Sky High

Blend some junior X-Men with a helping of Harry Potter, flavor it with Spy Kids and throw in a dash of Mr. Incredible, and you’ll get an idea of what to expect from this smart and energetic teen romp. Has to do with a high school for the offspring of superheroes, centering on one kid, the scion of Commander and Jetstream (Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston), who has yet to identify his superpowers (there being a lack of radioactive insects at the moment, and vats of toxic substances). Deals with the usual teen themes, such as cliques (heroes and sidekicks), alienation and popularity vs. true friendship, but never bogs down. Strong supporting cast includes the always-good Bruce Campbell as a phys-ed coach, and Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, is the principal. It’s well paced, well acted and, well, charming. Only playing at one theater, out by Disneyland, and only for a few weeks, but eminently rentable. (98 min)

Cinema 116

Mindhunters

A bunch of FBI trainee profilers in a deserted island town take turns getting killed off in gory, spectacularly complicated, art-directed traps aimed at each one’s particular weakness in this Agatha Christie knockoff. Surprised one of them didn’t die by slipping on the red herrings and busting his head open on a plot contrivance. A certain amount of misdirection is required in a mystery, but Renny Harlin doesn’t know when to stop, and he cheats by changing the rules so that it’s impossible to guess who the murderer is, and where’s the fun in that? Gory, noisy and an arbitrary ending. (106 min)

Cinema 60

Walk the Line

This one escapes the musical biopic formula by focusing on one of the best love stories ever brought to the screen. It’s the story of Johnny Cash’s (Joaquin Phoenix) relationship with June Carter Cash (Reese Witherspoon), a famed singer in her own right (Cash died in 2003, four months after his wife). The film chronicles his initial success, the pills and the booze, and his recovery, thanks to June. Historically interesting are the early concert tours he did with the likes of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. You’ll like this one whether or not you were a fan. And, well, knock me down and stomp on my face! Phoenix and Witherspoon, in addition to their Oscar-worthy performances, do their own singing! And if you were a fan, you’ll be glad to know that, unlike some such flicks, most of the songs are played all the way through. And he really did propose marriage to June on stage in the middle of a concert. Chemistry to spare. No offense to country music fans, but this one rocks! (135 min)

Cinemas 8 42 96 102 116 117 119

Assault on Precinct 13

A large number of suspiciously well-armed bad guys besiege a soon-to-be-closed, inner-city cop shop that’s jailing smoothly menacing drug lord Laurence Fishburne. In charge of the precinct is burnt-out desk sergeant Ethan Hawke, who suspects a traitor among the New Year’s Eve skeleton crew (Drea de Matteo, Maria Bello, Brian Dennehy). In this remake of the 1976 John Carpenter cheapie, itself adapted from Howard Hawks’ 1959 Rio Bravo, the actors avoid excess, it’s character-driven, it looks good and is on the whole a fair B-movie shoot-’em-up if that’s what floats your boat. (109 min)

Cinemas 7 57 96 102 109 116 117 118 119 120


Don't Come Knocking

“…if the trailer’s rocking,” says the bumper sticker. This odd ode to fatherhood by Wim Wenders has Sam Shepard as an aging western movie legend who’s spent most of his life behaving badly, “borrowing” a horse and riding off a movie set to seek whatever roots he may have left. His life of dissipation has left him ill prepared for what he finds: a couple of children. It ain’t no Paris, Texas, the Cannes winner that Wim directed and Sam wrote in 1984, but it avoids pretense and sentimentality and is solid entertainment nonetheless. Also Jessica Lange, Sarah Polley,
Eva Marie Saint and Tim Roth. (122 min)

Cinema 41

Stevie

Steve James (Hoop Dreams) chose as his next doc subject a troubled kid he was a Big Brother for in the ’80s. What he finds is a childlike, tattooed, 24-year-old child molester. He had been beaten and raped repeatedly as a child, and James, with honesty and without egotism, delves into the mystery of perpetuated child abuse through intimate talks with Stevie and some of those responsible. It’s effective because no one’s acting. The most interesting character is Stevie’s fiancée, who seems slow but says some of the smartest things. It’s bleak, grueling, and not at all uplifting, but unforgettable. (140 min)

