Some releases may not be showing locally this week.
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. For five days,
he lies trapped before summoning the
courage and will to scale a 65-loot wall
and hike eight miles to be rescued.
ALL GOOD THINGS (R) Director
Andrew Jarecki turns to fiction features
with this murder 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
;voman from the wrong side of the
backs (Kirsten Dunst).
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.
ANOTHER YEAR (PG-13) The incred
ible Mike Leigh (Naked, Secrets &
Lies, Topsy Turvy, Vera Drake, Happy-
Go-Lucky) returns! Spend four seasons
in the life of the happily married Tom
and Gerri (Jim Broadbent and Ruth
Sheen) and their miserable circle of
friends and family Leigh has had more
critically welcomed films than Another
Year, but the film, starring the usual
crew of Leigh regulars (Broadbent.
Sheen, Lesley Manville, Peter Wight.
Phil Davis, Imelda Staunton, etc.)
sounds exactly like what I would expect
from the veteran British filmmaker
ATHENS BURNING (NR) A docu
mentary chronicling the history of the
Georgia Theatre up to the 2009 fire and
‘he current efforts to rebuild the music
venue.
BARNEY'S VERSION (R) TV pro
ducer Barney Panofsky (the typically
infallible Paul Giamatti) reflects on
his three marriages, battles with the
bottle, and the mysterious disap
pearance of his best Mend, Boogie
(Scott Speedman, always remembered
for ■Felicity") in this adaptation of
Mordecai Richler’s last novel. Director
Richard J. Lewis is not the toxic come
dian; instead, he is the director of the
direct-to-video James Belushi sequel,
K-9: P.l. (yeah, it really exists).
BASS ACKWARDS (NR) A young
man (writer-director-star Linas Phillips)
finds an abandoned van outside a
Seattle llama farm and uses it to travel
quirkily across the country after the
end of a disastrous affair with a married
woman. All three of Phillips’ cowrit
ers—Davie-Blue, Jim Fletcher and
Paul Lazar—support him on-screen as
costars. Phillips’ debut feature was an
official selection of the Sundance Film
Festival's new NEXT category, created
to honor the low-to-no-budget efforts
of independent cinema.
BEST OF THE NYINT’L
CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL (NR)
Each year this festival presents a kalei
doscopic collection of the best new
animation, live action and experimental
film for children from around the world.
Visit their website (www.gkids.tv/tour)
or Cin6's (www.athenscine.com) lor
more information.
BIUTIFUL (R) In Barcelona, Uxbal
(Javier Bardem) struggles to be a good
husband and father, while using his
ability to speak tg the deceased to eke
out a living. Critical reaction has been
mixed, with big names like Sean Penn.
Werner Herzog, Guillermo del Toro and
Julian Schnabel coming to IrWrritu's
defense. Nominated for the Golden
Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.
BLACK SWAN (R) Great does not
begin to describe Black Swan nor does
it do this complex film justice. Let's
call Black Swan what it is: stunning,
original, another imperfect masterpiece
from filmmaker Dairen Aronofsky (The
Wrestlei). Aging ballerina Nina Sayers
(Natalie Portman) finally lands a lead
as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake. But
as the pressure mounts, Nina begins to
suspect that the pretty new dancer. Lily
(Mila Kunis).ls out to Single White
Female her. Or are her suspicions those
of a raving lunatic raised by a mad
woman, Nina's mother Erica (Barbara
Hershey), on the verge of utter self-
destruction?
BLUE VALENTINE (R) The perfect
past and broken present of working
class couple Dean and Cindy (Golden
Globe nominees Ryan Gosling and
Michelle Williams) is examined in a
crosscut fury by writer-director Derek
Cianfrance. Early buzz has been strong,
though Blue Valentine is supposedly
far from a light-hearted romp at the
movies.
CASINO JACK (R) This docudrama
recounts the rise and fall of super
lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Kevin Spacey,
who is sure to garner Oscar buzz) and
his business partner. Michael Scanlon
(Barry Pepper), who wheeled and
dealed with Washington’s most power-
li'l players.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
THE VOYAQf OF THE DAWN
TREADER (PG) Fox's first entry since
snatching up the rights to the popular
C.S. Lewis franchise after Walt Disney
dropped it. The Voyage ot the Dawn
Treader, hereby known as Narnia 3,
continues the series' downward spiral
since the first entry, The Lion, the
Witch, and the Wardrobe.
