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fuzzfilmmaker Edgar Wright reatly cuts
loose with Scott Pilgrim. He releases
every crazy idea in his co’mic/videog-
ame/cult movie/pop culture-obsessed
brain into the cinematic wild.
SECRETARIAT (PG) The subject ot
this biopic. the 1973 Triple Crown win
ner, is made pretty obvious by the title,
but much ct the focus will be on owner
Penny Chenery (Diane Lane). Director
Randall Wallace was nominated for
an Oscar lor writing Braveheart before
settling in the director's chair for The
Man in the Iron Mask and We Were
Soldiers. Scripter Mike Rich really
knows this touchy-feely biographi
cal territory, having written Finding
Forrester, The Rookie anti Radio With
John Malkovich, Scoti Glenn, James
Cromwell and Dylan Walsh.
SKYLINE (PG-13) When strange
lights appear above Los Angeles,
people wander outside and begin
disappearing. What's going on? The
cast—Eric Balfour ("Butty." "Six Feel
Under’). Donald Faison ("Scrubs’).
Scoltie Thompson (“NCIS." "Trauma"),
David Zayas ("Dexter") and Brittany
Daniel ("That '80s Show," "The
Game')—smells distinctly of the small
screen, and the directors. Colin and
Greg Strause. are visual effects veter
ans (Titanic. Avatar) who need to make
up lor their terrible feature directing
debut, Aliens vs Predator: Requiem
THE SWITCH (PG-13) Jennifer
Aniston plays a single 40-something
who becomes pregnant through Al.
Little does she know her pal (Jason
Bateman) switched her preferred brand
of sperm for his store brand. Seven
years later, he tells her the truth.
TAKERS (PG-13) A theft of multiple
millions of dollars and Matt Dillon
sounds a lot like Armored This crime
around, Dillon is a detective in the way
of a group of bank robbers and the $20
million they stole. The odd, recogniz
able cast also includes Zoe Saldana.
Hayden Christensen, Paul Walker.
Idris Elba (I would say he’s slumming
but this flick seems no worse than
Obsessed.), Johnathon Schaech. Jay
Hernandez, Michael Ealy. Chris Brown
and Tip TL* Harris.
TOY STORY 3 (G) Toy Story 3 lacks
the emotional heft (though parents
o! youngsters best bring the tissues)
ol recent Pixar masterpieces, but is
every bit the satisfying curtain call for
Andy's tovs.
UNSTOPPABLE (PG-13) After Man
on Fire. DOfi My and The Taking ol
Pelham 123,1 thought I was done
with Tony Scott's overdirected movies
starring Denzel Washington, but the
trailer lor this based-on-true-events.
dramatic-runaway-train thriller looks
exciting Two engineers (Washington
and Star Treks Chris Pine) desperately
try to stop an unmanned, half-mile
long train pulling hazardous chemicals
before it wipes out a town. •
WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER
SLEEPS (PG-13) Wall Street: Money
Never Sleeps opens in 2001 when a
broken, grizzled shell of what Gordon
Gecko (Michael Douglas) used to be
is released from prison. Flash forward
seven years to ?008. Enter the film's
high-flying financial whiz, Jake Moore
(Shia LaBeouf), who just so happens
to be dating Gecko's daughter. Winnie
(recent Oscar ingenue Carrie Mulligan).
Under the pretense of reuniting father
and daughter (but probably more so
he can meet a legend), Jake begins a
series of trades with Gecko that could
cost the young man everything.
WE EXIST (NR) UGA College of
Education faculty members and docu
mentary filmmakers Corey Johnson
and Anneliese Singh follow up their
first documentary. Be There for Me,
with We Exist: Collective Memories of
Transgender. Queer, and Questioning
Youth, a film that focuses on the high
school existence of those three titular
youth groups. This documentary film
premiere is sponsored by the LGBT
Resource Center, Lambda Alliance and
Georgia Safe Schools Coalition A Q&A
with the lilmmakers will follow
Drew Wheeler
BIG. BAD AND BLUE
MEGAMIND (PG) The year's second super-
villain-as-good-guyanimated feature is a
much more traditional superhero movie than
summer's pleasantly surprising Despicable
Me. A blatant riff on the Superman mythol
ogy, Megamind begins with the destruction
of the home planet of the blue baby soon
to be known as Megamind (v. Will Ferrell).
Jettisoned to safety by his parents, Megamind
finds his way to Earth. Unfortunately, a bundle
of muscles and invincibility with a bulldozer
chin (Metro Man) barley escaped his neighbor
ing planet's concurrent obliteration to crash
land on Earth as well.
and David Cross as Megamind's fishy helper.
Minion. The far-from-mind-blowing anima
tion resembles several cartoons released in
the past few years. (Why not go futuristic Art
Deco like "Superman: The Animated Series"?)
The 3D is used appropriately, if rather
pedestrianly.
Fortunately, the writing and vocal charac
terization are above average. Ferrell doesn't
just make Megamind a computer-generated
version of his cn-screen persona. He checks
his overly aggro instincts for a more cerebral
misguidedness. He also relishes juicy, vil
lainous dialogue like "extravagant gifts of
Thus is born the Metro Man vs. Megamind
rivalry. Though Megamind always loses to
Metro Man (v. Brad Pitt), the blue baddie
keeps trying, kidnapping the white-clad hero's
girlfriend, reporter Roxanne Ritchi (v. Tina
Fey), time and time again. Of course, the
superhero always wins, and the super villain
ends up in prison—until the day Megamind
defeats Metro Man. But what is a bad guy to
do when no good exists to oppose him? That
crucial realization drives the heart and mind
of Megamind, a winning combination of witty
writing and fine voice-play from Ferrell, Fey
deliciousness" and free reign to mispronounce
words (he says Metro City like velocity). Fey
raises the IQ and LQ (laugh quotient) of every
thing she touches.
Megamind wittily tweaks the superhero
genre with enough ingenuity and crafty celeb
rity voice-work to save a parent's weekend trip
to the movies. Dreamworks' Megamind could
not stand up to the real costumed heroes like
Pixar's The Incredibles, but the superhero sat
ire would make a capable animated sidekick.
Drew Wheeler
Southwest Cafe
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