Short Subjectives July 16 2008

Capsule reviews of recently reviewed films

Opening Friday

THE DARK KNIGHT (PG-13) See review.

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (G) See review.

MAMMA MIA! (PG-13) See review.

SPACE CHIMPS (G) A group of chimps embark on a dangerous space mission led by Ham III (voiced by Andy Samberg), the slightly incompetent grandson of the first chimp astronaut.

Duly Noted

BECK 08 — LIVE Glenn Beck, political commentator and talk-radio host, performs his one-man stage show live in Dallas, broadcast on tape-delay in theaters around the country. Thurs., July 17. 8 p.m. Prices and locations vary. www.fathomevents.com.

CINEMAMA!!! The film series shows films every Thursday night and includes popcorn, pillows and drinks. July’s theme is documentaries, and Thurs., July 17, Werner Herzog’s Little Dieter Needs to Fly will be screened. Free. 8 p.m. New Street Gallery, 2800 Washington St., Avondale Estates. cinemama.org.

NATIONAL BLACK ARTS FESTIVAL FILM SERIES See review.

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. Midnight, Fridays at Plaza Theatre, and Saturdays at Peachtree Cinema & Games, Norcross.

WILD OCEAN (NR) The underwater IMAX spectacular follows the sardine migration up the African coast for a feeding frenzy, which includes breaching whales, sharks, and dolphin herds. Through Nov. 14. Free-$13. Fernbank Museum of Natural History, 767 Clifton Road. 404-929-6400. www.fernbankmuseum.org.

XANADU (1980) (PG) Kira, a Greek muse (Olivia Newton-John), inspires an artist to build a disco roller rink with the help of a wealthy clarinet player named Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly) in this campy and colorful musical. Tues., July 22. $8. 9:30 p.m. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.

Continuing

THE ANIMATION SHOW 4 3 stars (NR) The fourth installment of the edgy animation anthology, created by Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt, puts a little too much emphasis on rude slapstick. (You can pretty much guess the punchlines of the recurring shorts called “Yompi, The Loveable Crotch-Biting Sloup.”) Nevertheless, the jokes are pretty good on a short-by-short basis. Smith & Foulkes’ “This Way Up” is a small masterpiece of deadpan humor and other highlights include a collage adaptation of Billy Collins’ poem “Forgetfulness.” — Curt Holman

BABY MAMA 2 stars (PG-13) “30 Rock” creator Tina Fey plays a variation of her small-screen alter ego as an unmarried successful executive who hires an uncouth surrogate (Amy Poehler) to have her child. Former “Saturday Night Live” co-anchors, Fey and Poehler make an appealing comedic duo, but the film never rises above the thudding level of a female “Odd Couple” dynamic of slob vs. snob, while writer/director Michael McCullers shows no understanding of real-world fertility issues. -- Holman

THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI (R) Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Radha Mitchell and Chow Yun-Fat star in this film about 1930s war-torn China.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN 2 stars (PG) Thirteen hundred years after they ruled Narnia, the Pevensie siblings (Georgia Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell) return to the magical realm to help rightful Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) overthrow a tyrant. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe featured a greater sense of wonder, better special effects and stronger supporting performances (Peter Dinklage proves the sole saving grace here). Caspian builds to some lavish sword-and-sorcery eye candy in its second half, but takes a long, joyless slog to get there. -- Holman

DR. SEUSS’ HORTON HEARS A WHO! 4 stars (G) In this CGI adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic, a kindly elephant (voiced by Jim Carrey) protects microscopic Whoville from hostile nay-sayers led by Carol Burnett’s Sour Kangaroo. Horton cleverly doubles the narrative by making the Whoville mayor (Steve Carell) another lonely believer, and generally retains the heart of the book and slapstick worthy of old Bugs Bunny cartoons. It’s as if the filmmakers knew exactly how big a desecration was Carrey’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and did exactly the opposite. -- Holman

