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30 MINUTES OR LESS (R) Two
loser-ish criminals (Danny McBride
and Nick Swardson) kidnap a delivery
driver (Jesse Eisenberg) and force him
to rob a hank by strapping a bomb to
his chest Director Ruben Fleischer
had a surprise hit with his first film.
Zomhieland and Ben Stiller is one ol
the comedy's producers With Michael
Pena and Fred Ward
BEGINNERS :R) Family
drama about 75-year-old Hal
(Christopher Plummer), who decides to
confess two secrets fo his grown son.
Oliver (Ewan McGregor) First. Hal has
terminal cancer Second, he is gay and
has a younger lover Hal sounds like a
plum role for Plummer, who is aging
wonderfully With Melanie Laurent and
Goran Visnjic
BELLFLOWER (R) Two pals.
Woodrow (writer-director Evan Glodell,
who resembles a gearhead Paul
Schneider) and Aiden (Tyler Dawson)
bond over a doomsday scenario that
lias them preparing flamethrowers,
weapons of mass destruction and
Medusa a muscle car that emits a
smokescreen, blows flames and more
Things grow darker and even more
violent after Woodrow falls tor Milly
(Jessie Wiseman) This official selec
tion of the Sundance Film Festival.
Glodell's first film looks distinctively
cool, in its nouveau Grmdhouse
badassery
BRIDESMAIDS (R) Considering its
competition, calling Bridesmaids the
funniest movie of 2011 may be as
much an insult as a compliment to
this hilarious .omedy written by and
starring Kristen Wiig (winner of the
year s It's About Time Award) This
female-driven flick needs to be judged
and compared to its raunchy, hearty
brothers, all raised under the banner ot
the House ot Apatow
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST
AVENGER (PG-13) Ninety-pound
weakling Steve Rogers (Chris Evansi
wants to do his part in WWII. but
army doctors keep 4Fing him until Dr
Abraham Eiskine (Ihe ever wonderlul
Stanley Tucci) approaches with his
super soldier serum Soon, Steve
Rogers turns into a muscled up super
hero called Captain America, who must
stop rogue Nazi, the Red Skull (Hugo
Weaving) trom devastating the world
CARS 2 (G) Cars 2 is an above-aver
age childrens cartoon Unfortunately,
an above-average childrens cartoon
is way below Pixar's capabilities Any
other animation house can make a Cars
or a Cars 2. Pixar should leave the
kiddie entertainment to DreamWorks/
Sony and concentrate on singular mas
terpieces like WALL-Ean6 Up
CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS
(NR) 2010 A lot has been said and
written about legendary filmmaker
Werner Herzogs documentary, filmed
m France's Chauvet Cave, where Ihe
oldest known pictorial representations
of mankind can be found Closed to the
general public. Herzog had to receive
special permission to film inside the
cave Along with footage inside the
cave itself. Herzog interviewed expert
scientists and historians and snapped
pictures of the nearby Pont d Arc natu
ral bridge
• THE CHANGE-UP iR) As half-baked
actor. Mitch, a pretty thoroughly unap
pealing dude trapped in the body of his
straight-laced, father ol three, lawyer
pal. Dave. Jason Bateman makes this
otherwise valueless comedy work No
longer the straight man he's allowed to
roam raunchily tree, and caged. Ryan
Reynolds derives more sympathetic
appeal The Change-Up may not be
good, but it is funny Bateman's deliv
ery and timing is as impeccable as it
is raunchy Though likable Reynolds
can't keep up with his costar
COWBOYS & ALIENS (PG-13) A fun
mashup ot Western and science fiction
tropes that should satisfymgiy cap the
summer proper A man with no memory
(Daniel Craig) assists a wealthy Civil
War vet (Harrison Ford) and the other
townsfolk tracking the extraterrestrials
who ran oft with half of their dwindling
mining town Craig makes a dutiful
if uncharismatic gunslinger, but Ford,
wonderfully aged and crotchety, still
retains roguish charm lo spare for his
co-stars Entertaining as Conboys &
Aliens is. nothing particularly lumps
out to give the Hick any staying power
CRAZY. STUPID. LOVE. (PG-13)
Steve Carell stars as Cal Weaver,
whose wife. Emily (Julianne Moore)
suddenly bombs him with a divorce
pronouncement that leads him to a
local bar where Cal meets inveterate
womanizer Jacob (Ryan Gosling)
While Cal the nice guy is learning to
obieclity women, Jacob Ihe man-whore
is falling for law student Hannah
(Emma Stone) This sweetly melan
cholic movie is an old-fashioned effort
brightly lit by its stars, all of whom
emit an entertainment wattage missing
from many a romantic dramedy
MOVIE LISTINGS
Schedules often change after our deadline Please call ahead.
