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42 (PG-13) Something about the
challenges faced by Jackie Robinson
(Chadwick Boseman) as he broke the
color barrier in professional baseball
feels so much more singular than your
average true tale of successfully buck
ing the odds. Boseman’s performance
is not a skilled mimicry like so many
other portrayals of famous persons; he
imbues Robinson with such strength of
character and composure.
THE BIG WEDDING (R) The Big
Wedding should be celebrated as a
strong candidate for worst film of the
year. The opening gag combines an ex-
wife stumbling upon her former spouse
and his girlfriend in the midst of sex.
Oh the guffaws! They can only be
matched by a grown daughter throwing
up on her dad. Hilarious! Seriously,
The Big Wedding is populated by
offensive, meanly unfunny characters
differentiated by their virginity or lack
thereof. The sinking ship of a movie
has nary one likable, nuanced character
to grab onto like a life raft. Avoid these
nuptials at all costs.
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (R)
A lawyer (Robert Redford) goes on
the run after a young reporter (Shia
LaBeouf) outs him as a member of the
domestic terrorist organization, the
Weather Underground. Naturally, the
newspaperman discovers more to the
story than first thought. The mystery
isn’t terribly hard to solve (the clues
are dropped a bit too obviously), but
the decrease in tension is made up
for by onscreen talent. The Company
You Keep isn’t hip (though one might
wonder how Redford’s nearly 80-year-
old fugitive doesn’t break one). It’s a
natural, narrative extension of Redford’s
career. (Cine)
THE CROODS (PG) Despite its
underwhelming trailers, The Croods
stands out as one of the best non-Pixar
animated family films released in the
last few years. A family of cavemen—
dad Grug (v. Nicolas Cage), mom Ugga
(v. Catherine Keener), teen daughter
Eep (v. Emma Stone), dumb son Thunk
(v. Clarke Duke), feral baby Sandy and
grandma (v. Cloris Leachman)—are
forced on a cross-country road trip
after their cave is destroyed by the
impending “end of the world.”
ERASED (R) Mix a cut-rate Bourne
Identity with a little Liam Neeson-ish
Taken action and you wind up with
the bland-looking concoction called
Erased. Aaron Eckhart stars as a guy
who wears a suit to work and happens
to be a decommissioned black ops
agent. Former music video director
Philipp Stolzl received higher marks
for his Young Goethe in Love, but
this action flick looks in dire need of
a stronger script. With Liana Liberato
as the endangered daughter and Olga
Kurylenko.
FRANCES HA (R) Could this be Greta
Gerwig’s big, Lena Dunham-ish break?
She co-wrote this comedy with direc
tor Noah Baumbach (The Squid & the
Whale), and judging from the trailer, it
could be an indie smash. Think “Girls"
on the big screen (but no Dunham).
Frances (Gerwig) works for a dance
troupe, though she’s not a dancer,
and goes all in for her dreams. With
Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver (“Girls”)
and another daughter of Meryl Streep,
Grace Gummer.
FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (PG)
2011. Legendary animator Hayao
Miyazaki collaborates with his son
Goro’s second feature. (His first was
Tales from Earthsea.) As the 1964
Tokyo Olympics approach, a group of
teenagers in Yokohama seek to save
their school clubhouse. Japan's big
gest domestic hit of 2011 won the Best
Animation Film prize from the Awards
of the Japanese Academy.
• THE GREAT GATSBY (PG-13) Like
all Baz Luhrmann’s films save Moulin
Ftouget, The Great Gatsby left me highly
conflicted. A creative, stylistic tour de
force, the film starts off kinetic to the
point of claustrophobia. The constant
moving and zooming camera and
non-stop edits choke the air out of the
first act; the film just needs to stop and
catch its breath for a moment. The film
doesn’t stop its constant Charlestoning
until Nick Carroway (Tobey Maguire)
meets reclusive millionaire Jay Gatsby
(Leonardo DiCaprio) at one of the lat
ter’s renowned parties. Finally, the film
takes a hiccupping breath. Luhrmann’s
always favored style over substance,
and the Roaring ‘20s are a great place
to indulge his whims. However, his
hyperactive visualization fill his adapta
tion of Fitzgerald’s classic novel with
the air of parody. The film often feels
like a musical with the song-and-dance
numbers cut out. Still, its liveliness
bests Jack Clayton’s dull 1974 adapta
tion starring an especially wooden
Robert Redford. DiCaprio better imbues
Gatsby with the decade’s decadent
hopefulness.
