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Some releases may not be showing locally this week.
THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (PG-
13) The trailers do nothing tor the cut
of this latest Philip K. Dick adaptation.
Matt Damon and Emily Blunt play star-
crossed lovers. David and Elise, being
kept apart by the Adjustment Bureau,
who resemble a team of Mad Men
in suits and hats (one is even played
by “Mad Men*'s silver-haired, silver-
tongued John Slattery). Writer-director
George Nolfi meshes romance and sci-
fi with more coolly intricate success
than you would suspect.
ATLAS SHRUGGED: PART ONE
PG-13) Ayn Rand would be the one
hrugging were she able to see the
ow quality of creative talent brought
ogether to bring her magnum opus of
Objectivism to the big screen. Unless
• le 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.
BEASTLY (PG-13) A literal modern
day fairy tale, Beastly stars I Am
Number Foufs Alex Pettyfer (how did
this guy escape The CW tor the big
screen?) as vain, misunderstood, rich
boy. Kyle. When Kyle runs afoul of a
witch (Mary-Kate Olsen) at his ridicu
lously posh private high school, she
turns him into a hideously scarred and
tattooed “monster' with a year to find
someone who’ll love him.
THE BEAVER (PG-13) Everyone
is out for Mel Gibson's blood at the
moment, and his unfortunate pal Jodie
Foster has decided to have him star in
her latest directorial effort, an already
tough sell about a troubled executive,
who uses a beaver hand puppet as his
only means of communicating with his
friends, family and coworkers. I am
intrigued enough by screenwriter Kyle
Killen* premise to put aside enmity
for the former superstar and give The
Beavers fair shot. (I am less thrilled
at The BeaverS prospects after seeing
the trailer.) With Jennifer Lawrence and
Anton Yelchin.
CERTIFIED COPY (NR) 2010. A
British writer (William Shimell) pro
moting his latest book in Tuscany is
mistaken for the husband of a beautiful
French woman (Juliette Binoche). The
two playfully engage in an afternoon-
long charade, but is it something
more? Certified Copy is the f irst
feature by legendary filmmaker Abbas
Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry. The Wind
Will Carry Us) to be made outside of
Iran Binoche won the Best Actress
award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Check out the Friday evening screening
on 4/29 for an introduction from UGA*
Dr. Richard Neupert, who knows a thing
or two about cinema.
THE CONSPIRATOR (PG-13)
I would love to say better things
about Robert Redford* new film, an
engaging peek into a 'ittle aspect of
the Abraham Lincoln assassination
mythos, especially as Savannah stood
in for 19th-century Washington. D.C.
However. Redford 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.
THE CONCERT (PG-13) 2009. A for
mer superstar conductor of the Bolshoi
Orchestra, Andrei Simoniovich Filipov
(Aleksei Guskov) was removed from
his position for ignoring Brezhnevs
order Jo fire all Jewish musicians. Now
a janitor at the Bolshoi, he plots to
create a group that can impersonate the
renowned orchestra in Paris, so he can
conduct the Tchaikovsky concert he
never finished.
DYLAN DOG: DEAD OF NIGHT
(PG-13) Wearing a red shirt, black
jacket and jeans, private detective
Dylan Dog (former Superman Brandon
Routh) investigates the supernatural
in New Orleans and the surrounding
Louisiana bayou. Now he must find a
trinket to stop a war between the vam
pires, werewolves and zombies .who
hire him. Director Kevin Munroe last
helmed the animated TAWrieature
Apparently. Dylan Dog is a popular
Italian horror comic.
FAST FIVE (PG-13) See Movie Pick.
GNOMEO & JULiET (G) This
backyard version of Romeo and Juliet
definitely succeeds in its cuteness
quotient. The two battling terracotta
clans, the Reds and the Blues, contain
enough distinctive-looking members.
Too bad the movie doesn’t do a better
job establishing this colorful retinue
beyond a montage of here and there.
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 perfect assassin. Hanna
is sent into the civilized wilds to kill
Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett),
Erik's former CIA handler. But Marissa
is wise to Erik’s plan, making every
single 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. Wrights fabulously
varied locations—capped off by an
abandoned Grimm*-themed park in
Berlin—for his action set pieces are
then choreographed to the beats of
the Chemical Brothers. It's 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.
HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS.
EVIL (PG) As noted in this magazine’s
very pages, I really enjoyed the original
Hoodwinked. I even own the DVD and
the soundtrack. Yet I had no interest
in seeing a sequel to that tiny, creative
animated jewel, and Hoodwinked Too!
Hood VS. Evil is every reason why.
Lazy riffs on Scarf ace and Goodfellas
are recycled again (Who* the audi
ence for this movie anyway? Kids who
don’t get the jokes or adults who don’t
think they're funny anymore?); the
voice casting is little more than poorly
thought out stunts (Cheech and Chong
as two of the three little pigs?); the rest
of the voice actors seem bored. Even
the unimpressive 3D conversion is a
late addition. Had Hoodwinked Too!
simply been released straight to DVD,
no one would have been the wiser, and
the movie could have saved itself the
critical embarrassment.
