MOVIES
Movies are rated on a letter-grade scale, from A to F. Opinions by R-J movie critic Carol Cling (C.C.) are indicated by initials. Other opinions are from wire service critics.
Motion Picture Association of America ratings:
G – General audiences, all ages.
PG – Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
PG-13 – Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children under 13.
R – Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian.
NC-17 – No one under 17 admitted.
NR – Not rated.
AVENUE MONTAIGNE
(B) In a chic Paris neighborhood, a spirited gamine from the provinces (the irresistible Cecile de France) takes a waitressing job on the fashionable title avenue, where her charming, charmed presence impacts an aging art collector (Claude Brasseur), a rebellious concert pianist (Albert Dupontel) and a sitcom star (Valerie Lemercier) desperate to appear in a drama from a visiting Hollywood director (Sydney Pollack). The warmly defined characters move through their story as if on well-oiled tracks, which makes this feel like a foreign film intended for audiences that don’t really care for foreign films. In French with English subtitles. (106 min.) PG-13; brief sexuality, profanity.
AWAY FROM HER
(A-) An Alzheimer’s patient (an exquisitely subtle Julie Christie) goes into a nursing home and transfers her affections to an even more fragile patient (Michael Murphy), prompting an emotional crisis for her forgotten husband (Canada’s craggy Gordon Pinsent), in actress-turned-filmmaker Sarah Polley’s heart-piercingly poignant adaptation of Alice Munro’s short story “The Bear Went Over the Mountain.” Despite the wrenching subject matter, it’s far from depressing — and at times downright exhilarating — to watch a movie as quietly precise and emotionally insightful as this one. (110 min.) PG-13; profanity, sexual references. (C.C.)
BLACK BOOK
(B+) Director Paul Verhoeven returns to his native Netherlands for this gripping, sardonically perverse thriller about a Jewish singer (Carice van Houten) who joins the Dutch resistance during World War II after her family is murdered — and seduces a Nazi officer (“The Lives of Others’ ” Sebastian Koch) to find out who betrayed them. It isn’t pretty, but for all its melodramatic hoohah, it feels pretty real. In English, Dutch, German and Hebrew with English subtitles. (145 min.) R; strong violence, graphic nudity, sexual situations, profanity. (C.C.)
BLADES OF GLORY
(C+) Will Ferrell goes for the gold as an arrogant figure skater who teams with a flamboyant rival (“Napoleon Dynamite’s” Jon Heder) to shake up the pairs division when they’re both barred from solo competition. Like “Zoolander” with a Zamboni, this dumb-with-a-capital-D goofball farce takes its (almost) fleshed-out sketch-comedy idea as far as an ice-skating buddy movie with we’re-not-gay jokes and a psycho stalker can go. Which isn’t that far. (94 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual humor, profanity, comic violent image, drug references.
BUG
(B+) Tick … tick … tick. Paranoia and insect bites make for one crawly movie, about a motel room, a damaged woman (a gutsy Ashley Judd) and the boyfriend (Michael Shannon) who brings out the worst in her. This quasi-experimental mental exercise from veteran creepologist William Friedkin (“The Exorcist”) is so intense and loony it may work at some theaters like audience repellent. Still, it’s a fascinating exercise in paranoia and terror that sticks to the brain like intellectual flypaper. (102 min.) R; strong violence, sexuality, nudity, profanity, drug use.
DEEP SEA 3D
(B) Get up close and personal with ocean wildlife, unveiled in the reach-out-and-touch weirdness of Imax 3D at the Luxor. This giant-screen documentary introduces exotic denizens of the deep so extravagantly extraterrestrial, nothing created by Hollywood’s special effects labs could possibly compete. (40 min.) G; all ages.
DELTA FARCE
(D) In this blue-collar comedy, three drinking buddies (Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and DJ Qualls) git ‘er done — sort of — when a gung-ho Army sergeant (Keith David) mistakes them for reservists and puts them on a plane headed for Iraq. It’s dopey Army comedy in the tradition of “Buck Privates” and “Stripes” — with the sights aimed lower and blissfully unaware of its own monumental tastelessness. It’s not very good, but at least it’s not evil. (90 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual humor.
DINOSAURS 3D: GIANTS OF PATAGONIA
(B+) Now at Luxor’s Imax theater, this excursion traces the evolution — and extinction — of giant prehistoric beasts that rip each other’s faces off in thrilling computer-generated segments showcasing species we didn’t see in “Jurassic Park.” Paleontologist Rodolfo Coria proves a congenial tour guide, while Donald Sutherland’s droll narration emphasizes a quality all but extinct in large-format documentaries: humor. (40 min.) NR; very large, very loud dinosaurs.
DISTURBIA
(B-) Think of “Rear Window” with digital equipment and front lawns and you’ll know what to expect from this spirited, smart-alecky thriller in which an eavesdropping teen (Shia LaBeouf) tries to figure out if the soft-spoken bachelor (David Morse) next door is a cold-blooded killer. So what if you can see every plot twist bearing down like a rush-hour commuter express? “Disturbia” still boasts a scrappy charm. (104 min.) PG-13; sequences of terror and violence, sexual references.
FIGHTER PILOT
(B) Wild blue yonder: Nellis Air Force Base zooms into the giant-screen spotlight with this Imax documentary, now at the Luxor, focusing on Red Flag combat training exercises. The midair sequences are almost sickeningly exhilarating, but plodding on-the-ground portions seem earthbound. (48 min.) NR; all ages.
FRACTURE
(C+) A calculating tycoon (Anthony Hopkins, who could play this role in his sleep) shoots his adulterous wife, confesses to the crime — and is determined to keep his cocky prosecutor (a mannered Ryan Gosling) off guard — in a slick but empty battle-of-wits thriller that once again proves “howdunits” are seldom as compelling as “whodunits.” True to its title, cracks begin to appear the minute you look too closely at “Fracture,” a movie that wants desperately to be clever — but turns out to be distressingly routine. (112 min.) R; violence, profanity, sexual references. (C.C.)
GEORGIA RULE
(D+) Three generations clash in a misbegotten comedy-drama about a rebellious teen (Lindsay Lohan) whose had-it, dysfunctional mother (Felicity Huffman) hauls her back to the Idaho farm run, with an iron hand, by her flinty mother (Jane Fonda). Very little about these characters is believable — including the idea that they’re related. It all suggests an Ingmar Bergman script as directed by Jerry Lewis. (113 min.) R; sexual content, profanity.
GHOST RIDER
(D) Crash-and-burn: Motorcycle stunt superstar Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) makes a deal with the devil, becoming a demonic bounty hunter in a Marvel Comics adaptation that’s an unholy melding of religious mumbo-jumbo to motorcycle worship, Western folklore, father-son psychology, and Elvis Lives wish fulfillment. (110 min.) PG-13; horror violence, disturbing images.
HOT FUZZ
(B) Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who teamed up for 2004’s zombie romp “Shaun of the Dead,” reunite in a buddy-cop spoof about a gung-ho London officer who’s transferred to a sleepy village — just in time to take on a serial killer. A pedal-to-the-metal kick, two parts delirious mayhem and one part deafening noise, that could put the final digit to “Lethal Weapon” and its kind, if there’s any mercy in the world. (120 min.) R; violent content, graphic images, profanity.
THE INVISIBLE
(C) It’s tough to be in love and in limbo at the same time, as a promising young writer (Justin Chatwin of “War of the Worlds”), attacked and left for dead, finds himself invisible to those still alive — and desperate to discover what happened to him before it’s too late. A retread of the 2002 Swedish film “Den Osynlige,” this latest recycling of foreign-grown frights shows less interest in horror than in healing. (97 min.) PG-13; violence, criminality, sexual references and profanity, all involving teens.
LIONS 3D: ROAR OF THE KALAHARI
(B+) This award-winning National Geographic production, filmed in the wild by Tim Liversedge, goes 3-D, focusing on a lion king’s battle with a young challenger for control of his throne — and a valuable water hole in Botswana’s Kalahari desert. It’s not a new movie, but this remastered giant-screen version, now at the Luxor’s Imax theater, has been magically transformed: you’re not merely there, you’re a lion, an honorary member of the pride. (40 min.) NR; animal violence.
LUCKY YOU
(B-) Hold ’em? Or hold her? That is the question for poker ace Huck Cheever (Eric Bana), a charming “blaster” who’s trying to find a way into the World Series of Poker — where he’s bound to run into his estranged father (an irresistibly blustery Robert Duvall), a two-time champ — while reluctantly romancing a naive lounge singer (Drew Barrymore) newly arrived in Las Vegas. Even with a script beset by creaky life’s-a-poker-game metaphors, sure-bet director Curtis Hanson (“L.A. Confidential”) breathes some fresh air into the potentially stale proceedings. (123 min.) PG-13; profanity, sexual humor. (C.C.)
MYSTERY OF THE NILE
(B+) This Imax documentary, playing at the Luxor, chronicles the first descent of the Blue Nile from source to sea, a 3,250-mile, 114-day odyssey that brings explorers face-to-face with rapids, crocodiles, bandits, malaria, sandstorms and the fierce desert sun. (47 min.) NR; all ages.
THE NAMESAKE
(A-) A young Calcutta couple (Bollywood veterans Irfan Khan and Tabu) starts a new life in New York, only to have their all-American son (Kal Penn, stretching far beyond “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”) reject his cultural roots in director Mira Nair’s beguiling adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The spices may be exotic, but the basic ingredients are universal; the resulting cinematic dish is rich, complex and utterly delicious. (122 min.) PG-13; sexuality, nudity, drug use, disturbing images, brief profanity. (C.C.)
