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300 (R) A rock and roll historical
epic engaging to the modern teen
age sensibility, the titular 300 are the
hulked out citizen-soldiers led by
King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), who
smash and grab glory from defeat at
the arrowheads of the million-man
Persian army lorded over by god-krg
Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). Stunning
to behold. 300 not only claims itself
king of the stylistic mountain, it carves
its own mountain from soliJ stone as
director Zac 1 ' Snyder painstakingly
renders Frank Miller's bold panels in
three dimensions. 300 reminds me of
why I go to the movies and don't just
stay home basking in the cathode rays
of television's finest hours Such an
imposing refinement of Sparta's monu
mental sacrifice, one of history's great
last stands, could not be achieved any
where save the big screen If Leonidas
and his Spartans wanted their sacrifice
to be remembeied, 300makes them
unforgettable (Beechwood, Carmike).
Starts Friday (Highway 17 Theatres)
BECAUSE I SAID SO (PG-13) Diane
Keaton is single mom Daphne, who
wants so badly to see her youngest,
Milly (Manuy Moore), find happiness
A waste of Keaton's immense talents.
(Georgia Square 5)
► BLADES OF GLORY (PG-13) The
simple premise reads like box office
gold Will Ferrell and Jon Heder star as
banned Olympic figure skaters who tri
umphantly return as a pairs team The
comedic support—Will Arnett, Amy
Poehler. Craig T. Nelson, Jenna Fischer
(“The Office”). Romany Malco (The 40
Year-Old Virgin, “Weeds') and Nick
Swardson (“Reno: 911!"'s Terry)—is
stellar. Opens Friday (Carmike)
BLOOD DIAMOND (R) This action
movie with a conscience directed by
Edward Zwick takes place during the
civil war in Sierra Leone Diamond
smuggler Danny Archer (Leonardo
DtCaprio) and fisherman Solomon
(Djimon Hounsou), journalist Maddy
Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) in tow.
struggle across the war-torn country in
search of a huge diamond An engag
ing. topical action film that reinvigo-
rates the genre (Georgia Square 5)
BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA (PG)
Real magic lies at the heart of Bridge
to Terabithia To combat the school
bullies, Jess (Josh Hutcherson) and
new girl Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb),
forge an idyllic childhood friendship
by creating a kingdom across the
river running behind their homes In
land of Terabithia may only exist in
Jess and Leslie's minds, but the film
brings their fantastical creatures to life
with well-crafted CGI and the power
of the audience's own imagination
(Beechwood)
DEAD SILENCE (R) The writers
(James Wan and Leigh Whannel) and
director (Wan) of Saw have made the
year's most disappointing horror flick
With this nonsensical, ludicrous ghost
story about a slain ventriloquist who
uses dolls to rip the tongues from her
screaming victims, the pair cooked
up a greasy, cheesy slice of horribly-
written, worse-acted Z-grade horror
At least Whannel can boast of writing
Saw II and III, two perfectly acceptable
genre entries. The idea of killer dum
mies might seem creepy in theory, but
in practice, they make for silly plot
devices unless you're going for that
tongue-in-cheek, Child's Play vide
(Beechwood. Carmike)
ELABUELO (PG) 1998. The death
of his son brings an elderly man back
to Spain where he intends to discover
which of his son's two daughters is
his real granddaughter The film by
Jos6 Luis Garci was a nominee for
the Academy Award for Best Foreign
Language Film Part of the Spanish
Language Film Series Childhood
and Adolescence in Spain. Shows
Wednesday. 3/28 (GMOA)
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE
SPOTLESS MIND (R) 2004 Though
Jim Carrey as a depressed, loveless
loser is hard to buy, he impressively
conveys Joel Barish's desire to resign
from all aspects of human contact and
life in general, post his nasty breakup
with free spirit Clementine (Kate
Winslet) Charlie Kaufman's labyrin
thine mind has finally written a script
that delivers an emotional right hook
to rival his intellectual haymaker, and
director Michel Gondry (The Science
oISleeD) stages it all with style, utiliz
ing forced perspective and anything
else his imagination can muster to
construct a bittersweet and ultimately
redemptive examination of the affairs of
the heart and mind Shows Thursday,
3/29 (Tate)
GHOST RIDER (PG-13) Johnny
Blaze (Nicolas Cage) sells his soul
to Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) and
becomes a flaming leather-clad, mo
torcycle-riding skeleton supernaturally
powerful enough to punish evil In
spite of Cage's every misstep, when
Blaze transforms into the Rider, Ghost
Rider changes into the hokey, B-list
superhero fun it was meant to be Ends
Thursday (Carmike)
HAPPY FEET (PG) Mumble the
penguin (voiced by Elijah Wood) takes
an eye-popping, breathtaking journey
from dropped egg to societal savior
Happy Feet taps out a fresh rhythm
to which you can dance when it's not
delivering pat lessons on religious
intolerance and environmental destruc