I AM NUMBER FOUR (PG-13)
Mixing Superman and the X-Men with
a tinge of Twilight, I Am Number Four.
based on a bestselling book series
cowritten under a pseudonym by James
Frey (yes. THAT James Frey), probably
will not reach the franchise heights to
which it aspires. It would make a kick-
ass CW show though.
IN A BETTER WORLD (R) Two
families are intertwined thanks to the
actions of their young sons. Anton
(Mikael Persbrandt) is a doctor who
splits time between his Danish home
town and the African refugee camp
where he practices. His son Elias
(Markus Rygaard) is being bullied
until the new kid, London transplant
Christian, comes to his aid. But when
Christian (William Johnk Nielsen)
involves Elias in a possibly tragic act
of vengeance, the two families must
confront the consequences.
JANE EYRE (PG-13) Charlotte
Brontels classic novel (just ask any
high schooler) is brought to the big
screen yet again, this time by an
intriguing filmmaker. Sin Nombrds
Cary Fukunaga. The titular, mousy gov
erness (Mia Wasikowska, who is every
where right now) falls for her employer,
Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender),
only to discover he harbors a horrible
secret. Screenwriter Moira Buffini also
wrote last years Tamara Drewe. With
Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Imogen Poots
(Solitary Man), Sally Hawkins (Happy-
Go-Lucky) and Dame Judi Dench.
JUMPING THE BROOM (PG-13)
SabrinaS (Paula Patton) family is
uptown; JasonS (Laz Alonso) family
is downtown. At their dream wedding
in Martha's Vineyard, these two clans,
especially the matriarchs (Angela
Bassett and Loretta Devine), collide.
It's not Tyler Perry, but the trailer sure
sells this family dramedy like it comes
from the writer-director-producer-star,
when it actually comes from producer
and super-pastor, T.D. Jakes, who last
produced 2009S Not Easily Broken.
With Julie Bowen (“Modern Family’),
Romeo. DeRay Davis, Meagan Good
and Mike Epps.
JUST GO WITH IT (PG-13) Adam
Sandler is a hard guy not to like
whether or not you think his movies
are funny. Unfortunately, in his lat
est movie, he is neither likable nor
funny. A plastic surgeon, Dr Danny
Maccabee, seduces women by faking
that he is in a horrible marriage. When
he meets a gorgeous, younger, middle
school math teacher, Palmer (swimsuit
model Brooklyn Decker), he decides he
is ready to settle down. Unfortunately,
she discovers his fake wedding band,
leading Danny to concoct the least
plausible, dumbest plan ever.
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* odd relation
ship with unconventional Australian
speech therapist Lionel Logue (the
indisputably awesome Geoffrey Rush)
is wondrously chronicled in this Best
Picture winner.
LAST NIGHT (R) Sam Worthington*
new release is a huge change of pace
from the Avatars, the Clashes of the
Titans and the Terminator Salvations.
Worthington stars as Michael Reed,
a married man resisting the tempta
tion of an attractive colleague (Eva
Mendes) while on a business trip.
Simultaneously, his wife, Joanna (Keira
Knightley), is reunited with her past
love (French heartthrob Guillaume
Canet). Written and directed by Massy
Tadjedin. who wrote 2005* interesting,
Knightley-starring The Jacket. With
Griffin Dunne.
MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY
(PG-13) Having written, directed,
produced and/or starred in 11 movies
since 2005, Tyler Perry has become
predictable. The broad, slapstick antics
ol mad matriarch Madea (Perry) are
jarringly meshed with a faith-based
melodramatic family drama.
MIA ANDTHEMIGOO (PG) 2008
Impressively created from 500,000
hand-painted frames of animation,
French Animator Jacques-Remy
Girerd* second feature (Raining Cats
and Frogs was his first). Mia and
the Migoo calls to mind the modern
classics of Hayao Miyazaki. Led by a
premonition, young Mia goes on a wild
adventure to save her father, who is
trapped by a mudslide at a construc
tion site. Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew
Modine, James Woods and the great
Wallace Shawn lend their voices to this
winner of the European Film Award for
Best Animated Feature.
PROM (PG) Prom isn't a movie made
for anyone who has actually ever
been to a prom. Even then, gaggles of
middle school girls giggled their way
through the trials and tribulations of
high schoolers (led by “Friday Night
Lights” Aimee Teegarden) struggling
to find dates and dresses for the
“most magical night of their lives’
until the rest of their life actually hap
pens. Several even left early, making
the salient, if incorrect, observation
that Prom was the worst movie ever.
Someone should tell them there are
several more awful Kate Hudson/
Katherine Heigl/ new, bland, pretty-
face romcoms they'll swoon over that
are worse than this inoffensive tween
movie that escaped the shackles of
Disney Channel bondage; I just don’t
have the heart, and by heart, I mean
energy. I couldn't tell if the dialogue
was that stilted or the acting that
wooden. When you’re talking about
a movie simply titled Prom, does the
distinction really matter?