Cinema 124

Crash

The idea in this intelligent examination of racism in America by Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby screenplay) is that all, yes, all of us—black, white, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern—are to a certain degree racist under the surface, no matter how nobly we deny the charge, and that the assumptions we have of other races prevent us from seeing what’s really there. Its intricately constructed plot consists of interconnecting story lines, like Magnolia or Short Cuts, that crash into one another to produce unexpected results. A strong ensemble cast (Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton, Brendan Fraser, Sandra Bullock, Ryan Phillippe) brings to life characters we can care about. Particularly strong is the scene in which Newton and Dillon have their second encounter, a rescue sequence that’s exciting and moving at the same time. This cautionary tale is actually about something, avoids cliché, is never preachy and is fascinating because we never know what’s going to happen next. One of the best, and certainly most compelling, films of the year. (122 min)

Cinemas 7 52 91 112 116 119

Munich

Steven Spielberg more than atones for War of the Worlds with this “based on fact” fiction about an unofficial revenge squad sent out by Israel to kill the 11 Black September terrorists responsible for the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. It’s a hard one to label; it’s a brutal and unsettling edge-of-your-seat thriller, and at the same time a haunting ethical argument and a brave cry for peace. The team, led by Eric Bana in a flawless performance, soon finds out that this eye-for-an-eye business gets a lot more complicated than one initially expects, as what began as patriotism turns to moral ambiguity and the hunters become the hunted. Spielberg takes both sides (or neither), as he asks what do revenge killings accomplish when each victim is immediately replaced by someone even worse, and the main result is a (truly) vicious cycle of mutual reprisal? In this it is as relevant today as in the early 1970s. Perhaps more. You will go away thinking. (164 min)

Cinemas 4 5 30 48 63 71 81 90 96 99 102 109 111 112 113 114 116 117 118 119 120

Iberia

Spanish performance film maestro Carlos Saura (Tango, Flamenco) just keeps getting better. Here he stretches flamenco, adding ballet, a barefoot number, one featuring a quartet of black-clad old ladies, and even one parodying break dancing. The simple yet imaginative sets consist only of screens, scrims, mirrors, colored lights and projected images. Iberian music and musicians are given equal weight (music: Isaac Albénitz’s “Iberia” suite). Bottom line: several centuries of combined Spanish music and dance experience, filmed by a master. Better than a recital or concert, and totally mesmerizing. (95 min)

Cinema 22

The Adventures of SharkBoy and LavaGirl in 3-D

Robert Rodriguez’s (Spy Kids) latest kids’ movie, written by his son Racer when he was seven, is about a boy who daydreams up the title super-kids, then gets involved in a kind of Neverending Story on steroids, where this fantasy world will vanish if kids stop imagining, etc. Not without merit, for a 7- year-old, but spoiled by the el cheapo blue-and-red-glasses kind of 3-D process (should have learned from Spy Kids 3D). Why not spring for the Polaroids? Grating musical numbers, too; a clear mistake. For once I’ll have to recommend waiting for the non-3D DVD. (94 min)

Cinemas 1 90 96 102 109 111 112 113 114 116 117 118 119 120

Oliver Twist

Roman Polanski’s (The Pianist) adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale of misery and kindness, avarice and redemption is perhaps the story’s most realistic film rendering to date, and certainly the most faithful to the source material. But forget quaint. The story takes place in a London where far worse things could happen to a young boy than becoming a pickpocket. After being kicked out of an orphanage for asking for a second portion of gruel, 12-year-old Oliver (Barney Clark) gets a job with an abusive coffin-maker but runs away to London, where he joins a jolly band of young street thieves administered by the redoubtable Fagin (Ben Kingsley). The kindness part comes in when a wealthy businessman offers to adopt the boy, but this goes against the nefarious plans that Fagin and his partner in crime, the murderous Bill Sikes (Jamie Foreman), have for him, and they pull him back in. Only Sikes’ wife Nancy (Leanne Rowe) gives the kid a break, and Fagin, of course, while avaricious, turns out to be less than totally evil. Well worth your time. (130 min)

Cinemas 2 10 26 56 61 70 90 95 96 99 102 107 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

