Newspaper Page Text
BABEL (R) In Babel, the director and
wTiler of Amres petros and 21 Grams
look again at the mystery of the human
condition. As a couple (Brad Pitt and
Cate Bianchett) ventures through deso
late Morocco, their two children have
been left in the care of their Mexican
housekeeper. Concurrently, a Japanese
businessman and his rebellious deaf-
mute daughter are reeling from the af
tershocks of a wife and mother's death.
Soon these lives will be touched by one
reckless act committed by two young
boys The bloody, painful colldbora-
tions of director Alejandro Gonzalez
Iterritu and screenwriter Guillermo
Arriaga are exhausting—emotionally
and mentally—to watch, but ambi
tiously well-intentioned is not synony
mous with well-conceived. What we
have with Babel is what Strother Martin
famously called a ‘failure to commu
nicate/ Though each of its tales could
occupy its own two hour film, they
combine for a didactic slap in the face
The ludher we net from the stories'
centers, the less gravity Babel retains,
It may all perfectly piece back together,
but you need to decide lor yourself
whether or not the slight payott is
worth the arduous two and a half hours
that precede it. (Beechwood)
BARNYARD (PG) Otis (Kevin James,),
a carefree young Holstein, refuses
to settle down until his pops Ben
(Sam Elliott), gets offed by a pack ol
coyotes Pretty creepy to behold and a
bit more serious than the preview lets
on, Barnyard is the slightest animated
kiddie Hick ol the season. (Georgia
Square 5)
BOBBY (PG-13) An Emilio Estevez
Picture? Written and directed by Emilio
Estevez 7 Academy Award nominee
Emilio Estevez? First Nee signs of
the apocatypse. you say? The former
Young Gun tells the story of Robert
F. Kennedy* 1968 assassination
through the many lives converging
on the Ambassador Hotel. With Harry
Belafonte. Nick Cannon. Laurence
Fishbume. Heather Graham, Anthony
Hopkins. Helen Hunt. Joshua Jackson,
Ashton Kutcher. Shia LeBeouf, Lindsay
Lohan, William H. Macy, Demi Moore.
Freddy Rodriguez. Martin Sheen,
Christian Slater. Sharon Stone, Elijah
Wood and Estevez. Bobby might have
the biggest, best cast of the fall. It just
goes to show how important grow
ing up in Hollywood can be. Opens
Thursday (Beechwood. Carmike)
BORAT (R) Armed to the teeth with
uncomfortable malapropisms and
anti-Semitism. Kazakhstan television
personality Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha
Baron Cohen) travels across the
United States, unmasking inner bigotry
wherever he goes Borat: Cultural
Learnings ol America tor Make Benefit
Glorious Nation ol Kazakhstan plays
its conceit to the hilt If comedy earned
any respect from the Academy. Cohen
would be this year's Oscar frontrunner
No comedian has so totally created a
three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood
character since Peter Sellers in Being
There Watching Borat must be like
reading the giant antics ot Rabelais in
culturally relevant French or swapping
baby recipes with Jonathan Swift. It's
hilariously textbook satire. Or is it?
The film lacks a corrective purpose;
the Cambridge-educated Cohen serves
a stinkiogly hilarious plate ol mean-
spirited. elitist anfi-populism. While I
can josh about the moral depravity ot
my American family. I'll be damned if
I need a supercilious Brit calling Lady
Liberty a whore With Borat. Cohen
isn't laughing with the us. he's laughing
at the us, a distinction too fine for an
America as stupid as the one he ex
poses to make (Beechwood. Carmike)
CASINO ROYALE (PG-13) See Movie
Pick. (Beechwood. Carmike. Highway
17 Theatres)
DECK THE HALLS (PG) Commercial
Xmas pics like Deck the Halls really
burn my fruitcake cookies. Nice guy
Steve Finch (the not-so-great Matthew
Broderick) loves decorating his house
every holiday season, but when new
neighbor Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito,
who is more often repugnant than fun
ny) lights his house up so it's visible
from space, something in Steve snaps
Wrapped with the behind-the-camera
talent of Big Momma's House 2, one
knows exactly what sort of gift Halls is.
Also starring Kristin Davis and Kristin
Chenoweth. (Beechwood. Carmike.
Highway 17 Theatres)
A DEJA VU (PG-13) ATF Agent Doug
Carlin (Denzel Washington) joins a
secret government organization with
the ability to send him back in time
to prevent the crime he* currently
investigating If Tony Scott's gotten
over bis recent case of overdirecting,
D6ja M/ could return Sir Ridley's little
brother to his Crimson 7/de apex.
For Washington, the action fliclj just
looks like another in a long line of
tat paychecks. From Gber-producer
Jerry Bruckheimer. DO# Vi/also stars
Val Kilmer. Paula Patton (Idlewild,).
