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Some releases may not be showing locally this week.
21 (P6-13) Based on Ihe true tile story
ot some card-counting MIT kids that
bilked some Las Vegas casinos for
millions, 21 is a crowd pleasing slice
of instantly forgettable entertainment.
21 isn’t a bad story, but it deals some
clich&f cards.
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS (PG)
My nostalgic iove for the Chipmunks
lowered my expectations for the their
live-action/ CGI debut, which was a
good thing.
BEFORE THE RAINS (PG-13) Before
Ihe Rains visits few destinations to
which past Merchant-Ivory productions
have not traveled, but A Room with a
Viewanb Howard's End me not meant
to be risk-takers, stylistic or narrative;
the longtime producer and director
team adapted beautiful literature into
beautiful films. While Before Ihe Rains
is merely inspired by Brit lit concern
ing India and the Empire (Cathy Rabin
molded an Israeli film into this veiled
Somerset Maugham-ish melodrama),
director Santosh Sivarits English
language debut entices with the lush,
exotic, cinematic spice of India. A post
colonial tale ot Britain's corruption of
their Crown Jewel, Before Ihe Rains
provides nothing new for Merchant-
Ivory vets, but something else would
have been a disappointment.
THE BIG LEBOWSKI (R) 1998.
Filmmaking siblings Ethan and Joel
Coen (Fargo) veer into bizarre comic
territory with this quirky and well-made
"mistaken identity" tlick. Jeffrey The
Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is the
ultimate L.A. slacker, until one day his
house is broken into and his rug is
peed on by two angry gangsters who
have mistaken him for Jeffrey Lebowski
(the “big" one), a millionaire, whose
wife owes some bad people some big
money. The Dude becomes entangled
in a hilariously complicated plot when
he goes to visit the real Lebowski in
order to get some retribution for his
soiled rug.
COLLEGE ROAD TRIP (G) Martin
Lawrence is Chiet James Porter, the
overprotective policeman father who
decides to accompany—and mortify—
his daughter, high school senior Rachel
(Raven-Symon6), on a cross-country
trip to pick a college.
THE FALL (R) Strangely, I reacted
much the same way to Tarsem's
definitely artsy The Fallas I did to last
week's certainty mainstream Get Smart.
I was bored and unengaged by the
characters or their situations. Tarsem
has unquestionably created one of the
year's most visually stunning tilms,
but as an adult fairy tale, The Fall is
easily outclassed by Guillermo del
toro’s more emotionally affecting Pan's
Labyrinth. Tarsem has created a fantasy
world evocative of El Topo, Alejandro
Jodorowsky's much stranger, more
remarkable cult classic, yet Eastern
mysticism and stunning desert cinema
tography don't a complete film make.
The Falls simple fable lacks the alle
gorical or applicable depth to increase
the worth of its atypical imagery.
FAT ALBERT (PG) Fat Albert (played
by "SNL" regular Kenan Thompson),
Mushmouth, Rudy, Bill, Dumb Donald,
Weird Harold and Bucky are unleashed
from their limbo-like television prison
to solve problems in the real world
and meet creator Bill Cosby in the
process. Fat Albert seeks the same
time-traveling mojo that worked so
successfully for the Bradys, yet taking
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids out of
the junkyard might also remove their
ghettoized poignancy.
THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
(PG-13) The fighting sequences are
well-choreographed Crouching Tiger
knockoffs at which Li could excel
blindfolded, and the 54-year-old Chan
retains his comic charm. However,
every scene than doesn’t involve fight
ing is poorly paced and blandly shot.
The silly story has potential; this family
friendly chopsocky flick would have
been a perfect English-language debut
for Kung Fu Hustlds Stephen Chow.
GET SMART (PG-13) The new Get
Smart enjoys some of the best TV-to-
big screen casting in some time. Carell
is sublime as always. Alan Arkin's gruff,
dry Chief does Edward Platt proud.
I’m not as sold on Anne Hathaway as
Roger Ebert, but her 99 is adequate.
Dwayne Johnson’s Agent 23 is a suave
new addition, and love, in the form
of swell casting, is shown to memo
rable supporting characters Larabee,
Siegfried, Starker, Hymie, and Agent
13. Get Smart isn’t stupid, but it misses
by that much.
HANCOCK (PG-13) See Movie Pick.
THE HAPPENING (R) The Happening
sheds the pounds of pretention
Shyamalan’s films have been gaining
and harnesses the power of corny dia
logue and silly acting to nostalgically
travel back to the sci-fi silliness of the
1950s while playing in the backyard
of those pissed off nature movies that
so intrigued the 70s. Mark Wahlberg
goofs it up as a science teacher stum
bling through the Pennsylvania back-
woods in the hope of outrunning some
unnamable, inescapable, fatal affliction,
and lo and behold, The Man Who
Would Be Auteur proves he can have
fun—with himself, his characters and
the audience. Hints of a misanthropic
Walden and War of the Worlds mingle
with some seriously R-rated, non-gory
scares in a rare horror movie for adults.
HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE
FROM GUANTANAMO BAY (R)
Writing/directing team Jon Hurwitz
and Hayden Schlossberg tackle bigger
issues than getting to White Castle
in this sequel, but the “South Park"-
ian task ot mixing juvenile humor
and politically astute commentary is
beyond their meager talent for devising
amusing, marijuana-driven scenarios.
HELLBOYII: THE GOLDEN ARMY
(PG-13) If Hellboy couldn't generate
big B.O. in the spring, does its sequel
stand a chance in the sweltering heat
of summer the week before the new
Batman movie? Guillermo del Toro is
a bigger name now (thanks to Pan's
Labyrinth), but Ron Perlman, sadly, is
not. In the sequel, the U.S. government
turns to the Bureau of Paranormal
Research and Defense to save the
vorld from an evil dictator.
hORTON HEARS A WHO! (G) The
laughs in Horton are never cheap or
juvenile, yet they are perfectly pitched
for little ones’ ears.
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (PG-13)
Hulk (2003) definitively remains the
better film, but The Incredible Hulk
(2008) is the better Hulk movie. The
Green Goliath looks more realistic
(relatively), smashes more (and more
frequently) and has an opponent—
Abomination, worthy of the serious
ass-kicking Ol' Green Genes is capable
of dishing out. The incredible Hulk
is easily on par with the other solid
Marvel movies.
INDIANA JONES AND THE
KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL
SKULL (PG-13) Crystal Skulhs a
cinematic rollercoaster ride that only
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas
could build, delivering the most con
stant amusement of the year.
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF
THE EARTH (PG) Jules Verne’s
classic gets reinvented with Brendan
Fraser and, in some theaters, a third
dimension (it’s your call as to which
is more importantf. A geologist,
Trevor (Fraser), and his nephew, Sean
(Josh Hutcherson. RVand Bridge to
Terabithia), stumble onto a mysterious
world deep beneath the earth’s surface.
Academy Award winning special effects
veteran Eric Brevig (Total Recall. Pearl
Harboi) makes his feature directing
debut with what could be a minor curi
osity but shouldn’t be a major hit.
KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN
GIRL (G) Parents could do worse
to their kids—and their selves—at
the multiplex this summer than this
Depression-era, Abigail Breslin-
starring charmer. The packed theater of
kids laughed hysterically at the slap
stick antics, and teachable moments
abounded during the slightly white
washed. nostalgic gaze at the 1930s.
Awkward, cute child actors, stagy old
pros (Stanley Tucci, Jane Krakowski
and Wallace Shawn are excellent), and
a couple of surprises guarantee the
whole family will leave the precocious
Kit Kittredge pleasantly content.
KUNG FU PANDA (PG) Jack Black
fans may not be too pleased with Kung
Fu Panda, but I was. JB keeps himself
pretty well in check as the out-of-shape
panda, Po, who comes off like "Lost"’s
Hurley, a lovable couch potato thrust
into an unlikely hero's role when his
wildest dreams come true.
THE LOVE GURU (PG-13) Though
born in America, Guru Pitka (Myers)
grew up in India under the tutelage
of a cross-eyed guru (Ben Kingsley).
Wishing to become the next Deepak
Chopra (a good friend of Myefs), Pitka
takes his acronyms, bumper sticker
advice and self-help books, to Canada
to solve the romantic woes of hockey
star Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco),
whose wife, Prudence (Meagan Good),
has taken up with rival goalie Jacque
“The Coq" Grande (Justin Timberlake).
Pitka is a funnier, more talented charac
ter than the one-note Powers. The Love
Guru mi not be his best work, but it at
least earns a passing mark.
MADE OF HONOR (PG-13) Formula
and predictability are kind of the hall
marks of romantic comedy. Made ol
Honor cannily plays on the feminine
ideal that the love of a good woman
can change the most caddish man.
while indulging in juvenile visual
sex gags and a demonstrable lack of
subtlety. The romcom is also distress
ingly unfunny, which is the biggest
deal breaker of all.
MEET DAVE (PG) The newest Eddie
Murphy vehicle looks like a clunker.
A spaceship shaped like a human
(Murphy) is piloted by tiny people
trying to save their planet, but that
mission is jeopardized by the Captain's
(Murphy again) love for an earth
woman (Elizabeth Banks). The writers,
former MST3K scribe Bill Corbett and
"How I Met Your Mother" consulting
producer and director Rob Greenberg,
make me feel slightly better, but direc
tor Brian Robbins unleashed Norbiton
a very suspecting populace that still
went to see the clunker in droves. Will
audiences want to Meet Pave as much?
