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Some releases may not be showing locally this week.
12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST (NR)
2006. Director Corneliu PorumboiuS
Cannes Golden Camera winner cleverly
tweaks the December 1989 Romanian
revolution that overthrew Nicolae
Ceaucescu. Part of Wendekino: Cinema
of Political Transformation: The Fall of
the Berlin Wall & the Revolutions of
1989 in German and Eastern European
Film, a film festival presented by Cin6
and the Department of Germanic &
Slavic Studies to commemorate the
20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin
Wall. Films will be introduced by
Germanic & Slavic and Theater & Film
Studies faculty.
AMELIA (PG) I have found myself
surprisingly moved and excited by
the trailers for The Namesake director
Mira Nair's biopic of legendary aviatrix
Amelia Earhart. who disappeared in
1937 while attempting a record-break
ing flight around the world. As Earhart,
Hilary Swank is nearly guaranteed her
third Oscar nomination: can she extend
her winning streak?
ASTRO BOY (PG) Osamu Tezuka's
groundbreaking manga series becomes
a beautifully animated, not terribly
memorable feature film. Astro Boy (v.
Freddie Highmore, Finding Neverland)
was built by his father," Dr. Tenma
(v. Nicolas Cage), after Tenma lost his
son. Unable to replace Tenma’s human
child as he was built to, Astro runs
off in search of acceptance. He finds
it after using his incredible powers to
save the world, or at least the floating
conurbation called Metro City.
BERLIN IS IN GERMANY (NR)
2001. After 11 years in prison, Martin
Schulz is released to a post-Wall
Berlin he barely recognizes. Part ,
of Wendekino: Cinema of Political
Transformation: The Fall of the Berlin
Wall & the Revolutions of 1989 in
German and Eastern European Film.
BETWEEN THE FOLDS (NR) 2008
Writer-director Vanessa Gould exam
ines the artists and scientists (from
MIT and NASA) who have devoted their
lives to modern origami. Winner of the
Documentary Audience Award at the
Brooklyn International Film Festival.
BLACK DYNAMITE (R) Another hom
age to blaxploitation, Black Dynamite
stars co-writer Michael Jai White
(Spawn) as the titular hero who must
avenge his brother’s murder and right
neighborhood wrongs all the way to the
White House (James McManus plays
Richard Nixon himself)-1 kind of hope
this movie actually makes it to Athens.
Winner of the Seattle International Film
Festival’s Golden Space Needle Award
for Best Film. With Arsenio Hall and “In
Living Color"1s Tommy Davidson.
THE BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL
SAINTS DAY (R) Writer-director Troy
Duffy mines his only successful film,
a box office bust turned cult fave, for
its inevitable sequel. The Brothers
MacManus, Connor (former “Young
Indiana Jones' Sean Patrick Flanery)
and Murphy (Norman Reedus), leave
their idyllic life on the family farm in
Ireland and return to Boston to take
revenge on the mob that killed their
favorite priest. With Julie Benz (“Angel*
and “Dexter’), Clifton Collins Jr., Billy
Connolly, Judd Nelson and Peter
Fonda.
THE BOX (PG-13) Donnie Darko
writer-director Richard Kelly attempts
to recover from his sophomore bust,
Southland Tales, with this scary
“Twilight Zone’-esque chiller adapted
from a short story by Richard Matheson
(I Am Legend, among many others).
Cameron Diaz and James Marsden star
as Norma and Arthur Lewis, a young
couple offered a mysterious box that
promises financial security for a deadly
price. Frank Langella plays the creepy
stranger who offers the couple their
moral dilemma.
BRIGHT STAR (PG) See Movie Pick.
CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY (R)
A bit drier than firebrand filmmaker
Michael Moore’s usual polemics,
Capitalism: A Love Story is scary
and depressing. Moore compellingly
connects the dots between our elected
representatives and the greedy bastards
on Wall Street without forgetting us
the little people who keep losing our
houses. Love him or hate him, Moore
is a hell of a documentarian, whose
brilliant sense of humor and irony save
him from his own self-serving sermon
izing. After the refreshingly bipartisan
Sicko, Capitalism reverts to the Bush
bashing for which Fahrenheit 9/11 was
demonized.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (PG)
Charles Dickens’ seasonal classic. A
Christmas Carol, gets its umpteenth
cinematic retelling. Jim Carrey stars
as an animated Ebenezer Scrooge
(and the Ghosts of Christmas Past.
Present and Yet to Come) in Back to-
the Future director Robert Zemeckis's
third foray into ultra-lifelike animation.
Of course, the family film is also in 3D
(and IMAX), but what isn’t nowadays?
Featuring the voices of Gary Oldman,
Colin Firth and Bob Hoskins.
CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE
VAMPIRE S ASSISTANT (PG-13)
High schooler Darren (a dreadfully
boring Chris Massoglia) becomes a
vampire after attending a freak show.