tion (Georgia Square 5)
THE HILLS HAVE EYES II (R) Wes
Craven's done this before, stepping
in to write a sequel to one of his
creations, but all he's done with HHEII
is muck it up worse than thelirst
time ////£//starts out nasty enough,
with an icky mutant birth that proves
the miracle of life to be a big fat lie
But within 15 minutes of the arrival
of a squad of wtiiny National Guard
trainees, I was already praying for
their gory deaths HHEII \s all about
boring death selection and rote plot
ting I would blame director Martin
Weisz, bdt honestly, it is Craven's
involvement that got my hopes up for
this quickie sequel. At least original
remaker Alexandre Aja understood that
gore must be in service of something,
shoring up his grisly film with a
Eurovision of America—bombed-out
model homes populated with radioac
tive mutants—worthy of Lars von Trier;
Craven's political grandstanding is
neutered by the amateurish troupe of
assembled victims... er, actors The
Hills may have eyes, but I do. too And
mine don’t appreciate what they saw
one bit. (Beechwood, Carmike)
I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE (R) Chris
Rock's big screen failings (he's not
a very good actor, writer, or director)
provide all the necessary reasons to
tut-tut his decision to remake French
filmmaker Eric Rohmer's Chloe in
the Afternoon. In / Think I Love My
Wife. Rock plays Richard Cooper, an
investment banker bored with his wife,
Brenda (Gina Torres) When the literally
smoking Nikki Tru (Kerry Washington)
begins dropping by Richards office
for daily lunches, he starts a sexless
affair. Rock the writer barely shows a
smidgen of maturity, and no matter
what emotion Rock the actor is meant
to be conveying, his eyes betray a
mirthful, mischievous, “I'm just acting"
gleam As a director, he shows a visual
restraint missing from his first effort
Still, Rock spends far too much time on
dated pop Zingers and over-deployed f-
bombs His distastefully foul-mouthed
characters need to wash their mouths
out with soap Maybe then they could
deal with their marital issues like
adults. Rock may think he loves his
wile, but I doubt she'd like his misogy-
nistic new film I don't (Beecnwood).
Ends Thursday (Carmike)
JAPdN (NR) 2002 In Carlos
Reygadas strongly sexual Cannes
award winner, a man (Alejandro
Ferretis) travels to the country to com
mit suicide but soon finds love: ! * r -
farm of Ascen (Magdalena Flores)
an old religious woman Winner of
15 worldwide accolades ranging from
Mexico s Silver Ariel to Tromsas
Aurora Part or the Latin American film
series Visit www titletk com/latinamer-
icanfilm for more information Shows
Tuesday. 4/3 (UGA SLC171)
THE LAST MIMZY (PG) The Last
Mimzy left me more clueless than en
thralled though the sci fi flick directed
by New Line honcho Robert Shaye (un
like I claimed in last week's preview, he
has been behind the camera before, but
can you blame me tor forgetting about
1990's Book ofLovtf) is better than its
woeiul ad campaign would lead you
to believe Two k'ds, Noah and Emma
Wilder (Chris O'Neil and Rhiannon
Leigh Wryn), become geniuses after
discovering a box of hys, including
stuffed rabbit Mimzy. on the beach
Shaye proves a passable—I stress
passable—a director, but he should
stick to greenlighting projects and
signing checks Shaye's smartest move
may have been casting Ramn Wilson
of “The Office,” a rising comedic star
if ever there were one whose presence
entertains no matter what he is called
on to do Still. The Last Mimzy could
have been a much worse kiddie en
counter of the third kind (Beechwood,
Carmike. Highway 17 Theatres)
LITTLE CHILDREN (R) 2006 From In
the Bedrooms Academy Award-nomi
nated writer-director, Todd Field. Little
Children was hailed by many critics
as one of the year's best The trailer
for this tale of infidelity amongst the
playgrounds and swimming pools of a
small town remains powerful stuff Kate
Winslet won her fifth Academy Award
nomination, Field his second writing
nomination, and Jackie Earle Haley his
first acting nod in Hollywood’s feel
good story of the year. Based on the
novel by co-screenwriter Tom Perrotta,
Little Children also stars Patrick Wilson
and Jennifer Connelly. Shows Friday,
3/30-Sunday, 4/1 (Tate)
THE LOOKOUT (R) Scott Frank,
the hard-boiled screenwriter behind
Get Shorty and Out of Sight, turns in
a directorial debut close to his writ
ing roots The Lookout is Chris Pratt
(Joseph Gordon-Levitt. the kid from
“3rd Rock”), a once promising high
school athlete turned bank janitor who
gets caught up in a heist The Lookout
sounds a lot like Charlie Huston's kick-
ass Hank Thompson trilogy, and that's
not bad news at all With Jeff Daniels,
Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) and
Carla Gugino. Opens Friday (Call
theaters)
MEET THE ROBINSONS (G) This
digital 3-D wonder should be Disney’s
secood straight in-house (read: non-
Pixar) animated hit. Boy genius Lewis
MOVIE LISTINGS
Theater schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
Sister Helen (NR) 7:00 (Th. 3/29)
BEECHWOOD (706-546-1011)
Beechwoods new schedule was unavailable at press time.