Bruce Greenwood. Adam Goldberg,
Elle Fanning and Jim Caviezel.
(Beechwood. Carmike)
FLICKA (PG) This isn't your grandpap-
py's My FriendFlicka. Ken McLaughlin,
played by Roddy McDowell in the
original, now goes bv Katie (Alison
lohman. who makes a pretty good
teenager for a 27-year-old). Headstrong
Katie's bucking for her chance to woe
day lake over the family ranch, assum-
. ing it's still viable Katie hopes break
ing wild mustang Flicka can prove
her ranch handiness to daddy (Tim
McGraw). Lohman is always impres
sive. even if her career choices oddly
seesaw between adult and innocent
McGraw he has the comly durability ol
a flannel shirt from Sears & Roebuck
Maiia Bello's streak of strong support
should continue well into next year
Flickds no stud, but sometimes all a
family needs is a steady workhorse
(Georgia Square 5)
FLUSHED AWAY (PG) Flushed Away
looks like, sounds and even jokes
like Wallace and Gromit But sadly,
it s not Wallace and Gromit Expecting
Aardman Animations' first fully-CGI
feature to be as emotionally engaging
and stupendously entertaining as their
flagship creations is unfair It's still way
better than most ot 2006's cartoons,
though After being flushed from his
plush home, ‘society mouse* Roddy
(v Hugh Jackman) enters an ingemous
under-London world, which he and pal
Rita (v Kate Winslet) battle the villain
ous Toad (v. Ian McKellan). The story
is as original as that of any children's
film (which is to say not very original at
all), but directors Sam Fell and David
Bowers and their five screenwriters
are a clever bunch, creatively using
household llushables to power life in
rodent city Yet it's the amphibious bad
dies who steal this tale McKellan and
Jean Reno's pleasantly gruff tones lend
themselves well to animated voicework.
and who doesn't love a frog mime?
(Beechwood. Carmike)
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION (PG-
13) I’m sorry, but I liave to say it: A
Mighty Wind \us\ wasn't funny enough
After Waiting lor Guttman and Best in
Show, I've come to expect a lot from
Christopher Guest* mockumenta/ies
( Consideration doesn't sound like it
* plans to disappoint. Starring the usual
rogue* gallery—Bob Bataban, Jennifer
Coolidge, John Michael Higgins.
Eugene Levy. Jane Lynch. Catherine
O’Hara. Parker Posey. Harry Shearer
and Fred Willard—plus comedy god
Ricky Gervais. the lilm follows three
actors after they discover their per
formances in a 1940s. Southern-set
drama. Home for Putim. are generating
award season buzz. Written by director
Guest and star Levy. (Carmike)
THE FOUNTAIN (PG-13) After origi
nal stars Brad Pitt and Cate Bianchett
(currently costarring in Babet) bailed,
writer/direclor Darren Aronofsky, the
next big thing after Pi and Requiem lor
a Dream (at one time, he was rumoied
to be rethinking the fia/man franchise),
completely retooled his multimillion
dollar, muitigeneralional love story lor
Hugh Jackman and real-life partner
Rachel Weisz Jackman plays a con
quistador. a scientist and an astronaut
searching lor the key to eternal life he
needs lo save his soulmate (Weisz).
Also starring Oscar winner Ellen
Burstyn. (Beechwood)
THE GRUDGE 2 (PG-13) Its official
Horror is doomed. Yes. the PG-13
rating has relegated horror fans lo de-
gored borelests perfectly packaged to
terrify middle schoolers The second
Americanized GrudgeUom director
Takashi Shimizu redirects the arbitrary
anger of Kayako. the croaking, coal •
eyed ghost who was murdered—along
with son Toshio—by a jealous hubby
from Sarah Michelle Cellar, the heroine
of the original Grudge (I guess you
could describe Cellar's passive Karen
that way), lo her sifter. Aubrey (Amber
Tamblyn, looking more and more like
Marcia *>/ Harden) Starts Friday
(Georgia Square 5)
THE GUARDIAN (PG-13) ‘Noons
appreciates us until they need us/
says Ben Randall (Kevin Costner), the
highly decorated Coast Guard Rescue
Swimmer ol The Guardian Too physi
cally damaged and mentally scarred to
return to the water, the gallant Randall
is transferred to the extremely elite
‘A’ School, where the attrition rate of
potential Rescue Swimmers, like cocky
Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher). is over
50 percent The legend challenges the
pantywaist methods ot his lei low in
structor with real-life scenarios. Seta
Ward is wasted as Randall's estranged
wife, a thankless role considering
the only love that can lift Randall or
Fischer up where they belong is the
macho camaraderie shared between
men who daily risk their lives As a
by-the-numbers military training Hick.