Despite a great cast—the movie,
directed by Paul Weitz from a script
he co-wrote with Oscar-winner Brian
Helgeland, has one thing going for
it, Reilly’s laid-back vamp, Larten
Crepsley. But he is not reason enough
to shell out the money and two hours
it takes to watch this predictable mon
ster mash. Rent The Monster Squad
instead.
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF
MEATBALLS (PG) When inventor
Flint Lockwood (v. Bill Hader) devises
a machine that delivers food, on
order, from the heavens, the town of
Chewandswallow rejoices. Kids will
too, as Judi and Ron Barrett’s 1978
children’s classic comes to life on the
screen.
COCO BEFORE CHANEL (PG-13)
Before Coco Chanel was Coco Chanel,
she was Gabrielle Chanel. Amelie star
Agdrey Tautou is drawing raves and
Oscar buzz for this biopic of the famous
French designer, who started out in
an orphanage. Coco Before Chanel is
writer-director Anne Fontaine^ second
buzzy release of the year. (The Girt
from Monaco garnered some nice pub
back in July.) With Benoit Poelvoorde
(Man Bites Dorf), Alessandro Nivola
(Junebugl), Marie Gillain, and
Emmanuelle Devos (A Christmas Tale?).
COUPLES RETREAT (PG-13)
Writers Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau
and Dana Fox also star in this lazily
glued-together sitcom collage of mis
understandings about sex. massages,
et cetera and platitudes about the hard
work it takes to maintain the two-way
street of a relationship.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (PG-
13) Devil is a fashionista fairy tale of
ugly duckling-turned-“glamazon’ Andy
Sachs (Anne Hathaway), the second
assistant to fashion maven Miranda
Priestley (Meryl Streep). Streep posi
tively glows, relishing every moment of
comic devilry in a performance many
call an early award contender.
AN EDUCATION (PG-13) Teenaged
Jenny (Carey Mulligan) comes of age
in the 1960s suburban London upon
the arrival of David (Peter Sarsgaard). a
playboy nearly twice her age. Mulligan
is winning raves and positioning her
self on the shortlist of potential Oscar
dark horses. Director Lone Scherfig
also helmed Italian for Beginners and
bestselling novelist Nick Hornby (High
Fidelity and About a Boy) adapted the
memoir by Lynn Barber. Winner of
the Dramatic World Cinema Audience
Award, Cinematography Award, as well
as a Grand Jury Prize nomination from
the Sundance Film Festival.
THE FINAL DESTINATION 3D (R)
The Final Destination 3D is too silly
to be scary. After another bland, pretty
teen (Bobby Campo, the-poor man’s
James Franco) saves his pals from
Death's masterplan, said bland, pretty
teens must figure out a way to stop the
unstoppable, unseen Grim Reaper. The
3D performs as advertised.
THE FOURTH KIND (PG-13) Dr.
Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) travels
to Nome, AK to solve the frigid region’s
40-year-long history of mysteri
ous disappearances. Writer-director
Olatunde Osunsanmi does Steven
Spielberg one better, recounting a close
encounter of the fourth kind, abduction.
The Fourth Kind will either live or die
by the similarity of its appearance to
the low-budget phenom, Paranormal
Activity. Both movies attempt to milk
the caught-on-tape, v6rit6 scare. With
Elias Koteas and Will Patton.
GAMER (R) Neveldine/Taylor, the
love ’em or hate 'em auteurs behind
Crank and Crank: High Voltage, take
online gaming to the next level in this
Running Man!Death Race wannabe.
Gerard Butler stars as Kable, a death
row inmate and popular “Slayer"
looking to overthrow the game's mas
termind. the inexplicably old Southern
Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall, “Dexter’).
GENTLEMEN BRONCOS (PG-
13) Science-fiction author Ronald
Chevalier (the excellent, Emmy-
nominated Jemaine Clement from
Flight of the Conchords, the band and
the TV program) battles plagiarism
charges leveled by a teenage writer,
Benjamin Purvis (The Forbidden
Kingdoms Michael Angarano),
homeschooled by his eccentric
mother (Jennifer Coolidge). Napoleon
Dynamite director Jared Hess tries
to recover from his poorly received
sophomore effort, Nacho Libre.
G-FORCE (PG) G-Force is being
touted as uber-producer Jerry
Bruckheimer's first 3-D and family film.
The heroes may be furry, well-animated
guinea pigs voiced by Sam Rockwell,
Penelope Cruz, Tracy Morgan and
Nicolas Cage, but the loud, busy
action movie definitely hails from
Bruckheimer’s gated Hollywood neigh
borhood. It's as good—or as bad—as
any old Bruckheimer production.
