Colorbearer of Athens, GA

tells the remarkable survival story of Aron Ralston, an avid outdoorsman who whittled off his arm to escape dying in a canyon near Moab, UT. (Sorry, if you didn’t know Ralston’s well-publicized fate, but trust me when I say you want to know what the movie has in store for you. It gets gruesome.) Recently nominated for six Academy Awards, 127 Hours is the best film of 2010 Athens had to wait until 2011 to see. THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (PG-13) Let’s hope the newest Philip K. Dick adaptation, this one of a short story entitled “The Adjustment Team,” does the popular sci-fi author justice. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt star as a politician and a ballerina (you guess who plays what) who fall in love, only to be stymied by mysterious forces beyond their control. With John Slattery (I approve), Daniel Dae Kim (I miss “Lost”), Terence Stamp (woohoo!), Anthony Mackie ( The Hurt Locker ) and Shoreh Aghdashloo (yes!). BARNEY’S VERSION (R) TV producer Barney Panofsky (the typically infallible Paul Giamatti) reflects on his three marriages, battles with the bottle, and the mysterious disappearance of his best friend, Boogie (Scott Speedman, always remembered for “Felicity”) in this adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s last novel. Director Richard J. Lewis is not the toxic comedian; instead, he is the director of the direct-to-video James Belushi sequel, K-9: P.I. (yeah, it really exists). With Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Mark Addy, Dustin Hoffman and his son, Jake. BEASTLY (PG-13) In this modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast , a shallow Manhattanite, Kyle Kingston (Alex Pettyfer, the thankfully ignored Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker ), is cursed by a classmate, Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen). Banished to Brooklyn, he must find true love to break the spell. Fortunately, he meets Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens), who might be the key to his curse. Filmmaker Daniel Barnz’s previous film was the little-seen Phoebe in Wonderland . This movie has a decidedly CW stench about it, but you never know. With Peter Krause and Neil Patrick Harris. BIG MOMMAS: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (PG-13) FBI agent Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence) dons his fat suit again in the third (how can that be?) entry in the Big Momma’s House franchise. Now both Big Momma and Charmaine AKA Trent (Brandon T. Jackson) must infiltrate an all girls performing arts school to catch a murderer. Faizon Love plays Kurtis Kool, former Run-D.M.C. roadie and present school security guard that becomes smitten with Big Momma. Director John Whitesell also directed Big Momma’s House 2 . With Emily Rios, Portia Doubleday ( Youth in Revolt ) and Michelle Ang. BIUTIFUL (R) Critical darling Alejandro González Iñárritu ( Amores Perros , 21 Grams , Babel ) returns with what sounds like a Spanish-language version of Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter (not a compliment). In Barcelona, Uxbal (Javier Bardem, who won Best Actor at Cannes) struggles to be a good husband and father, while using his ability to speak to the deceased to eke out a living. Critical reaction has been mixed, with big names like Sean Penn, Werner Herzog, Guillermo del Toro and Julian Schnabel coming to Iñárritu’s defense. Nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. BLACK SWAN (R) Great does not begin to describe Black Swan nor does it do this complex film justice. Let’s call Black Swan what it is: stunning, original, another imperfect masterpiece from filmmaker Darren Aronofsky ( The Wrestler ). Aging ballerina Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) finally lands a lead as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake . But as the pressure mounts, Nina begins to suspect that the pretty new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), is out to Single White Female her. Or are her suspicions those of a raving lunatic raised by a madwoman, Nina’s mother Erica (Barbara Hershey), on the verge of utter self-destruction? Aronofsky shoots this psychosexual thriller like a Polanskian horror film. Imagine Dario Argento’s Suspiria (minus the witches and the cool Goblin score) melded with All About Eve while high on Aronofsky’s own Requiem for a Dream in the apartment from Repulsion. If you’ve already digested this dangerous film, you’re a tougher filmgoer than me; my cinematic gullet needs another viewing to grind it down into something usable. If Aronofsky ever truly perfects his craft, the celluloid might just spontaneously combust; maybe a flawed Aronofsky film is best for everybody. CEDAR RAPIDS (R) A small town lifer, Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), is sent to the annual insurance conference in the big city of Cedar Rapids, IA, where he learns the ropes from some convention veterans, led by John C. Reilly. Hopefully, Miguel Arteta can recover from the disappointing, but funny Youth in Revolt . The best gag given away in the trailer involves Isiah Whitlock, better known to “Wire” fans as Clay “Shee-it” Davis, getting in a “Wire” reference. With Anne Heche, Stephen Root, Kurtwood Smith, Alia Shawkat, Rob Corddry and Sigourney Weaver. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (PG) I would really rather not return to Narnia for The Silver Chair if that’s OK with you, Twentieth Century Fox. Fox’s first entry since snatching up the rights to the popular C.S. Lewis franchise after Walt Disney dropped it, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , hereby known as Narnia 3, continues the series’ downward spiral since the first entry, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe . Lucy and Edmund Pevensie (Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes) escape WWII England for Narnia, sans older siblings Peter and Susan, and again join forces with Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes). Nothing really works in the tedious Narnia 3, which makes this magical kingdom the least interesting fantasy world I’ve visited in some time (maybe since Eragon). A so-so hero’s quest lacks any dramatic thrust or surging narrative flow, and the Pevensies’ obnoxious younger cousin, Eustace (Will Poulter), grates until his big character transformation. By the time Aslan (v. Liam Neeson) showed up to preach a climactic homily, I was eager to return to England and see how the Blitz was progressing. CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER (R) Academy Award winning documentarian Alex Gibney (he won the Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side but also helmed Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room , Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson , and Casino Jack and the United States of Money ) charts the rise and fall of former New York Governor and present CNN anchor Eliot Spitzer. Featuring interviews with the scandal-rocked former politico, Client 9 ’s poster claims to tell “the real story.” COUNTRY STRONG (PG-13) A TV movie with a capital TV, Country Strong boasts some likable individual parts that fail to add up. Country superstar Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow, doing all her own singin’ and accentin’, y’all) is released from rehab and goes back on the road with a singing beauty queen, Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) and a singing cowboy, Beau Hutton (Garret Hedlund, Tron: Legacy). But the pressure of reviving her career and saving her marriage (to a slightly Ricky Gervais-ian Tim McGraw) is too much for the too brightly burning star. Nice turns by Paltrow, Hedlund, Meester (all of whom prove to have more than adequate voices) and actual country star McGraw cannot overcome writer-director Shana Feste’s awful script. The dynamics are poorly established by the back door, and the melodramatics are insincere at their best, unbelievable at their worst. Plus, where are all the paparazzi? I don’t care if this is Nashville or Austin, Canter wouldn’t be able to make a move without a gaggle of following photogs. Some nice singing and songwriting can’t save a film so unsure of who we should root for: the cheatin’ cowboy, the falling star, the vacantly pretty sensation or the emotionally broken husband. THE DILEMMA (PG-13) The Dilemma , the first comedy from director Ron Howard since 1999’s Edtv , has aspirations to be more than a silly slapstick farce. When the guy in imbroglio is played by Vince Vaughn, who is nearly always better than his chosen material, and the filmmaker is an acclaimed Oscar winner, you hope for a bit more than poorly edited, sophomoric gags. With Howard at the helm, The Dilemma delivers its share of actual human drama as Ronny Valentine (Vaughn) agonizes over telling his best friend Nick (Kevin James) that his wife, Geneva (Winona Ryder), is screwing around with a tattooed softie named Zip (Channing Tatum). An overweight plot and characterizations could be pared down to a lighter comedic weight class, yet the movie has its shoddy genre plotting. Why doesn’t Ronny just tell his loyal chef girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) what is going on rather than lead her to believe the former gambling addict is betting again? Without that selfishly lazy plot point, Ronnie wouldn’t be able to ruin her parents’ 40th anniversary, and no