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Some releases may not be showing locally this week.
ALAMAR (G) 2009. Jorge (Jorge
Machado), a young Mexican man
ol Mayan roots, must part with his
five-year-old half-Italian son, Natan
(Natan Machado Palombini). Before
they part. Jorge desires to teach his
child their sharea Mayan heritage on
the pristine Chinchorro reef. Written
and directed by Rotterdam Tiger
Award winner Pedro Gonzaiez-Rubio.
Winner of awards from the Miami
Film Festival (Grand Jury Prize), the
Morelia International Film Festival, the
Rotterdam International Film Festival
?nd the Toulouse Latin America Film
r stival.
ARTHUR (PG-13) Lets face it. A
:rge chunk of today's movie watchers,
: rgely the ones who make up British
omic Russell Brands tanbase. don't
know who Arthur Bach, Dudley Moore
or Sir John Gielgud are, and they
probably only know Christopher Cross'
Oscar-winning song “Arthur’s Theme
(Best That You Can Do)' in passing.
For those unfortunates, the new Arthur
will serve its disposable, comedic pur-
oose. Laugh today, forgotten tomorrow.
Brand plays the drunken near billion
aire as a man-child, emphasis on child
as he barely varies his whiny, high-
pitched delivery. Helen Mirren is an
above adequate stand-in for Gielgud,
who won an Academy Award, but that
: s all she is. Let's face it. Anyone still
larboring nostalgic notions of Moore's
.omic genius. Gielgud's withering
stentorian putdowns and Cross’ cheesy,
lovable Yacht Rock anthem need merely
watch the original.
ATHENS BURNING (NR) This locally
produced documentary recounts the
history of that once proud downtown
landmark, the Georgia Theatre.
Featuring interviews and performances
with several artists who played the
venue over the years, the film also
chronicles the devastating fire and the
ongoing efforts to rebuild the Athens
institition. Proceeds from this week-
long screening event will benefit the
fund for the rebuilding and viability of
the Theatre. Keep checking Fldgpole
‘or news of the opening night kickoff,
which will feature catered reception and
live music.
ATLAS SHRUGGED: PART ONE
(PG-13) Ayn Rand would be the one
shrugging were she able to see the
low quality of creative talent brought
together to bring her magnum opus of
Objectivism to the big screen. Unless
the producers have some mighty deep
pockets, it's highly doubtful this piece
of cinematic soap (opera) scum will
make enough money to pay for its
promised second and third parts. The
central mystery of Rand’s novel kept
me awake long after any other film this
boring, poorly acted/written/directed/
scored would have sent me dreaming
“Who is John Galt?’ asks the man on
the street in the dystopian United States
of 2016 to Rand’s heroes of “ethical
egoism’ or “rational selfishness,’
wealthy industrialists Dagny Taggart
(some robotic unknown named Taylor
Schilling) and Hank Rearden (Grant
Bowler, almost good enough to pull it
off), as they fight the evil socialists in
Washington. The filmmakers smartly
chopped this massive, nigh-unfilmable
novel into the books three parts, but
this film is no better than television
quality.
BRINK! (NR) 1998. A Disney Channel
Original Movie about inline skating?
How extreme! Andy “Brink’ Brinker
(Erik Von Detten) must battle his
sellout arcfirival, Val (Sam Horrigan),
who captains the sponsored Team
X-Bladz. Naturally, the movie climaxes
in a big competition between the two
skaters I'm sure this sort of kitschy
fare will appeal to anyone nostalgic for
the innocence of their-Disney Channel
viewing days. Give me ‘H-E Double
Hockey Sticks’ or ‘My Date with the
President’s Daughter’ any day.
CEDAR RAPIDS (R) A small town
lifer. Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), is sent
to the annual insurance conference
in the big city of Cedar Rapids. IA,
where he learns the ropes from some
convention veterans, led by John C.