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 Fisher,
Ray Winstone. Harry Dean Stanton.
Stephen Root and Ned Beatty.
RED RIDING HOOD (PG-13) Far
and away the worst movie of 2011 (so
far), Red Riding Hood tries to infect the
Grimm fairy tale with some Twilight
teen romance and fails miserably. A
total bore, Red Riding Hood never
establishes a propulsive narrative arc,
which then goes unsupported by pitiful
acting and not one single genuinely
dramatic moment.
RIO (G) Another week, another aver
age animated children’s movie that
won’t quite pain the adults forced to
accompany them. After Rango. 2011*
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 The Social Networks Jesse
Eisenberg.
RUBBER (R) Robert, an inanimate tire,
discovers he has telekinetic powers
He then becomes a homicidal killer,
with a particular focus on a mysteri
ous woman named Sheila (Roxane
Mesquida. the cool, weird Sheitan). I
am utterly fascinated by writer-director
Quentin Dupieux* horror-cogiedy.
I figure the unique film will have its
moments but doubt Dupieux* abil
ity to take this story to a satisfying
82 minutes. With Stephen Spinella
(Milk a recurring role on “Desperate
Housewives’) and Wings Hauser (lots
of TV shows).
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. Ghostlace’s fourth mur
derous rampage naturally sends up the
remake craze. Scream 4 does nothing
particularly wrong, but the series lost
its brains and its boos after the brilliant
first two.
SOMETHING BORROWED (PG-13)
The presence of Kate Hudson does not
bode well for this romantic dramedy
based on the novel by Emily Griffin.
MOVIE LISTINGS
Schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
Welcome to Shelbyville (NR) 7:00 (Th. 5/5)
I CINE (706-353-3343)
Certified Copy (NR) 5:15, 7:30 (W. 5/4 & Th. 5/5), 5:00 (starts F. 5/6)
Rango (PG) 5:00 (W. 5/4 & Th. 5/5)
Source Code (PG-13) 9:45 (W. 5/4 & Th. 5/5)
Win Win (R) 7:15 (no 7:15 show Sa. 5/7 or Tu. 5/10), 9:30 (no 9:30
show Su. 5/8)
Jane Eyre (PG-13) 4:30. 7:00, 9:45 (starts F. 5/6) (no 9:45 show Su.
5/8)
Darius Goes West (NR) 7:30 (Tu. 5.10)
Accurate movie times for the CARMIKI 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.
High-powered attorney Rachel (Ginniter
Goodwin) is terminally single until she
falls for the fiance (Colin Egglesfield)
of her best friend. Darcy (Hudson).
John Krasinski (“The Office’) has the
thankless task of being Rachel s best
bud. Ethan, whose feelings for her are
unrequited.
SOUL SURFER (PG) The sec
ond release Uom new distributor
FilmDistrict, Soul Surfer \s 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 features Raise
Your Voice and Bratz
SOURCE CODE (PG-13) Duncan
Jones, the son of David Bowie, tones
down some of his art house-ier inclina
tions lor Source Code, a thrilling sci-fi/
action movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal
as a soldier. Colter Stevens, en'isted
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.
THOR (PG-13) The Norse God of
Thunder brings his hammer, Mjollnir,
to the big screen thanks to acclaimed
Shakespearean filmmaker Kenneth
Branagh. But can British Kenny B
handle the requisite action necessary to
ensure Thor is a comic book franchise
to rival fellow Avenger, Iron Man’
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (NR)
Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson)
has only his finals left to go before his
dream life as a veterinarian can begin.
Those dreams are cut short by the
death of his parents in a car accident.
In a magical twist of plot-driven fate.
Jacob hops a train carrying the Benzini
Brothers Most Spectacular Show on
Earth to its next stop. Soon, he con
vinces ringmaster August Rosenbluth
(an absolutely terrifying Christoph
Waltz) to hire him as the circus’ vet.
And when Benzini Brothers gets a new
star attraction, Rosie the elephant.
Jacob becomes the all-important bull
man (i.e., elephant trainer).
WELCOME TO SHELBYVILLE
(NR) 2009. On the eve of the historic
2008 presidential election, the small
Tennessee town of Shelbyville strug
gles with its segregationist past, its j
economically downtrodden present and
its integrationist future as its Latino
and Muslim Somali populations grow
thanks to the Tyson chicken plant.
WINTER IN WARTIME (R) 2008. A
young Dutch teenager, Michiel (Martijn
Lakemeier) becomes involved in the
Resistance after he begins helping a
wounded British soldier avoid capture
by the Germans. Writer-director Martin
Koolhaven* World War II era film was a
huge Dutch box office hit.
WIN WIN (R) What a great little
independent movie! 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). McCarthy, who wrote and
directed, finds the depressing humor
of the everyday: money woes, work
disappointments, panic attacks He
also populates his small town world
with a terrific cast: Amy Ryan, Bobby
Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor and Margo
Martindale.
Drew Wheeler
12 FLAGPOLE.COM MAY 4,2011