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Some releases may not be showing locally this week.
49 UP (NR) 2005 In 1964. Michael
Apted (The World Is Not Enough
and the current Narnia epic) began
documenting the lives of several
seven-year-olds. Every seven years,
he returned to update their stories. In
the latest entry. 12 of the former seven-
year-olds agree to discuss their lives,
families, work, even the series itself.
Part of the ACC Library's iFilms series
127 HOURS (R) Academy Award
winner Danny Boyle’s newest film is
based on the true story of mountain
climber Aron Ralston (the increasingly
interesting James Franco), who resorts
to doing anything to survive after he
is trapped under a boulder. With Lizzy
Caplan, Kate Mara. Amber Tamblyn and
Treat Williams.
AFTERSHOCK (NR) This Chinese
domestic smash (it is China's highest
grossing locally made film) chronicles
the 1976 earthquake in Tangshan
that claimed 240.000 lives Director
Xiaogang Feng has won several inter
national awards, including one from the
Venice Film Festival, for his features
Aftershock is the first major commer
cial IMAX film shot outside the United
States The film is also the official
Chinese admission for the Academy
Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
ALL GOOD THINGS (R) Capturing
the Friedmans director Andrew Jarecki
turns to fiction features with this mur
der mystery based on New York’s most
notorious unsolved cases A detective
(Jeffrey Dean Morgan) investigates a
missing persons case involving the
heir to a real estate dynasty (Ryan
Gosling) and a young woman from
the wrong side of the tracks (Kirsten
Dunst). With Kristen Wiig, Frank
Langella, Diane Venora and Philip
Baker Hall.
ALPHA AND OMEGA (PG) Two
young wolves at opposite ends of their
pack’s social order find themselves in
a foreign land. They must rely on each
other in order to find their way home
BLACK SWAN (R)lnthi? new film
from Darren Aronofsky, a veteran bal
lerina. Nina (Natalie Portmanj, vies
with a promising new dancer, Lily (Mila
Kunis), for the lead role in Swan Lake
but instead begins a twisted friendship
with her competitor.
BURLESQUE (PG-13) Burlesque
stars Cher as the proprietor of a sfrug- *
gling Sunset Strip burlesque club and
Christian Aguilera as the dancing diva
with a voice strong enough to save it.
I'll never understand why the filmmak
ers would have assembled the cast they
did and then underuse Stanley Tucci
and Alan Cumming so criminally.
CAIRO TIME (PG) 2009 Magazine
editor Juliette (the criminally under
rated Patricia Clarkson) is supposed to
meet her husband, a U N official work
ing in Gaza, for a getaway in Cairo.
When the harried hubby cannot attend,
he sends his friend and longtime secu
rity officer Tareq (Alexander Siddig)
Against the romantic backdrop of
Cairo. Juliette and Tareq tall in love
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN
TREADER (PG) C.S Lewis’s Narnia
moves from Disney to 20th Century
Fox with this third installment. Lucy
and Edmund Pevensie (Georgie Henley
and Skandar Keynes) and their cousin,
Eustace (Will Poulter), join. Directed by
Michael Apter.
CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL
OF ELIOT SPITZER (R) Academy
Award winning documentary Alex
Gibney charts the rise and fall of former
New York Governor and present CNN
anchor Eliot Spitzer. Featuring inter
views with the scandal-rocked former
politico. Client 9s poster claims to tell
"the real story.*
THE COMPANY MEN (R) Three
men—Bobby Walker, Gene McClary
and Phil Woodward (Oscar winners
Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper and Tommy
Lee Jones)—deal with losing their jobs
in the present recession and the effects
on their wives, li*/es and communities
CONVICTION (R) Single mother Betty
Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) puts her
self through law school in order to get
her brother’s (Sam Rockwell) wrongful
conviction for murder overturned
(Juliette Lewis. Minnie Driver, and
Melissa Leo are in there, too.) Directed
by Tony Goldwyn.
DUE DATE (R) Todd Phillips directs
this comedy about a soon-to-be father,
• Peter Highman (Robert Downey. Jr.),
who hitches a ride with aspiring actor,
Ethan Tremblay (Zack Galifinakias), if
he wants to make it to his child's birth
on time. With Michelle Monaghan,
Juliette Lewis. Danny McBride. Jamie
Foxx, RZA and Alan Arkin.
EASY A (PG-13) A fun concept treated
respectfully and with genuine humor
MOVIE LISTINGS
Schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
49 UP (NR) 7:00 (Th. 12/9)
cmi (706-353-3343)
Cairo Time (PG) 5:00, 7:15 (starts F. 12/10)
Conviction (R) 8:15 (starts F. 12/10) (add! times Sa. 12/11 & Su.
