(PG-13) The trailers do nothing for the cut of this latest Philip K. Dick adaptation. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt play star-crossed lovers, David and Elise, being kept apart by the Adjustment Bureau, who resemble a team of Mad Men in suits and hats (one is even played by “Mad Men”’s silver-haired, silver-tongued John Slattery). These angels as pencil pushers and bureaucrats make sure The Plan, as envisioned by The Chairman (one of many names for the man upstairs), is adhered to. The love affair between David and Elise is not part of the plan, and the Bureau will stop at nothing, even sending in their heavy hitter (Terence Stamp), to ensure the couple does not end up together. Writer-director George Nolfi meshes romance and sci-fi with more coolly intricate success than you would suspect. Damon and Blunt generate surprisingly easy chemistry, and the men in hats idea works well thanks to Slattery, Stamp and The Hurt Locker ’s undervalued Anthony Mackie. A new score from Thomas Newman and gorgeous urban cinematography from Oscar winner John Toll merely ice this romantic cake. The Adjustment Bureau is one of the better films of young 2011. AFGHAN STAR (NR) 2009. This intriguing documentary looks at how contestants on Afghanistan’s version of the UK’s “Pop Idol” risk their lives to compete for musical stardom. Director Havana Marking’s film won the Audience Award and the Directing Award from the Sundance Film Festival, where her film was also nominated for the coveted Grand Jury Prize. Part of the Amnesty International Human Rights Film Festival, sponsored by Amnesty International at UGA in connection with the organization’s state conference. BATTLE: LOS ANGELES (PG-13) I still don’t quite get how Battle: Los Angeles was inspired by true events. In February 1942, over 1,400 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition were unleashed over the skies of L.A., at what was thought to be Japanese aircraft. This real-life event somehow led to this science fiction/war movie about the battle fought over Los Angeles during an alien invasion. A group of mixed military personnel (led by Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez and Ne-Yo) try to get back to the FOB (Forward Operating Base) before bombs are dropped that will hopefully wipe out the invading extraterrestrials. Many of the supporting military cast die, mowed down during shaky cam gunfights with aliens inspired by District 9. Battle: LA offers nothing new to either the war or science fiction genres it mashes together, but the action movie manages to engage for its near-two-hour running time without being particularly interesting or entertaining. Strangely, this needlessly cacophonous, visually unintelligible movie is better during its quiet, still moments as opposed to its textbook sacrifices and acts of cowboy bravado. BEASTLY (PG-13) A literal modern day fairy tale, Beastly stars I Am Number Four ’s Alex Pettyfer (how did this guy escape The CW for the big screen?) as vain, misunderstood, rich boy, Kyle. When Kyle runs afoul of a witch (Mary-Kate Olsen) at his ridiculously posh private high school, she turns him into a hideously scarred and tattooed “monster” with a year to find someone who’ll love him. Of course, he chooses scholarship girl with a drug addict dad, Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens). The unforgivably unlikely setup for this limp take on Beauty and the Beast requires Lindy to be sequestered in Kyle’s hideaway due to a threat against her life. Beastly is all pretty much bland teen romance and drama, from which Neil Patrick Harris occasionally rescues us, that would have made a smashing CW TV movie. My favorite scene comes at the conclusion when Hudgens has to make the critical decision about how to play a supposedly deep teenage girl who has just won the romantic lottery; the monster she fell in love with is really the prettiest, richest boy at school. Her acting skills don’t do much to save Lindy’s too-easily-earned rep for substance over style. THE BIG UNEASY (NR) This documentary goes deep into the causes of the Katrina flooding and includes interviews with several major whistleblowers, who collectively point out that the hurricane's destruction was a result of shoddy work by the U.S. Corps of Engineers.
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