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL 3 stars (R) When TV star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) dumps her longtime boyfriend (Jason Segel, who wrote the script), he goes to a Hawaiian resort — only to find Sarah already there with her new lover, a fatuous rock star (scene-stealing Russell Brand). Of the seemingly countless comedies produced by Judd Apatow (and featuring supporting roles from the likes of Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill), this overlong but endearing one has enough raunchy laughs to belong in the company of such films as Knocked Up and Superbad. -- Holman

GET SMART 2 stars (PG-13) In this adaptation of the 1960s sitcom, eager espionage analyst Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is paired with gorgeous Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to track down Russian nuclear material. With supporting players including Alan Arkin as the slow-burning chief, the spy spoof features smart casting but can’t decide whether Carell’s role should be likably naïve or a bumbling, overbearing know-it-all like Don Adams in the original show. Get Smart’s fat jokes and lumbering stunt scenes evoke the lame action-comedies of the 1980s, and topical gags about subjects like airport profiling were funnier in Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. — Holman

GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON 3 stars (R) Documentarian Alex Gibney applies the same scrutiny to the complicated issues that fueled his previous work, including the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side, and applies it to that most complicated of journalists, Hunter S. Thompson. Though there have been plenty of works on Mr. Gonzo over the years, this one feels the most comprehensive, with a range of interviews of family, friends and (perhaps best of all) his enemies. — David Lee Simmons

HANCOCK 3 stars (PG-13) Will Smith plays hilariously against his slick megastar image as John Hancock, a superhero with Kryptonian powers who’s nevertheless a drunken, surly jerk who causes more problems than he alleviates. The first hour or so of Hancock has a great deal of fun with its premise, which satirizes superheroes and misbehaving celebrities, and gives Hancock an amusing foil in Jason Bateman’s idealistic publicist (now there’s a contradiction in terms). The last section throws logic, humor and audience goodwill out the window, and no one catches the movie when it falls. — Holman

THE HAPPENING 2 stars (R) An unexplained toxic event causes people to commit suicide en masse, beginning in Central Park and spreading throughout the Northeast. The question is, what happened to Sixth Sense writer/director M. Night Shyamalan? He presents a few eerie sequences in this unsatisfying “Twilight Zone”-type horror tale with heavy-handed riffs on 9/11 and environmentalism. Alas, he seems to have completely lost the ability to write or direct human beings we can care about and misuses such actors as Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel. — Holman

HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY 3 stars (R) Having gone to White Castle in 2004, cannabis aficionados Harold Lee and Kumar Patel (John Cho and Kal Penn) are mistaken for terrorists, shipped to Guantanamo Bay and take a zany trek across the American South. The film pushes its R rating in every conceivable area in the name of rude humor, but also aims to defuse modern-day tensions over profiling and prejudice by taking stereotypes and turning them upside down. Rob Corddry overplays his role as a dim, bigoted Homeland Security representative, but otherwise the film shows affection for its characters and its country, despite the bad habits of either. -- Holman

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY 3 stars (PG-13) Wisecracking outcast demon Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his ghostbusting pals try to stop a pissed-off prince (Luke Goss) of mystical beings from waging war on the human race. Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro may be a visionary filmmaker, but isn’t much of a juggler, and here he takes on more themes, subplots and running gags than he can handle. With Hellboy II, he’ll have to settle for offering one of the most outlandishly stylish screen fantasies ever made. -- Holman

HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS SPENT THEIR SUMMER (R) Three generations of women in the Garcia family explore their sensuality in the coming-to-various-ages story.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK 3 stars (PG-13) In this snappy do-over sequel to Ang Lee’s sluggish, overthought Hulk in 2003, fugitive scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) seeks a cure for the anger-management condition that turns him into raging green giant. Transporter 2 director Louis Leterrier not only sets a fast pace and crafts plenty of CGI mayhem, he and the cast (including Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt) find the soap-operatic heart of the story. All comic book movies should be at least this good. — Holman