The Guardian doesnI dissatisfy. Ihough
if would've been more intriguing had
if broken ranks The sober adventure
cannot save this shallow film whose
fictional heroic nobodies with their 200
saves are much less remarkable than
the Iragile champions of the real-world
Coast Guard Starts Friday (Georgia
Square 5)
HAPPY FEET (PG) See Flick Skinny
Mumble the penguin (effectively voiced
by Elijah Wood) takes an eye-popping,
breathtaking journey from dropped egg
to societal savior (it you've got $10 and
gas to spare, see this stunner in IMAX),
Happy Feet taps out a fresh rhythm
to which you can dance when it* not
delivering pat lessons on religious
intolerance and environmental destruc
tion. A rather documentarian opening
marches these penguins smack into
a rather red-nosed sampling ol my
favorite holiday song/ stop-motion
animated special Not until the Amigos,
MOVIE LISTINGS
Theater schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
BEECHWOOD (706-546-1011)
Babel ,'R) 1:45, S:00. 8:15 (new times Th. 11/23:
8:15)
Bobby (R) 6:50. 9:45 (add! times F. 11/24-Su. 11/26:
12:55. 3:45) (opens Th. 11/23)
Borat (R) 5:30. 7:45. 9:50 (add'l times F. 11/24-Su.
11/26: 1:00. 3:15)
Casino Royale (PG-13) 6:45. 10:00 (ad<n times F.
11/24-Su. 11/26: 12:15. 3:30) (new times M. 11/27:
4:30. 8:30)
Deck the Halls (PG) 5:15. 7:30. 9:45 (adcTl times F.
11/24-Su. 11/26: 12:45. 3:00)
Wji Vu (PG-13) 3:55. 6:55. 9:50 (add'l times F.
11/24-Su. 11/26: 1:05)
Flushed Away (PG) 7:50, 9:55 (new times F. 11/24:
5:45) (add'l times F. 11/24-Su. 11/26: 12:50. 3:30)
The Fountain (PG-13) 5:25, 7.40, 9:55 (add'l times F.
11/24-Su. 11/26: 12:55. 3:10)
Happy Feet (PG) 4:15. 7:15. 9:45 (add'l times F.
11/24-Su. 11/26: 1:15)
Pursuit of Happyness (PG-13) 7:00 (sneak preview
Sa. 11/25) •
The Santa Claus 3: The fcv ape Claus (G) 4:15. 7:00.
9:30 (add’l times F. 11/24-Su. 11/26: 1:40)
Stranger Than Fiction (PG-13) 4:10, 7:10. 9:35 (add'l
times F. 11/24-Su. 11/26: 1:35) (no 7:10 show Sa.
11/25)
Tenacious 0: Pick of Destiny (R) 4:40, 7:25, 9:40
(add! times F. 11/24-Su. 11/26: 2.00)
CAUUKE 12 (706-354-0016)
Due to the Tkankjgrvinf Day holiday. Carmike * new infor
mation was unavailable at press time Show hates are only
accurate thcou|b Th. 11/23 Please visit www flagpole com
lor updated listings.
Bobby (R) 12:00. 2:30, 5:00. 7:25, 10:00 (opens F.
11/23)
Borat (R) 1:05, 3:05, 5:05, 7.05. 9:25
Casino Royale (PG-13) 1:20. 4:10. 7:00, 9:50
Deck the Halls (PG) 12:30. 2:40, 5:00. 7:30. 10:00
Deji Vu (PG-13) 12:45, 4:00. 7:00. 9:50
Flushed Away (PG) 1:00. 3:05, 5:10. 7:15. 9:20
For Your Consideration (PG-13) 12:05, 4:05. 7:05,
9:55
Happy Feet (PG) 12:00. 2:35, 4:50. 7:15, 9:40
Let's Go To Prison (R) 12:30. 3:20. 5:30. 7:40. 10:00
The Prestige (PG-13) 1:30. 4:20. 7:10, 10:00 (ends
W. 11/22)
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (G) 1:00.
3:15, 5:30. 7:45. 10:00
Stranger Than Fiction (PG-13) 1:10, 4:10, 7:10, 9:45
Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny (R) 12:15, 2:30,
5:00, 7:20. 9:50
GEORGIA SQUARE 5 ( 706 S48 3426)
Barnyard (PG) 5:25. 9:45 (add l limes F. 11/24-Su.
11/26: 1:05)
Flicka (PG) 4:00, 7:00. 9:20 (new times F. 11/24:
4:00, 7:00) (add'l times F. 11/24-Su. 11/26: 1:00)
The Grudge 2 (PG-13) 4:05. 7:05, 9:30 (add'l times F.
