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Some releases may not be showing locally this week.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (PG) In
Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland;
Lewis Carroll's young heroine is now
an adult. This nearing-20 Alice seeks
to escape an arranged engagement
to the odious son of her late father's
business partner by again falling into a
hole while chasing a tardy white rabbit
Sadly, this Alice has, like the Hatter
astutely announces, lost its muchness.
This return trip feels less like Tim
Burton’s adventures in Wonderland
than a Disney approximation of the
auteur's vision.
THE A-TEAM (PG-13) See Movie
Pick.
THE GALLON CHALLENGE (NR)
A feature-length film (based on a true
story, mind you), The Gallon Challenge
follows film student Travis Carter as he
documents an on-campus milk-drink
ing contest for his final project. Writer
and producer Wes Bennett cites Wes
Anderson and Jackass as inspiration.
Part of the AthFest Filmfest Athens
Picture Show, The Gallon Challenge
will be followed by a screening of the
short film Lay-ZShopumentary, a
mockumentary about the bodega in
downtown Athens.
BABIES (PG) Chronicling a year in
the lives of four babies from around
the world—Ponijao (Opuwo, Namibia),
Bayar (Bayanchandmani, Mongolia),
Mari (Tokyo, Japan), and Hattie (San
Francisco. California)—Babies appeals
to me much more than the animal
documentaries of the last few years.
THE BOOK OF ELI (R) For 30 years,
powered by faith alone, Eli (Denzel
Washington) has been crossing the
vast nuclear wasteland with the world's
only remaining copy of the Bible (King
James Version, of course). The movie
watches like a quest on the 2008 vid
eogame masterpiece. Fallout 3, a series
that took most of its stylistic cues from
The Road Warrior. The Book of Eli is
no Road Warrior (or The Road), but the
stylish, violent movie has more than a
whiff of originality.
THE BOUNTY HUNTER (PG-13)
Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler), the titular
bounty hunter, discovers his latest
quarry is his ex-wife, Nicole Hurly
(Jennifer Aniston), a reporter who
knows too much. Now the constantly
arguing duo must run for their lives.
Wow, this high-concept action comedy
reeks of the 1980s. Hitch director
Andy Tennant did not show a talent for
these sorts of flicks with 2008's Fool's
Gold. With the usually entertaining
Christine Baranski and Jason Sudeikis
(“Saturday Night Live').
CITY ISLAND (PG-13) Patriarch
Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) is a correc
tions officer in City Island, a fishing
village in the Bronx, who has been hid
ing a secret from his family: his dream
to become an actor. Garcia is joined by
an impressive ensemble cast to com
plete the family portrait of dysfunction,
including Julianna Margulies, Emily
Mortimer and Alan Arkin, to name a
few. Director-screenwriter Raymond
De Felitta’s indie flick covers familiar
ground with the quirky, dysfunctional
Italian family that yells a lot, out
this winner of the 2009 Tribeca Film
Festival looks genuinely amusing.
CLASH OF THE TITANS (PG-13)
Zeus (a shiny, bearded Liam Neeson
who has already titled a chapter in
his memoir, “2010: The Year I Went
Slumming’) impregnates a mortal
woman as a shower of gold. From that
sexual congress issues Perseus (who
grows up to be Avatar's wooden Sam
Worthington, who might just be the
next Harry Hamlin), which is a good
thing for mankind because it is not
long before the Z-man gets fed up with
the minions he made and releases the
Kraken—a devastating beast created
from the flesh of Hades to defeat the
Titans—on their collective asses (via
the Greek city-state of Argos).
CYRUS (R) After seven years alone, a
divorced dude, John (John C. Reilly),
strikes up a romance with Molly
(Marisa Tomei). But first he must do
battle with her overprotective, 21-year-
old son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill), his mom's
best friend who is unready to share
her with anyone, especially John. It's
almost as if Reilly is facing off against
a younger version of his Stepbrothers
MOVIE LISTINGS
Schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
Inheritance (NR) 7:00 (Th. 6/17)
CINl (706-353-3343)
Babies (PG) 5:15 (ends Th. 6/17)
City Island (R) 7:15, 9:30 (ends Th. 6/17)
The Gallon Challenge (NR) midnight (Sa. 6/19)
Lay-Z Shopumentary (NR) midnight (Sa. 6/19)
Not Since You (NR) 7:30 (F. 6/18-Sa. 6/19), 5:00 (Su. 6/20-Tu. 6/22)
Oceans (G) 5:30 (etuis Th. 6/17)
Please Give (R) 5:15, 7:15, 9:15 (no 9:15 show Su. 6/20) (starts F.