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL 3 stars (PG-13) The latest Indy flick embraces the franchise’s nostalgia for itself, but the sentimental streak seems justifiable given the 19-year interim between chapters. It isn’t exactly a fresh film adventure — an automotive chase through the jungle feels like an undisguised retread of Raiders of the Lost Ark’s truck chase. But Crystal Skull comes across not as lazy, but laid-back, as though the filmmakers have too much confidence to panic about trying to top the earlier films, or compete with their younger selves. -- Holman

IRON MAN 4 stars (PG-13) After being kidnapped in Afghanistan, industrialist Tony Stark (an exceptional Robert Downey Jr.) uses a flying metal suit to right the wrongs of his company’s munitions wing. Marvel Studios builds a better superhero movie by taking such radical innovations as smart writing, rich acting and a recognizable, real-world setting. Enjoying spectacular special effects without relying on them, Iron Man feels more like an American James Bond film than a wannabe Batman or Spider-Man franchise. -- Holman

JELLYFISH 3 stars (NR) Israeli author Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen co-directed this often-enchanting little slice of magic realism about three disaffected women struggling to find their groove in Tel Aviv. Jellyfish practically sails on aquatic metaphors, creating a funny yet poignant image of lives drifting out of control. — Simmons

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3-D 2 stars (PG) Brendan Fraser plays a scientist who uses Jules Verne’s novel Journey to the Center of the Earth as a guide to a prehistoric underground realm. The plot resembles those tame family comedies like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, but if you’ve never seen a 3-D film before, you can enjoy the way the characters and filmmakers shove stuff at the audience. Last fall’s Beowulf film had more impressive 3-D, though. -- Holman

KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL 3 stars (G) The big-screen extension of the American Girl line of dolls and merchandise depicts a plucky would-be reporter (Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin) and the challenges she faces when her family tries to weather the Great Depression. Parents will appreciate the film’s lack of vulgar humor and scary intensity, although it ventures into some unexpectedly grim (and unfortunately timely) themes of the toll of economic downturns on family life. -- Holman

KUNG FU PANDA 4 stars (PG) In fairy-tale, talking-animal China, a fat panda named Po (voiced by Jack Black) is improbably chosen to be the all-powerful “Dragon Warrior.” The studio that gave us the Shrek movies downplays the pop references and body-function humor for a satisfying CGI action/comedy that features a splendid visual design and surprisingly exciting fight scenes, including a chopstick fight between Po and his diminutive teacher (voiced by Dustin Hoffman). — Holman

THE LOVE GURU (PG-13) Raised by Indian gurus, American “love guru” Pitka (Mike Myers) must reunite a star hockey player with his wife and impress the team’s owner (Jessica Alba).

MEET DAVE (PG) Eddie Murphy and Norbit director Brian Robbins come together again in this sci-fi comedy in which a crew of tiny aliens travels to Earth inside Dave (Murphy), their human spacecraft.

MONGOL 4 stars (R) Russian director Sergei Bodrov traces the rise of Temudgin (Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano), better known to history as Genghis Khan, in this sweeping, exciting period piece nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. Not a particularly complex story (it slightly resembles the plot of Conan the Barbarian), Mongol presents the kind of old-school, epic cinema virtues you almost never get to see any more, including starkly beautiful scenery and panoramic battle scenes with hundreds of actors and horses. As he pursues his beloved wife Boorte (Khulan Chuluun) Temudgin displays progressive attitudes toward love and law that make him a Mongol ahead of his time, as well as an ass kicker with a sword. — Holman

MOTHER OF TEARS 2 stars (R) Legendary Italian horror director Dario Argento presents the third installment of a loose trilogy of violent occult thrillers (following his classic Suspiria and Inferno. His daughter Asia Argento plays a museum employee who tries to stop a powerful witch and her topless helpers from wreaking havoc. The plot plays in such a silly, overheated key that the copious bloodshed and smushy sound effects elicit ridicule rather than the dread and catharsis of the most potent, violent horror films. — Holman

A PLUMM SUMMER (PG) Popular children’s-show character Happy Herb (Henry Winkler) cancels his show when his puppet friend Froggy Doo gets stolen, and die-hard Happy Herb fans Rocky and Elliot Plumm (Owen Pierce and Chris J. Kelly) search to recover the inanimate co-star.

