Catch a Fire (PG-13, 98 minutes) Aussie Phillipe Noyce (The Quiet American, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Patriot Games) directs this dark political thriller set in South Africa during the turbulent 1980s. Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) portrays real-life hero Patrick Chamusso who was jailed and tortured after being wrongly suspected of sabotage at an oil refinery where he worked. Tim Robbins plays against type as a seemin
gly soulless colonel in the country’s Police Security Branch whose cruel pursuit drives naïve, apolitical Patrick on a transformative quest to free his country from oppression by any means necessary. Noyce contributes a slick production, driving home (perhaps a bit too heavily) the story’s modern-day metaphor. (Devin D. O’Leary) Coming Friday; check local listings
The Departed (R, 149 minutes) Martin Scorsese seriously reworks the 2002 Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs, transferring the intense cops-and-robbers action from the Far East to the East Coast. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a fresh recruit from the Boston Police Academy who is put deep undercover in an Irish mob run by flamboyant gangster Jack Nicholson. At the same time, Nicholson has got his own undercover agent (Matt Damon) operating inside the police department. Much bloodshed erupts when our two moles are dispatched to find out each other’s identities. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
Employee of the Month (PG-13, 103 minutes) There are people who are rabid Dane Cook fanatics, reveling in his every inside joke and secretive hand gesture. And then there are those of us who think he’s a nice enough young fellow who has yet to actually say anything funny. Here, Cook continues searching for the bridge between standup comedy and acting. He plays a slacker employee at a warehouse store who suddenly gets ambitious after hearing that the hot new girl (Jessica Simpson) will gladly date the employee of the month. As far as Jessica Simpson is concerned, there are people out there who think she’s a talentless bimbo. And then there are… No, wait, that’s pretty much it. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Flags of Our Fathers (R, 132 minutes) James Bradley’s book about the Battle of Iwo Jima (and that famous flag photo) gets adapted by screenwriters Bill Broyles (Apollo 13, Jarhead) and Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby, Crash) and directed by Clint Eastwood. Not too shabby. Film follows the life stories of the six men who raised that famous flag. Amazingly, the film both celebrates the heroism of the battle and also deconstructs the government’s cynical PR manipulation of the event. Ryan Phillippe, Barry Pepper, Adam Beach and Jamie Bell are among the low-key cast. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
Flicka (PG) It’s safe to assume that roughly half the females in America have read Mary O’Hara’s equestrian novel My Friend Flicka. Here’s another film version, this one starring Alison Lohman (White Oleander) as a rebellious teen who raises a wild mustang to prove to her father (real-life hick Tim McGraw) that she’s capable of taking over the family ranch. There’s lots of weeping and hugging and pretty shots of horses. Girls will love it. Boys, I’d advise you to remain in the parking lot and stomp on ketchup packages for 90 minutes. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
The Grudge 2 (PG-13) Director Takashi Shimizu tackles his tale of vengeful ghosts for the sixth time (four films/remakes/sequels in Japan and two in America)! This one kills off the gal from the first American version (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and passes the ghostly curse off on her sister (Amber Tamblyn). As in previous installments, there’s more creepy atmosphere than outright horror, but the story is starting to take noticeable shape…assuming you’re not burned out on stringy black hair and little Japanese kids in pale makeup. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
The Guardian (PG-13, 136 minutes) Until now, Hollywood hasn’t given the Coast Guard the same sort of love it has extended to Marines or firemen or cops or Russian hit men. There just aren’t a lot of Coast Guard-based action films. Now, Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher are here to rectify the situation. Costner takes over the “gruff older instructor with an emotionally scarred background,” leaving Kutcher to play the “cocky but hunky new recruit with a lesson to learn.” The Guardian does a good job of showing how dangerous the jobs of Coast Guard rescue swimmers actually are, but at 136 minutes, Costner and Kutcher spend a little too much time sitting around and chatting. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
The Illusionist (PG-13, 110 minutes) Edward Norton stars as a magician who, because of his apparent supernatural powers, becomes a threat to the Hapsburg empire in fin-de-siècle Vienna. The movie’s a love triangle that’s supposed to stir our passions, but it doesn’t quite get the job done, partly because Norton lacks hypnotic appeal and partly because the whole thing seems to be taking place inside a cardboard box. (Kent Williams) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Jackass Number Two (PG-13, 103 minutes) Sigh… Yes. They made a second one. Teenagers who love to pour hot sauce in their eyes, jump off buildings and kick each other in the nuts are super friggin’ stoked! Everyone else simply continues to mourn the slow, steady death of civilization. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