6/18)
The Runaways (NR) 7:30, 9:45 (new times F. 6/18: 9:30) (add! times
Sa. 6/19-Su. 6/20: 2:45) (no 9:30 show Su. 6/20)
The Room (R) midnight (F. 6/18-Sa. 6/19)
The Secret of KeUs (NR) 3:15 (Sa. 6/19-Su. 6/20)
When You're Strange (R) 5:00 (F. 6/18-Sa. 6/19 & W. 6/23-Th. 6/24),
7:30 (Su. 6/20-Tu. 6/22)
U6A TATE CENTER TREATER (706-542-63%)
The Book of EH (R) 7:00 (M. ft/21 & W. 6/23)
She's Out of My league (R) (W. 6/16)
Accurate movie times for the CARMIKE 12 (706-354-0016),
BSICNWOOB STADIUM 11 (706-546-1011) and GEORGIA
SQUARE 5 (706-546-3426) cinemas are not available by press
time. Visit www.Nagpole.com for updated times.
character (how meta). The Duplass
Brothers (Baghead) may finally hit the
big time with this comedy. This indie is
one of summer's most intriguing offer
ings. With Catherine Keener.
DATE NIGHT (PG-13) Tina Fey and
Steve Carell are the Fosters, a married
couple trying to liven things up with a
.night on die town. But a simple case of
mistaken identity turns into more than
the Fosters bargained for. The hilarious
supporting cast includes Mila Kunis,
Mark Wahlberg, James Franco. Ray
Liotta, Kristen Wiig and more. At its
core, Date Night should be no better
titan your average rom-adion-edy, but
Fey, Carell and their inspired support
pop culture jokes. Dragon is the latest
from DreamWorks Animation, the home
of Shrek, and the family resemblance
is strong.
I AM LOVE (R) I Am Love, or to Sono
TAmore, is set in turn-of-the-century
Milan, where the Recchi dynasty is
thrown into chaos after Emma (Tilda
Swinton, who learned both Russian
and Italian lor the role) embarks on an
affair with her brother-in-law's friend/
business partner, Antonio (Edoardo
Gabbriellini).
INHERITANCE (NR) Monika Hertwig.
the daughter of Amon Goeth—Ralph
Fiennes' character from Schindler's
List—meets wifh Helen Jonas-
I’m so drunk.
shape a run-of-the-mill, high-concept
blockbuster in their comedic image
rather than allow it to remove their
brainy comic brawn.
FURRY VENGEANCE (PG) In this
awful live-action cartoon, Fraser
stars as developer Dan Sanders, who
uproots his family—wife Tammy
(Brooke Shields) and cute teen son
Tylor (Matt Prokop)—to the Oregon
wilderness in order to start work on a
subdivision for a not-so-ecofriendly
Neal Lyman (an abysmal Ken Leong).
The woodland creatures, led by a mani
acal raccoon, fight back. Though none
of the animals talk, they do giggle,
titter, spray and awkwardly dance to
Chiefs 1e Freak.’
GET HIM TO THE GREEK (R)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall director
Nicholas Stofler takes the writing reins
from star Jason Segei, unleashing the
“How I Met Your Mother* starts rock .
god, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), in
a story almost all his own. The Infant
Sorrow frontman has to share the
spotlight with record company drone,
Aaron Green (Jonah Hill), sent to ferry
him from London to the Greek Theater
in Los Angeles. On the way, Aaron
must ensure that the infamous, alco
holic drug user stay clean (enough) to
perform. With 109 minutes of laughter,
Get Him to the Greek is the summer's
best comedy to date.
HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (R) Hot
Tub Time Machine is so disgustingly,
unhygienicaliy raunchy that you worry
you might catch something from
watching iL Surprisingly, all you will
catch is a good case of the laughs.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR ORAGON
(PG) How to Train Your Dragon is a
terrific computer-generated animated
feature, and the first i recommend you
should watch In 30. As great as it is for
families (if I had a kid, I would rush out
to see it with him/her), Dragon left me
breathless at the animation tnd kind of
bored with the familiar story and tired
Rosenzweig, the woman enslaved
by her father during the war. Over
66 years after Goeth’s execution, the
painful, historic closure sought by
both these women leads to new ques
tions. Director James Moll won an
Oscar for The Last Days. Winner of a
Christopher, a News & Documentary
Emmy and a World Soundtrack Award.
