Movies playing in town
21 (PG-13, 123 minutes) Inspired by the book Bringing Down the House, this fact-based (let’s not go all the way to “true”) story introduces us to hotshot young M.I.T. student Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess, Across the Universe). Our boy Ben’s a math wizard, but he’s too poor to afford tuition. Enter evil genius professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), who recruits Ben and a group of other students to become professional blackjack cheats in Las Vegas. Together, they rake in millions of dollars before the inevitable greed tears down their plans like a house of … something flimsy and paper-like in substance. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
88 Minutes (R, 108 minutes) Al Pacino plays a college professor who is given 88 minutes to solve his own murder. That’s pretty much the same plot as the 1988 remake of D.O.A. with a tighter timeframe, but we’ll let it slide. This time. Apparently, our man Al’s testimony helped send a serial killer to death row. Now, it looks like the killer is getting his revenge, framing the professor for murder, ruining his reputation, killing him, stuff like that…or will there be some sort of crazy twist ending? Yeah, there’ll be some sort of crazy twist ending. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Baby Mama (PG-13, 96 minutes) Tina Fey (“Saturday Night Live”) goes for big screen fame, starring as a workaholic single businesswoman who decides it’s time to have it all and spawn a kid. Sadly, her uterus isn’t in on the plan, and she’s forced to hire a surrogate mother in the form of white trash breeder Amy Poehler (also of “SNL”). Cross-cultural hijinks ensue. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Caramel (PG, 95 minutes) This laidback romantic comedy peers into the lives of five Lebanese women living in Beirut. As in so many other films of this type (Beauty Shop, Beauty Academy of Kabul, Venus Beauty Institute), it’s a beauty parlor that provides the excuse for all and sundry to interact, socially speaking. The slice-of-life humor feels mighty familiar, making this a rather universal foreign film. In Arabic and French with English subtitles. Playing at Vinegar Hill Theatre
Deception (R, 108 minutes) A jaded New York accountant (Ewan McGregor) is introduced to a mysterious underground sex club by his lawyer pal (Hugh Jackman). Score! Unfortunately, he soon finds himself the prime suspect in a woman’s disappearance and a multi-million dollar heist. Just the thing for those who like their thrillers laced with eros. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (G, 88 minutes) Wacky Jim Carrey proably isn’t the best choice to play Dr. Seuss’ timid, persecuted environmentalist Horton, but at least the CGI animation does its utmost to replicate the author/illustrator’s wild worlds. Scattered around this tale of a selfless elephant who tries to convince his jungle cohorts that a microscopic world needs his protection are vocal ringers like Steve Carrell, Will Arnett, Carol Burnett, Dane Cook, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Amy Poehler, Jamie Pressly and Seth Rogan. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
The Forbidden Kingdom (PG-13, 113 minutes) It’s exciting to see Jackie Chan and Jet Li teamed up on screen for the very first time in this umpteenth retelling of the Monkey King legend (a.k.a. Journey to the West). But it’s a little disconcerting to see American director Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little, Disney’s Haunted Mansion) behind the camera and virtual unknown Michael Angarano (“Will & Grace”) front and center as a kung fu-obsessed teen who gets sucked back into ancient China after buying bootleg DVDs in Chinatown. That’s almost the exact same plot as the crummy TV mini-series “The Lost Empire” starring that dude from “Dharma & Greg. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (R, 111 minutes) Up-and-comer Jason Segel (Knocked Up, “How I Met Your Mother”) pens and stars in this latest anti-romantic comedy addition to the increasingly large Judd Apatow canon. Segel plays a sad sack musician whose TV star girlfriend (TV star Kristen Bell) breaks up with him. In an attempt to get over it, he jets off to a resort in Hawaii, only to run smack dab into the ex and her new, clueless rock star boyfriend. There’s a fair amount of raunch here, but a decent amount of sentiment as well, placing it well above Drillbit Taylor, but slightly below Superbad. Playing at Regal Seminole Square 4
Harold and Kumer Escape from Guantanamo Bay (R, 102 minutes) OK, you’ve got to give John Cho and Kal Penn some credit. Instead of following up their hit comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle with something obvious like Harold & Kumar Go to Europe, they went out on a political limb sending the stoner duo to federal prison in Cuba. You’ll still need to appreciate a good bong joke to find the whole thing funny, but a little topicality never hurts. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Iron Man (PG-13, 126 minutes) Reviewed here. Playing at Regal Seminole Square 4