THE HANGOVER (R)When three
buddies—married schoolteacher Phil
(Bradley Cooper), emasculated dentist
Stu (Ed Helms), and strange Alan (Zack
Galifianakis)—-take their pal, Doug
(Justin Bartha), to Las Vegas for his
bachelor party, all hell breaks loose.
The fifth feature from Todd Phillips,
The Hangover is a perfect comedic
convergence that’s funnier than it
deserves to be.
THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (R)
The House of the Devil sounds like my
kind of movie. College coed Samantha
(Jocelin Donahue) takes a lucrative
babysitting job at a Victorian man
sion in the middle of nowhere. Lo and
behold, it coincides with a full lunar
eclipse needed to complete a satanic
ritual. Writer-director Ti West also
helmed a seemingly DOA sequel to Eli
Roth's Cabin Fever and is in pre-pro
duction on a flick titled The Haunting
in Georgia.
ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE
DINOSAURS (PG) Don't expect any
surprises in the third installment of the
mammoth animated franchise that isn’t
Shrek or produced by Pixar. Ice Age:
DotD is just for the kiddies.
IT MIGHT GET LOUD (PG) An
Inconvenient Truth Oscar winner Davis
Guggenheim’s new documentary
tackles the electric guitar through the
points of view of three pretty big names
in rock and roll: Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy
Page, U2’s The Edge (n6 Dave Evans),
and The White Stripes' Jack White. Any
self-respecting rock doc fan is drooling
at the thought, whether or not they like
any or all of these guitar gods.
JULIE & JULIA (PG-13) Julie &
Julia is the twin culinary tales of Julia
Child and Julie Powell (Amy Adams), a
lowly government employee who finds
meaning—and a book deal—in cook
ing all 524 of the recipes in Child's
Mastering the Art of French Cooking in
365 days and blogging about iL Julie
& Julia isn’t a fancy French delicacy:
it’s Hollywood comfort food prepared
with love and laughter.
KOLYA (NR) 1996. The winner of the
1997 Academy Award and Golden
Globe for Best Foreign Language Film,
MOVIE LISTINGS
Theater schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
Between the Folds (NR) 7:00 (Th. 11/5)
BEECHWOOD (706-546-1011)
Due to production deadlines, Beechwood movie times are
only accurate through Nov. 5. Visit www.flagpole.com for
updated times.
Amelia (PG) 4:05, 7:05, 9:45
Astro Boy (PG) 5:10, 7:30, 9:55
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (PG-13)
4:20, 7:20, 9:50
Couples Retreat (PG-13) 4:10, 7:10, 9:45
Law Abiding Citizen (R) 4:10, 7:15, 9:45
Paranormal Activity (R) 5:15, 7:25, 9:35
Saw VI (R) 4:40, 7:25, 9:40
Stepfather (PG-13) 4:05, 7:35, 10:00
This Is It (PG) 4:15, 7:00, 9:40
Where the Wild Things Are (PG) 5:10, 7:30, 9:50
Zombieland (R) 4:35, 7:10, 9:35
CARJAIKE 12 (706-354-0016)
Due to production deadlines, Carmike 12 movie times are
only accurate through Nov. 5. Visit www.flagpole.com for
updated times.
Astro Boy (PG) 1:45, 4:30, 7:10, 9:30
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (PG-13)
1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:35
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3-0 (PG) 1:00,
3:15, 5:30
Couples Retreat (PG-13) 1:20, 4:35, 7:05, 9:35
Halloween (R) 4:00, 9:40
Law Abiding Citizen (R) 1:20, 4:35, 7:20,10:00
Paranormal (PG-13) 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50
Saw VI (R) 1:00, 1:30, 3:15, 3:45, 5:30, 5:55, 7:45,
8:15,10:00, 10:30
The Stepfather (PG-13) 1:45, 7:10
This Is It (PG) 12:45, 1:45, 3:20, 4:20, 5:55, 7:00,
8:30, 9:40
Where the Wild Things Are (PG) 1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30
Zombieland (R) 7:40, 9:50
CINE (706-353-3343)
Bright Star (PG) 4:45, 7:15 (new times F. 11/6: 4:45,
Sa. 11/7-Su. 11/8: 2:30, M. 11/9-Th. 11/12: 4:45)
(add'l times M. 11/9 and Th. 11/12: 7:15)
Capitalism: A Love Story (R) 4:30, 7:00 (new times
F. 11/6: 9:40)
Coco Before Chanel (PG-13) 5:15, 7:30, 9:45 (no -
9:45 show Su. 11/8) (starts F. 11/6)
It Might Get Loud (NR) 9:30 (ends Th. 11/5)
Thirst (R) 9:45 (ends Th. 11/5)
The Wendekino Film Festival runs from Nov. 6 through Nov.
11. Complete film and event schedule online at www.uga.
edu.