CLIENT 9: THE PISE AND FALL
OF ELIOT SPITZER (R) Academy
Award winning documentarian Alex
Gibriey 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) TV mega
producer John Wells (“ER," “The West
Wing’) makes his feature film debut
with this timely drama. 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, lives and communities.
COUNTRY STRONG (PG-13) A TV
movie with a capital TV, Country Strong
boasts some likable individual parts
tliat fail to add up. Country superstar
Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow, doing
all her own singin' and accentin’, y’all)
is released from rehab and goes back
on the road with a singing beauty
queen, Chiles Stanton (Leighton
Meester) and a singing cowboy, Beau
Hutton (Garret Hedlund). But the
pressure of reviving her career and
saving her marriage (to a slightly Ricky
Gervais-ian Tim McGraw) is too much
for the too brightly burning star.
THE DILEMMA (PG-13) The
Dilemma delivers its share of actual
human drama as Ronny Valentine
(Vaughn) agonizes over telling his best
friend Nick (Kevin James) that his wife.
Geneva (Winona Ryder), is screwing
around with a tattooed softie named Zip
(Channing Tatum). An overweight plot
and characterizations could be pared
down to a lighter comedic weight class,
yet the movie has its shoddy genre
plotting.
FAIR GAME (PG-13) Doug Liman
(The Bourne Identity) directs this
drama based on the governments
outing of CIA Operative Valerie Plame.
Naomi Watts stars as Plame, whose
identity was leaked while investigat
ing WMDs in Iraq after her husband,
Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), wrote
a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece
critical of the Bush administration.
With Ty Burrell (so funny on “Modern
Family). Bruce McGill, Sam Shepard
ana Brooke Smith.
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. Seeking to rehab
his image after that awful! Heart
Huckabees footage went viral a few
years back. David 0. Russell took over
this project that Darren Aronofsky was
prepping prior to Tire Wrestler. I won
der how welcoming the set was. with
the combination of notorious hotheads
Russell and Bale. V/ith Amy Adams and
Melissa Leo.
GHOST BIRD (NR) 2009. In this
non-fiction feature film, the hunt is on
for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, one of
the largest woodpeckers in the world
before it was thought to be extinct. After
several alleged sightings in a small
Arkansas town (the bird was a native to
the southeastern United States before
its numbers were dwir died by habitat
destruction), the worlds top birders
have yet to find even one of “Lord God
Bird." Don't miss the screening plus
panel discussion presented by the
Oconee Rivers Audobon Society.
THE GREEN HORNET (PG-13) See
Movie Pick
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS (PG) Travel
writer Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) is
shipwrecked on the island of Lilliput,
in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle,
where he towers over the natives.
Directed by Monsters vs. Aliens co
director Rob Letterman. With Emily
Blunt and Jason Segel.
HARRY POTTER AND THE
DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 (PG-
13) I cannot find fault with this flawless
penultimate installment of the stalwart
franchise. The three young leads have
matured tremendously as actors;
Emma Watson has improved vastly
since Ihe game-changing third film.
Direclof David /ates continues to bring
Rowling's magical world to life.
HEREAFTER (PG-13) Clint must be
teeling mortal. The sturdy old director’s
newest film, a supernatural melodrama
(it's not quite his thing), asks and
unsuccessfully tries to answer the eter
nal query: What happens after we die?
HOW DO YOU KNOW (PG-13) An
aging (27?!) athlete Lisa Jorgenson
(Reese Witherspoon) starts feeling her
age and winds up getting involved in
a love triangle with her baseball player
boyfriend (Owen Wilson) and a crisis-
ridden corporate guy (Paul Rudd).
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).
Bad Santa scripters Glenn Ficarra and
John Requa make their directorial
debut with this adaptation of a true
story; their comedic presence alone
piques my curiosity.
THE ILLUSIONIST (PG) Triplets of
Belleville filmmaker Sylvain Chomet
returns with this wondrous looking
traditionally animated feature. Based on
a concept by the late, adored Jacques
Tati, The Illusionist is a stage magician
struggling against the ebbing tide of .
vaudeville. Enter a young girl named
Alice who changes his life forever.
JACKASS 3 (R) Everything I said four
years ago in my JackasNumber Two
review holds true for Jackass 3. It's
dieting, filthy, violent and fracking
hilarious.
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 HBO’s
excellent ‘John Adams’ and Elizabeth
I. This historical picture is shaping up
to be Firth's best Oscar shot yet; the
trailer predicts a winner.
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT (PG-13)
When their mutual friends die in a car
accident, iwo singletons (Katherine
Heigl and Josh Duhamel) find them
selves thrust into the role ol caregiver
for their orphaned daughter. Director
Greg Berlanti looks to snatch the
crown of heartfelt hilarity from Judd
Apatow using Apatow’s own Knocked
Up queen.
LITTLE FOCKERS (PG-13) The
Fockers, Greg and Pam (Ben Stiller *
and Teri Polo), now have a couple of
kids, taking a little of grandpa Jack
Byrnes' (Robert De Niro) heat off of
Greg. But with the twins' birthday party
on the horizon, old suspicions—and
old pals-like Teri's ex Kevin (Owen
Wilson}—are returning to haunt male
nurse Gaylord Focker.
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS (R) The
raunchy romdranvdy love and Other
Drugs delivers on its titillating promise
to show loads of Jake Gyllenhaal and
Anne Hathaway naked and banging.
MADE IN DAGENHAM (R) Sounds
like another satisfying Britcom. In
1968, the female workers at the Ford
Dagenham car plant went on strike
to protest sexual discrimination. The
swell cast include? Sally Hawkins, who
probably will not get her first Oscar
nomination for this (she should have
gotten one for Happy-Go-Lucky) and
Bob Hoskins. Director Nigel Cole also
helmed A Lot Like Love, Calendar Girls
and Saving Grace. Word is good on the
script by TV writer William Ivory.
MONSTERS (R) Monsters is easily
the most impressive cinematic achieve
ment of the year. British filmmaker
Gareth Edwards has outdone scores of
lesser moviemakers on a 20th—hell,
40th—of the budget. He has carved
a solid genre effort from mumblecore
without sacrificing the essence of that
American independent-film movement
or science fiction.
NO STRINGS ATTACHED (R) Two
casual friends, Adam and Emma
(Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman),
try to keep their relationship strictly
physical before discovering they're
interested in something more.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 (R)
What worries me most is how you jus
tify another found footage supernatural
thriller without completely ripping off
the original or coming off as horribly
forced structurally.
RED (PG-13) Retired black ops agent
Frank Moses (Willis) is classified
RED—Retired, Extremely Dangerous. A
good old. lighthearted romp ol PG-13
violence and explosions.
SEASON OF THE WITCH (PG-13)
Two Crusaders (Nicolas Cage and
the welcome Ron Perlman) desert the
papal army after being asked to slaugh
ter thousands of innocents. Nothing
can redeem this medieval mashup of
horror, violence and one-liners.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (PG-13)
By the end of this multi-focused
MOVIE LISTINGS
Schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
Bass Ackwards (NR) 7:00 (Th. 1/20)
BEECHWOOD (706-546-1011)
Athens Burning (NR) 7:30, v:50 (W. i/19 & Th. 1/20)
CINE (706-353-3343)
Ghost Bird (NR) 5:15, 7:15 (Th. 1/20)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (PG-13) 2:00 (Sa. 1/21 & Su.
V22)
I Love You Phillip Morris (R) 5:15, 7:30, 9:30 (starts 1/21) (no 9:30
show Su. 1/23)
Kids Flix Short Films: Best of NY Infl Children's Film Festival (NR)
2:15, 3:30 (Sa. 1/21 & Su. 1/22)
Made in Dagenham (R ) 4:45, 7:15, 9:30 (W. 1/19 & Th. 1/20) (new
time F. 1/21: 5:00)
The Social Network (PG-13) 7:30, 9:45 (W. 1/19), 9:45 (Th. 1/20)
(new times F. 1/21: 7:15, 9:45) (no 9:45 Su. 1/23)
Something the Lord Made (NR) 5:00 (W. 1/19)
VHS: Videographer's HeUa-Blg Show (NR) 9:00 (Th. 1/20)
UGA TATE CENTER THEATER (706-542-6396)
Can't Hardly Walt (PG-13) 8:00 (Th. 1/20)
Easy A (PG-13) 3:00, 6:00, 9:00 (F. 1/21-Su. 1/23)
Accurate movie times for the CARMIKE 12 (706-354-0016),
BEECHWOOD STADIUM 11 (706-546-1011) and GEORGIA
SQUARE 5 (706-548-3426) cinemas are not available by press
time. Visit www.flagpole.com for updated times.
10 FlAGPOLE.COM • JANUARY 19,2011
deposition of founder Mark Zuckerberg
(Jesse Eisenberg), a new asshole of an
‘(XTs anti-hero has been born to rival
. the ‘80’s Gordon Gekko and the '90’s
Hannibal Lecter. And Zuckerberg is
real. Acclaimed director Fincher may
have crafted his most complete film
yet. Understanding he has a razor-
sharp script from Aaron Sorkin and
as many fantastic performances as a
group of young acturs have given since
The Godfather, Fincher lets words and
carefully cast actors carry the load, pre
cisely aiming them and hitting bull's-
eye after bull’s-eye. The Social Network
is the best film of the year.
SOMETHING THE LORD MADE
(NR) The first in the “Telling the Story:
Education and Equality Through The
Peabody Lens’ series of screenings of
Peabody programs in celebration of the
50th Anniversary of the Desegregation
of UGA, Something The Lord Made is
the story of two men, Dr. Alfred Blalock,
an ambitious white surgeon, and Vivien
Thomas, a brilliant black carpenter
turned lab technician. Together they
defied the racial structures of the Jim
Crow south, devised groundbreaking
surgical techniques and pioneered the
.eld of hurt surgery.
SOMEWHERE (R) Bad boy actor
Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff), rocking
the Hollywood lifestyle pretty hard at
the Chateau Marmont, is visited by his
daughter (Elle Fanning, Dakota's little
sister). Oscar winner Sofia Coppola's
new film won the Golden Lion, the top
prize at the Venice Film Festival.
TANGLED (PG) Disney's 50th ani
mated feature entertains like some of
the best the House of Mouse has ever
offered. Can you imagine how magical
this fairy tale could have been had it
been traditionally animated and simply *
titled Rapunzel?
THE TEMPEST (PG-13) Julie Taymor,
more acclaimed lor Broadway's The
Lion King than any of her film work
(Across the Universe) adapts more
Shakespeare (she previously filmed a
version of Titus).
THE TOURIST (PG-13) Seeing this
Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp team-up
may be cheaper than a trip to Venice,
but anyone wishing to float Ihe canals
of that old Italian city would be advised
to wait for discount fares..
TRON; LEGACY (PG) Disney's big
budget, 3D sequel to the cult classic
picks up right as game designer Kevin
Flynn (Jeff Bridges) again disappears
into the Grid, this time leaving his
young son. Sam, behind. When an
all growed up Sam (Garrett Hedlund)
receives a communication from his
estranged dad. the younger Flynn hap
pens upon the Grid and becomes just
the revolutionary capable of dethroning
the despotic Ciu (Bridges, 20 years
younger thanks to CGI).
TRUE GRIT (PG-13) A young girl
(Hailee Steinfeld) hires gruff U.S.
Marshal Reuben J. ’Rooster’ Cogburn
(Jeff Bridges) to help find the man who
killed her father. I am quite thrilled to
see Bridges’ take on Wayne's iconic
role as directed by the Coens. With
Matt Damon as La Boeuf and Josh
Brolin as Tom Chaney.
UNSTOPPABLE (PG-13) The fleet,
hour and a half, bullet train that is
Unstoppable gets audiences to its
destination by the most scenic, sus
penseful route.
THE WAY BACK (PG-13) Another
POW escape flick d la The Great Escape
and Rescue Dawn, The Way Back
chronicles the efforts of several sol
diers, led by the young (Jim Sturgess,
21), to break out of a gulag in Soviet-
occupied Roland.
YOGI BEAR (PG) What can you say
about another CGI-live action update ol
a classic cartoon? Yogi Bear will satisfy
the low expectations of children while
allowing the parents to disengage.
Drew Wheeler
