I’m sure that, the day after the Big Bang, someone looked over at the Supreme Being and said, “Great job, now what have you got for an encore?” So it may not say anything about Cars, Pixar’s latest foray into the bits-and-bytes world of computer animation, that I was unable to summon up quite the enthusiasm I did for Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. (A Bug’s Life and Monsters, Inc.? Eh.)
The Break-Up (PG-13, 106 minutes) Peyton Reed’s “anti-romantic comedy” about a mismatched couple (Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston) is often funny, sometimes uncomfortably so.
A Prairie Home Companion PG-13, 105 minutesOpens Friday at Vinegar Hill Theatre Minnesotans don’t like to draw attention to themselves, and the man who’s been pointing that out for over 30 years—drawing oodles of attention to both him and them in the process—plays the emcee in A Prairie Home Companion, Robert Altman’s cockeyed salute […]
The Break-Up (PG-13, 106 minutes) Reviewed in this issue. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6 Cars (G, 116 minutes) Now that Pixar and Disney are playing nice, the never-miss computer animation firm revs up the engine on its latest family outing. We’ve got a cocky stock car (voiced by Owen Wilson) who gets sidetracked on […]
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That’s the thought that crossed my mind as Poseidon, a mere 15 minutes in, began to take on waterâlots of water. One minute I’m sitting there, getting to know the passengers who, like rats, will spend most of the movie trying to escape from a sinking ship. Then, all of a sudden, the first mate (or maybe it’s the chief petty officer), says to someone or other, “Do you feel that? Something’s off.” Something’s off, all right. Director Wolfgang Petersen was given $160 million to rebuild that great slab of cheese, 1972’s The Poseidon Adventure, and he’s already blowing his wad. Heck, the whole thing’s over in 98 minutes. At that point in King Kong, Peter Jackson hadn’t even shown us the monkey.
Akeelah and the Bee (PG, 112 minutes) In case you hadn’t noticed, Hollywood is in the midst of a red-hot spelling bee craze. In the wake of Spellbound and… um, Bee Season, comes this drama about an 11-year-old girl from South Los Angeles who tries to make it to the National Spelling Bee. The story is, as expected, cute and inspirational. It’s also predictable, emotionally simplified and filled with clichés. Think The Karate Kid with a little girl taking over for Ralph Macchio, Laurence Fishburn doing the Mr. Miyagi thing, and words instead of crane kicks to the head. (Devin O’Leary) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Akeelah and the Bee (PG, 112 minutes) In case you hadn’t noticed, Hollywood is in the midst of a red-hot spelling bee craze. In the wake of Spellbound and… um, Bee Season, comes this drama about an 11-year-old girl from South Los Angeles who tries to make it to the National Spelling Bee. The story […]