THE HOST (PG-13) What Stephenie
Meyer’s Twilight novels did to horror,
she does to science fiction in The
Host Alien invaders have conquered
Earth. Most of humanity has had their
bodies taken over by an extraterrestrial
tenant. When the invaders implant a
soul named Wanderer into the body
of Melanie Styder (Saoirse Ronan),
Melanie fights back, eventually con
vincing/leading Wanderer to Melanie’s
human family and friends, a group
of desert-living rebels. Once there,
Wanda, as the humans call her, falls
for one boy while Melanie continues
to love Jared (Max Irons). You knew
Meyer would work her love triangle (or
in this case, love rectangle?) into the
plot somewhere.
IDENTITY THIEF (R) With two
kids and another on the way, Sandy
Patterson (Jason Bateman) is strug
gling to make ends meet. Having his
identity stolen by friendless Diana
(Melissa McCarthy) only further aggra
vates his financial distress. Strangely
the gags work best when Bateman’s
straight man and McCarthy’s manic
criminal bond rather than fight. Too
bad the mean-spirited comic scenarios
cooked up by screenwriter Craig
Mazin (Scary Movies 3 and 4 and The
Hangover: Parts //and III) lack origi
nality. Director Seth Gordon and his
hilarious stars have done and will do
comedy better.
IRON MAN 3 (PG-13) Happily, Shane
Black has taken over the Iron Man
franchise from Jon Favreau (Black
also co-wrote the script), and it’s
mostly a blast right out of 1987. Tony
Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) may be the
rare superhero alter ego that is more
interesting out of costume, but watch
ing him investigate a mystery in Small
Town, Tennessee (child sidekick in tow)
felt more like episodic television than
the initial, posl-Avengers solo adven
ture. The Iron Man franchise goes 0 for
3 on villains; none are in Iron Man’s
league. The potential of The Mandarin
(Ben Kingsley) is wasted with a twist
that, while amusingly executed, leaves
the film villainously bereft. Such minor
quibbles don’t devalue Iron Man 3s
entertainment worth; it’s one high qual
ity blockbuster.
JACK THE GIANT SLAYER (PG-13)
While far from a bad fantasy film, this
retooled telling of the classic children’s
stories, Jack the Giant Killer and Jack
and the Beanstalk, does little to fire the
imagination once the credits roll. We
all know the story: young Jack (Marcus
Hoult, whose romzom Warm Bodies
showed loads more creativity) gets
some magic beans, from which a giant
beanstalk grows. At the top of the leafy
green ladder is a land full of giants who
have a taste for human flesh. Of course,
this new telling has to involve a love
interest, headstrong Princess Isabelle
(Eleanor Tomlinson), who Jack sets out
to rescue.
• MUD (PG-13) Boasting a star-stud
ded cast of Matthew McConaughey,
Reese Witherspoon, Sam Shepard,
Ray McKinnon, Michael Shannon,
Sarah Paulson and Joe Don Baker,
Jeff Nichols’ third feature offers this
promising rising filmmaker with his
best chance of widespread success.
A coming of age tale set in the disap
pearing wilds of the small town south,
Mud aims high, as Nichols attempts
to channel Mark Twain, and hits the
target square in the bull’s eye. Two
teens—Ellis (Tye Sheridan, Tree of
Life) and Neckbone (newcomer Jacob
Lofland)—discover a boat in a tree.
They also discover McConaughey’s
Mud, a fugitive living in the boat in the
tree, while he waits to escape with the
love of his life, Juniper (Witherspoon).
Ellis also feels the sting of family
troubles and first love/first heartbreak.
Mud watches like a work of modern
literature, capturing the last gasps of
a dying culture as one boy becomes
a man. As one of 2013’s more chal
lenging films, Mud dethrones its
closest competitor, The Place Beyond
the Pines, as it reminds me of early
David Gordon Green, before all his
releases blended into the same, artless
marijuana-addled haze.
OBLIVION (PG-13) The new Tom
Cruise action, sci-fi spectacle is a
doozy of a looker. Everything from the
set design to the vehicle design to the
music (scored by M83) is stylishly
crafted and a visual/aural knockout.
After fighting off an alien invasion via
nuclear destruction, humanity has
moved off-planet to Titan, a moon of
Saturn. Two people, tech Jack Harper
(Tom Cruise) and his communications
liaison Victoria (Andrea Riseborough),
have been left behind, tasked to protect
the giant hydroreactors that power Titan
using remnants of the alien invaders.
But Jack’s world is turned upside
down by the arrival of a NASA scientist
(Olga Kurylenko) of whom Jack has
been dreaming, and by the discovery
of human survivors, led by Malcolm
Beech (Morgan Freeman). Tron: Legacy
director Joseph Kosinski co-scripted
Oblivioniwm his own graphic novel,
and despite its derivative pieces, the
whole narrative coheres rather well.
PAIN & GAIN (R) With the subtlety of
an 18 wheeler, Pain & Gain chronicles
the true story of three bodybuilders—
Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg), Paul
Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) and Adrian
Doorbal (Anthony Mackie)—who
turn to crime in order to achieve the
American Dream. If you were hoping
director Michael Bay had a quirky indie
crime caper in him, he doesn’t. The
film is too long, sledgehammeringly
artless and mindnumbingly dumb.
It’s a film created in the image of its
characters and equally as appealing as
those amateur criminals. Would I have
preferred a shorter, pulpier version of
this tale (or better yet, an award win
ning documentary)? Yes. Will I accept
this musclebound, meathead movie?
Certainly but only once.
• PEEPLES (PG-13) The directorial
debut of Tina Gordon Chism, the writer
of ATL and Drumline, might as well be
called Meet the Peeples. Stop me if this
plotline sounds familiar. A guy, Wade
Walker (Craig Robinson, who makes
more out of his time in the spotlight
than most comic actors would), in
love with a girl, Grace Peeples (Kerry
Washington, Django Unchained),
who is way out of his league, seeks to
please her domineering father, federal
judge Virgil Peeples (David Alan Grier,
whose believability as Washington’s
father does more to make me feel my
age than the increasing gray of my
beard). The “chocolate Kennedys," as
Wade calls the Peeples, have their own
problems, which lead to sub-sitcom
problems and hijinks. Wade’s brother,
a doll doctor (Malcolm Barrett), refers
to a “black Three’s Company,’” a fairly
fitting description of the entire movie.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see producer
Tyler Perry turning this flick into his
latest TBS sitcom. Imagine the hilarity
of the Browns-Peeples crossover. No
seriously you’ll have to imagine the
laughs because they won’t exist.
A PLACE AT THE TABLE (PG) This
new documentary from the same pro
duction company that released Food,
Inc. examines the hunger pangs felt
by millions of Americans every day.
Thankfully, filmmakers Kristi Jacobson
and Lori Silverbush also offer solu
tions. The inimitable Jeff Bridges
appears as himself, as do five-time
James Beard Foundation Medal win
ner Tom Colicchio, Ken Cook and Raj
Patel. A Place at the Table was nomi
nated for the Sundance Film Festival’s
Grand Jury Prize. The music is coolly
provided by The Civil Wars and T Bone
Burnett. (Cine)
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
(R) Writer-director Derek Cianfrance’s
follow-up to Blue Valentine is con
structed like three short stories, all
connected by one major event. In the
first story, Ryan Gosling stars as Luke
Glanton, a stunt bike rider who turns to
bank robbery to take care of his young
son and baby mama (Eva Mendes).
The second story stars Bradley Cooper
as Avery Cross, a rookie police officer
turned hero turned whistleblower. The
final arc connects the two men via their
similarly aged sons in ways much
less profound than the somber film or
its imperious running time imply. An
ambitious character study of fathers
and sons, The Place Beyond the Pines
isn’t an easy watch, but is ultimately
more rewarding than arduous. (Cine)
SAFE HAVEN (PG-13) One thing I
enjoy about reviewing movies is hav
ing a readymade excuse for watching
sappy romances like Safe Haven.
Unfortunately the latest Nicholas
Sparks adaptation, set in another
North Carolina paradise, is one solved
CINEMAS
Movie showtimes are not available by our deadline. Please check cinema
websites for accurate information.
CINE • 234 W. Hancock Ave. • 706-353-3343 • www.athenscine.com
GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART • (UGA Campus) 90 Carlton St.