MONGOL (R) Director/cowriter
Sergei Bodrov (Nomad) recounts the
early life of Genghis Khan, who rose
from slavery to conquer much of the
known world, including Russia in
1206. Kazakhstan's official submis
sion for the Best Foreign Language
Film Oscar wound up on the short
list, meaning the Academy thought it
better than 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2
Days, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,
and Persepolis. We’ll see about that.
Winner of two Asian Film Awards, two
Golden Eagle Awards and six Nikas
including Best Film and Best Director.
THE RUINS (R) Based on the what
Stephen King has rightly called the
scariest book of the new century, The
Ruins is an exhaustingly tense trek into
MOVIE LISTINGS
Theater schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
Stagedoor (NR) 7:00 (fh. 7/10)
BEECHWOOD (706-546-1011)
Alvin and the Chipmunks (PG) 10:00 a.m. (Th. 7/10)
Fat Albert (PG) 10:00 a.m. (Th. 7/10)
Get Smart (PG-13) 1:15, 4:15, 7:20, 9:50
Hancock (PG-13) 12:00, 12:45, 2:30, 3:15, 5:00,
5:45, 7:30, 8:15, 10:00
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (PG-13) 1:00, 4:00,
7:00, 9:55 (opens F. 7/11)
The Incredible Hulk (PG-13) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00
(ends Th. 7/10)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
(PG-13) 1:05, 4:10, 7:05, 9:55 (new times F. 7/11:
4:10, 9:25)
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D (PG) 12:20,
2:35, 4:50, 7:05, 9:20 (opens F. 7/11)
Kit Kittredge: An American Girt (G) 12:40, 2:55,
5:10, 7:25, 9:40
Kung Fu Panda (PG) 12:25, 2:40, 4:55, 7:10, 9:25
(new times F. 7/11:1:05, 7:10)
Meet Dave (PG) 12:35, 2:50, 5:05, 7:20, 9:35 (opens
F. 7/11)
Shrek the Third (PG) 10:00 a.m. (Tu. 7/15 & Th.
7/17)
The Spiderwick Chronicles (PG) 10:00 a.m. (Tu. 7/15
& Th. 7/17)
WALL'E (PG) 11:45, 12:30, 2:15, 3:00, 4:45, 5:30,
7:15. 8:00, 9:45
Wanted (R) 12:35. 1:30, 3:10, 4:20, 5:40, 6:55, 8:15,
9:30 (new times F. 7/11: 1:30, 4:20, 6:55, 9:30)
CARMIKE 12 ( 706-354-0016)
Get Smart (PG-13) 1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 9:50
Hancock (PG-13) 1:00, 1:45, 3:15, 4:30, 5:30, 5:45,
7:00, 7:45, 8:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:10 (new times F.
7/11: 1:00, 1:45, 3:15, 4:30, 5:30, 7:00, 7:45, 9:30,
10:00)
The Happening (R) 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00
(new times F. 7/11: 1:00, 7:30)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (PG-13) 1:15, 4:15,
7:00, 7:15, 9:40, 9:50, 10:00 (opens F. 7/11)
The Incredible Hulk (PG-13) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 9:45
(new times F. 7/11: 4:00, 9:45)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
(PG-13) 1:00 (ends Th. 7/10)
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D (PG) 1:00,
1:30, 3:15, 4:30. 5:30, 7:30, 7:45, 10:00 (opens F.
7/11)
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (G) 1:00, 3:15, 5:30,
7:45, 10:00 (new times F. 7/11: 1:00, 4:00)
Kung Fu Panda (PG) 1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:45
The Love Guru (PG-13) 1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:40
(ends Th. 7/10)
Meet Dave (PG) 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00 (opens
F. 7/11)
WALL-E (PG) 1:00, 1:30, 3:20, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30 (new
times F. 7/11: 1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30)
Wanted (R) 1:15, 4:15, 7:00, 7:30, 9:30, 10:00 (new
times F. 7/11: 1:15, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30)
CINE (706-353-3343)
Before the Rains (PG-13) 4:15, 7:15, 9:45 (starts F.
7/11)
The Big Lebowski (R) midnight (Th. 7/10)
The Fall (R) 4:30, 7:30, 9:45 (ends Th. 7/10)
Mongol (R) 4:30, 7:30, 9:55 (starts F. 7/11)
Then She Found Me (R) 4:15, 7:15, 9:30 (ends Th.
