Washington insiders as it makes its case for the Bush administration’s woeful bungling of the Iraq war. Measured, calm and nightmare-inducing. -- Feaster

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NO RESERVATIONS 2 stars (PG) Catherine Zeta-Jones plays an uptight, perfectionist chef at a luxe Manhattan bistro (and thus, in the logic of Hollywood single-woman dramedies, desperately unhappy) who is schooled in love and loosening up by an annoyingly groomed hipster sous chef Aaron Eckhart, wearing feathered hair and Crocs. Based on the German light comedy Mostly Martha. ­-- Feaster

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RATATOUILLE 5 stars (G) Despite having a cast that’s nearly half rodent, Ratatouille breaks from the Pixar formula of cute, funny action comedies about talking toys/bugs/cars/etc. for an ingenious, bittersweet culinary farce. The brilliant gags might tickle your sweet tooth, but the film also serves rich, hearty subtext about life’s sensual pleasures and the necessity of personal evolution. And it looks good enough to eat. — Holman

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RESCUE DAWN 5 stars (PG-13) Werner Herzog’s POW escape film feels more like his own classics of human confrontation with nature such as Aguirre, The Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo than the usual action-movie, foreign-prison-break film. A captivating Christian Bale plays real-life German-American pilot Dieter Dengler, who was shot down over Laos and managed to make his way to freedom from a jungle POW camp. Utterly restrained and meditative, the film brings the nimble, metaphysical touch of an art-house master to an often gung-ho genre. ­-- Feaster

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RESURRECTING THE CHAMP 2 stars (PG-13) An ambitious sports reporter (Josh Hartnett) discovers what may be a career-launching story when he meets a former heavyweight boxer (Samuel L. Jackson) turned homeless. Although the premise attempts to explore journalistic ethics along the lines of Shattered Glass, Hartnett makes a maddening, self-pitying protagonist and director Rod Lurie (The Contender) softens all the interesting edges. — Holman

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ROCKET SCIENCE 3 stars (R) A scheming high school debater (Anna Kendrick) encourages lovelorn Hal Hefner (Reece Daniel Thompson) to try out for the team, despite his debilitating stutter. At times Rocket Science’s ironic, deadpan tone feels overly calculated, as if director Jeffrey Blitz tries too hard to emulate Napoleon Dynamite and films of Wes Anderson. Nevertheless, Rocket Science’s script takes surprising twists and satisfying resolutions, buoyed by the performances of its young cast (including Nicholas D’Agosto as a legendary but enigmatic debater) and the music of the Violent Femmes. -- Holman

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RUSH HOUR 3 1 stars (PG-13) After an attempted assassination of the Chinese ambassador, the LAPD’S Chris Tucker and Chinese cop Jackie Chan bicker all the way to Paris. Fast-talking Tucker and fast-moving Chan make such a natural comic team that it’s a shame three-time director Brett Ratner never built them a vehicle with witty jokes or racial insight. All three films are pretty crummy, interrupting the loud comedy and louder action with some still-decent stunt work from Chan (now 53 years old), but even the funny outtakes during the closing credits seem calculated. -- Holman

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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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SICKO 5 stars (PG-13) Propumentarian Michael Moore thankfully tends to fade into the background in this impassioned film about America’s health-care crisis. Apart from the occasional stunt, such as a trip to Cuba to highlight the advantages of nationalized health care, Moore instead lets the victims of America’s bureaucracy-choked and bottom-line-minded health-care business show — in chilling but also often humorous terms — how adequate medical treatment has become a luxury item in this country. ­-- Feaster

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THE SIMPSONS MOVIE 3 stars (PG-13) In the long-awaited film version of television’s longest-running comedy, The Simpsons flee to Alaska when Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) accidentally causes an environmental catastrophe. The movie offers far more laughs than you’d get from four current episodes of the once-brilliant show, yet the plot (involving a giant dome) turns out to be as lame and contrived as any present-day story line. The movie makes you laugh nonstop but miss the show in its heyday simultaneously. — Holman

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STARDUST 4 stars (PG-13) In mid-19th-century England, a young man (Charlie Cox) goes on a romantic errand in a magical kingdom and eventually falls in love with a fallen star who looks like Claire Danes. And who wouldn’t? Stardust’s beguiling blend of fantasy and humor proves both deeper and sexier than the similarly themed The Princess Bride, while spending less time winking at the audience (except for Robert De Niro’s performance as an air pirate with a double life).-- Holman

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SUPERBAD 4 stars (R) Jonah Hill and Michael Cera make a classic comedy duo as two nebbischy high schoolers trying to buy beer and score with girls before they go off to separate colleges. Although Superbad pays homage to the horny teen comedies of the 1980s, it’s far funnier, warmer and better acted than any of them (except possibly Fast Times at Ridgemont High). — Holman

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TALK TO ME 4 stars (R) Kasi Lemmons’ (Eve’s Bayou) by-turns thoughtful and highly amusing biopicture looks at the astounding career trajectory, in both its quick rise and idiosyncratic fall, of the outspoken, charismatic 1960s ex-con-turned-DJ Petey Greene (Don Cheadle) — and radio exec Dewey Hughes (Chiewetel Ejiofor) — who gave a voice to black Americans from his Washington, D.C., radio pulpit. Cheadle is mesmerizing and Lemmons’ film is a needed reminder of both the smaller voices lost in the bluster of history, and a politically resonant expression of the need to speak out, now more than ever. — Feaster

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THE TEN (R) With an all-star cast including Jessica Alba, Winona Ryder and Adam Brody, filmmakers Ken Marino and David Wain illustrate the Ten Commandments with 10 sinfully funny interconnected skits.

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TRANSFORMERS 3 stars (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. — Holman

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UNDERDOG (PG) Comedic actor Jason Lee lends his voice to the rhyming canine who saves the day in Frederik Du Chau’s comedy inspired by the original Saturday-morning cartoon.

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WHO’S YOUR CADDY? (PG-13) The board president of a country club in the Carolinas strongly discourages an Atlanta rap mogul from joining, but the rapper and his entourage remain tenacious in Don Michael Paul’s comedy.