• 706-542-GMOA • www.uga.edu/gamuseum/calendar/films.html
TATE STUDENT CENTER • (JGA Campus) 45 Baxter St.
• 706-542-6396 • www.union.uga.edu/movies
BEECHWOOD STADIUM CINEMAS II • 196 Alps Rd.
• 706-546-1011 • www.georgiatheatrecompany.com
CARMIKE 12 • 1570 Lexington Rd. • 706-354-0016
• www.carmike.com
GEORGIA SQUARE VALUE CINEMAS 5 • 3710 Atlanta Hwy
• 706-548-3426 • www.georgiatheatrecompany.com
I can’t hear you, Captain. I’m only getting two bars.
mystery away from just being one
couple’s two hour how we met story.
Pretty, young Katie is on the run from
a constantly drunk, really sweaty cop
(“Revolution” star David Lyons). Lucky
for her, a hot widower, Alex (Josh
Duhamel), with two cute kids is ready
to love again. Wondering how this
romance is ultimately different from
Sleeping with the Enemfl. Then prepare
for the laughable, Shyamalan-esque,
climactic twist.
THE SAPPHIRES (PG-13) Based on
a true story this comedy follows four
Australian Aboriginal women and their
manager as they form a singing group
in 1968 and tour Vietnam to perform
for the troops, featuring feel-good
musical numbers mixed with political
conflict. (Cine)
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (R)
2012. After being released from a state
mental hospital, Pat (Bradley Cooper)
meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who
lost it after the death of her husband.
Instead of exacerbating each other’s
unhealthy flaws, the relationship
between these two cracked souls
heals both, much to the surprise of
everyone. Silver Linings Playbook has
an awkward edge that makes even the
smallest successes so much sweeter.
David 0. Russell’s fiery demeanor and
beautiful writing certainly ignites his
actors. Silver Linings Playbook should
not be missed.
SNITCH (PG-13) Construction bigwig
John Matthews (The Rock, ne Dwayne
Johnson) will do anything to lessen his
son Jason’s jail time after a drug arrest.
Matthews convinces one of his ex-con
employees, Daniel (Jon Bernthal, late
of “The Walking Dead”), to introduce
him to a drug dealer, Malik (Michael K.
Williams), in order to cut a deal with
federal prosecutor Joanne Keeghan
(Susan Sarandon), who could use a
big bust to boost her congressional
campaign. Refreshingly, Johnson
spends most of the movie in desperate
dad mode as opposed to real life action
figure. Appearances be damned, Snitch
is no ‘80s action rehash; the movie’s
got too much gravitas for Ah-nuld,
even in his prime.
< STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS
(PG-13) J.J. Abrams (recently picked
to helm Star Wars VII) continues his
reboot of Gene Roddenberry’s Star
Trek universe. Captain Kirk (Chris
Pine) and his crew—Spook (Zachary
Quinto), Bones (Karl Urban), Uhura
(Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg),
Sulu (John Cho) and Chekhov (Anton
Yelchin)—go after a terrorist (Benedict
Cumberbatch, best known for the BBC’s
“Sherlock") that many people are wist
fully hoping to be Khan, the antagonist
from the best Trek movie, Star Trek 2:
The Wrath of Khan. We’ll find out soon
enough.
STORIES WE TELL (PG-13) Sarah
Polley follows up her Academy Award
nominated Away from Werwith this
extraordinary looking, quite personal
documentary about her own family.
Using Super 8 footage and family
interviews, Polley seeks to uncover the
mystery of her parentage. Apparently,
her dad isn’t really her dad, and she
uses her chosen medium to find the
truth. Stories We 7e//has won several
Canadian Film Awards and was an offi
cial selection of the Sundance, Venice,
Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals.
TO THE WONDER (R) 2012.
Terrrence Malick delivers a second
movie in two years after a lengthy
hiatus. This one is a romantic melo
drama featuring an indecisive man
(Ben Affleck) caught between the love
of two very different women (Rachel
McAdams and Olga Kurylenko). Early
reviews seem to suggest that the visu
als are at least slightly reminiscent of
the gauzy, sun-soaked Tree of Life, but
that the story is more linear. (Cine)
Drew Wheeler
10 FLAGPOLE.COM • MAY 15, 2013