one could stage a climactic intervention. The true dilemma is deciding whether to wait for this slightly above average flick on Redbox or HBO. DIRT! THE MOVIE (NR) 2009. I’ll give you three guesses what Dirt! The Movie is about. Without dirt, we wouldn’t have food, shelter, fuel, medicine, ceramics and more. You name the necessity; dirt is a key to it. Man’s relationship with the ground beneath our feet is recounted through animation, vignettes, personal accounts and good old-fashioned storytelling. Filmmakers Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow were nominated for the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize for best documentary. The screening is sponsored by the University Housing Sustainability Committee. DRIVE ANGRY 3D (R) See Movie Pick. THE EAGLE (PG-13) After August’s Centurion , Rome is all the rage, kind of. Cullman, Alabama native Channing Tatum might not bring to mind Julius Caesar but he could pull off Roman soldier Marcus Aquila, who seeks to redeem the Ninth Legion 20 years after its leader, his dad, disappeared into the Scottish mist. State of Play director Kevin Macdonald and his Last King of Scotland screenwriter that was not Peter Morgan breed a bit of hope, but the smaller, efficient Centurion will be hard to beat. With Donald Sutherland. FOR THE NEXT 7 GENERATIONS (NR) 2009. Narrated by Ashley Judd, For the Next 7 Generations documents the historic 2004 meeting of 13 indigenous grandmothers from the four corners of the globe. At this summit, these g-moms formed the aptly named International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. These ladies even scored a meeting with the Dalai Lama! Who better to save the world from destruction than your friendly neighborhood grandma? This screening, sponsored by the Institute for Women’s Studies, is the kickoff event for Women’s History Month. FROM PRADA TO NADA (PG-13) In this Latinized version of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, two spoiled little rich girls (10,000 BC’s Camilla Belle and grown-up Spy Kid Alexa Vega) move to East L.A. to live with their estranged aunt after the sudden death of their supposedly wealthy father. Co-writer Fina Torres previously wrote and directed Woman on Top with Penelope Cruz but was passed over for director Angel Garcia, who makes his feature debut. GNOMEO & JULIET (G) This backyard version of Romeo and Juliet definitely succeeds in its cuteness quotient. The two battling terracotta clans, the Reds and the Blues, contain enough distinctive-looking members. Too bad the movie doesn’t do a better job establishing this colorful retinue beyond a montage of here and there. Instead, we focus on the blossoming romance between star-crossed lovers, Gnomeo (v. James McAvoy), son of Lady Blueberry (v. Maggie Smith), and Juliet (v. Emily Blunt), beloved daughter of Lord Redbrick (v. Michael Caine). In between ceramic smooches are lawnmower races against red baddie, Tybalt (v. Jason Statham), and the silly machinations of a loopy pink flamingo (v. Jim Cummings) from an abandoned garden next door. Being a children’s cartoon, most of the true tragedy has been excised by Shrek 2 director Kelly Asbury and the eight other credited screenwriters (not including Bill Shakespeare). Save a couple of inspired supporting turns (Cummings, Ashley Jensen, Ozzy Osbourne), the voice work is as bland as the movie is cute. Gnomeo & Juliet serves its purpose, filling the computer animated family film void until Disney can release something bigger and better (i.e., something made by Pixar). THE GREEN HORNET (PG-13) More unconventional on paper than Ang Lee’s Hulk , The Green Hornet is an interesting entry in the overpopulated, same-y superhero genre. The original 1930s radio serial created by George W. Trendle begat a 1940s film serial and 1960s television program starring Bruce Lee before spawning this latest, strangest adaptation, directed by French visualist Michel Gondry ( Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ) and written by slacker star Seth Rogen and his Superbad partner Evan Goldberg. What is stranger still is that this unconventional production never really goes beyond convention, and the fun movie is no worse for it. HALL PASS (R) The Farrelly Brothers peaked in 1998. Their first three comedies: Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin and There's Something About Mary held so much promise. Their last six failed to deliver on that promise. Hall Pass is one of their weakest, i.e., least funny, movies yet. Two bumbling suburbanites—Rick (a sorely miscast Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis, who needs to get out of TV more)—are granted a week off from marriage from their gorgeous wives (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate). Unfortunately, hilarity does not ensue. In its place, we are treated to another unnatural, demo-spanning group of "friends" and sad attempts at adding to the society's sexual lexicon. It's never a good sign when a comedy's funniest scene occurs during the credits and involves a supporting player, Ricky Gervais pal, Stephen Merchant. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 (PG-13) Me circa 2000: “I cannot wait until the new Harry Potter book. Why must J.K. Rowling torture me so? Give it to me now.” Me, two years later: “I have got to reread Chamber of Secrets before the movie opens next week. Me, 10 years later: “I didn’t realize the new Harry Potter was this week. What happened in Deathly Hallows again?” As much as I still cherish this series of books, I just have never been as invested in the film versions. That lack of true, heartfelt engagement has never shown as brightly as it does now, as the end we all know by heart approaches. I cannot find fault with this flawless penultimate installment of the stalwart franchise. The three young leads have matured tremendously as actors; Emma Watson has improved vastly since the game-changing third film. Director David Yates continues to bring Rowling’s magical world to rousing, tangible life. The landscapes of the hopeless, doomed, lonely HP7.1 resembled a post-apocalypse and conjured up the highest possible praise; it reminded me of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Empire Strikes Back . HEARTBEATS (NR) Twenty-one-year-old Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan writes, directs and stars in his caustic, festival-friendly films. (His last film, I Killed My Mother , won three awards at Cannes.) Two friends, Francis (Dolan) and Marie (Monia Chokri), meet Nicholas (Niels Schneider) at a party. Soon, the trio has grown quite close. When Nicholas starts to pull away, Francis and Marie begin to compete for his shrinking attentions. The general critical consensus is that Dolan has a lot of potential but remains a couple of films away from his big breakthrough. I AM NUMBER FOUR (PG-13) I Am Number Four feels like a feature film pilot for a new CW series to replace “Smallville,” whose creators, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (with help from “Buffy”’s Marti Noxon), happen to have written Number Four ’s script. A powerful orphaned alien, John AKA Number Four (stone-jawed Alex Pettyfer), is on the run from extraterrestrial hunters. With his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant; are you watching him on “Justified?” If not, you should be), John moves to Paradise, Ohio, where he meets a girl (Dianna Agron, better known as Quinn from “Glee”) and a new pal (Callan McAuliffe). Just when he feels like he’s found a home, the alien hunters (led by the versatile villain Kevin Durand) arrive. Fortunately, so does another powerful teen-lien, Number Six (Teresa Palmer). (The numbers are the order in which these X-Terrestrials must be killed.) Mixing Superman and the X-Men with a tinge of Twilight , I Am Number Four, based on a bestselling book series cowritten under a pseudonym by James Frey (yes, THAT James Frey), probably will not reach the franchise heights to which it aspires. It would make a kick-ass CW show though. THE ILLUSIONIST (PG) A wondrous paean to Jacques Tati, Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist is a near-silent hand-drawn animated feature unlike any other you'll see this year. Its closest peer is not Toy Story 3 or Megamind but The Secrets of Kell or Chomet's own The Triplets of Belleville . A magician (a reanimated Tati or more accurately Monsieur Hulot) befriends a young girl—her age is of some debate—and works several odd jobs to give her what she needs. It's a lot less Lolita-ish than it sounds. As Americans, we are weened on cartoons dominated by manic, anthropomorphized animals and celebrity voice work. Not even the greatest Pixar film can equal the rich, foreign wonders and gentle visual humor of the French Illusionist . I don’t mean to imply The Illusionist is better than the also wonderful, definitely American Toy Story 3 ; I'm glad to live in a cinematic world with room for both. JUST GO WITH IT (PG-13) Adam Sandler is a hard guy not to like whether or not you think his movies are funny. Unfortunately, in his latest movie, he is neither likable nor funny. A plastic surgeon, Dr. Danny Maccabee, seduces women by faking that he is in a horrible marriage. When he meets a gorgeous, younger, middle school math teacher, Palmer (swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker), he decides he is ready to settle down. Unfortunately, she discovers his fake wedding band, leading