7/10)
FLICKER THEATRE & BAR (706-546-0039)
The Tingler (NR) 6:30 p.m. (W. 7/16)
WUSA (PG) 8:30 (M. 7/14)
GEORGIA SQUARE 5 (706-548-3426)
College Road Trip (G) 1:05, 3:10, 5:15, 7:30, 9:35
(new times F. 7/11: 1:05, 7:05)
The Forbidden Kingdom (PG-13) 4:20, 9:40 (ends
Th. 7/10)
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (R)
1:15, 4:15, 7:15, 9:40 (starts F. 7/11)
Horton Hears a Who! (G) 1:20, 7:20 (ends Th, 7/10)
Made of Honor (PG-13) 1:10 4:10 7:10 9:45
Speed Racer (PG) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 9:55
The Strangers (R) 1:20, 4:20, 7:20, 9:35 (starts F.
7/11)
What Happens in Vegas... (PG-13) 1-15, 4:15, 7:15,
9:50 (new times F. 7/11: 4:05, 9:50)
HWY 17 DRIVE-IN THEATERS (706-213-7693)
Get Smart (PG-13) 9:00
What Happens in Vegas... (PG-13) 9:00
TATE CENTER THEATER (706-542-6396)
21 (PG-13) 8:00, 10:00 (M. 7/14 8, W. 7/16)
The Ruins (R) 8:00. 10:00 (W. 7/9)
20 FLAGPOLE.COM ■ JULY 9, 2008 NEWS & FEATURES i CALENDAR I MOVIES i A&E i MUSI
the Mexican jungle. The Ruins benefi
cially lacks the over-stylization of the
new Texas Chainsaw Massacre ot the
casual sadism of torture porn; the film
offs its characters as brutally as the
novel, but with less gleeful zest than
Hostel. Dotted with lots of little horrors
(a broken back, amputation, self
surgery and more), The Ruins abbs up
to one big, bad horror flick.
SHREK THE THIRD (PG) After the
death of King Harold, Shrek (Mike
Myers) and friends strike out in search
of a new king. Shrek the Third is the
weakest of the franchise's three films.
SPEED RACER (PG)The mix of
low octane plot movement and high
octane racing never clicks. No, Speed
Racer, no.
THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES
(PG) The Spiderwick Chronicles is
based on a series of bestselling books
by Terry DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
about a fantastical world existing
unseen within our own in a creepy old
house.
STAGEDOOR (NR) 2006. Director
Alexandra Shiva now follows Nicole,
Randi, Taylor, Maddy and Robert as
they sing, dance, laugh and cry their
way through a three-week session
with dreams of making it to the Great
White Way.
THE STRANGERS (R) The
Strangers—a shotgun blast of genuine
domestic terror, delivered to the gut,
then the chest, and finally the face—is
the scariest film I’ve seen in years and,
quite possibly, the most frightening
tilm I’ve ever seen in a theater. The
Strangers is not a fun horror movie, but
it is a cathartic one.
THE TINGLER (NR) 1959. Vincent
Price plays a pathologist who discov
ers a spinal parasite which can kill the
host unless it is destroyed by scream
ing. After a botched operation on
his friend's mute wife, he unwittingly
releases “the tingler" onto the public at
large. Mayhem ensues...
THEN SHE FOUND ME (R) Helen
Hunt does nothing terribly wrong in
her directorial debut. She shows a nice
sense ot comedic and dramatic pacing,
especially considering how gloomy
the film gets. If only April Epner,
the 39-year-old elementary school
teacher Hunt brings to life from Elinor
Lippman's novel, weren't such a grat
ing, unsympathetic woman Then She
Found Me might be better received.
WALL»E (PG) WALL*E is the most
human, inhuman character Disney has
animated since Pinocchio. He says
little, and that minimal vocalization-
provided by Ben Burtt—singularly
strengthens the film's Jacques lati-an,
silent-era playfulness. Leave it to
Finding Nemo writer/director Andrew
Stanton to rocket Pixar back to the
animated heavens.
WANTED (R) Wanted ls the greatest
summer action movie since Terminator
2. Saying I was blown away may sound
clich6, but just because it's a cliche
doesn't make it not true. The trail
ers may play up Jolie, McAvoy and
Freeman, but the real star of Wanted
is director Timur Bekmambetov. He is
a foreign filmmaking rock star waiting
to explode in America, and his break
through picture possesses all the loud,
brash theatrics to ensure his success.
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS...
(PG-13) How funny you find Vegas will
depend on how well you tolerate self
ishness in others and how entertaining/
cute you find the two mismatched
stars. Like the ads say, What Happens
in Vegas... should stay in Vegas.
WUSA (PG) 1970. Paul Newman
stars in this allegorical movie about an
opportunistic drifter who ends up in
New Orleans working at the politically
corrupt local radio station—WUSA.
Also starring Joanne Woodward and
Anthony Pe'kins.
Drew Wheeler