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Movies
| Rating Guide |
**** = Must See
*** = Good, But Flawed
** = OK, But Forgetful
* = A Flop
No Stars = Go Bowling Instead |
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Angels & Demons ** A man is on the trail of ancient secret brotherhood that is undergoing a modern resurgence with implications that would resound worldwide. The clock is ticking as he and an enigmatic Italian scientist race through dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals and to the heart of the most secretive vault in the world, to diffuse the situation. Cast: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Kristof Konrad. Directed by Ron Howard. MP: Tom Hanks returns to the dullest role of his career, once again under the direction of Ron Howard, who takes the material as seriously as a kidney stone on the way out. Angels & Demons is the same sort of lumbering mediocrity that Da Vinci Code was. It's more violent, which is something, I guess, and its narrative structure ensures a regular string of cliffhangers. But what turns the pages in print doesn't necessarily propel a story onscreen. Genres: Thriller, Adaptation, Politics/Religion and Sequel. Rated PG- 13 Drag Me to Hell **** An ambitious L.A. loan officer shames a mysterious old lady by denying her an extension on her home. The old lady loses her home; the loan officer is in danger of losing her life as she battles an evil curse that has befallen her. Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao. Directed by Sam Raimi. MP: Director Raimi gets back to his disreputable roots with this hellaciously effective B-movie that comes with a handy moral tucked inside its scares, laughs and scare/laugh hybrids. Moral: Be nice to people. More specifically: Do not foreclose on the oldy Gypsy woman. Horror fans shouldn't worry about an excess of subtlety; the ook flows freely here, and there's a knock-down, drag-out melee in a parking garage that'll be hard to top at the movies this year. Genres: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Suspense/Horror and Thriller. Rated PG-13 The Hangover ** Two days before his wedding, a young man and his three friends drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party. The two buddies awake in a haze after a night of overplay and discover the prospective groom is nowhere to be found. It becomes their mission to try and retrace their fogged up steps of the night before, find their friend and get him to the church on time. Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha. Directed by Todd Phillips. MP: This film takes care of its target audience-males who, after seeing director Todd Phillips' earlier and funnier Old School, dreamed of joining the Old School fraternity. The basic premise is when you get a bunch of drunk guys together in Vegas, create ensues; laughs do not. Genres: Comedy. Rated R Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs The sub-zero heroes are back. For this adventure, they find themselves on a mission to rescue Sid the sloth that leads them into an underground world where they battle dinosaurs, flora and fauna and meet a relentless, one-eyed dino-hunting weasel named Buck. Voices: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Simon Pegg. Directed by Carlos Saldanha. Genres: Comedy, Kids/Family, Animation and Sequel. Rated G Imagine That *** A successful financial executive who has neglected his family on his way up the social ladder, finds his daughter's imaginary world a comforting solution to his problems as a crisis of confidence and his career path put him on a downward spiral. Cast: Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Nicole Ari Parker, Ronny Cox, Martin Sheen. Directed by Karey Kirkpatrick. GG: This family-friendly trifle proves funny and charming, at least until the “is-that-all-there-is?” of it kicks in. Fortunately, the picture's not-so-secret weapon, star Eddie Murphy, gives this uneven effort a reason for being. When he's on his game, you remember why Murphy earns the big bucks. Genres: Comedy. Rated PG My Life in Ruins ** A Greek tour guide attempts to recapture her kefi (Greek for “mojo”) by guiding a ragtag group of tourists around Greece and showing them the beauty of her native land. Along the way, she manages to open their eyes to the wonders of an exotic foreign land while beginning to see the world through a new set of eyes in the process. Cast: Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Harland Williams, Rachel Dratch, Caroline Goodall. Directed by Donald Petrie. MP: A pushy romantic comedy with Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) playing an insecure but charming rooting interest, surrounded by ethnic caricatures. Genres: Comedy. Rated PG-13 My Sister's Keeper ** After their daughter is stricken with leukemia, a couple conceives a younger sister who can provide a donor match, but the family is torn apart when, after years of medical procedures, the healthy younger sibling sues her parents for the right to decide how her body is used. Cast: Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin, Jason Patric, Joan Cusack. Directed by Nick Cassavetes. MP: The harder this cinematic assault weapon went at my tear ducts, the more duct tape I wrapped around them as a defensive measure. While you'd think inter-family legal action would stop all the lovey-dovey montages of everybody cherishing every minute together, think