12/12: 3:00)
The Girt Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest (R) 5:15, 8:15 (new times F.
12/10: 5:15)
Monsters (R) 9:15 (starts F. 12/10) (ackft times Sa. 12/11 & Su.
12/12: 3:15) (no 9:15 showSu. 12/12)
Never Let Me Go (R) 9:30 (ends Th. 12/9)
The Room (R) Midnight (F. 12/10)
Waiting For Superman (PG) 5K)0, 7:15 (ends Th. 12/9)
Accurate movie times for the CAMMII12 (706-354-0016),
KEItyfWOOD STADIUM 11 (706-546-1011) and GSOROUt
SQUARE 5 (706-548-3426) cinemas are not available by press
time. Visit www.flagpote.com for updated times.
«Ser„
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in a tightly written script good enough
to attract a talented cast that includes
Emma Stone. Stanley Tucci. Patricia
Clarkson, Thomas Haden Church.
Lisa Kudrow and Malcolm McDowell.
Clean cut, straight-A student Olive
Pendergrast (Stone ot Superbad fame)
becomes infamously slutty after an
untrue rumor that she slept with a col
lege guy spreads across the school.
FAIR GAME (PG-13) Doug Liman
(The Bourne Identity directs this drama
based on the government's outing of
CIA Operative Valerie Plane. Naomi
Watts stars as Ptame. whose identity
was leaked while investigating WMDs
in Iraq alter her husband, Joseph
Wilson (Sean Penn), wrote a 2003 New
York Times op-ed piece critical of the
Bush administration. FASTER (R) The
Rock shelves the family-friendly brand
he’s been marketing the past few years
for a motorized, violent, revenge thriller
that seems custom-built lor Vin Diesel.
Dwayne Johnson’s Driver has just been
released from prison. Now he is on a
monolithic mission to slaughter the
men responsible lor the death of his
bank robbing brother
THE FIGHTER (R) Mark Wahlberg
stars as boxer ‘Irish* Micky Ward,
whose brother, Dick Eklund (Christian
Bale), helped him train before going
pro in the 1980s. With Amy Adams and
Meiis^ Leo.
FOR COLORED GIRLS (R) He’s
baa-ack. Tyler Perry returns, and he’s
brought his Why Did I Get Married
star Janet Jackson with him. The lives
of several black women intersect at
a 12-step program With Anika Norn
Rose. Whoopi Goldberg, Thandie
Newton. Loretta Devine. Kimberly Elise.
Phylicia Rashad and Macy Gray.
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE
HORNET’S NEST (R) See Movie
Pick.
HARRY POTTER AND THE
DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 (PG-
13) Director David Yates continues lo
bring Rowling's magical world to rous
ing. tangible life.
I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS (R)
Scam artist and former police officer
Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) plots the
big con to escape his second stint in
prison and win the heart and freedom
of Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor),
With Leslie Mann and Rodrigo Santoro
(Raul Castro in both parts of Steven
Soderberghs epic Che)
THE KING’S SPEECH (R) To combat
a nervous stammer. King George VI
(Colin Firth), AKA Bertie, works with
an unorthodox speech therapist. Lionel
Logue (Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush).
Director Tom Hooper helmed HBOS
excellent ‘John Adams and Elizabeth
I. With Helena Bonham Carter as
Georges daughter Queen Elizabeth II.
Guy Pearce as Edward VHt, Michael
Gambon as King George V and Timothy
Spall as Winston Churchill.
LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS:
THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE (PG) 300
director Zack Snyder was made for ani
mation, and Legend of the Guardians:.
The 0»1s of GaHoote proves it.
Llnfortunatefy, the film, based on the
first three books in Kathryn LaskyS
bestsetltog childrens series (I made it
through one and almost a half of the.
short books), feels rushed and poorly
explained.
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS (R)
Director Edward Zwick makes a roman
tic comedy starring Jake Gyttenhaal
and Anne Hathaway Jamie Reidy
(Gyilenhaal) is a charming Viagra
salesman wooing the free-spirited
Maggie Murdock (Hathaway). With
Judy Greer, Hank Azaria. Oliver Platt.
Gabriel Macht and George Segal.
MADE IN DAGENHAM (R) Sounds
like another satisfying Britcom. In
1968. the female workers af the Ford
Dagenham car plant went on strike
to protest sexual discrimination The
swell cast includes Sally Hawkins and
Bob Hoskins.
MEGAMIND (PG) The year's second
supervillain-as-good-guy animated
feature is a much more traditional
superhero movie than summer's
pleasantly surprising Despicable Me. A
blatant riff on the Superman mythology.
Megamind begins with the destruction
of the home planet of the blue baby
soon to be known as Megamind (v.
Will Ferrell).
MONSTERS (R) Monsters envisions
a world in which Mexico has become
an alien quarantine zone One man.
U S. journalist Andrew Kaulder (Scoot
McNairy. In Search of a Midnight Kiss).
must help tourist Samantha Wynden
(Whitney Able. Ail tie Boys Love
Mandy Land) find the safety offered by
the U S. border Gareth Edwards wrote,
directeu and shot this buzz-inducing
genre flick.
MORNING GLORY (PG-13) Small
time producer Becky Fuller (Rachel
McAdams) gets her shot at the big-time
when IBS’s fourth-place ‘Daybreak*
comes to call. Firing her depraved
cohost (‘Modern Family's gone-too-
soon Ty Burrell), Becky hires news
icon Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) to
join the morning vet Colleen Peck (a
so underused Diane Keaton that they
should have cast my grandmother) and
jumpstart the ratings.
NEVER LET ME GO (R) In a differ
ent version of 1970s Britain. Kathy H.
(Carey Mulligan, turning heads yet
again). Tommy D. (Andrew Garfield)
and Ruth (Keira Knightley) attend an
idyllic boarding school. Unbeknownst
to these three children, they are part of
a national program that has a hidden
agenda.
THE NEXT THREE DAYS (PG-13)
A schoolteacher husband and father,
John Brennan (Russell Crowe), plots
a prison break tor his wile. Lara
(Elizabeth Banks), an innocent impris
oned for murder, after consulting a
criminal expert in prison breaks (Liam
Neescn).
NIGHT CATCHES US (R) In 1976.
Marcus (Antnony Mackie) returns
to the Philty neighborhood he once
called t.ome. Though some old friends,
Patricia (Kerry Washington), greet
Marcus warmly, others suspect him
of being before behind the slaying .
of a compatriot in the Black Power
Movement
RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS
TALE (NR) Bless my horror heart, this
(lick sounds awesome. Santa Claus is
unearthed at an archaeological dig in
Lapland’s Korvatunturi Mountains. But
judging by the disappearing children,
this jolly old Nicholas is no saint.
CoukJ be Christmas 20101s hot gift for
horror lovers.
RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (R)
Calling Paul W.S. Anderson’s directo
rial return to this zombie vWeogame-
turned-movie franchise Resident Evil 4
would be an-insutt to arguably the best
game in the mother series. Alice (Milla
14 FLAGPOLE.COM ■ DECEMBER 8.2010
Jovovich. sporting what appears to be
Mom-hair in some scenes) is still try
ing to take down the shadowy Umbrella
Corporation led by the sunglassed
baddie, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts,
who has nothing on any of Wesker's
vcice actors).
THE ROOM (R) 2003 I've wanted
to see wiiter-director-star Tommy
Wiseau's personal cinematic atom
bomb since reading an article in
Entertainment Weekly about the promi
nent billboard for the would-be auteur's
debut, an awful picture beloved by two
ol my favorite ensembles. The State*
and ‘Arrested Development * Wiseau’s
film is supposedly THE new cult
phenomenon.
TANGLED (PG) Disney's 50th ani
mated feature entertains like some ol
the best the House ot Mouse has ever
offered Can you imagine how magical
this fairy tale could have been had it
been traditionally animated and simply
filled RapurveR The long-haired
princess (v. Mandy Moore) is impris
oned in a tower by a witch posing as
her mother One day. a roguish thief
named Ffynn Ryder (v. Zachary Levi >
Chris Evans > Nolan North > Nathan
Fiilion) stumbles into her tower and is
convinced lo escort her about the scary
kingdom her mother has warned her
about for 18 years. None of the songs
may be destined for Disney classic
status, but the warm family humor and
romance will please anyone longing for
a new Disney dream to come true.
THE TEMPEST (PG-13) Julie Taymor.
more acclaimed for Broadway's The
Lion King than any of her film work
( Across the Universe) adapts more
Shakespeare (she previously filmed
a version of Tr/us). Prospero is now
a femafe alchemist named Prospera
(Helen Mirren). Banished to an island
for witchcraft, she raises her daughter.
Miranda (Felicity Jones), and struggles
for power with Caliban (Djimon
Hounsou). If all else fails, The Tempest
should be another dominating visual
effort from the always interesting mind
ot Taymor.
THE TOURIST (PG-13) An American
tourist. Frank Taylor (Johnny Depp),
visiting Italy after a bad breakup, is
embroiled in international espionage
after getting caught in the web of
beautiful spy Elise (Angelina Jolie).
