Rating: 5 out of 5 starsGenre: Documentary
Opens locally Friday, September 30th, 2011 Run Time: 1 hour, 33 minutes, Not Rated Directed by Heather Courtney (Letters from the Other Side) Unless you or a loved one has served in the military, chances are that you don’t really know first-hand what it’s like. When the President speaks about sending troops overseas, they’re just numbers flashed on CNN, or given as a death toll number. Rarely do these numbers impact us on a personal level, and with our country being at war for the past 10 years, it is fairly easy to accept war as the norm, and to take for granted the sacrifices made by our fellow citizens.
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Rating: 4 out of 5 starsGenre: Action, Drama
Opens locally Friday, September 30th, 2011 Run Time: 2 hours, 7 minutes, Rated R Starring: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon, Souleymane Sy Savane Directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner) The title “Machine Gun Preacher” implies we’ll get an intense blood-soaked action-mayhem movie, with explosions, and more than a few slow-motion shots of our hero walking into the camera with the world aflame behind him. The reality is, we do get intense action, graphic violence and explosions, but this is no comic book movie…instead it is an intense adult drama that doesn’t exploit, and only shows us horrible violence when needed. While not a perfect film, “Machine Gun Preacher” was an unexpectedly good film, with some pretty heavy moral issues at the center, making this a thinking-man’s action flick. Rating: 5 out of 5 starsGenre: Comedy, Drama
Opens locally, Friday, September 30th, 2011 Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston Written by Will Reiser (1st feature screenplay) Directed by Jonathan Levine (The Wackness) When diagnosed with cancer at the age of 27, Adam is forced to face his humanity, and the possibility that he will die before having a chance to live his life. His uncaring doctor tells him his chances of survival are “50/50.” His over-protective mother already has her hands full with his dad who is battling Alzheimer’s, and his best friend doesn’t quite understand his situation. His girlfriend gives up on him as well, not wanting to act as companion and nurse to a dying patient. Rating: 1 out of 5 starsGenre: Comedy
Opens locally Friday, September 30th, 2011 Run Time: 1 hour, 46 minutes, Rated R Starring: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Blythe Danner, Joel McHale Directed by Mark Mylod (The Big White) It’s awful, humiliating, and horrible (or as fellow critic James Sanford called it on the way out: “whore”-ible.) If you need to know more, please read on. “What’s Your Number?” is a shoe-in for multiple Razzies this award season. The title doesn’t refer to the innocent, "what’s your phone number," but rather the number of people you have slept with. According to Marie Claire magazine (in the movie anyways), the average girl has more than 10 partners. And if you hit 20? Statistics say that you will never get married. This forms the moral base and compass on which all of the film’s characters are judged…if you have kept it under 20, you are respectable in this world, but 21 means you’re a slut. Rating: 3 out of 5 starsGenre: Foreign, Action, Crime/Mystery
Opens locally in limited release, Friday September 23rd, 2011 Run Time: 2 hours, 3 minutes, Rated PG-13 Starring: Andy Lau, Carina Lau, Bingbing LI, Chao Deng Directed by Tsui Hark (Seven Swords, Once Upon a Time in China) From Hong Kong legendary director Tsui Hark, comes a movie you've probably never heard of, with a title that sounds like a Nancy Drew or Encyclopedia Brown detective novel. "Detective Dee" is a character based on an actual person in Chinese history, Di Renjie, a household name in China made popular in the West by author Robert van Gulik in his mystery series "Judge Dee." Di Renjie was a Tang Dynasty official, and a very famous prime minister in 7th century China, who served under the only female king in Chinese history, Empress Wu. If you've never heard of any of that, just think of Detective Dee as a 7th century Chinese version of Sherlock Holmes, and think of "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" as a 2-hour long, Chinese episode of Scooby-Doo. Rating: 5 out of 5 starsGenre: Sports Drama
Opens locally Friday, September 23rd, 2011 Run Time: 2 hours 13 minutes, Rated PG-13 Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt Written by Steven Zaillian (American Gangster, Gangs of New York and upcoming Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) & Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, TV's The West Wing), based on the book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" by Michael Lewis Directed by Bennett Miller (Capote) "Moneyball" should be seen by any fan of baseball...but I won't use cliches like "it's a home run" or anything. It does have an A-List cast, with 2 of the best writers in the business, featuring a director who's 1st and only feature film, 2005's "Capote," earned him a Best Director Academy Award nomination. Think of the cast and crew of "Moneyball" as the NY Yankees, an all-star assembly of the best talent money can buy. Rating: 4 out of 5 starsGenre: Family, Drama
Opens locally Friday, September 23rd, 2011 Run Time: 1 hour 53 minutes, Rated PG Starring: Nathan Gamble, Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Kris Kristofferson, Austin Stowell, Cozy Zuehlsdorff, Winter the Dolphin Directed by Charles Martin Smith (Boris and Natasha, Air Bud) The film's title, "Dolphin Tale," of course is meant to read: "Dolphin Tail," as the main story revolves around a dolphin who loses his tail in a crab trap. There have been loads of awful "family-friendly" films that have come out in recent years, and this one seems to have the makings of another cringe-inducing, wholesome piece of fluff...an easy paycheck for an A-list Hollywood cast (think Robert Duvall in "Seven Days in Utopia.") But make no mistake..."Dolphin Tale" may just be one of the better family films of the year, reminiscent of movies that I remember watching growing up in the 80s, where people help one another, and show compassion for each other. An inspirational, positive story that stands out as a throw-back, when compared to recent movies. Genre: Animated Classic, Musical
Opens Friday September 16th, 2011, for 2 weeks only (check for showtimes) Run Time: 1 hour 27 minutes Voice cast: Jonathan Taylor-Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons Directed by Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff Hard to believe that it's been 17 years since the original "The Lion King" was released. It's a classic movie that stands the test of time, as most all animated Disney classics do. OK, I'm a bit biased, having practically been raised up at Disney World (at the age of 32, my family has vacationed there at least 25 times.) Rating: 3 out of 5 starsGenre: Action, Crime, Drama
Opens locally Friday, September 16th, 2011 Run Time: 1 hour 40 minutes, Rated R Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising, Bronson, Pusher) The word “drive” can mean a few different things. In the new movie “Drive,” I think it’s to mean the kind of driving involving a car, and in that definition of the word, it is aptly named. The other definition of “drive” could mean ambition, or will-power. If “Drive” had a little bit more of the latter, and less of the former, it’d be headed in the right direction. At least know where you’re travelling to, right? Rating: 4 out of 5 starsOpens locally on Friday, September 9th, 2011
Run Time: 2 hours, 19 minutes Starring: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison Directed by Gavin O’Connor There’s something about an underdog story. In “Warrior,” we get the very familiar premise of the down and out fighter and his unlikely rise to the top, powered by sheer will. When done poorly, this kind of film becomes a Rocky-wanna-be…it could have been a contender, but falls into the clichés of the genre. When done well (think last year’s “The Fighter”), it can be a gripping example of overcoming the odds, inspiring us to think that we can accomplish anything. |
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