The Amityville Horror

This is one of those movies that are possible not to hate because you thought it would be so much worse. But don’t take that as a recommendation. And it helps that the 1979 film, of which this is a remake, was such a turkey. Stays low-key for the most part, clearly borrowing from the J-horror genre, until the last reel, when unfortunately it turns into a silly slasher. Some good scares, though, along with good production values and not terrible acting. Young family snaps up a bargain house unaware that the previous tenant family was brutally murdered. By Dad. House doesn’t like them, etc. (90 min)

Cinemas 2 60 102 113 114 116 119 120

My Architect

This is a haunting personal documentary by the illegitimate son of visionary but bankrupt architect Louis I. Kahn, who designed the revolutionary Salk Institute, the Yale Art Gallery and Bangladesh’s capital building. Nathaniel Kahn interviews such contemporaries as Philip Johnson, I.M. Pei and Frank Gehry, tours his buildings, adds his own memories and those of Kahn’s cohorts, and finds that his charismatic dad was brilliant but unreliable, stubborn and secretive, and by the way maintained three families. Kahn died in 1974, when his son was 11, and in many ways remains a mystery. (116 min)

Cinema 17

Submerged

I don’t know if Steven Seagal is getting tired of remaking the same movie (six straight-to-video masterpieces in 2005 alone!), but I’m sure getting tired of writing about it. He’s also looking bloated and bored, and that is a rug! More incoherent than usual, and not even so-bad-it’s-good. Just a dirty half-dozen guys shooting, knifing, throttling and blowing up other guys, and I was never sure who was who. Comically fake SFX, arm-wrestling babes, lines like “Let’s go kill somebody,” and exploding goats. And Vinnie Jones, if this is the best you can do in the movies, time for a football comeback attempt. (94 min)

Cinema 1

Rize

Groundbreaking documentary from David LaChapelle starts off with the disclaimer that “This film has not been sped up in any way.” Baffling, but soon obvious. It’s about an explosive, joyous, fierce, kinetic, non-commercial, anger-channeling, new hip-hop alternative dance craze called “Krumping” or “Clowning,” in which dancers paint their faces and dress as clowns, that’s sweeping LA’s South Central. It’s a new art form as well as a positive expression of belligerence that’s doing wonders (100 Clown clubs) to channel youthful energy away from the gangs. And it’s fun to watch. (85 min)

Cinemas 20 90 109 119 120

Flightplan

Jodie Foster is an aero engineer flying from Berlin to the US with her young daughter in the next seat and her husband’s body in a coffin below. She awakes from a nap to find the kid missing. If you can get past this premise, you’re in for a real nail-biter. Rejecting the suggestion that she’s losing her mind and deciding there’s a conspiracy afoot, she realizes her only weapon is the fact that she helped design this plane, so she gets between the walls and begins making mischief. (It’ll never make the in-flight movie selection.) Mesmerizing, at least until the silly denouement. (93 min)

Cinemas 4 5 23 47 60 70 81 90 95 96 99 102 107 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

The Legend of Zorro

A bad idea, poorly executed, this sequel. The first had an intriguing story, real chemistry between the leads and Anthony Hopkins. This has a contorted plot that’s historically and culturally preposterous, zilch chemistry and no Anthony. I had no idea that Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones were so hard up for a paycheck. Suffice it to say that C. Z-J., who this movie manages to turn into a nag, wants the Z-man, who’s showing his age, to stop buckling swashes and stay home more, but he thinks the people still need him. From the ridiculous opening sequence, where Zorro exhibits slightly more agility than Spiderman, through the pumped-up set pieces, the absolutely asinine jokes, the horse/train chases, the plastic villains, the endless sword-fighting and of course the gratuitous explosions, this one is firmly aimed at the slow-learner multiplex crowd. Pure TV sitcom stuff. No zing, no zest, no zip, but plenty of zzzzzs. This bore-o Zorro is a big snore-o. Also Rufus Sewell, and an allegedly cute Adrian Alonso. Please, no more. (129 min)