again. Genres: Drama and Adaptation. Rated PG-13 Public Enemies This film tells the story of John Dillinger, the notorious gangster of the 1930s, who, along with Baby Face Nelson and Alvin Karpis, led J. Edgar Hoover's Department of Justice and top agent Melvin Purvis on a hit and run campaign that captured the imagination of the public. Cast: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum. Directed by Michael Mann. Genres: Drama, Crime/Gangster and Adaptation. Rated R Star Trek *** The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a half-human raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. Their unlikely partnership is the only think capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. Cast: Chris Pine, John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg. Directed by J.J. Abrams. MP: The new Star Trek seeks to extend a lucrative brand with a young demographic. But it's a real movie-breathlessly paced bordering on manic, but propulsively entertaining. The plot issues-of moderate interest at best-deal with the space-time continuum and alternate reality. The film may not be memorable science fiction, but it's an engaging pop diversion. Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Adaptation and Sequel. Rated PG- 13 Terminator Salvation ** In order to save mankind from annihilation, the leader of the human resistance against the evil Skynet and its army of Terminators must make an uneasy alliance with a mysterious stranger who is either from the future or a soul rescued from the past. Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yichin, Moon Bloodgood, Common. Director McG. BS: While the filmmakers have lost some of the soul of the franchise, if you're a Terminator fan, Salvation is mostly worth it. There are plenty of pyrotechnics and artillery. And when the story starts to crumble around Bale, Worthington is usually there to pick up the pieces. Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Sequel. Rated PG- 13 The Proposal ** When a high-powered book editor faces deportation to her native Canada, her boss cooks up a scheme that declares she is engaged to her unsuspecting put-upon assistant-who immediately puts conditions on the scheme that include a trip to meet his family in Alaska. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White. Directed by Anne Fletcher. MP: A disposable romantic comedy. It's not terrible, but there's not much fun to be had watching the Wicked Witch of the Upper East Side get her comeuppance and thaw out and fall in love. Genres: Comedy and Kids/Family. Rated PG-13 The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 An audacious gang of criminals hijack a subway train in New York City and threaten to kill the passengers unless a huge ransom is paid within one hour. As the officials struggle with the moral conflicts and strategies of the crisis, the subway dispatcher ponders the biggest riddle of the crime: even if the thieves get the money, how can they possibly escape? Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Brian Haley. Directed by Tony Scott. MP: Denzel Washington's easygoing authority compensates for a lot in a sequel that fails to live up to the 1974 original. This modern version is slick, predictable and, thanks mainly to Washington's canny underplaying, is fairly diverting. Genres: Action/Adventure, Thriller, Crime/Gangster and Remake. Rated R Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen * A sequel to the 2007 flick about a race of Autobots who wage a futuristic battle with their sworn enemies, the Decepticons. Much transforming and battling. Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rainn Wilson, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson. Directed by Michael Bay. MP: The first Transformers was a headache, but I sort of enjoyed it. It was a Slurpee brain-freeze of a blockbuster. This sequel is more like listening to rocks in a clothes dryer for 2.5 hours. Nobody's looking for anything other than relentless, brainless action, but director Michael Bay offers nothing but visual and aural chaos. Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Sequel and War. Rated PG-13 Up **** This film tells the tale of an adventurer who comes to his travels late in life when a 78-year old man realizes his long-held dreams of exploring the globe thanks to a twist of fate-and a persistent 8-year old Junior Wilderness Explorer. Voices: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, Paul Eiding, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger. Directed by Pete Docter. MP: This Disney-Pixar film feels nervy and adventurous and a little messy, the result of formidable creators working on an enormous budget, enormously well-spent. Yet the expansive emotional landscape of Up is something new. More power to these people. They are making the best films coming out of Hollywood. Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Kids/Family and Animation. Rated PG Year One *** Two men wander through early civilization confronting and bumbling through all the wonders that we now take for granted. Cast: Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross, Hank Azaria. Directed by Harold Ramis. MP: Hit and miss doesn't begin to describe this frequently wince-worthy comedy. Harold Ramis directs, and while this won't join his list of essential comedies, some of the dumb jokes manage to elicit a laugh. Genres: Comedy. Rated PG-13 |
