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• 50/50 (R) Cancer is scary and
depressing It's even scarier and more
depressing when it happens to a young
person So how is Jonathan Levine's
second tilm so darn funny and uplift
ing? Joseph Gordon-Levitt (the only
young actor who can compete with
Ryan Gosling in a battle of control
and nuance). Seth Rogen, Anna
Kendrick (proving her Oscar-nominated
performance in Up in the Air ms no
fluke) and screenwriter Will Reiser are
how Adam Lerner works for NPR. he
works out. he doesn't smoke or drink,
he recycles; he has a beautiful artist
girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), a
potty-mouthed BFF (Rogen) and an
overbearing mother (Angelica Huston)
he avoids He also has cancer Don t
be fooled by its mild-mannered
Disease of the Week" appearance,
this tilm loosely based on screen
writer Reiser's own struggles to beat
cancer, is like Terms of Endearment for
20-somethings
ABDUCTION (PG-13) Taylor Lautner
whose apparent acting idol was Derek
Zoolander, has translated his however-
many-pack into a Taylor-made bomb
Abduction attempts to force moviego
ers to recognize Lautner as a superstar
at gunpoint, and it's as terrible a
movie as you suspect it to be Every
adult involved with this MTV action
movie, from director John Singleton
to respected actors Alfred Molina and
Sigourney Weaver, should be ashamed
for cashing this paycheck.
BEATS RHYMES & LIFE: THE
TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED
QUEST (R) The career of A Tribe
Called Quest is charted from their first
appearance in the 1980s through their
'90s peak as alternative hip-hop inno
vators to the troubled 2006 reunion
and beyond (where will Tribe go from
here 9 ) Would you have guessed this
doc was directed by actor Michael
Rapaport 9 1 would not have, but he
uses his actorly connections to snag
interviews with seemingly everybody,
including the Beastie Boys Mary J
Blige Common, etc.
BILL & TED S EXCELLENT
ADVENTURE (PG) 1989 Strange
things are (certainly) aloot at the
Circle K." hop in the phone booth and
travel back to the late-'80s with Bill S.
Preston. Esquire (Alex Winter) and Ted
“Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves) My
parents had to buy an overpriced VHS
copy ol this "Excellent!" comedy after
accidentally recording over less than a
minute of it
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST
AVENGER (PG-13) Director Joe
Johnston smartly gives Captain
America: The First Avengers sort of
Saturday matinee serial feel Ninety-
pound weakling Steve Rogers (Chris
Evans) wants to do his part in WWII,
but army doctors keep 4Fing him until
Dr. Abraham Erskine (the ever wonder
ful 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), from devastating the world
CARS 2 (G) Cars 2 is an above-aver
age children's cartoon Unfortunately,
an above-average children's cartoon
is way below Pixar's capabilities Any
other animation house can make a Cars
or a Cars 2. Pixar should leave the
kidd e entertainment to D r °amWorks/
Sony and concentrate on singular mas
terpieces like WALL-Fsnd Up
CONAN THE BARBARIAN (R1 Conan
(Momoa) seeks revenge against the
baddie, Khalar Zym (Avatar's Stephen
Lang), that murdered his loving
barbarian papa (a heavily hirsute Ron
Perlman) Fortunately. Conan gets
an assist from his Malcolm Jamal-
Warnerbe pal a pretty priestess (Rachel
Nichols) and a thief (Said Taghmaoui)
Conan might be content with living,
loving and slaying, but a movie needs
more than buckets cfCGI blood and
topless extras Howard purists may
not love John Milius' 1982 Conan, but
everyone'll abhor the 2011 version
CONTAGION (PG-13) Steven
Soderberghs new "What if. " epi
demic chiller is an excellent feature-
length “Twilight Zone." What if a deadly
new, highly communicable virus
entered the population 9 How quickly
and effectively would the world's
governments and health agencies
(represented by Laurence Fishburne.
Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston and
Marion Cotillard) respond 9 What sort
of wildfire would spread via the blogo-
sphere (thanks. Jude Law) 9 How would
the rest of us (Matt Damon stars as the
people's proxy) respond as loved ones
(like Gwyneth Paltrow) quickly and
mysteriously fall ill?