POLAR OPPOSITES (PG-13) Scientists David (Charles Shaughnessy) and Martin (Ken Barnett) are enlisted to help save the world when Iranian nuclear tests cause a rise in solar radiation and earthquake activity. Part of the Everyday Gay Heroes series.

SAVAGE GRACE 2 stars (NR) Julianne Moore delivers a fierce, focused performance as Barbara Daly Baekeland, the erratic, socially conscious wife of the heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. Tom Kalin’s docudrama spans three decades of Barbara’s jet-set lifestyle with her icy husband (Stephen Dillane) and troubled son (Eddie Redmayne), culminating with a scandalous crime. The taboo-violating scenes prove unsurprisingly compelling and Moore commands the screen, but the film loses focus whenever the camera moves away from her. — Holman

SEX AND THE CITY 2 stars (R) The long-awaited and much-anticipated reunion of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Charlotte (Kristen Davis) feels too little, too late. After nearly two-and-a-half hours of fashion, complaining and subplots that seem to go nowhere fast, the things that made the show fun don’t seem quite so endearing on the big screen. — Simmons

SOLAR FLARE (PG-13) A teenager who can predict solar flares must prevent a global catastrophe when a flare threatens Earth’s power grid. Tracey Gold and Michelle Clunie star. Part of the Everyday Gay Heroes series.

SPEED RACER 2 stars (PG) Competitive driver Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) and his jumping hot rod, “the powerful Mach 5,” clash with corporate conspirators in this aggressively fake, CGI-heavy adaptation of the cult anime TV series from the late 1960s. Hirsch, John Goodman, Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon struggle to put soul into the trippy but incoherent and lifeless proceedings. The Wachowski Brothers, creators of the Matrix trilogy, spent a fortune just to give audiences a splitting headache. -- Holman

THE STRANGERS (R) While spending a romantic evening in a remote suburban home, a couple (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) is targeted by masked strangers.

THE VISITOR 3 stars (PG-13) Writer/director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent) continues his examination of people who have lost their rhythm in life with his story about a college professor (“Six Feet Under’s” Richard Jenkins) who is snapped out of his funk when he becomes involved with two charming illegal immigrants (Haaz Sleiman, Danai Guirira). McCarthy’s minor ambitions are almost to the point of ephemeral, but his character observations, and the space he provides for his small ensemble, result in a charming story about human connection. Jenkins’ work in particular is so subtle he all but allows the foreigners (including Hiam Abbass as Sleiman’s Syrian mother) to steal the show. -- Simmons

WALL-E 4 stars (G) “WALL-E,” a lonely, trash-compacting machine that might be the last entity on Earth, pursues his love for a sleek, feminine robot to the titanic starship that contains the human race. Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton crafts a story with the intelligence and heart that’s the trademark of Pixar Studios (creators of the Toy Story movies), as well as the stunning images and visionary ideas of the best science fiction. Some audiences may be put off by the film’s sharp-edged satire of consumer culture, but WALL-E, like its robotic namesake, should last another 700 years. — Holman

WANTED 2 stars (R) A miserable young accountant (Atonement’s James McAvoy) discovers that his long-lost father belonged to an ancient “Fraternity” of assassins with magic hitman powers. Nightwatch director Timur Bekmambetov overdoses on flash in an effort to outmuscle The Matrix without capturing the other film’s ingenious sci-fi rules or its sparks of wit. The film features enough outlandish money shots to make it a hit (Angelina Jolie’s sexuality qualifies as its own special effect), but Wanted’s insolent attitude caters to just the kind of white-collar douchebags the film pretends to make fun of. — Holman

WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER? (PG-13) Blake Morrison (Colin Firth) hasn’t always had the best relationship with his father Arthur (Jim Broadbent). But now that Arthur’s been diagnosed with a terminal illness, the two must reconcile their differences.

YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN (PG-13) Zohan (Adam Sandler), an Israeli commando, fakes his own death to follow his dream of being a hairdresser.