Listings are omy accurate through Th. 3/29. Please visit
www.flagpole com for updated information.
300 (R) 4:00, 7:00, 9:45
Bridge to Terabithia (PG) 4:30, 7:20, 9:40
Dead Silence (R) 4:35, 7:35, 9:50
The Hills Have Eyes II (R) 4:15, 7:20, 9:30
I Think I Love My Wife (R) 4:40, 7:25, 9:50
The Last Mimzy (PG) 5:30, 7:45, 10:00
Premonition (PG-13) 4:25, 7:15, 9:40
Reign Over Me (R) 3:55, 6:50, 9:45
Shooter (R) 3:55, 6:50, 9:45
TMNT (PG) 5:20, 7:30, 9:40
Wild Hogs (PG-13) 4:00. 7:10, 9:35
CARMIKE 12 ( 706-354-0016)
300 (R) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 9:45
Blades of Glory (PG-13) 1:10, 1:45, 3:20, 4:05, 5:30,
7:00, 7:40, 9:50 (opens F. 3/30)
Dead Silence (R) 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50 (new
time F. 3/30: 9:50)
Ghost Rider (PG-13) 1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30 (ends Th.
3/29)
The Hills Have Eyes n (R) 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:30,
9:40
I Think I Love My Wife (R) 1:05, 3:20, 5:35, 7:50,
10:00 (ends Th. 3/29)
The Last Mimzy (PG) 1:15, 3:25, 5:35, 7:45, 9:55
Meet the Robinsons (PG) 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45,
10:00 (opens F. 3/30)
Old Joy (NR) 1:00, 3:00, 7:00, 9:30 (ends Th. 3/29)
Peaceful Warrior (PG-13) 1:30, 4:30, 7:15, 9:50
(opens F. 3/30)
Premonition (PG-13) 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00
Pride (PG) 1:30, 4:00, 7:00, 9:35
Shooter (R) 1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 10:00
TMNT (PG) 1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:40
Wild Hogs (PG-13) 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45. 10:00
The Ultimate Gift (PG) 1:40, 4:20. 7:00, 9:40 (ends
Th. 3/22)
Wild Hogs (PG-13) 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00
Zodiac (R) 1:00, 4:20, 7:45 (ends Th. 3/22)
GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART (706-542-4662)
El Abuelo (PG) 7:30 (W. 3/28)
GEORGIA SQUARE 5 (706-548-3426)
Georgia Square Five's new schedule was unavailable at
press time. Listings are only accurate through Th. 3/29
Please visit www flagpole.com for updated information.
Because I Said So (PG-13) 4:05, 7:05, 9:40
Blood Diamond (R) 7:00
Happy Feet (PG) 4:20, 7:20, 9:55
The Messengers (PG-13) 4:10, 7:10, 9:50
A Night At the Museum (PG) 4:15, 7:15, 9:45
Pursuit of Happyness (PG-13) 4:00, 10:00
HWY 17 DRIVE-IN THEATERS (706-213-7693)
300 (R) 8:00 (starts F. 3/30)
The Last Mimzy (PG) 8:00
Norbit (PG-13) 8:00
Reno 911!: Miami (PG-13) 8:00 (ends Th. 3/29)
OCONEE COUNTY LIBRARY (706-769-3950)
Princess Mononoke (PG-13) 6:00 (F. 3/30)
TATE CENTER THEATER (706-542-6396)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (R) 8:00 (Th. *
3/29)
Little Children (R) 3:00, 6:00, 9:00 (F. 3/30-Su. 4/1)
UGA STUDENT LEARNING CTR. (706-542-7000)
Japdn (NR) 7:30 (Tu. 4/3, Room 171)
Screaming Queens—The Riot's at Compton's
Cafeteria (NR) 7:00 (W. 3/28, Room 150)
Real peacocks are no longer proud.