The Last King of Scotland (R, 121 minutes) This gritty biopic recounts the life of brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin as seen by his personal physician. (Yes, Amin did at one point declare himself King of Scotland.) Forest Whitaker (fresh off “The Shield”) gives a major performance, making Amin both monstrous and pitiful. The film’s jarring camerawork adds to the thrilling nature of this ugly but absorbing tale. (D.O.) Playing at Vinegar Hill Theatre
Little Miss Sunshine (R, 100 minutes) This pitch-black comedy features a strong cast (Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell) in the story of a downwardly mobile Albuquerque family that can’t win for losing. Although the filmmakers sometimes press too hard on their theme about the hollowness of the American Dream, the movie often achieves a light, farcical tone that’s touchingly at odds with the mood everybody’s in. (K.W.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Man of the Year (PG-13, 105 minutes) What if Robin Willia
ms were a wacky disc jockey? No, what if Robin Williams were a wacky doctor? No, what if Robin Williams were a wacky politician… A more pressing question might be, what if Robin Williams were still funny? Here, he plays a comedian on a late-night political talk show who ends up getting elected president. Can you just imagine what it would be like if Patch Adams were giving a White House press conference? I can, and it scares me. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Marie Antoinette (PG-13, 123 minutes) Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) was roundly trashed at the Cannes Film Festival for this blithe adaptation of the life of France’s ill-fated queen. The hip cast (Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Asia Argento, Molly Shannon) and revisionist’s disregard for history won’t lure many Francophiles, but young viewers with a taste for eye candy and new wave pop tunes may have fun. Just don’t expect to pass your history test after watching this trendy biopic. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
The Marine (PG-13) Clearly, with the overabundance of intelligent, highbrow films flooding out of Hollywood these days, what the market really needs is more films produced by Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. Here, we have pro wrestler John Cena (one-time “Dr. of Thugonomics”) as a marine who returns from battle to find his wife ensnared in a kidnapping plot. What’s a musclehead to do but kick lots of villainous ass? Sounds like the perfect thing for people who have worn out their DVD of Commando. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Open Season (PG, 86 minutes) Wow, Ashton Kutcher fans are certainly like pigs rolling in filth this week. Between this and The Guardian, there are two Kutcher films in which to wallow. Frankly, it seems like overkill—not unlike the dogpile of computer-animated animal movies we’ve been subjected to this summer. Here, Kutcher plays a cartoon deer who helps a domesticated grizzly bear (voiced by Martin Lawrence) to survive in the wild. Only complication: Hunting season starts in three days! (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
The Prestige (PG-13) Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins) rounds up a couple castmembers from Batman (Christian Bale, Michael Caine), mixes them in with a few new friends (Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie) and gives them an unusual period drama/sci-fi/fantasy to play around in. Jackman and Bale play a couple of turn-of-the-century magicians/professional rivals. When Bale performs the ultimate trick, Jackman tries desperately to uncover the secret. Based on the novel by Christopher Priest. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Saw III (R, 107 minutes) The Saw films don’t really consist of much more than a string of people being tortured to death via various arcane methods by the philosophical serial killer Jigsaw (think Rube Goldberg crossed with Leatherface). Nonetheless, this slick and popular series of gore films has become a dynasty; hence, its now annual appearance on movie screens. In this latest installment, a female doctor (Bahar Soomekh) is kidnapped and forced to keep the dying killer alive long enough to run his latest game of kill or be killed. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings
The Science of Sleep (R, 105 minutes) Director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) tries his hand at writing a trippy comedy/fantasy/romance. Gael García Bernal (Y Tu Mamá También) plays an insecure artist who moves to Paris to reconnect with his widowed mother and ends up falling in love with his charming neighbor (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Unable to express himself in his waking life, our hero soon escapes into the wiggy world of his dreams. I think. It’s actually pretty hard to tell what’s going on in this phantasmagoric mess. Whatever’s going on, it sure is a lovely, whimsy-filled head trip presenting Gondry in his most undiluted state. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (R, 84 minutes) Ah, there’s nothing like beating a dead horse. And then stringing its corpse up in a garage and hitting it with a hammer and then cutting it up with a chainsaw and then eating it. The director of the crummy tooth fairy horror flick Darkness Falls attempts to cash in on the relative success of 2003’s TCM remake. In this prequel, a group of teens on a road trip breaks down in the middle of nowhere and is terrorized by an evil sheriff (R. Lee Ermey) and his twisted offspring. At least there’s lots and lots of blood and guts for you gorehounds out there. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