Danny to concoct the least plausible, dumbest plan ever. So he can be with Palmer forever, he fakes an entire family, using his stalwart assistant, Katherine (Jennifer Aniston), and her two kids (scene stealer Madison Bailee and Griffin Gluck). I’ll let you guess what happens between Danny and Katherine once they start playing a divorcing couple. This random of mash up of bad ideas, wasted talent (Nicole Kidman, Dave Matthews, Nick Swardson) and misguidedly unfunny scenes that drag on for too long sits firmly in the bottom third of Sandler’s not exactly Oscar-worthy canon. JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER (G) Justin Bieber: Never Say Never perfectly provides the necessary ratio of hair flips, musical performances and backstage insight to stave off the most fatal symptoms of the Bieber fever raging through the world’s tweens. (According to the movie, the pandemic has now spread to men and women both older and younger.) Parents and guardians might gain some valuable insight into their child’s condition and also leave humming hideously catchy tunes like “Baby.” Step Up 2 and 3D director Jon Chu gets the most out of both the concert footage and the overplayed melodrama of Bieber’s swollen vocal cords leading up to THE BIGGEST SHOW OF HIS LIFE. You might not respect the teenage pop sensation from… shudder… Canada, but he’s damn hard not to like. Warning: appearances by Miley Cyrus and Jaden Smith might leave some adults shaking their head at the state of youth and fame in our society. THE KING’S SPEECH (R) To combat a nervous stammer, King George VI (Colin Firth), AKA Bertie, works with an unorthodox speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush). Director Tom Hooper helmed HBO’s excellent “John Adams” and Elizabeth I . This historical picture is shaping up to be Firth’s best Oscar shot yet; the trailer predicts a winner. With Helena Bonham Carter as George’s daughter Queen Elizabeth II, Guy Pearce as Edward VIII, Michael Gambon as King George V and Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill. LA MEGLIO GIOVENTU (R) 2003. Winner of 19 international film awards, including six Davids and Cannes’s Un Certain Regard Award, Marco Tullio Giordana’s 366 minute epic, La Meglio Gioventu , follows the Caratti family from 1966 to 2003. Matteo (Alessio Boni) and Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio) progress from wild young men to parents through love and tragedy. The film will be screened in multiple parts. Part of the Cincecitta' 3 Italian Film Series sponsored by the department of Romance Languages. LITTLE FOCKERS (PG-13) I can’t quite decide how I feel about this third entry in the Meet the … movie franchise. The Fockers, Greg and Pam (Ben Stiller and Teri Polo), now have a couple of kids, taking a little of grandpa Jack Byrnes’ (Robert De Niro) heat off of Greg. But with the twins’ birthday party on the horizon, old suspicions—and old pals like Teri’s ex Kevin (Owen Wilson)—are returning to haunt male nurse Gaylord Focker. Director Paul Weitz ( About a Boy ) takes over for Jay Roach, the director of the first two mega-hit comedies. THE MECHANIC (R) Jason Statham gets his Bronson on in this remake. Elite hit man Arthur Bishop (Statham) takes an apprentice, Steve McKenna (Ben Foster), under his wing. Complications arise after learning McKenna has connections to an earlier target. I really like the idea of the up-and-coming Foster as an assassin-in-training, and I’ve watched enough crap with Statham to brave another. Director Simon West knows action from his time with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Con Air , but is it the right kind? With Donald Sutherland. NO STRINGS ATTACHED (R) Could No Strings Attached be this year’s Valentine’s Day ? It does star Ashton Kutcher, is helmed by a washed-up “comedy” director (Ivan Reitman), and is really, really poorly written. Two friends (so the movie calls them despite their only having met three times), Emma and Adam (Natalie Portman and Kutcher), engage in a strictly sexual relationship that leads to love. I wish comedy writers would learn raunch is not funny for raunch’s sake alone. Raw language and sexual frankness needs to be an endemic part of the characters, not just shoehorned into a flawed romantic comedy script because it’s the hip thing to do (see Going the Distance for how to mix raunch into a standard romcom). Despite Portman’s efforts, Emma slips into unappealing Katherine Heigl-character territory (I was much more interested in Greta Gerwig’s best friend or Lake Bell’s coworker), and Kutcher continues to lose any appeal he may have once generated. A meager handful of genuine laughs are crowded out by cheap/misguided gags. Kudos also for wasting