Part of the ACC Library's iFilms series.
IRON MAN II (PG-13) Iron Man’s
second mission picks up right after his
last. Tony Stark, having outed himself
as the armor-clad superhero, must
do battle against a new foe: govern
ment bureaucracy. Facing down a
congressional committee chaired by
a particularly snide Senator played by
Garry Shandling with rapid-fire wit
as opposed to his trademark repulsor
beams,,Stark manages to maintain
control of his proprietary technology
as fears of other iron men become
campaign fodder.
JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF
WORK (R) Directors Ricki Stem and
Anne Sternberg (The Devil Came on
Horseback and The Trials of Darryl
Hunt) document the life and career
of Joan Rivers as she marks her 75th
birthday. The doc featurese the kind,
funny and not so kind wishes of Kathy
Griffin, Don Rickies and Joan's daugh
ter. Melissa, as they celebrate Joan.
JONAH HEX (NR) A bounty hunter
in the Wild West, Jonah Hex (the
increasingly interesting Josh 3rc!in) is
commissioned by the U.S. government
to stop a voodoo witch doctor from
achieving a Southern victory via raising
an army of the undead. Many may not
be familiar with this DC Comics char
acter, but Hex sounds like he could be
a surprise hit on the big screen.
THE KARATE KID (PG) This remake
is more intriguing than many. A single
mother (Taraji P. Henson) and her
young son. Dre (Jaden Smith, son
of Will and Jada Pinkett. the power
couple producing the movie), move to
China. When bullies begin picking on
Dre. he takes up karate, thanks to les
sons from expert/handyman, Mr. Han
(Jackie Chan). For nostalgia's sake. I
do wish they had kept the Mr. Miyagi
moniker. Director Harald Zwart also
wrought Agent Cody Banks and The
Pink Panther 2.
KILLERS (PG-13) Yay. A Mr & Mrs.
Smith knockoff starring Katherine
Heigl and Ashton Kutcher is just what
I wanted to kick off the movie month of
June. Heigl's suburban wife. Jen, dis
covers her hubby. Spencer (Kutcher), is
an assassin, and he is worth millions to
some fellow assassins that have been
trailing the couple since they met.
THE LAST SONG (PG) Bestselling
novelist Nicholas Sparks (The
Notebook) wrote this screenplay
specifically for Miley Cyrus, who is
making her live-action, non-Hannah
Montana feature debut.
MARMAOUKE (PG) So the comic
strip canine becomes a live-action
movie, and Owen Wilson voices the
teenaged Great Dane. I am sure the kid
dies will eat this up just as greedily as
they did both Alvin and the Chipmunks
movies. Lee Pace (‘Pushing Daisies’)
and Judy Greer star as Marmaduke's
human ownersrwhile a slew ol familiar
actors—Emma Stone. Ron Perlman,
Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jeremy
Piven, Steve Coogan, Fergie. George
Lopez—give voice to the animal king
dom. Directed by Tom Dey (Shanghai
Noon, Failure to Launch).
NOT SINCE YOU (NR) 2009. Filmed
locally in Athens, Not Since You con
cerns a group of friends, all NYU grads
personally affected by 9/11. reuniting
in our small northeast Georgia town for
a wedding.
OCEANS (G) Disneynature's second
Earth Day release, following last yearns
Earth, is being described as ‘part
thriller, part meditation.’ Narrated by
Pierce Btosnan. Oceans examines the
mysteries of what truly lives under
the sea. Directors Jacques Perrin and
Jacques Cluzaud were responsible for
the awe-inspiring, technological break
through Winged Migration.
PLEASE GIVE (R) fn Friends with
Money, filmmaker Nicole Holofcener's
newest film, a couple, Kate and Alex
(Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt),
plot to expand their New York City
apartment. But things grind to a
halt after they befriend their elderly
neighbor Andra (Ann Guilbert) and
butt heads with her granddaughters
(Rebecca Hal! and Amanda Peel). One
can easily imagine this film appealing
to the fanbase Holofcener has built
through Friends with Money, Walking
and Talking, and Lovely & Amazing.
PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS
OF TIME (PG-13) A street urchin,
Dastan (a buff, coitted Jake Gyllenhaal),
grows up royal thanks to the benefi
cence of the Persian king. When the
king is murdered and Dastan falsely
accused, the limber Prince of Persia
must clear his name while assisting
beautiful Princess Tamina (Gemma
Arterton) as she protects a magic
dagger that can him back time. PoP
sounds—and Is—silly, but the movie
is old-fashioned fun.
ROBIN HOOD (PG-13) On paper, a
realistic, ’historically accurate’ ver
sion of the Robin Hood myth from the
Gladiator team and super-producer
Brian Grazer read like a dynamite
summer blockbuster, but in reality, a
dour, dark, incredibly anachronistic
(everyone is a feminist, ecumenical,
Enlightenment philosopher) Robin
Wood is no Robin Hood at all.
THE ROOM (R) The Room might be
the ’Mona Lisa’ of bad movies; its
greatness lies in its mysterious smile,
which a laughing Tommy Wiseau, the
baffling ’auteur,’ trots out at the oddest
moments. The Room will leave you
with so many questions that don't need
answering.
THE RUNAWAYS (NR) A dramatic
biopic following the rise and fall of
the legendary all-girl punk-rock band
of female misfits in the seventies, The
Runaways was written and directed
by Floria Sigismondi with the help
of executive producer and former
Runaway, Joan Jett. Starring Dakota
Fanning (as Cheri Currie) and Kristin
Stewart (a dynamic Joan Jett), The
Runaways made its world premiere at
the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
THE SECRET OF KELLS (NR)
Director Tomm Moore has crafted a
beautiful illuminated manuscript. Every
opulently detailed still could be framed.
His film is a tremendous little gem
that I hope finds its audience, if not in
theaters, then in the comfy confines of
multi-viewing-friendly home theaters.
SEX AND THE CITY 2 (R) Carrie and
the girls are back on the big screen, but
the results are more seasons five and
six than the more pleasant seasons two
through lour. Fans may be incapable of
skipping this new adventure, but they
would be better served spending the
supersized two-and-a-half-hour run
ning time watching their five lave eps.
SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE (R)
If a filmmaker with a real talent for
creating raunchy romantic comedies
had made She ’s Out of My League, this
movie could have been something. It
could have been a contender, under the
guiding hand of Judd Apatow or the
Farrelly Brothers. Instead, little-known
British comic Jim Field Smith makes
an underwhelming directorial debut
with another script from the Sex Drive
duo of Sean Anders and John Morris.
(These two are also responsible for Hot
Tub Time Machine.)
SHREK FOREVER AFTER (PG) The
first two Shreksme highly entertain
ing and richly creative way back in
2001. In 2010, this fourth and suppos
edly final chapter is really tired.
SPLICE (R) A couple of genetic engi
neers, Clive and Elsa (Adrien Brody
and Sarah Polley), create an animal-
human hybrid, Dren (ably played by
Delphine Chaneac). Of course. Dren
unleashes a Pandora^ box of moral
quandaries that strain Clive and Elsa's
relationship, especially after writer-
director Vincenzo Natali and his cowrit
ers, Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug
Taylor, go there (though there will not
be enough for vets of extreme horror).
A TOY STORY 3 (G) When toy owner
Andy grows up and goes to college,
he donates his favorite toys, includ
ing Woody (v. Tom Hanks) and Buzz
Lightyear (v. Tim Allen), to a day care
center. As excited as I am to meet the
new toys, I am even more excited about
the script by Little Miss Sunshine
Oscar winner, Michael Arndt. Director
Lee Unkrich codirected previous Pixar
hits Toy Story 2and Finding Nemo.
WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE (R)
Typically independent award-winning
filmmaker Tom DiCillo (Johnny Suedd)
opens fne Dwxs in «.is documentary
narrated by Johnny Depp. This look at
the ever-popular *60s rockers includes
rare exclusive footage of Jim Morrison,
Robby Krteger, Ray Manzarek and John
Densmore covering the band's brief life
from UCLA Film School to soid-out
arenas. This film has been a hit ai film
festivals from Berlin to San Sebastian
to Santa Barbara. Nominated for the
Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize.
Drew Wheeler
12 l FLAGP01E.C0M JUNE 16,201Q