11/24-Su. 11/26: 1:05) (starts F. 11/24)
The Guardian (PG-13) 5:00, 9:00 (add’l times F.
11/24-Su. 11/26: 1:10) (starts F. 11/24)
Jackass: Number Two (R) 4:20. 7:20. 9:40 (ends Th.
11/23)
The Marine (PG-13) 7:35 (add'l times F. 11/24-Su.
11/26: 3:15)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Oead Man’s Chest (PG-13)
5:15. 9:15 (add'l times F. 11/24-Su. 11/26: 1:15)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (PG-13)
4:10. 7:10. 9:55 (new times F. 11/24: 9:45)
KWY 17 DRIVE-IN THEATERS (706-213-7693)
Casino Royale (PG-13) 8:00
Deck the Halls (PG) 8:00
Saw 01 (R) 8:00
Sure, but do you have a PlayStation 3?
led by th infectious Ramon (Robin
Williams, who also gives vocal life lo
Two other ethnic stereotypes), does the
cold Happy Feetihan somewhat The
whole bit with the dogmatic Emperor
Penguins (led by Hugo Weaving* Noah
tlie Elder) blaming Mumble* ‘pagan
display’ of Footloose-ness for the *
tarnishing punishment doled out by the
Great Guin is silly and doesn't exactly
invite you in to this spottily childish
world. I also wish director George
Miller had ixnayed Hugh Jackman and
Nicole Kidman* unreasonably distract
ing Elvis and Marilyn impersonations.
Thinking visually, the musically gifted
Happy Feet fails lo act narratively.
(Beechwocd. Carmike)
JACKASS: NUMBER TWO (R) No
matter how far they've come, these
jackasses remain wholly committed to
their apparently never-ending series
ol daring (read dumb) stunts Dukes
olHazzardstii Johnny Knoxville is
nearly blown up. gored and stampeded
Still, infamous yel un-famous S'eve-0
remains the biggesfyackass, posing
as shark bait (after painfully piercing
his cheek with a (ishhook), chugging
a beer with his butt, and attaching a
leech to his eyeball. All the endanger-
ment proves worth the risk, though
I'm surprised the year's funniest film
escaped an NC-17. Is defecating in
noxious close-up not enough? The
gag's not even tunny and is tar more
offensive than the censored shot of
Chris ‘Partyboy* Pontius sipping horse
semen The brilliance ol Knoxville or
Being John Malkovich director Spike
Jonze, believably transformed into
disgustingly naked old people, mess
ing with the minds of an unsuspecting
public outweighs the pounds ol feces
and cups ol vomit. When asked why
he'd branded a penis on the buttock
ol buddy Bam Margera. Ryan Dunn
responds. ‘Because it was fun.* The
same reasoning could defend Jackass
Number fov, but I prefer pointing out
that (he film is a surrealist masochistic
work ot art Ends Thursday (Georqia
Square 5)
LET’S GO TO PRISON (R) If
Hollywood adopted California's three
strikes rule. Thomas Lennon and
Robert Ben Garant (Taxi. The Paeitiei)
could face life imprisonment tor writ
ing this criminally unfunny screenplay
(here* hoping they don t sc^ew up
February s big-screen version of ‘Reno
911'*) Let's Go to Prison, adapted
from Jim Hogshire* You Are Going to
Prison, a how-lo lor surviving life in
the poky, crams in all the lagts and fig
ures to effectively bring down the pres
ent judicial system, but fails to properly
make light ot what happens once a
guy* mired in it Vengeful career
criminal John Lyshitski (Dax Shepard,
and yes, Prison sets the humor bar that
low) gets penal complex virgin Nelsorf
Biederman IV (Will *Gob Bluth" Arnett),
the son of his legal nemesis, tossed
into the big house With its source
material and cast, this Hick could have
been a surprisingly persuasive Mack
comedy, the flippant side ol *30 Days"
moving ‘Jail* episode Instead. Let's
Go to Prison lands a grand jury indict
ment for America* prison culture—and
hence. America hersell—but lets the
system off with its lazy, incompetent
prosecution (Carmike)
THE MARINE (PG-13) Amidst a horde
of humdrum hghts and explosions,
real-life wrestler John Cena* John
Triton cneats death while attempting
to rescue his wife (Kelly Carlson) from
murderous thief Rome (Robert Patrick)
‘Smackdown!* packs more humor and
excitement than Ibis frozen slab of beef
(Georgia Square 5)
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:
DEAO MAN'S CHEST (PG-13) Wili
Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth
Swann (Keira Kmghtiey) must retrieve
the compass ol Captain Jack Sparrow
(Johnny Depp) lor a power-hungry
14 FLAGPOLE.COM • NOVEMBER 22,2006
NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC l COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS