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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