Cinemas 5 30 47 63 90 96 102 109 111 112 113 115 116 117 118 119 120

Pride and prejudice

Some may have considered it sacrilege (myself included) to mess with the perfection of the 1995 Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle BBC miniseries adapted from Jane Austen’s prototypical romantic comedy, so let’s get this out of the way: This one, from director Joe Wright, is perfecter. Keira Knightley, in a star-making role, is the straight-talking Elizabeth Bennet, Matthew MacFadyen the reticent Mr. Darcy, and the pitch-perfect cast from star to extras includes Judi Dench, Jena Malone, and notably Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. Though the novel was penned 200 years ago, its truths are ageless. It’s gorgeously filmed (note the ingenious, minutes-long tracking shots, including the opening one), with impeccable attention to period detail. It’s abridged (virtually seamlessly), but necessarily so to bring it in under two hours, yet it’s still true to the book in all the ways that count. Funny, truthful and moving, this exuberant movie made me happy. (127 min)

Cinemas 11 34 50 61 90 96 99 102 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

Hotel Rwanda

This must-see film personalizes the genocide that took place in Rwanda in the mid-1990s (more than a million slaughtered) while the world discussed what kind of committee to set up to deal with it. It’s the true story of Hutu hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle’s best), Rwanda’s “Oskar Schindler,” who opened his hotel to Tutsi refugees and used diplomacy, bribery, flattery and pure concierge cunning to keep them alive. This movie is more shocking and scarier than any horror movie, not because it’s overly graphic or gory (it isn’t), but because it really happened. And happens yet. (121 min)

Cinema 19

North Country

Charlize Theron (Monster), in another nonglam role in this personal/political film by Nicky Caro (Whale Rider), plays a woman iron miner in Minnesota who had finally had enough of what can only be called major-league sexual harassment. We’re not talking office come-ons, here. Distantly “inspired by actual events” (a lawsuit filed by Lois Jenson in 1988), the film inspires and uplifts, and offers a superb supporting cast that includes Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and notably character actor Richard Jenkins as her caught-in-the-middle miner father. You’ll be shocked. You’ll get mad. And you’ll cheer. (126 min)

Cinemas 1 29 55 62 71 82 90 95 96 99 102 109 110 111 112 113 116 117 119 120

Proof

John Madden’s (Shakespeare in Love) adaptation of a David Auburn play about a brilliant mathematician (Gwyneth Paltrow) who nevertheless remains in the academic shadow of her recently deceased father (Anthony Hopkins). Dad had long ago descended into dementia, and the main source of suspense here is whether she inherited his infliction along with his talent. This is Paltrow’s best yet, though she’s almost upstaged by Hope Davis in a devastatingly spot-on role as her maddeningly condescending, “sane” sister. Elegant, intelligent and thoughtful, and you don’t have to know anything about math. (99 min)

Cinemas 7 31 57 66 102 109 113 114 116 117 119 120

Spanglish

First, while Adam Sandler is in this satisfying James L. Brooks (Broadcast News, As Good as It Gets) film, it is not an Adam Sandler movie. If this ensemble effort is anyone’s film, it’s Tea Leoni’s, with her portrayal of the feverishly unhinged, painfully politically correct Los Angeles housewife who nevertheless needs a housekeeper (“Please. Call me Deborah.”). Tea Leoni should only do comedy. And it’s Paz Vega’s, as the quiet, sensitive and vastly saner Mexican housekeeper (who the story is about and who speaks no English) for whom poor husband (Sandler) finds himself falling. (131 min)

Cinemas 4 43

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

This outstanding, three-and-a-half-hour documentary by Martin Scorsese will not clear away the mystery that has always surrounded Robert Zimmerman, but he comes closer than anyone ever has. Through stunning archival performance footage, talking heads and (surprisingly, I admit) articulate interviews with the man himself, we learn of Dylan’s early influences (Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, et al; the Beat generation) his politics (none, really; hated the term “protest song” and resented being made a figurehead of the peaceniks) and his reaction to criticism (didn’t care at all about the booing when he went electric). Especially amusing are his rare press conferences in the ‘60s, answering questions from some unbelievably straight, buttoned-down reporters. Many people and movements tried to enlist and define him, but none succeeded. Perhaps even more than Old Blue Eyes, he did it his way, and he’s a true original. Interviewees include Seeger, Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, Al Cooper, Dave Van Ronk, Peter Yarrow and Mitch Miller. See it; you’ll learn something. (225 min)