• COURAGEOUS (PG-13) First,
the nice things The technical skills
of director Alex Kendrick and the
folks (they are from Albany) behind
Sherwood Baptist's latest evangelical
epic have vastly improved since their
breakthrough hit, Facing the Giants.
On a completely technical level, you'd
never know you were not watching a
Hollywood production about four law
enforcement officers forced to face
themselves as men and fathers after a
tragedy I've seen several Hollywood
hits that looked worse (direction,
cinematography, editing, etc). Now the
bad The talent in front of the camera
still reeks of amateurism. Awkward
reaction shots and line deliveries of
stilted homilies and forced proverbs
mar the professional Hollywood slick
production values. At least there's
no “big" name bible beater, a la Kirk
Cameron in Sherwood's previous
release. Fireproof, to really show up the
down home actors Judging from the
success ol Sherwood's film ministry,
evangelical audiences are hungry lor
a movie that speaks to them in clean.
Christian parlance For them, for now.
Courageous is the best movie they can
ask for You might call it an answered
prayer
DOLPHIN TALE (PG)lam not a
sucker for sentimental animal mov
ies Were I. then I am sure Dolphin
Tale would have fit the bill. A lonely
12-year-old, Sawyer (Nathan Gamble),
rescues a dolphin (real tail-less dol
phin. Winter, as herself) caught in a
crab trap With the help of a marine vet
(Harry Connick Jr), his daughter (Cozi
Zuehlsdorff) and a doctor who special
izes in prosthetics (Morgan Freeman),
Sawyer helps save the dolphin by
fashioning a take appendage Money
woes, a hurricane and the fish's own
dislike of potential new tails confound
the boy's attempts.
• DREAM HOUSE (PG-13) I'm not
sure how Dream House happened
It's hard to imagine this script having
attracted so much A-list talent—Oscar
winners Jim Sheridan and Rachel
Weisz. plus Daniel Craig and Naomi
Watts—seeing as the frozen thriller
corpse they dumped into the cinematic
wasteland ol September is DOA A fam
ily (headed by Craig and Weisz) moves
into a new home, only to discover the
last family was murdered there When
the young daughters claim to have a
seen a strange man around the house,
papa Will (Craig) believes it to be the
man who was charged with killing his
wife and two daughters before being
released for lack of evidence Cue
the mystery. It you thought director
Sheridan (My Left Foot) was out of his
comfort zone helming Curtis "50 Cent’
Jackson's biopic, Get Rich or Die Try in'.
you don't know comfort zones (and
you obviously didn’t see the decent rap
drama) Dream House slogs through
the drilts of discarded plot pieces and
stylistic cues from other, better horror
movies
DRIVE (R) Drive slides through the
alleys and sidestreets of its criminal
Los Angeles with the precision, skill
and style of its nameless Driver (Ryan
Gosling), called the Kid by his boss/
handler. Shannon (Bryan Cranston;
BTW why aren't you watching
Breaking Bad" yet?). Stuntman by
day. getaway man for hire by night, the
driver slides his leather driving gloves
on and gets his bumpers bloody when
a cute neighbor (Carey Mulligan) with
a little tyke runs afoul of some local
toughs
HARRY POTTER AND THE
DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2
(PG-13) By now everyone knows what
to expect from the Potter universe as
conceived by director David Yates
(he's helmed the final four Potters) and
longtime series scribe Steve Kloves (he
scripted the entire series save HP5)
In the final journey to this magical
world, the entire cast and crew deliver
an emotionally impactful, thrillingly
magic-tilled final installment to one of
the biggest blockbuster franchises ol
all time
THE HELP (PG-13) An audience-
wooer & la The Bund Side, this '60s
Mississippi set melodramedy will draw
raves from your mother, grandmother,
aunt, the ladies ol the church, etc., but
the whitewashed world of The Help
lacks the proper depth to leel real
Every black servant is a saint; every
white employer a demon
HIGHER GROUND (R) Actress Vera
Farmiga tries her hand at directing
with this religious drama based on
Carolyn Briggs' memoir. This Dark
World. Corinne’s (Farmiga) crisis ol
faith throws a tight-knit, evangelical
Christian community into turmoil.