12:08 East of Bucharest (NR) 9:20 (Sa. 11/7) 5:35
(Su. 11/8)
Kolya (NR) 7:00 (F. 11/6) 1:00 (Su. 11/8)
The Legend of Rita (NR) 7:15 (Sa. 11/7) 7:20 (Su.
11/8)
Silent Country (NR) 7:00 (W. 11/11)
Winter Adt (NR) 3:00 (Sa. 11/7-Su. 11/8)
GEORGIA SQUARE 5 (706-548-3426)
Due to production deadlines, Georgia Square Five movie
times are only accurate through Nov. 5. Visit www.flagpole.
com for updated times.
GameV (R) 5:15, 7:40,10:05
G-Force (PG) 5:30
The Final Destination (R) 5:20, 7:35, 10:00
The Hangover (R) 5:25, 7:55, 10:15
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG) 5:20
Paper Heart (PG-13) 7:50,10:10
The Time Traveler's Wife (PG-13) 7:45,10:15
TATI CENTER THEATER (706-542-6396)
The Devil Wears Prada (PG-13) 8:00 (Th. 11/5)
Julie and Julia (PG-13) 3:00, 5:15, 9:45 (F. 11/6 and
Su. 11/8)
Kolya is the story of a middle-aged
man left to care for the five-year-old
Russian son of his runaway, new bride
Pari of Wendekino: Cinema of Political
Transformation: The Fall of the Berlin
Wall & the Revolutions of 1989 in
German and Eastern European Film.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN (R) Despite
a couple of spurts of over-the-top
violence, Law Abiding Citizen should
please those moviegoers looking for
the latest generic thriller that puts a
couple of big name stars (Jamie Foxx
and Gerard Butler) through the pre
dictable paces. Butler works too hard
as Clyde Shelton, a mild-mannered
guy who goes all Death Wish meets
Jigsaw after the justice system fails to
adequately punish the guys who killed
his wife and daughter. Clydels elaborate
revenge scheme, which crosses from
movie farfetched to patently unbeliev
able by the big reveal, targets the entire
municipal government of Philadelphia.
THE LEGEND OF RITA (NR) 2000
Director Volker SchlOndorff’s Blue
Angel-winner follows Ria (Bibiana
Beglau) as she transitions from West
German terrorist to East German pro
letariat. Part of Wendekino: Cinema of
Political Transformation: The Fall of the
Berlin Wall & the Revolutions of 1989
in German and Eastern European Film.
THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS
(R) Reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan
McGregor) goes on a grand adventure
with Lyn Cassady (George Clooney),
who claims to have been a member of
the U.S. Army’s First Earth Battalion, a
special unit trained to use paranormal
powers to complete their objectives.
Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey add to
the lunacy. Two-time Oscar-nominee
and close Clooney pal/producing part
ner, Grant Heslov, directs.
NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU (R)
Shia LeBeouf, Natalie Portman, The
HangoveTs breakout star Bradley
Cooper, Blake Lively, Orlando
Bloom, Robin Wright Penn, Hayden
Christensen. Drea de Matteo, Christina
Ricci, John Hurt, Ethan Hawke,
James Caan, Justin Bartha, Chris
Cooper, Andy Garcia, Julie Christie.
Eli Wallach. Cloris Leachman, Irrfan
Khan and many, many more star in an
anthology of love stories set in New
York City directed by the likes of Fatih
Akin (The Edge of Heaven), Shekhar
Kapur. Mira Nair, Brett Ratner and star
Portman.
ONG BAK 2 (R) I don't really remem
ber the first Ong Bak, though I know I
saw it. (Rereading my own review of
2005 s The Protector reminded me that
I preferred its 2003 predecessor, if that
means anything to you.) Tien (Tony
Jaa) must use his fighting skills to get
revenge on the man who killed his par
ents. Director and star Jaa reportedly
took a two month sabbatical before
returning to finish shooting the movie
with the help of writer Panna Rittikrai.
PAPER HEART (PG-13) Star-cowriter
Charlyne Yi (the funny stoned girlfriend
in Knocked Up) and director-cowriter
Nicholas Jasenovec ponder what love
means to different people. Also, Yi's
more famous friends/former costars— *
Michael Cera, Martin Starr, Seth
Rogen—show up.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (R) Micah
and Katie (Micah Sloat and Katie
Featherston) think their new house is
haunted. Micah buys a fancy new cam
era to record the unusual things that
go bump in the night. After a tedious
10 minutes or so, the movie reels you
in like a marathon of “Ghost Hunters.'
Paranormal Activity update Robert
Wise's psychological The Haunting
with a modern technological savvy.
PRECIOUS (R) Precious: Based on
the Novel Push by Sapphire tells the
story of an overweight illiterate teen
mother (Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe),
who is pregnant with her second child
when she gets a chance to turn her life
around at an alternative school. I never
10 FLAGPOLE.COM • NOVEMBER 4,2009