Kevin Kline, which is hard to do. No Strings Attached starts the year off with a star-studded romcom bomb, and it’s not Kate Hudson’s fault, for once. OF GODS AND MEN (NR) In a Muslim community in North Africa, eight French Christian monks (including Lambert Wilson from the latter two Matrixs and Michael Lonsdale AKA Moonraker ’s Hugo Drax) must decide whether to flee in the face of advancing fundamentalist terrorists. France’s official entry for the 2010 Best Foreign Language Oscar didn’t make the final cut. OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS (NR) Ciné brings back the popular Oscar nominated shorts, both live action and animated. This year’s live action lineup includes “The Confession,” Wish 143,” “Na Wewe,” “The Crush” and “God of Love.” This year’s animated lineup includes “Madagascar, Carnet Voyage,” “Let’s Pollute,” “The Gruffalo,” “The Lost Thing” and frontrunner “Day & Night” from Pixar. Also included are the highly commended “Urs” and “The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger.” You can’t go wrong with either set of shorts. PUSHING THE ELEPHANT (NR) 2010. Rose Mapendo lost everything in the civil war that raged in the Democratic Republic of Congo throughout the 1990s. During the struggle, Rose escaped with nine of her 10 children; five-year-old daughter, Nangabire, was left behind. After a decade-long separation, this advocate for peace and reconciliation is reunited with a teenage Nangabire, who still needs her mother to teach her how to forgive. RABBIT HOLE (PG-13) Don’t think of Rabbit Hole as the type of movie that draws out a gaggle of middle-aged women who’ll talk to one another throughout, though the devastating film will certainly accomplish that in spades. In the film adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Tony-winning play, Becca and Howie Corbett (deserving Academy Award nominee Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart) are struggling to overcome the loss of their young son, Danny. Howie seeks help in group therapy with another grieving parent (Sandra Oh, “Grey’s Anatomy”); Becca finds/gives comfort with/to Jason (Miles Teller), the teenager who accidentally killed her son. Director John Cameron Mitchell ( Hedwig and the Angry Inch ) perfectly recomposes the scenes from Lindsay-Abaire’s stage play with subtle shot composition and blocking. But raw emotion, undirected angry and abject sadness rule the day through the best performance Kidman, who nearly resembles the young ingenue of Dead Calm , has given since The Hours/Dogville and Eckhart’s career high. Give me the massive, genuine, intelligent hurt felt by the Corbetts any day over the manipulative heart-wringing of most tearjerkers. RANGO (PG) Boasting a cute trailer, this animated feature from Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski stars his lead pirate, Johnny Depp, as the voice of a chameleon that wants to be a gunslinging hero. Rango must put his skills, if he has any, to the test to protect a Western town from bandits. Featuring the voices of Timothy Olyphant, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Isla Fisher, Ray Winstone, Harry Dean Stanton, Stephen Root and Ned Beatty. RED STATE (R) Kevin Smith’s latest film, a horny, gory horror movie, is a bit of a change of pace. In Middle America, a small town is held hostage by Pastor Abin Cooper (Michael Parks, Kill Bill ) and his nutty, fundamentalist flock—a grotesque parody aimed squarely at the humorless Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church fame—after a group of teens accept an online invitation for group sex. Then things get bloody, really bloody. I’m excited to see Smith take on my favorite genre. With Melissa Leo and John Goodman. THE RITE (PG-13) Based on journalist Matt Baglio’s book, California priest Gary Thomas (Colin O’Donoghue) is sent to Rome by his bishop to be trained as an exorcist. While at the Vatican’s exorcism school, he encounters demonic forces, and his views on the spiritual battle between good and evil change. Director Mikael Håfström earned good reviews for his last horror movie, 1408 . Writer Michael Petroni created the short-lived NBC series, “Miracles.” THE ROOMMATE (PG-13) Sure The Roommate is a Single White Female rip-off, but moving the psychotic action to freshman year of college was a brilliant move. Too bad that’s where any brilliance the movie could have achieved ends thanks to the poor scripting prowess of first-time writer Sonny Mallhi (producer of genre efforts both successful, The Strangers , and not, Shutter and Possession ). In the dorm lottery, small town transplant Sara (a bland but beautiful Minka Kelly) is paired with native Californian Rebecca (Leighton Meester, who shows throughout the movie she’s capable of bringing oh so much more psycho), who wants to be Sara’s BFF a bit too much. Besides a couple of genuinely crazy, awful acts, Rebecca is more annoying than terrifying, and Kelly’s Sara is way too blind to her roomie’s insanity, which, thanks to the poor script, is obvious from Rebecca’s first appearance. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this crappy movie far more than I should have (how could I not with Billy Zane cast as a skeevy fashion design professor?). SANCTUM (R) What slowly starts out as the worst film of 2011 eventually settles down to be a decent, trapped in a cave genre effort. A group of cave divers led by Frank (Richard Roxburgh) are trapped far below the surface after a storm closes off their only known means of egress. Thankfully, Frank’s one badass caving vet, who will stop at nothing to get his son (Rhys Wakefield) to safety. The script, written by producer Andrew Wight and John Garvin, is based upon Wight’s similar death-defying escape from a system of underwater caves. Something tells me the cavernous Sanctum will be a lot more inviting to knowledgeable divers than to the uninitiated; half of the dialogue seemed to be spoken in a foreign, technical language. The passable 3D would go unnoticed for most of the film were it not for the constant reminder that is a pair of ill-fitting glasses. Don’t be fooled by James Cameron’s attachment; “it’s,” to quote Admiral Ackbar, “a trap.” SEASON OF THE WITCH (PG-13) As silly as the newest Nic Cage action flick is, I am shocked it did not end with the Donovan hit of the same name. Two Crusaders (Nicolas Cage and the welcome Ron Perlman) desert the papal army after being asked to slaughter thousands of innocents. While trudging across Europe, the duo are found out and tasked with transporting a witch to some monks that intend to cure the plague. The trip does not go smoothly. Cage is atypically un-cagey and pretty non-descript (despite the umpteenth variation on his action-hair). Thankfully, Perlman is so good when the movie is so bad. The undervalued Hellboy star knows exactly how to deliver a bad/obnoxious line of dialogue with utter gravitas. But not even The Perl can redeem this medieval mashup of horror, violence and one-liners. THE SOCIAL NETWORK (PG-13) 2010. By the end of this multi-focused deposition of founder Mark Zuckerberg (Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg, turning his quick-witted nerdiness to steel and the Dark Side), a new asshole of an 00’s anti-hero has been born to rival the 80’s Gordon Gekko and the 90’s Hannibal Lecter. And Zuckerberg is real. Acclaimed director David Fincher may have crafted his most complete film yet. Understanding he has a razor-sharp script from Oscar frontrunner Aaron Sorkin and as many fantastic performances as a group of young actors have given since The Godfather , Fincher lets words and carefully cast actors carry the load, precisely aiming them and hitting bull’s-eye after bull’s-eye. The Social Network may not be the best film of the year when the calendar turns, but it will be damn close. TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT (R) Set over Labor Day weekend 1988, Take Me Home Tonight (every time I see the title I start singing Eddie Money in my head non-stop for at least two days) is “That 70’s Show” star Topher Grace’s pet project, nurtured to completion with that show’s creators, Jackie and Jeff Filgo. Grace stars as Matt, a video store clerk looking to impress his high school crush (Teresa Palmer, The Sorceror’s Apprentice ). The supporting cast—Anna Faris as Matt’s twin, Dan Fogler as his best buddy and Michael Biehn as his cop dad— is tough to beat. THE TOURIST (PG-13) Seeing this Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp team-up may be cheaper than a trip to Venice, but anyone wishing to float the canals of that old Italian city would be advised to wait for discount fares. A math teacher from Wisconsin, Frank Tupelo (Depp, going morose and stiff when he should go broad and entertaining), gets involved in international espionage after being chatted up by a beautiful Brit, Elise Ward (Jolie). Soon, Frank is running across rooftops from Russian hitmen and butting heads with a determined detective from Scotland Yard (Paul Bettany, almost as sorely underused as Timothy Dalton). How’s a Wisconsin schoolteacher to survive? Your disbelief better have a suspend function that will last two hours if you expect to get through this unthrilling hokum, sadly cooked up by two exceptional, Oscar-winning screenwriters, The Usual Suspects ’ Christopher McQuarrie and Gosford Park ’s Julian Fellowes, and the Academy Award winning director of The Lives of Others , Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. As if the whole affair weren’t boring enough, these three telegraph the climactic twist so early you can’t even spend the downtime untangling the central mystery. Don’t bother with The Tourist ; let it get lost in 2010’s crowd of underwhelming movies. TRON: LEGACY (PG) Having recently reevaluated 1982’s original Tron and discovered a wide open sci-fi universe rife for pop cultural colonization, I have been looking forward to Tron: Legacy . Disney’s big budget, 3D sequel to the cult classic picks up right as game designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) again disappears into the Grid, this time leaving his young son, Sam, behind. When an all growed up Sam (Garrett Hedlund, the upcoming Country Strong) receives a communication from his estranged dad, the younger Flynn happens upon the Grid and becomes just the revolutionary capable of dethroning the despotic Clu (Bridges, 20 years younger thanks to CGI). The trippy, all-blacklit visuals dreamed up by director Joseph Kosinski dance to the kinetic beat and rhythmic thump of Daft Punk’s excellent score (my favorite since Clint Mansell’s Fountain score), while a cadre of writers develop the virginal universe created nearly thirty years ago by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. A blue, MF’n Michael Sheen is simply a generous bonus! The insanely entertaining Tron: Legacy is the best amusement park ride/laser light show you’ll see at the movies this year. Get your light cycle to the theater before I derez you. TRUE GRIT (PG-13) To help distance their new film from the John Wayne classic, Joel and Ethan Coen are calling it a new adaptation of the novel by Charles Portis rather than a remake. A young girl (Hailee Steinfeld) hires gruff U.S. Marshal Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to help find the man who killed her father. I am quite thrilled to see Bridges’ take on Wayne’s iconic role as directed by the Coens. With Matt Damon as La Boeuf and Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney. UNKNOWN (PG-13) Liam Neeson continues his mid-career crisis with another Taken -type vehicle. In Unknown, the giant Irishman stars as Dr. Martin Harris, who suffers a traumatic brain injury in a car accident while visiting Berlin. He wakes from a four-day coma to find that his wife, Elizabeth (January Jones, “Mad Men”), does not know him and is married to another man (Aidan Quinn), who just so happens to claim he is Dr. Martin Harris. Neeson’s Martin begins to doubt his sanity until a shadowy “they” tries to kill him. Teaming with his cab driver, Gina (Diane Kruger), Martin must discover the truth behind his stolen identity. What starts as a frightening, lonely thriller loses steam before the thriller’s big reveal, which is telegraphed a bit by the presence of certain supporting characters, and totally blows the ending, which could have been tremendously interesting had Martin behaved character-appropriately. Unknown is no Taken . VANISHING ON 7TH STREET (R) Detroit residents start to disappear during a blackout. The surviving citizens (Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo and more) hole up in a tavern named “Sonny’s” as the threatening darkness approaches. The premise concocted by screenwriter Andrew Jaswinski (TV movies “Backwoods” and “Xtra Credit”) sounds very Stephen King-y, territory in which director Brad Anderson ( Session 9 , The Machinist , Transsiberian , episodes of horror anthologies “Masters of Horror” and “Fear Itself”) should be very comfortable. Early reviews have been mixed. THE WAY BACK (PG-13) Another POW escape flick à la The Great Escape and Rescue Dawn , The Way Back chronicles the efforts of several soldiers, led by the young (Jim Sturgess, 21 ), to break out of a gulag in Soviet-occupied Poland. The six companions then trek across Asia to hoped for safety in India. The great news is the film marks the return of six-time Oscar nominee Peter Weir ( Witness, Dead Poets Society, Green Card, The Truman Show and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ). The good news is Ed Harris and Colin Farrell are present to back up Sturgess, upon whom I am not yet sold. ZODIAC (R) 2007. David Fincher’s sixth feature is an overlong, not quite epic thriller about the Zodiac, a serial killer who threatened San Francisco in the 1960s and 1970s. Based on the book by Robert Graysmith, a political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle , Zodiac pursues the parallel investigations of Graysmith, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, and the police, led by Inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo). A refreshing new take on the serial killer thriller,

Source: http://flagpole.com