Farmiga did good to get “Deadwood' s
John Hawkes, who received a well-
deserved Oscar nom for Winter's Bone.
as a costar Farmiga received a nomi
nation for the Sundance Film Festival’s
Grand Jury Prize
HORRIBLE BOSSES (R) Horrible
Bosses is the summer's funniest movie
(since the last time I crowned a film
such). Nick (Jason Bateman) works
for an evil corporate shark played
perfectly by Kevin Spacey (with a wink
and a nod to the darkly fun Swimming
with Sharks). Dale (Charlie Day of the
best sitcom on TV, "It's Always Sunny
in Philadelphia") 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 other's boss.
THE IDES OF MARCH (R) Based on
a play. George Clooney's new political
drama definitely has some shades of
a Redford film. An idealistic staffer.
Stephen Myers (Fiyan Gosling), learns
to play dirty politics on the campaign
trail of a hot, new presidential candi
date (Clooney, pulling double duty).
It remains to be seen whether or not
Clooney's new picture can set the
pace for the early Oscar front runners.
With Paul Giamatti. Phillip Seymour
Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa
Tomei. Jeffrey Wright and more
GRANDMA HAS A VIDEO CAMERA
2007. The Hispanic Heritage Month
celebration (this year's theme:
Immigration and Transnational
Experience) continues at the Georgia
Museum of Art A family ol Brazilian
immigrants record 20 years of their
successes and struggles, joys and sor
rows. via video camera The screening
will be introduced by Susan Quinlan
and lollowed by a Skype Q&A with
director Tania Cypriano. Nominated for
the Village Voice/LA. Weekly Poll for
Best Undistributed Film of 2007
KILLER ELITE (R) What seems like
another kinetic actioner in Jason
Statham's interchangeable (besides the
two hits of Crank) is actually a pretty
solid exercise in real men (Statham,
Clive Owen, Robert De Niro and a
bunch ol British toughs) playing war.
Danny (Statham) is a retired mere,
pulled back into the game to save his
mentor. Hunter (De Niro) His latest
renegade op places him in direct oppo
sition with former SAS specialist. Spike
(Owen) Gary McKendry confidently
directs the action and spying in his
feature debut
THE LION KING (G) Tricked into
thinking he killed his father, a guilt rid
den lion cub llees into exile and aban
dons his identity as the future king
MONEYBALL (PG-13) Based on
Michael Lewis' bestseller, director
Bennet Miller's follow-up to the Oscar
winning Capote actually makes base
ball statistics interesting Oakland As
General Manager Billy Beane (Brad
Pitt) attempts to build a championship
ballclub through On Base and Slugging
Percentage rather than traditional
scouting Does it work 9 Anyone famil
iar with Major League Baseball already
knows the answer, but the film, adapted
by screenwriting superstars Steven
Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Moneyball
isn't quite this year's The Social
Network, Miller lacks Fincher's danger
ously pure talent and the story lacks
Facebook's volcanic relevance
REAL STEEL (PG-13) The trailer for
this Hugh Jackman action movie just
screams Rock Fm. Sock 'Em Robots:
The Movie (which apparently was in
MOVIE LISTINGS
Schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
CINE (706-353-3343) check website for show times
Crazy Stupid Love (PG-13) 9:45 (starts F. 10/7) (no 9:45 show Su.
10/9), 2:45 (Su. 10/9)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2 (PG-13) 9:30 (W. 10/5
& Th/ 10/6), 2:15 (Sa. 10/8 & Su. 10/9)
Higher Ground (R) 5:00. 7:15, 9:30 (starts F. 10/7) (no 9:30 show Su.
10/9)
Pedal Driven (NR) 7:15 (Sa. 10/8)
Sarah's Key (PG-13) 5:00 (W. 10/5 & Th/ 10/6)
Senna (PG-13) 7:15 (W. 10/5 & Th/ 10/6). 5:15 (starts F. 10/7)
The Whistleblower (R) 5:15, 7:30, 9:45 (W. 10/5 & Th/ 10/6). 7:30
(starts F. 10/7) (no 7:30 show Sa. 10/8 or Tu. 10/11), 2:45 (Sa. 10/8)
UGA TATE CENTER THEATER (706 542 6396)
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (PC) 8:00 (Th. 10/6)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (R) 3:00, 6:00. 9:00 (F. 10/7. Sat.
10/8 & Su. 10/9)
Accurate movie times for the CARMIKE 12 (706-354-0016),
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.
I told you. we don’t know any R.E.M. songs!
development al one point), Jackman
is a struggling promoter of robot box
ing. who thinks he has a contender
in a discarded bot He also discovers
he has an 11-year-old son Director
Shawn Levy has been on a roll; his last
three movies were the high-profile hits,
Night at the Museum, its Smithsonian-
set sequel and Date Night.
SARAH’S KEY (PG-13) A Parisian
journalist (Kristin Scott Thomas) inves
tigating the notorious 1942 Vel‘ d Hiv
Roundup becomes embroiled in the
mystery of a young girl whose family
ties were severed by the Holocaust.
Director Gilles Paquet-Brenners last
movie was a horror film, Walled In.
starring Mischa Barton. Sarah's Key is
based on the bestseller Files'Appelait
Sarah by Tatiana De Rosnay With
Meiusine Mayanceas 10-year-old
Sarah Starzynski and Niels Arestrup.
SENNA (PG-13) The late Brazilian
Formula One racer Ayrton Senna gets
the documentary treatment in this film
from BAFTA Award winner and Cannes
Film Festival nominee Asif Kapadia
(The Warrior and the 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. I've never heard
of Senna, but his life story sounds
fascinating Senna won Sundance's
Audience Award for World Cinema
Documentary.
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE
MOON (PG-13) What exactly did
Michael Bay think was wrong with the
last Transformers movie 9 Whatever he
fixed made Transformers 3cringmgly
bad and the worst of the bunch.
•WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? (R)
Abandoned to another flimsy romcom.
Anna Faris amusingly tumbles from
one lame setup to another as Ally,
a young woman trying to find love
before she sleeps with her 21st guy.
Naturally, her neighbor is a hot stud
(Chris “Captain America" Evans) look
ing for a clumsy, busty, blonde reason
to stop the assembly line bringing
beautiful women into his bed. Faris
is beautiful, funny and deserving of
a showy role in a Woody Allen-level
romantic comedy (think Mira Sorvino
or Scarlett Johannson). It's high time
for Evans to leave these easy paycheck
roles behind, else he risk succumbing
to Gerard Butler Syndrome, wherein a
rising male actor is defined by his crap
Katherine Heigl ogling rather than his
exciting macho actioning (it's acting
plus action; it's actioning). Things the
world doesn't need: another "chick"
flick to reinforce awful, dated gender
stereotypes. Thing the world does
need: more Anna Faris.
THE WHISTLEBLOWER (R)
Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz
(The Constant Gardenei) stars as
Kathryn Bolkovac, the Nebraska
cop who, during a one year stint as
Bosnian peacekeeper, outeo the United
Nations' complicity in the cover up
of cases of sex trafficking. Director
Larysa Kondracki's feature debut won
Audience Awards at the Palm Springs
International Film Festival and the
Whistler Film Festival. Kondracki
picked up the Seattle Film Festival's
Golden Space Needle for Best Director.
With Monica Belluci and Vanessa
Redgrave.
ZOOKEEPER (PG) Kevin James is
Griffin, a nice guy who nicely takes
care of nice animals lor a nice living
A pretty girl, Stephanie (Leslie Bibb),
broke his nice heart because he's a
nice zookeeper. The animals, who can
talk thanks to the likes of Sylvester
Stallone. Cher. Adam Sandler. Judd
Apatow. Maya Rudolph, Jon Favreau
and Nick Nolte, etc., break their code of
silence to help the lovable Griffin win
his dream girl
Drew Wheeler
10 FLAGPOLE.COM • OCTOBER 5, 2011