Leatherheads (PG-13, 114 minutes) George Clooney directs and stars in this period screwball comedy about the birth of professional football back in the ’30s. Clooney is Dodge Connelly, the powerhouse captain behind a struggling football team. Hoping to boost attendance, our gridiron great convinces a straight-laced college sensation (John Krasinski from “The Office”) to join the team. Unfortunately, the new kid falls for Dodge’s gal, a spunky cub reporter played by Renée Zellweger. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Made of Honor (PG-13, 101 minutes) Patrick Dempsey (Dr. McDreamy himself) headlines this unapologetically chick-flicky rom-com. He plays Tom, a serial dater who decides one day that he’s in love with his best friend, marriage-minded Hannah (Michelle Monaghan). Unfortunately, she chooses that moment to announce that she’s engaged to some Scottish chap and wants Tom to act as her maid of honor. He accepts, with the hope that he can break up the wedding before it happens. Original? No. Fun? Maybe, if you’ve never seen When Harry Met Sally… Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Nim’s Island (PG, 95 minutes) A young girl (Abigail Breslin) living on a tropical island with her scientist father (Gerard Butler) turns to Alex Rover, the star of her favorite Indiana Jones-ish book series, for help when dad suddenly goes missing. As it turns out, though, the books are actually authored by Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), a reclusive, agoraphobic New York writer. Together, these two unlikely heroines join forces to search for dad. Playing at Regal Seminole Square 4
Prom Night (PG-13, 88 minutes) For anyone too young to actually remember the original slasher flick Prom Night (all the way back in 1980) comes this handy remake in kid-friendly PG-13 format. Borrowing the title setting and…nothing else, this limp teen thriller follows a high schooler (Brittany Snow, Hairspray) who’s being stalked by an obsessive ex-teacher. Playing at Regal Seminole Square 4
The Ruins (R, 97 minutes) Scott B. Smith’s icky horror novel makes it onto the big screen. In it, a group of friends embark on a leisurely Mexican holiday. While stepping off the beaten bath, the gang stumbles across an archeological dig in the remote jungle. There, they encounter an ancient and bloodthirsty evil lurking among the ruins. Young cast includes Jonathan Tucker (“The Black Donnellys”), Jena Malone (Donnie Darko) and Shawn Ashmore (X-Men: The Last Stand). Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Smart People (R, 93 minutes) In the dysfunctional family tradition of Dan in Real Life, Little Miss Sunshine, Pieces of April, The Squid and the Whale, etc., newbie filmmakers Mark Poirier (he wrote it) and Noam Murro (he directed it) assemble a talented cast and give them plenty of witty lines to chew over. Dennis Quaid is a widowed college professor who’s given up on life. At home, his daughter (Ellen Page from Juno) is an overachieving Young Republican, and his son is trying to avoid his crazy clan altogether. Into this mass of unresolved issues comes ne’er-do-well brother Thomas Hayden Church and possible love interest Sarah Jessica Parker. Predictable, but never wholly contrived, Smart People is a clever, gray-toned dramedy aimed at the same sort of grad-school audiences who chuckled and winced their way through Sideways. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Vantage Point (PG-13, 90 minutes) Taking its inpiration, as so many other films have, from Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, this political thriller presents a crime as seen from five different viewpoints. Seems that some terrorists (or are they?) have tried to assassinate the President of the United States (or have they?). A host of witnesses (or are they?), each present their own perspective on the crime, allowing us to see the damn thing again and again and again (and again and again). Starry cast includes Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, Dennis Quaid, William Hurt and Matthew Fox. Playing at Regal Seminole Square 4
The Visitor (PG-13, 108 minutes) A college professor (character actor Richard Jenkins from “Six Feet Under”) travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his part-time apartment. Instead of booting them, the prof befriends the young Arab drummer and his African girlfriend, adding a little color to his drab, middle-aged life. In only his second film, writer/director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent) contributes another exquisite, low-key, naturalistic character study. Opening Friday at Vinegar Hill Theatre