18 FLAGPOLE.COM • MARCH 28,2007
NEWS & FEATURES
1 ARTS & EVENTS 1
MOVIES 1 MUSIC 1 COMICS &
&l. MULllilMcffllf • UUIJL RHUMBA
£it3i3t&ir.£iu. -
iOiVTlA ; .ii&UU
LU'UM 1 23IV0M . ..
travels !o the future to help Wilbur
Robinson and his eccentric extended
family hunt down the Bowler Hat Guy
With less star power than your typical
voice cast. Robinsons must succeed
on its stunning visuals and that awe
somely submissive T-Rex who steals
the trailer Based on the bestseller by
William Joyce Opens Friday (Carmike i
THE MESSENGERS fPG-13) The
Pang Brothers come to Hollywood
with an obvious yet foreboding ghost
story The Solomons have just moved
to North Dakota The idyllic escape
doesn't last long as teenage daughter
Jess (Kristen Stewart) begins sensing
the creepiness that lurks inside the
most clearly haunted house ever But
with its limp climactic twist, the flick
finishes most unsatisfymgly. Still,
for about an hour there. Hollywood
properly translates the illogical, scary
language of Japanese horror (Georgia
Square 5)
A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM i PG - A
barely amusing romp due in large oar!
to everyone but its star (Ben Stiller;
showcases the comedian in all his
childish unhKaoiiify A‘ter fakir;; a C"
as a night guard at the Museum of
Natural History he discovers the dis
plays come to life when the sun goes
down (Georgia Square 5)
NORBIT'PG-13) Nice guy Ncr:
(Eddie Murphy) is married to Raspuha
(Murphy again), a large woman as hid
eous on the outside as she is within
When Norbits soulmate. Kate (Thandie
Newton), returns, tne mild-mannered
nebbtsh must find a backbone and fight
for his and Kate's happiness It's sad to
see Murphy slumming again (Highway
17 Theatres)
OLD JOY (NR) A picturesque postcard
from the Pacific Northwest. Old Joy
slowly meanders through a camping
trip two old friends take to get reac-
quainted with each other Mark (Daniel
London) is soon to be a father, Kurt
(Will Oldham) is a ca r efree layabout
Those facts are all we learn about Mark
and Kurt in director Kelly Reichardt's
beautifully repetitive compilation of
nature photography. Ends Thursday
(Carmike)
PEACEFUL WARRIOR (PG-13)
Controversial film director (and con
victed child molester) Victor Salva
(Powder: Jeepers Creepersj directed
this film about a talented young gym
nast. Dan Millman (Scott Mechlowicz).
who befriends and older man named
Socrates (Nick Nolte) who “opens his
eyes to a new way of living and think
ing .' Creeped out yet 7 Based on Dan
Millmans autobiography, so maybe not
as creepy as it sounds Maybe Opens
Friday (Carmike)
PREMONITION (PG-13) A much
better, more intriguing film than its
“Medium’-channeling trailer lets on,
Premonition really nails the whole “is
she crazy or isn't she 7 ” ethos with sur
prising gravitas. thanks to its talented,
easily overlooked star. Sandra Bullock
When the world of Linda Hanson
(Bullock) collapses in on itself upon
the accidental death of her husband.
Jim (Julian McMahon of “Nip/Tuck”),
the housewife breaks from reality and
starts experiencing that fateful week out
of order Structured on the skeleton of
Memento, where causes are elucidated
from effects, Premonition doesn't
quite put all the puzzle pieces back in
the proper places Several pieces are
missing entirely as Linda's actions
would have consequences we are never
privileged to see Still, I'm buying
everything Bullock's selling, be it crazy,
tough, or just flat-out heartbroken,
and neither the obligatory, inscrutably
pseudo-revelatory ending nor the out-
of-left-field devour into Christianity can
douse Bullock's surefire performance
(Beechwood. Carmike)
PRIDE (PG) Pride, the newest sports
inspiration film, this time about an
African-American swim team that
ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS