Film Blurbs 2-24-2010
Unattributed film synopses indicate movies not yet reviewed by HW staff.
Indicates films of particular interest
Opening
Cop Out Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan play the latest interracial cop duo, undoubtedly stumbling, rambling and wisecracking their way through a case involving a stolen vintage baseball card. For Willis, the two-time Emmy Award winner, a cop out indeed.
The Crazies A look at what could’ve happened had Erin Brockovich not discovered the dirty water. Pierce County, “friendliest place on earth,” ain’t so friendly after a toxin enters the water supply, infecting the town with a case of the crazies. (Side effects include nausea, playing dead at the morgue and stumbling on the baseball field with a rifle.)
NT Live: Nation A live broadcast from the Royal National Theatre in London featuring an adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novel, set in a parallel universe in the 1870s. Two brothers embark on an adventure of survival and self-discovery following a tsunami.
Continuing
Avatar Yes, the proceedings are involving, rousing and occasionally heartbreaking, but so was The Princess and the Frog. But before we pan the thing, the movie gets undeniably exciting in its spear-versus-machine climax. –Ryan Senaga
Celine: Through the Eyes of the World Five continents, 25 countries and 93 cities. One Canadian diva extraordinaire with a French accent and an unwavering penchant for weepy ballads. Welcome to the “Taking Chances” tour, the highest-grossing tour of the decade from a solo artist.
Crazy Heart A tragicomedy featuring Bad Blake, a 57-year-old, alcoholic country singer played perfectly by Jeff Bridges, who finds an intimate connection with a young journalist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) hungry for a story. –Dean Carrico
Dear John The movie is so manipulative that bright people might feel insulted, and so mechanical that it defies credibility. –Bob Green
An Education This movie knows exactly what it’s doing in telling its archetypal story of a precocious 16-year-old schoolgirl (Mulligan, wonderful) seduced, in every possible way, by a man in his mid-30s (Sarsgaard in his best performance since The Dying Gaul). –B.G.
Edge of Darkness [Mel Gibson] still has the power to electrify us with his dead-eyed, simmering stare, as well as touch us with his cinematic fetish for martyrdom. Too bad one can’t say the same for the rest of the movie. –R.S.
From Paris With Love A thriller high on machismo and low on thrill. When the aid to the U.S. Ambassador in Paris (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) gets asked to stop a terrorist attack, he gets paired with a gun-happy detective, played by a bald and mustached John Travolta.
The Hurt Locker A gripping look into the work of the military’s most courageous and unrecognized heroes: the Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad, responsible for defusing roadside bombs in Baghdad. A critics’ darling.
The Last Station A biographical account of Russian author Leo Tolstoy, meaning a lot of rhetoric about peasant-loving, non-violent resistance and Christian anarchy. His marriage to Countess Sofya (the fantastic Helen Mirren), 16 years his junior, provides the tension.
Legion Toward the end, one of the characters wonders why God chose to exterminate humans. “Maybe He got tired of all the bullsh*t.” After seeing Legion, we’re tired of it too. –R.S.
Oscar Animated Shorts The selection from the animated category features five tales that prove you don’t need a bloated runtime to make your point. Yes, we’re looking at you James Cameron. –D.C.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief See review on page 17.
Shinjuku Incident Jackie Chan takes a step toward the more serious side of cinema, starring as an illegal Chinese immigrant navigating the Yakuza-studded streets of Shinjuku. Compared to his last release, in which he played soccer mom to his girlfriend’s kids, it sounds like Hamlet.
Shutter Island See review on page 16.
A Single Man Writer-director Tom Ford, making his helming debut, has done a credible, savvy version of the Christopher Isherwood novel, making it visually telling and guiding his actors to near-perfection. –B.G.
Up in the Air George Clooney gives a terrific performance in Jason Reitman’s equally terrific movie. –B.G.
Valentine’s Day Could you possibly think of a better way to celebrate the saint of schmaltz than with a gaggle of beautiful celebrities–Joe Jonas and Taylor Swift, among them–canoodling in Los Angeles?
When In Rome Many of the jokes fall flat; this is the kind of film that concludes with a dance sequence over the end credits, a “cute” gimmick that’s more painful than the accident reel on a Jackie Chan flick. –R.S.
The Wolfman This new version, shelved by the studio for two years, suffers from overkill: huge budget, added characters, hammy acting, overly-long stories and a miscast del Toro. –B.G.
Doris Duke Theatre
Honolulu Academy of Arts, 900 S. Beretania St., $8 general, $7 seniors/students/military, $5 Academy members, [honoluluacademy.org], 532-87683rd Annual Bollywood Film Festival runs through March 2 and features 10 of Mumbai’s best. See [www.honoluluacademy.org] for showtimes and movie prices.
Movie Museum
3566 Harding Ave. #4, $4 members, $5 general, 735-8771Quiet Chaos (Italy/U.K., 2008) A character study starring Pietro, a recently widowed father who spends his days planted on a park bench across of his daughter’s school, waiting for the final bell to ring. A meditation on loss, grief and hope.
Thu 2/25, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 6:30 & 8:30pm. Sat 2/27, 2, 4, 6 & 8pm.
Flame and Citron (Demark/Czech Republic/Germany, 2008) A WWII resistance drama featuring the complicated circumstances of two real-life Nazi-killers, Bent Faurschou-Hviid (Flame) and Jorgen Haagen Schmith (Citron), both members of the Holger Danske underground faction. Like Inglourious Basterds, minus the snark.
Fri 2/26 & Mon 3/1, 12:30, 3, 5:30, & 8pm.
The Informant! (2009) Matt Damon stars as a bigwig at an agribusiness giant obsessed with saving the “common man” by going undercover and becoming the biggest corporate whistle blower in U.S. history. Directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Sun 2/28, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 6:30 & 8:30pm.
University of Hawaii
Spalding Auditorium, 2500 Campus Rd., $5 general, $3 UH students & faculty, 223-0130The Whale Dreamers (Australia, 2006) An eco-friendly doc that explores the correlation between whales and their tribes. Director Kim Kindersley uses aborigines as a pivot point for means of exploring various forms of whale-related culture and myth.
Sun 2/28, 5pm.
Lagaan (India, 2007) A barren Indian village oppressed by high taxes from the British Empire must duke it out in a game of cricket. Featuring all the romance, whimsy, drama, song and dance of classic Bollywood.
Mon 3/1, 3:30pm, Hawaii Institute for Geophysics auditorium, room 110, Free.
Baby aWEARness
Manoa Marketplace Auditorium, 2752 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 5-209, Free.
FLOW: For Love of Water (2008) A bottled water-free screening (no seriously, only reusable bottles are OK) of a conscious-rousing documentary featuring our water–where it comes from, who’s polluting it and what corporations are privatizing our natural resources. Q&A with Dr. Kapuaala Sproat and Isaac Moriwake to follow, plus tips on water conservation.
Sun 2/28, 3pm, Free, RSVP at [email: flowscreening].
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