Cinemas 19 36 71

King Kong

The first third of this three-hour remake (dreadfully misused word!) is a fairly interesting, deliciously anticipatory setup, bringing you metaphorically to the top of the first downhill rush of a great roller coaster. Then it grabs you and gleefully shakes you non-stop for the next two hours like an epileptic jackhammer. LOTR director Peter Jackson’s vocabulary clearly lacks the word “enough,” but I mean that in a good way. And if you think this is just a girl-meets-ape story, you’re forgetting, for starters, the giant bats, the dinosaurs, the big flesh-eating worms and the motorcycle-sized, fanged insects. Naomi Watts strikes a nice balance between damsel in distress and thinking hostage, and would be a shoo-in if they had a Best Scream Oscar. Jack Black and Adrien Brody do fine as the ambitious director and reluctant screenwriter, and the CG gorilla, with Andy Serkis (Gollum) “inside,” motion-suit wise, displays at least seven distinct expressions (putting him six ahead of Steven Seagal). This stylish, beautiful film is as fun as going to the movies gets. Big screen, please. (187 min)

Cinemas 2 3 10 11 26 45 60 70 90 95 96 99 102 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

Memoirs of a Geisha

Yes, yes, it’s a gorgeous adaptation of Arthur Golden’s Kyoto-style Cinderella tale, and yes, it’s notably the first big Hollywood movie to feature all Asian actors, etc. But you don’t read this page for the PR reprints, so let’s get to it. The Japanese are upset because Chinese actresses were cast in the leads. But this is what happens when you emphasize young and cute over talent in your entertainment industry, so tough. Rob Marshall (of the overrated Chicago) has fashioned a beautiful thing to look at, the screenplay is adequate (if you’ve read the book), and all these fine actors (Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Ken Watanabe) act their hearts out. But it’s all sabotaged by the decision to film the thing in English. Stiff, studied, language-school English. At times I felt as though I were in an ESL class for beautiful and/or talented Asians. Usually one gets over this kind of cinematic linguistic device, but it continually kept me from enjoying the performances and emotions. It would have been more effective (if less globally marketable) had it been filmed in Japanese and subtitled. Called Sayuri in Japan. (144 min)

Cinemas 4 5 30 48 63 81 90 95 96 99 102 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

There’s some debate as to whether this Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie vehicle is a romantic comedy or a funny action thriller, or perhaps both (a marital martial arts flick?), as it alternates between sly and clever comedy and banal Hollywood action set-pieces (the director is Doug Lyman, who gave us The Bourne Identity). None of the above, really. It’s mainly a chance for the fans of these two extremely good-looking people to watch their idols have fun together. The central conceit is that John and Jane Smith (probably not their real names) are both, unbeknownst to each other, world-class hired assassins. Trouble starts when they are assigned, separately, to hit the same target, learn each other’s secret, and must be killed. Think War of the Roses with Uzis and plastic explosives. It’s all very, very Hollywood, rich in double entendres and with sizzling chemistry between the combative couple, but it’s fun (if forgettable) if you don’t think about it too much. Vince Vaughn puts in a nice turn as Brad’s boss. (120 min)

Cinemas 2 3 10 26 56 61 70 90 95 96 99 102 107 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The first two cutesy and overstuffed Chris Columbus movies were merely setups for the excellent third installment, by Alfonso Cuarón. Number three was better adapted and decidedly darker. But now, Harry, Ron and Hermione (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson), who have battled giant spiders and snakes, braved evil forests and even girls’ toilets, are up against their greatest and most frightening challenge: the hormonal bewilderments of puberty. Oh, and by the way, a regenerating Voldemort, chillingly if only briefly portrayed by Ralph Fiennes. The fourth film, directed by Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings and a Funeral), is a lot of fun, but its forward motion is halted several times to play with SFX, mostly related to the Tri-Wizard Tournament, an inter-school chance for budding wizards to flex their wands, and this doesn’t exactly make for smooth storytelling. But it’s a Harry Potter movie, and such narrative-busting arrangements are to be expected. Though overfilled, this Goblet continues the third film’s brilliant descent into darkness. Brendan Gleeson, as Mad-Eye Moody, is a constant scene-stealer. Not for little kids. (157 min)

Cinemas 1 4 5 23 27 40 47 60 65 70 71 81 90 95 96 97 99 102 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

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