NEXT
(C+) Leaving Las Vegas proves a complicated proposition for a small-time showroom magician (melancholy Nicolas Cage, back in Glitter City for the fourth time) gifted — and cursed — with the ability to foresee a few minutes into the future, especially when Eurotrash terrorists threaten to detonate a nuclear device, prompting an FBI agent (Julianne Moore) to track him down in hopes of averting disaster. Like a lot of junk food, this cinematic twaddle proves ridiculously easy to swallow, thanks to director Lee Tamahori, who guns the engines and plows ahead — whether it makes sense or not. (96 min.) PG-13; violent action, profanity. (C.C.)
PERFECT STRANGER
(C-) An investigative reporter (Halle Berry) goes undercover at an advertising agency to find out whether its sleazy owner (Bruce Willis) had anything to do with a childhood pal’s murder. This alleged thriller boasts more smelly red herrings than a wholesale fishmarket — not to mention plot holes the size of a wholesale fishmarket, unappealing characters with murky motivations and a director (James Foley) forced to distract the audience by any means necessary. (109 min.) R; sexual situations, nudity, violence, disturbing images, profanity. (C.C.)
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END
(B-) Yo ho-hum — and then some — as this rollicking buccaneer band gets a few new hands on deck (including Chow Yun-Fat as a Singapore pirate lord) and resurrects some old friends — notably Geoffrey Rush as that scenery-chomping scoundrel Barbossa and, inevitably, the deliriously swishbuckling Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who’d never let a little thing like being trapped in the limbo of Davy Jones’ Locker interrupt his (or our) fun. This movie could use a lot more Depp — what movie couldn’t? — but for all its blockbuster bombast, it delivers enough rib-tickling hijinks to power through occasionally rough seas. (168 min.) PG-13; intense action/adventure sequences, frightening images. (C.C.)
SHREK THE THIRD
(C+) Talk about your middle-aged spread: this latest installment in the fractured fairy-tale franchise proves it’s tough to generate laughs when we already know the joke. This time around, the title ogre (once again voiced by Mike Myers) and pals Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) search for an heir to the throne of Far, Far Away, while Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) plots to seize power with a little help from his villainous f(r)iends. (93 min.) PG; crude humor, suggestive content, swashbuckling action. (C.C.)
SPIDER-MAN 3
(B-) The third time’s hardly the charm in a diverting but definitely less-than-equal sequel (also in Imax at the Palms), as our friendly neighborhood webslinger (Tobey Maguire) confronts his dark side, quarrels with a whiny Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) and battles not one, not two, but three villains (James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace). It all adds up to too many plot twists and not enough plot, too many characters and not enough character. (139 min.) PG-13; intense action violence. (C.C.)
300
(C) Well, at least it’s not 300 minutes long. This adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel only feels that way, as 300 strapping Spartans try to repel thousands of Persian invaders during the bloody Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Everything looks cool, but “300” is so busy reveling in bombastic, blood-drenched excess that the acting can’t hope to match the action; the chiseled, Chippendales-ready performers resemble action figures hacking their way through the cartoon carnage of a video game. (117 min.) PG-13; graphic battle sequences, sexual situations, nudity. (C.C.)
28 WEEKS LATER
(C-) The deadly virus that rampaged through “28 Days Later” didn’t disappear, it merely took a break. So has everything that made Danny Boyle’s 2002 horror hit feel fresh and human-sized. It’s as if the entire cast had guns trained at their heads (which many of them do) in a sort-of sequel that’s a screeching, hyperbolic exercise in film-school nihilism, as survivors of the “Rage” plague (including Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne and Catherine McCormack) return to London, where a dormant form of the virus flares up, transforming the uninfected into crazed brain-munchers. (113 min.) R; strong violence and gore, profanity, nudity.
VACANCY
(D-) Bickering spouses (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale) suffer car trouble and wind up in an isolated motel’s honeymoon suite — the locale for a series of snuff films starring unsuspecting guests. Yes, it is a horror flick and supposed to be violent. But the way in which it gets off on the violence — and, ostensibly, hopes the audience does the same — is especially distasteful. When it’s over, you’ll feel grimy, sickened and desperately in need of a shower. (97 min.) R; brutal violence and terror, brief nudity, profanity.
WAITRESS
(B+) A pregnant, small-town waitress (winsome Keri Russell) finds herself caught between an unhappy marriage to a possessive lout (Jeremy Sisto) and a risky affair with her dreamy new doctor (Nathan Fillion) in a bittersweet slice of life that’s a little flaky, yet undeniably tasty. Writer-director Adrienne Shelly (who co-stars with “Curb Your Enthusiasm’s” Cheryl Hines and old pro Andy Griffith) finds the humor in the movie’s heartfelt observations — and the shadows lurking beneath its sunny disposition. (104 min.) PG-13; sexual situations, profanity, brief violence, mature themes. (C.C.)
WILD HOGS
(D) Weekend warriors (Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy) go from mild to wild when they rev up their suburban lives on a cross-country motorcycle trip. Or, more precisely, they embarrass themselves by falling off motorcycles, setting fire to inanimate objects and indulging in hissy fits with spectacularly unfunny results, while others (including those of us in the audience) watch helplessly. (100 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual content, violence.