CINE (706-353-3343)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (NR) 5:00 (W. 8/10 & Th. 8/11)
The Double Hour (NR) 7:15. 9:30 (W. 8/10 & Th. 8/11)
Grease (PG-13) 7:00 (F. 8/12), 4:30 (Sa. 8/13 & Su. 8/14)
Beginners (R) 5:00, 7:15, 9:30 (no 9:30 show Su. 8/14), 2:15 (Sa.
8/13 & Su. 8/14)
Ludlow (NR) 10:00 (F. 8/12)
The Tree of Life (PG-13) 7:00. 9:45 (no 9:45 show Su. 8/14), 4:00 (W.
8/10 & Th. 8/11)
Winnie the Pooh (G) 4:30, 2:30 (Sa. 8/13 & Su. 8/14)
Accurate movie times for the CARMINE 12 (7Q6-354-0016),
BEECHWOOD STADIUM 1 1 (706-546-1011) and GEORGIA
SQUARE 5 (706-548-3426) cinemas are not available by press
time. Visit www.flagpole.com for updated times.
THE DOUBLE HOUR (NR) Former
cop Guido (Filippo Timmi) meets
Soma (Ksenia Rappoport), a Slovenian
immigrant working as a chambermaid
at a high-end hotel, at a speed-dating
event But Sonias past comes back to
haunt her when Guido takes her on a
romantic country getaway in this inter
national mystery
GREASE (PG) 1978 Grease remains
the word over 30 years later One of the
most popular musicals of all time, this
revisionist slice of 50s nostalgia stars
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
as Ihe unlikely, golden-throated high
schoolers Danny Zuko and Sandy
Olsson. belting out classic sing-alongs
like "You're The One That I Want."
“Summer Nights." Greased Lightning”
and "Hopelessly Devoted to You."
FINAL DESTINATION 5 (R) Death
returns to take the lives of more
teenagers whom he feels cheated him
after they escaped the collapse of a
suspension bridge Final Destination
5 might be one of the only movies I
kind of want to see in 3D The previous
installments have all succeeded using
the franchise's formula of humor and
highly inventive deathtraps
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (R)
No. you didn't like this movie better
when it starred Natalie Portman and
Ashton Kutcher Just act like No Strings
Attached doesn't exist, and enjoy the
far superior genre stylings of Friends
with Benefits
GLEE: THE 3D CONCERT MOVIE
(NR) Fox's musical hit. “Glee," comes
to the big screen in this documentary
ot the traveling Glee Live' In Concert 1
summer 2011 tour
THE HANGOVER PART II (R)
Sequels lo hit comedies mostly suck
The reasons sequels fail are numer
ous failure to comprehend what was
funny about the original; loss of the
original stars, characters lose likability.
sequel mines exact same jokes as the
first movie etc The Hangover Part II
sidesteps the landmines that blow away
the humorous limbs from most comedy
sequels.
HARRY POTTER AND THE
DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2
(PG-13) It's over The final battle
rages over and through the hallowed
halls ol Hogwarts as Harry (Daniel
Radclitfe). Hermione (Emma Watson)
and Ron (Rupert Grint) attempt to end
Voldemort s (Ralph Fiennes) evil reign
The Iasi tew Horcruxes must be found
and destroyed if Harry is ever to truly
defeat You-Know-Who HP72\s filled
with blood, death and violence yet is
still fit for the entire family (besides the
httlest ones)
THE HELP (PG-13) In 1960s
Mississippi, writer Eugenia "Skeeter"
Phelan (the soon-to-be-great Emma
Stone) returns home from college
and befriends two African-American
maids, Aibeleen Clarke (Viola Davis)
and sassy Minny Jackson (Octavia
Spencer) Their unlikely friendship
leads to a secret book project about
black maids working for white women
Real life events, like the murder of
Medger Evers, pepper Ihe story with
period authenticity
HORRIBLE BOSSES (R) Nick (Jason
Bateman) works for an evil corporate
shark played perfectly by Kevin Spacey,
Dale (Charlie Day) is getting seriously
sexually harassed by his seriously
hot dentist boss (Jennifer Aniston).
Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) answers to a
cokehead douchebag that resembles a
balding Colin Farrell (Farrell) With the
help of a murder consultant with a very
blue name (Jamie Foxx). these three
friends decide the solution to their
employment problems is to murder
each others boss
KUNG FU PANDA 2 (PG) However
much I dug the first Kung Fu Panda
the second adventure ot Dragon
Warrior Po (v Jack Black) and Ihe
Furious Five—Master Tigress (v
Angelina Jolie). Master Crane (v
Cross). Master Viper (v Lucy Liu).
Master Mantis (v Seth Rogen) and
Master Monkey (v Jackie Chan)—has
more visual inventiveness than it does
comic or narrative combined
LARRY CROWNE (PG-13) Tom
Hanks steps back behind the camera—
and stars in—this comedy about
out-of-work Larry Crowne who enrolls
at his local college, where he con
nects a group of outcasts and falls for
Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts), one of
his teachers
MAGIC TRIP (NR) This documentary
chronicles One Flew Over Ihe Cuckoo's
Nesl author Ken Kesey’s road trip
across America, a trip previously
described in Tom Wolfe's The Electric
Kool-Aid Acid Test In 1964, Kesey
and the Merry Prankster traveled from
La Honda CA to New York City for the
Worlds Fair
LUDLOW NR) Indie horror at its
creepiest Alone in a cheap desert
hotel Krista (Shannon Lark) has only
booze and pills to keep her company as
she awaits the arrival of her sister What
will happen in the meantime 7
MR. POPPER S PENGUINS (PG)
Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) is a ruthless
real estate something-or-other, who's a
rather sorry husband (to Carla Gugmo)
and father (to Swing Votes wonderful
Madeline Carroll and Maxwell Perry
Cotton), that is. until he inherits six
penguins from his late absentee father
Then Popper becomes the best poppa
a penguin or progeny could pray for
Bland, inoffensive family films can
come in worse packages
•RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE
APES (PG-13) The best Planet of
Ihe Apes movie in nearly 40 years.
Rise ol the Planet ol Ihe Apes tells the
origin story for an entirely new Apes
saga In present da/ San Francisco,
a researcher. Will Rodman (James
Franco), is working on a cure for
Alzheimer's When one of his test
chimps goes nuts, Will's project is shut
down, but not before he gains a house-
guest. a hyper-intelligent chimp he
names Caesar who goes on to lead the
revolution that overthrows humanity
and places the apes in charge Rise is
one of the smartest big fun sci-fi flicks
I've seen in a while
SENNA (PG-13) The late Brazilian
Formula One racer Ayrfon Senna gets
Ihe documentary treatment in this film
from BAFTA Award winner and Cannes
Film Festival nominee Asif Kapadia
(The Warrior and Ihe short. The Sheep
Thief) The three-time F1 champion,
revered as a saint in his native country,
died like NASCAR superstar Dale
Earnhardt, felled on live television by
the sport he loved
THE SMURFS (PG) The live action/
CGI hybrid version of The Smurls is
not as bad as its atrocious trailers
would imply Intriguingly. the scripters
throw in welcome nods to the Smurfs
Belgian roots and creator Peyo, a clev
erness undercut by their own poor gags
and the blandly unattractive movie..
THOR (PG-131 After a raid on the
Frost Giants goes awry a petulant Thor
(Chris Hemsworth) is put in timeout by
his Allfather, Odin (Anthony Hopkins)
Until he learns to use his godlike pow
ers selflessly, he is forced to exist as
one seriously cut. regular dude who
gets lo woo Natalie Portman as astro
physicist Jane Foster
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE
MOON (PG-13) What exactly did
Michael Bay think was wrong with the
last Transformers movie 7 Whatever he
fixed made Transformers 3cringingly
bad and Ihe worst of the bunch.
THE WHISTLEBLOWER (NR)
Academy Award winner Rachel
Weisz stars as Kathryn Bolkovac, the
Nebraska cop who. during a one-year
stint as Bosnian peacekeeper, outed the
United Nations' complicity in the cover
up of cases of sex trafficking
WINNIE THE POOH (G) Disney
brings Winnie the Pooh and all the
other denizens of the Hundred Acre
Wood back to the big screen in the
hand-drawn animated tradition of old
Walt himself.
ZOOKEEPER (PG) Kevin James is a
nice guy who nicely takes care of nice
animals for a nice living A pretty girl,
Stephanie (Leslie Bibb), broke his nice
heart because he's a nice zookeeper
The animals can talk, thanks to Sly
Stallone. Cher. Adam Sandler, etc.
Drew Wheeler
Rimm of thm
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10 FLAGPOLE.COM • AUGUST 10, 2011