Reilly. Hopefully, Miguel Arteta can
recover from the disappointing, but
funny Youth in Revolt. The best gag
given away in the trailer involves Isiah
Whitlock, better known to “Wire’ fans
as Clay “Shee-if Davis, getting in a
“Wire’ reference. With Anne Heche,
MOVIE LISTINGS
Schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
Alamar (G) 7 p.m. (Th. 4/21)
CINE (706-353-3343)
Athens Burning (NR) 7:15 (starts F. 4/22)
Cedar Rapids (R) 9:45 (W. 4/20 & Th. 4/21)
Into Eternity (NR) 5:30 (starts F. 4/22)
The King's Speech (R) 4:45, 7:15 (W. 4/20 & Th. 4/21), 4:30, 9:30
(starts F. 4/22) (no 9:30 show Su. 4/24)
No Retreat No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (R) 8:00 (W. 4/20)
Of Gods and Men (R) 4:30, 9:30 (W. 4/20 & Th. 4/21), 2:00 (Sa. 4/23
& Su. 4/24), 7:00
Source Code (PG-13) 9:45 (starts F. 4/22) (nc 9:45 show Su. 4/24),
3:15 (Sa. 4/23 & Su. 4/24)
VMS: Videographer's HeUa-Big Show (NR) 9:00 (Th. 4/21)
UGA TATI CENTER THEATER (736-542-6396)
Brink! (NR) 8:00 (Th. 4/21)
The King's Speech (R) 3:00, 6:00, 9:00 (F. 4/22-Su. 4/24)
Accurate movie times for the CARMIRE 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.
Stephen Root. Kurtwood Smith, Alia
Shawkat, Rob Corddry and Sigourney
Weaver
THE CONSPIRATOR (PG-13)
I would love to say better things
about Robert Redfordts new film, an
engaging peek into a little aspect of
the Abraham Lincoln assassination
mythos, especially as Savannah stood
in for 19th-century Washington, D.C.
However, Redtord and his cinematogra
pher have shot one of the ugliest films
I’ve seen this year. The Conspirator
has the cheap HD appearance of a
straight-to-DVD Hallmark movie, and
the constantly overexposed windows
make many indoor sequences tough to
watch. Thanks to Bedford's directorial
miscues, a static, playlike staginess of
the courtroom sequences and a handful
of young actors and actresses (Justin
Long. Alexis Bledel) who are distinctly
21st century, a thoroughly riveting and
relevant historical precedent for the
U.S. government overstepping its con
stitutional authority is reduced to com
munity theater. My recommendation of
The Conspirator is on the merit of its
•fascinating true story alone because
as a film, it fails to measure up on any
scale of the cinematic.
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID:
RODRICK RULES (PG) I really
enjoyed the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid
movie, and its sequel, Rodrick Rules,
is no different. Middle schooler Greg
Heffley (Zachary Gordon, who could be
a lost Savage brother) must contend
with brotherly abuse from his mean
older sibling, Rodrick (Devon Bostick).
Adding to Greg's middle school misery
is the return of Chirag Gupta (Karan
Brar) and an unrequited crush on Holly
Hills (Peyton List). Fortunately. Greg
still has best bud, Rowley (Robert
Capron), by his side.
THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER
SOLD (PG-13) Super Size Me docu-
mentarian and Oscar nominee Morgan
Spurlock returns to explain the process
of product placement with a film com
pletely financed by product placement.
I enjoyed his debut but have grown
fonder of Spurlock through the three
seasons of his FX show. “30 Days ’
His last feature. Where in the World Is
Osama Bin Laden?, didn't seem to get a
proper release. Hopefully, well be able
to view his latest feature at the local
multiplex.
HANNA (PG-13) In a winter won
derland. Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) lives
with her father, former CIA operative
Erik Heller (Eric Bana). Trained all her
life to be the perlect assassin, Hanna
is sent into the civilized wilds to kill
Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett),
Erik's former CIA handler. But Marissa
is wise to Erikas plan, making every
singie character both hunter and prey,
which sets up one long chase punctu
ated by a couple of pauses for Hanna,
Marissa. Erik, Marissa's humorously
dressed paid thugs (led by the creepy
Tom Hollander) and the audience to
catch their breath. Wrightts fabulously
varied locations—capped off by an
abandoned Grimmls-themed park in
Berlin—for his action set pieces are
then choreographed to the beats of
the Chemical Brothers. Itts part action
movie, part rave (so bring a pacifier).
HOP (PG) I’m still a sucker for a grand
holiday fantasy factory sequence, and
Hop opens with a spectacular one,
detailing how all the marshmallow
chicks and hollow chocolate bunnies
are produced. Unfortunately, the family
film goes creatively downhill from that
high point. While the old Easter Bunny
(v. Hugh Laurie) prepares to hand the
holiday icon reins over to his son, E.B.
(v. Russell Brand), the younger bunny
runs away to Hollywood to be a drum
mer in a rock and roll band.
INSIDIOUS (PG-13) A family (headed
by Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne)
suspect their home is haunted, only
to discover it is actually their bedrid
den, comatose son who is the target of
some frightful, malevolent spirits. The
best horror movie since Paranormal
Activity 2. Not a horror film everyone
will appreciate (just ask my wife).
INTO ETERNITY (NR) Danish artist
and filmmaker Michael Madsen docu
ments Onkalo, the world’s first per
manent underground vault for nuclear
detritus. Taking into consideration the
practical problems of trying to keep
deadly waste buried for hundreds of
centuries, far longer than recorded
human history, Madsen sees related
issues as also philosophical and
mystical.
THE KING’S SPEECH (R) After the
death of his father, George V (Michael
Gambon), and the shocking abdica
tion of his older brother, Edward VIII
(Guy Pearce), new King George VI. aka
Bertie (newly minted Academy Award
winner Colin Firth), must overcome a
lifelong speech impediment to deliver a
rousing message upon the outbreak of
World War II. Bertie's odd relationship
with unconventional Australian speech
therapist Lionel Logue (the indisput
ably awesome Geoffrey Rush). "While
the plot synopsis may sound woefully
dry, The King's Speech is one of the
year's most humorous, albeit delivered
with a stiff British carriage, and tremen
dously well-acted (kudos to Firth, Rush
and Helena Bonham Carter as Bertiels
loyal wife and queen) films.
THE LINCOLN LAWYER CR) The
Lincoln Lawyer seems like the next
great drama from TNT. Matthew
McConaughey would make many a
dreary summer weeknight fly by as
slick attorney Mickey Haller, who does
business out of the backseat of his
roomy town car. As a movie, this legal
thriller says all the right things in all
the right ways. Too bad courtroom
dramas are a dime a dozen on TV. Why
pay exorbitant movie theater ticket
prices when you can get the exact story
in an hour on “Law & Order: NCIS: Las
Vegas?’
MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY
(PG-13) Uber-hyphenate Tyler Perry’s
gun-toting, house-dressed, bewigged
alter ego, Madea, returns to wreak
faith-based, family-value havoc at
the winter box office. The matriarch
and Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis. ’House
of Payne’) must round up her niece
Shirleyls (Loretta Devine) three kids—
Tammy. Kimberly and Byron (Natalie
Desselle, Shannon Kane and Bow
Wow)—in order for them to learn of
their mother's medical condition. Perry
could use another Madea-sized hit after
the disappointing, dramatic stretch that
was For Colored Girls.
NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER
3: BLOOD BROTHERS (R) 1990.
As we continue to celebrate the best of
bad cinema, Bad Movie Night presents
No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood
Brothers. Anyone familiar with the
NHNSsaga will thrill at the early-*90s
martial arts melodrama of feuding
brothers, Casey and Will (Keith Vitali
and Loren Avedon). who must unite to
avenge their father's death at the hands
of Franco (Rion Hunter). Star Vitali
will be in the house to answer all your
burning Blood Brothers questions.
OF GODS AND MEN (R) In a Muslim
community in North Africa, eight
French Christian monks (including
Lambert Wilson from the latter two
Matrixs and Michael Lonsdale aka
Moonrakefs Hugo Drax) must decide
whether to flee in the face of advanc
ing fundamentalist terrorists. France’s
official entry for the 2010 Best Foreign
Language Oscar didn't make the
final cut. Some of filmmaker Xavier
Beauvois’ previous films were Cannes
Award winner Don't Forge! You're
Going to Die and Cesar nominees Le
Petit Lieutenant and Nord.
RANGO (PG) Boasting a cute trailer,
this animated feature from Pirates of
the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski
stars his lead pirate, Johnny Depp, as
the voice of a chameleon that wants
to be a gunslinging hero. Rango
must put his skills, if he has any, to
the test to protect a Western town
from bandits Featuring the voices of
Timothy Olyphant, Abigail Breslin,
Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Isla Fishef.
Ray Winstone, Harry Dean Stanton,
Stephen Root and Ned Beatty
RIO (G) Another week, another aver
age animated children's movie that
wont quite pain the adults forced to
accompany them. After Rango. 2011’s
animated output has some minor big,
quirky boots to fill. Rio isn't quirky.
It mashes together several popular
cartoon plotlines. A pet out of water—
Blu, a domesticated macaw quite
well-voiced by Jesse Eisenberg—must
negotiate the wide world in order to
finds its owner, Linda (perfectly voiced
by Leslie Mann) again But what will he
learn on the way?
SCREAM 4 (R) By no means a
disappointment as many wish it to
be, Scream 4 (Scre4m) shows Kevin
Williamson can still entertainingly
tackle the tropes of the horror genre.
After a decade-long absence during
which the genre saw nearly all its clas
sics remade. Ghostface’s fourth mur
derous rampage naturally sends up the
remake craze. Original victim Sidney
Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to
Woodsboro while on a promotional
book tour. Sid's visit coincides with
the anniversary of the original kill
ings, and no sooner has Sid crossed
the city limits when some pretty teens
answer the wrong phone call. Logic
loopholes abound, and the two genera
tion's of Scream-e rs—1.0: Campbell,
Courteney Cox, and David Arquette;
2.0: Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere,
etc.—never seem to inhabit the same
world. The all-important opening
Sfream-quence works well.
SOUL SURFER (PG)The sec
ond release from new distributor
FilmDistrict, Soul Surfer is based
on the true story of teenaged surfer
Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia
Robb), who lost her arm but not her
desire to hang ten to a shark attack.
A ludicrously buff Dennis Quaid
and Helen Hunt appear as Bethany's
father and mother. Writer-director
Sean McNamara has a long history of
Nickelodeon/Disney TV movies and
shows as well as the feature Bratz.
SOURCE CODE (PG-13) Duncan
Jones, the son of David Bowie, tones
down some of his art house-ier inclina
tions for Source Code, a thrilling sci-fi/
action movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal
as a soldier, Colter Stevens, enlisted
in an experimental operation to travel
back in time for eight minutes and
uncover the mastermind of a terrorist
attack on a Chicago commuter train.
If he doesn’t, a dirty bomb will level
downtown Chicago. Talk about your
dramatic plot devices. And Source
Code, smartly written by Ben Ripley,
makes the most of its self-imposed
narrative limitations, thanks to the nifty
leadership of Jones, who really digs
existential isolation.
SUPER (R) See Movie Pick.
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 RapunzeP
TRUE GRIT (PG-13) After the killing
of her paw, young Mattie Ross (new
comer Hallie Steinfeld, who rustled up
an Oscar nomination) intends to get
her revenge so she hires U.S Marshal
Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn (Jeff
Bridges, who is just getting better with
age) to go after the sumbitch named
Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) Joined by
dandy Texas Ranger LeBoeuf (Matt
Damon, who out-Glen Campbell's Glen
Campbell), M Jr ?nd Rooster track
Chaney beyond civilization and into
Cherokee country
UNKNOWN (PG-13) Liam Neeson
continues his mid-career crisis
with another Taken-type vehicle. In
Unknown, the giant Irishman stars
as Dr. Martin Harris, who suffers a
traumatic brain injury in a car accident
while visiting Berlin. He wakes from
a four-day coma to find that his wife,
Elizabeth (January Jones. “Mad Men'),
does not know him and is married to
another man (Aidan Quinn), who just
so happens to claim he is Dr Martin
Harris. Neeson's Martin begins to
doubt his sanity until a shadowy “they’
tries to kill him.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (NR)
During the Great Depression, a vet
student. Jacob Jankowski (Robert
Pattinson), takes up with a traveling
circus after the death of his parents in
a car accident Jacob bonds with one
of the more difficult animals and mis
takenly falls in love wilh the star (Reese
Witherspoon), who happens to be mar
ried to the evil ringmaster (Christoph
Waltz). Director Francis Lawrence,
whose previous work is merely accept
able bordering on watchable, lumps
way out of his comfort zone to adapt
Sara Gwen's bestseller.
WIN WIN (R) What a great little
independent movie! Filmmaker Thomas
McCarthy (The Station Agent and The
Visitoi) does it again. Through a string
of nicely connected events, down-
on-his-luck attorney Mike Flaherty
(Paul Giamatti), who also coaches
the local high school wrestling team,
winds up discovering a superstar, Kyle
(Alex Shaffer). Unfortunately, Mike
has done something not so nice with
Kyle'S grandfather, Leo (Burt Young),
and the return of Kyle’s mother, Cindy
(Melanie Lynskey), legally complicates
the situation. McCarthy, who wrote and
directed, finds the depressing humor
of the everyday: money woes, work
disappointments, panic attacks. He
also populates his small town with a
terrific cast.
YOUR HIGHNESS (R) Writing a
movie about being stoned is one thing;
writing a movie while stoned a quite
sad other. Everyone in this talented cast
and crew must have signed on based
on the admittedly awesome idea and a
“sense of friendship because the script,
by star Danny McBride and Ben Best,
may be one of the year's leas’-baked.
Drew Wheeler
12 FLAGPOLE.COM APRIL 20, 2011