The Hollywood debut of Oscar win
ning The Lives of Otters director
Florian Hencke! von Donnersmarck. a
remake of Anthony Zimmer, looks very
Hitchcockian and boasts two Oscar
winning screenwr'-ters (The Usual
Suspects Christopher McQuarrie and
Gosford Parks Julian Feilowes). Still,
something about the trailer didn’t sit
well. With Paul Bettany, Rufus Sewell,
and Timothy Dalton.
THE TOWN (R) Ben Affleck's second
directorial effort (this one based off
a tough Bostonian novel by Chuck
Hogan rather than Dennis Letene) is
a very good film. In the bank robber
Mecca, Charlestown, Doug Macftay
(Affleck, who has certainly gotten ni$ .
pump on) wants out. But his vicious
blood brother James Coughlin (Jeremy
Renner, showing The Hurt Locker was
no fluke), crime boss Fergie The
Florist* Cotm (Pete Postlethwaite)
and the F.B1, represented by Special
Agent Adam Frawtey (Jon Hamm ot the
excellently depressing ‘Mad Men*),
wool let him, Dougie also has fallen
tor Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), the
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only witness the FB I. has that could
tie his gang to their latest score. This
tough cops-and-robbers flick conjures
comparisons to teat, a good, if over
rated Michael Mann film that The Town
soundly trumps Terrific performances
(though Hamm is a bit stiff and too
chivalrous for a G-douche) and tremen
dous direction from Affleck (he obvi
ously paid attention during the filming
of Reindeer Games with the legendary
John Frankenheimer) highlight the best
film Hollywood has offered to mature
adults in months.
TOY STORY 3 (G) Toy Story 3 lacks
the emotional heft (though parents
of youngsters best bring the tissues)
of recent Pixar masterpieces, but is
every bit the satisfying curtain call for
Anrtv'<i Invs
UNSTOPPABLE (PG-13) It was
about time Tony Scott got back to the
terse, gruff action he specialized in
before 1995 when he lost his mind to
overdirection. He was not helped when
the world of digital filmmaking opened
up before him 'ike Avatars Pandora.
The fleet, hour and a half, bullet train
that is Unstoppable gets audiences
to its destination by the most scenic,
suspenseful route Loosely based
on the true story. Unstoppable stars
Denzel Washington and Star Treks
Chris Pine as the only two men who
can stop a runaway train terrorizing
the Pennsylvania countryside. Rosario
Dawson is the sexy dispatcher guiding
the two heroes. Sure, the genre cliches
abound (Pine's sexily scruffy conductor
has marital issues. Washington's old
hand has professional problems), but
they cannot derail Tony’s train once it
gets going All aboard this perfectly
crafted dramatic thriller.
WAITING FOR SUPERMAN (PG)
Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim follows
a handful of promising kids through an
education system that inhibits, rather
than encourages, academic growth.
Guggenheim’s exhaustive review of
the public education system explores
*drop-out factories.* ‘academic sink
holes* and reminds the viewer that
education statistics have names.
THE WARRIOR’S WAY (R) This
Samurai Western mashup bests all
comers tor the year* best cult genre
movie. In Jang Dong-Gunls English
language coming art party, the South
Korean superstar revives the hero of
the spaghetti Western as a taciturn
Eastwood with no name (named Yang),
an assassin in hiding after refusing
to complete his last mission. This
wandering warrior happens upon a tiny
town, a mere backlot in the mythical
American badlands, populated by cir
cus freaks (including Kate Bosworth's
knife thrower and Tony Cox$ tiny
ringmaster) and a town drunk (Geoffrey
Rush). Naturally, a vengeful masked
Colonel (an appropriately disgusting
Danny Huston) returns to tear the town
apart. To make matters worse, Yang's
former assassin-mates are on the way,
too. Thanks to writer-director Sngmoo
Lee's whimsical Wild West that is part
Jean-Pierre Jeunet. part steampunk,
part Fallout, with a carnival-meets-
Morriconescore, Warrior's Raisas
smart and sharp as his hero’s sword.
YOU AGAIN (PG)Mami (Kristen
Bell) realizes her brother is about to
marry the bully (Odette Yuslman, The
Unbotrf) that tormented her through- *
out high school Now it is her job lo
expose her enemyS true colors before %
they become family. You have to love
Beil’s support Sigourney Weaver.
Jamie Lee Curtis, Kristen Chenoweth
and eternally funny golden girls, Ctoris
Leachman and Betty White. Could Bell
finally have found her star-making hit?
From competent but unspectacular
director Andy Fickrran {She's the Man,
The Game Pfanmi ftacetc Witch
Mounteirt).
Drew Wheeler
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