Movies playing in town
27 Dresses (PG-13, 107 minutes) Reviewed here. Playing at Regal Cinema Square 4
Alvin and the Chipmunks (PG, 92 minutes) Mere months after showing up in Underdog, Jason Lee signs on for yet another CGI decimation of a beloved childhood cartoon. Here he plays David Seville, adoptive "father" to three singing chipmunks. This was probably better left to the imagination, but little kids will laugh at the cute animals and occasional bouts of rude humor. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
Atonement (R, 130 minutes) Ian McEwan’s novel comes to life in an epic and sweeping romance courtesy of director Joe Wright (2005’s Pride & Prejudice). In 1935 England, 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) spins a lie that breaks up the budding love affair between her older sister (Keira Knightley) and a handsome groundskeeper (James McAvoy). Five years later, the repercussions of that lie are still being felt as war rages in Europe. Will our lovers be reunited? Will Briony find forgiveness? Rich in morality, emotion and metaphysical depth, this weighty drama manages to combine love and war in one gorgeously assembled package. Playing Regal Downtown Mall 6
The Bucket List (PG-13, 97 minutes) Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star as (basically) Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in this feel-good Hallmark card comedy/drama about two old dudes dying of cancer who decide to realize their “Things to Do Before We Kick the Bucket” list. They go on safari, skydive, drive racecars, etc. It’s kind of fun to see Nicholson and Freeman having fun, but the film is a cruise-control tearjerker, pushing all the preordained buttons of the genre. Crowds will probably respond, however, right down to the patented Wise Old Morgan Freeman-Brand narration. Full review here. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6.
Charlie Wilson’s War (R, 97 minutes) This fact-based drama details the life of unconventional Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), whose covert dealings with Mujahideen rebels in Afghanistan in the ’70s had some major long-term effects. (Cough—Osama bin Laden—cough.) Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Silkwood, The Birdcage) directs. Julia Roberts, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Emily Blunt round out the sizable cast. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Cloverfield (PG-13, 84 minutes) While intimate details remain under a cloak of secrecy, this J.J. Abrams-produced sci-fi thriller does revolve around a giant monster attack upon the city of New York. A small group of people, gathered together for a friend’s goodbye party, capture the events through the lens of their camcorder, Blair Witch-style. Carmike Cinema 6
The Great Debaters (PG-13, 123 minutes) Do you love true-life stories about teachers who inspire rag-tag groups of students to form winning cheerleading/football/math/poetry/whatever teams? Well, here’s another one. In this inspirational outing, Denzel Washington (who also directs) sweet talks students at tiny Wiley College in Texas into forming their first debate team all the way back in racially devisive 1935. It’s inspirational-tastic! Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
I Am Legend (PG-13, 100 minutes) Will Smith steps out in front of this third attempt to adapt Richard Matheson’s classic sci-fi horror novel. Previous versions included Vincent Price in 1964’s The Last Man on Earth and Charlton Heston in 1971’s The Omega Man. Smith plays Dr. Robert Neville, a scientist trapped in New York City after a virus decimates all of humanity—which wouldn’t be so rough if most people hadn’t been transformed into bloodsucking monsters. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (PG-13, 150 minutes) You’ve got to hand it German director Uwe Boll. He’s got tenacity. After a string of legendarily bad videogame-based movies (House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne, BloodRayne II: Deliverance) comes another soon-to-be legendarily bad videogame-based movie. Thanks to a pointlessly large budget, Boll has hired a nutty cast (Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Matthew Lillard, Leelee Sobieski, Ron Perlman, Burt Reynolds) to fill up this dumb sword-and-sorcery pic complete with evil sorcerers, monstrous Krugs (don’t ask) and a farmer named Farmer. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Juno (PG-13, 91 minutes) A labor of love from stripper-turned-writer Diablo Cody (author of Candy Girl) and director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking), this sweet, smart and very funny flick easily earns a spot as one of the best films of the year. Snarky, cynical 16-year-old Juno (Ellen Page, Hard Candy) gets pregnant after a bout of boredom-induced sex with her best friend Bleeker (Michael Cera from Superbad). Ruling out abortion, Juno decides to have the kid and give it away to "some lady with a bum ovary or a couple nice lesbos." The pitch-perfect dialogue, the lo-fi soundtrack, the spectacular cast and the perceptive story make this the cult comedy to beat. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
The Kite Runner (PG-13, 122 minutes) It’s the end of the year, and that means lots and lots of literary adaptations striving for Oscar consideration. Here, we have Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling novel as adapted by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball). In it, a young Muslim living in California returns to his homeland of Afghanistan to help his old friend, whose son is in trouble. There are lots of flashbacks to our main characters’ troubled and dangerous childhood. The setting is appropriately exotic. If only the story were less manipulative. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Mad Money (PG-13, 104 minutes) Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes form a trio of gals who plot to rob the Federal Reserve where they work. They’re only going to steal old money scheduled for destruction, so who’s to notice? Naturally, things go wrong. Feel free to refer to this mild comic crime caper as Ocean’s Three. Opening Friday; check local listings
Meet the Spartans (PG-13, 84 minutes) Didn’t I declare a fatwa on anyone who dared to make another stupid Airplane-style spoof after last year’s Epic Movie? As usual, no on in Hollywood was listening to me, because here’s another one from the same idiots who gave us Scary Movie, Date Movie and Epic Movie. It expends most of its energy making fun of 300, with a couple digs left over for random stuff like Ghost Rider, Happy Feet and “Ugly Betty.” Whatever. Opening Friday; check local listings
National Treasure: Book of Secrets (PG, 124 minutes) After the first, frantic, largely nonsensical National Treasure raked in a ton of dough at the box office, we were guaranteed a return visit from Nic Cage and his Indiana Jones-ish historian. This time around, he’s trying to discover the truth about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by figuring out the mystery behind the missing pages from John Wilkes Booth’s diary. Naturally, this involves lots of crazy clues, some Tomb Raider-inspired traps and a United States map. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
No Country For Old Men (R, 121 minutes) The Coen brothers bring a touch of Fargo to West Texas with this gripping adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s offbeat crime novel. Josh Brolin (Grindhouse) is a humble welder who stumbles across $2 million from a drug deal gone bad. Javier Bardem (The Sea Inside) is the freaky, emotionless assassin sent to recover the cash. Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) is the small-town sheriff just trying to figure out what the hell is going on. This one is darker and more serious than most Coen films, but there’s still plenty of priceless dialogue and sharp black humor on display. One of this year’s best. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
One Missed Call (PG-13, 87 minutes) Back in 2003, mad filmmaker Takashi Miike (Visitor Q, Audition, Ichi the Killer) created arguably the ultimate Japanese ghost story and a perfectly sly parody of the dead-chick-with-long-black-hair genre, putting a final nail in that particular coffin. Naturally, Hollywood has arrived a day late and a dollar short, producing this too literal, too late remake about a group of young friends who start receiving phone calls from the Great Beyond that predict the time and date of their deaths. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
P.S. I Love You (PG-13, 126 minutes) Are you a Vermont maple tree farmer? Do you love sap in all its forms? Well then, this high-concept romance-—sentimental enough to be a Mitch Albom novel—should be to your liking. Hilary Swank stars as a young widow who discovers that her late husband has left her a series of 10 messages, each describing inventive new ways to ease her pain. In carrying out these dying requests (with the help of her sitcom-cute friends, like Lisa Kudrow from "Friends"), our heroine learns to live and love again. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Rambo (R, 93 minutes) What the world needs now is a 62-year-old action hero pumped full of HGH. Not to worry, Sylvester Stallone is here to fit that bill, pulling his John Rambo character out of its Reagan-era mothballs. This time around, Rambo has been hired to locate a group of Christian aid workers who have gone missing in the Burmese jungle, violently exterminating anyone who gets in his way. Written and directed by Sly himself. Opening Friday; check local listings
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (R, 116 minutes) Talk about your all-star collaborations. Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Stephen Sondheim? Sounds like a match made in heaven. The oft-told tale of a Victorian barber who wreaks gory revenge on the men who wrongly sent him to prison (and pretty much any other warm body that crosses his path) gets an imaginative big screen treatment. The story is bloody good fun and Depp ain’t half bad as a singer. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (PG, 111 minutes) In the proud tradition of Magic in the Water starring Mark Harmon and Loch Ness starring Ted Danson comes this twee family fantasy about a lonely Scottish boy who discovers a mysterious egg that hatches into the Loch Ness Monster. Kids who dream of raising giant monsters might enjoy this period re-creation of E.T., The Yearling, and Old Yeller—at least until the film’s rather scary final reels. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
There Will Be Blood (R, 158 minutes) Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) ditches his ensemble style to (loosely and magnificently) adapt an obscure Upton Sinclair novel. Daniel Day-Lewis eats up the screen as Daniel Plainview, a scrappy misanthrope who builds an oil empire with his bare hands in turn-of-the-last-century Texas. Like Citizen Kane and Giant before it, this is epic American mythmaking. Unlikable as he may be, Plainview is an icon. There Will Be Blood follows him throughout the decades as he amasses his fortune, adopts a son, founds a town and makes an enemy of the church. A gritty, roughnecked portrait of American industry, religion and politics. Playing at Vinegar Hill Theatre
Untraceable (R, 100 minutes) “NYPD Blue”/”Hill Street Blues” producer Gregory Hoblit directs this far-fetched thriller about a sexy FBI agent (Diane Lane) tasked with hunting down a cyber serial killer who kidnaps people and hooks them up to elaborate torture machines that will kill them faster depending on how many people log onto his “untraceable” snuff website. It’s meant to be an indictment of America’s violent popular culture, but it’s mostly just another dumb slasher film with a slight Internet-age twist. Opening Friday; check local listings
