Adventureland loves the ’80s

About that title: Yeah, that’s sort of a joke. But is it being a joke also an excuse for the new slice-of-life, coming-of-age, your-hyphenate-here comedy from Superbad writer-director Greg Mottola to lack a real sense of adventure? Well, conventionality has its charms, too. Amusement rides? Jesse Eisenberg and Martin Starr fight job apathy in Adventureland. […]

Capsule Reviews

12 Rounds (PG-13, 108 minutes) Professional wrestler Jon Cena proves himself the working man’s Jason Statham in this film about a New Orleans cop trying to put an Irish criminal back in the slammer. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6 Adventureland (R, 106 minutes) Read C-VILLE’s full review here. Opening Friday Confessions of a Shopaholic […]

March of the dingbats

Gentleman, how many times has this happened to you? After four long years in that prom-night-mishap-induced coma, you’re finally roused by your best pal via baseball bat to the face, only to discover that the devotedly vestal sweetheart with whom you used to tag-team elementary school abstinence seminars has bailed on you to become a […]

Capsule Reviews

12 Rounds (PG-13, 108 minutes) A vengeful, psycho ex-con (Aiden Gillen) kidnaps the fiancée (Ashley Scott) of a New Orleans cop (John Cena), then orchestrates a dozen spectacular physical challenges through which he might win her back. Renny Harlin of Die Hard 2 and The Long Kiss Goodnight directs. Opening Friday Confessions of a Shopaholic […]

Close encounters of the cute kind

Two young aliens arrive in Las Vegas, and right away they’re on the run—from the American government and from a paramilitary assassin sent by the government of their homeland to kill them. By chance they rely for safe passage on a gruff but decent taxi driver, himself with an unhappy past, who reluctantly becomes their […]

Capsule Reviews

Confessions of a Shopaholic (PG, 112 minutes) When used in moderation, shopahol can enhance the joy of life. But for Isla Fisher, as a young, suddenly popular advice columnist in New York City, moderation might not be an option. Who knows, maybe debt-reduction rom-com based on Sophie Kinsella’s chick-lit bestseller is just what’s called for […]

Is Watchmen really unfilmable?

What’s truly amazing about Watchmen, the much-anticipated film version of writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons’ much-adored graphic novel, is how forcefully the movie negates the book’s two most basic, strangely symbiotic intentions. Instead of subverting superhero tropes and satirizing Cold War endgames, it blandly and reflexively endorses them.   Human after all: The […]

Capsule reviews

Confessions of a Shopaholic (PG, 112 minutes) When used in moderation, shopahol can enhance the joy of life. But for Isla Fisher, as a young, suddenly popular advice columnist in New York City, moderation might not be an option. Who knows, maybe debt-reduction rom-com based on Sophie Kinsella’s chick-lit bestseller is just what’s called for […]

Wrestling Rourke's Oscar rematch

Some of us really did expect sentimental favorite Mickey Rourke to take that Oscar, but maybe it’s better that he didn’t. This way, Rourke’s almost but not quite Academy-blessed performance in The Wrestler may forever maintain its underdog integrity. Besides, we already got the highly anticipated spectacle of a Rourke acceptance speech, for his Best […]

Capsule Reviews

Confessions of a Shopaholic (PG, 112 minutes) When used in moderation, shopahol can enhance the joy of life. But for Isla Fisher, as a young, suddenly popular advice columnist in New York City, moderation might not be an option. Who knows, maybe debt-reduction rom-com based on Sophie Kinsella’s chick-lit bestseller is just what’s called for […]