All reviews and summaries of objectionable content are by the Daily Herald and wire services. Have any movie questions? E-mail theticket@Heraldextra.com. Daily Herald |Posted: Thursday, April 7, 2011 12:01 am
HANNA (1 hr., 58 min.; PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual material and language) Buckle up for a tense, atmospheric thrill ride with this story of a teenage girl, the daughter of a rogue CIA operative, who's been meticulously trained to become a pitiless assassin. "Hanna" is emotionally remote, but its action scenes are cleanly and clearly staged, and its twisty plot leads to some satisfying payoffs. [A-]
THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (1 hr., 46 min.; PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexuality and a violent image) Men with hats keep the world on track in this enjoyably thought-provoking romantic thriller. A politician (Matt Damon) and a dancer (Emily Blunt) want to be together, but fate -- make that Fate -- wants them apart. A visually strong film that gathers momentum from its consistently excellent performances. [A-]
BATTLE: LOS ANGELES (1 hr., 56 min.; PG-13 for sustained and intense sequences of war violence and destruction, and for language) Semper fi! It's World War II all over again -- conceptually, that is -- after invading aliens pin down a company of grunts (Marine corps grunts, no less) in explosion-ravaged Los Angeles. Cliches both enrich and overburden this sometimes stuff, always gruffly heroic war movie. [B-]
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (1 hr., 53 min.; PG for some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action) The quest to discover piles of dough -- namely yours -- rolls forth in this visually masterful, but narratively plodding "Narnia" sequel. The best bits are from the nobly raffish swordsmouse Reepicheep. [C]
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES (1 hr., 39 min.; PG for some mild rude humor and mischief) Greg Heffley is back, and still wimpy, but no longer sarcastic or cranky. The kinder, gentler wimpy kid, unfortunately, is far less charming than the seething wannabe from the first movie. Kids will still adore the travails of His Wimpiness, but parents will this sequel less clever and more tedious. [C+]
THE EAGLE (1 hr., 54 min.; PG-13 for battle sequences and some disturbing images) Channing Tatum is a solider of Rome in this enjoyably old-fashioned adventure story. Tatum is more convincing when he's not talking, and dialogue in general is not the movie's strong suit, but the mystery of a lost Roman legion and the imperial standard that vanished with it makes up for other weaknesses. [C]
THE GREEN HORNET (1 hr., 59 min.; PG-13 for sequences of violent action, language, sensuality and drug content) Seth Rogen wrote and stars in the latest take on the story of dissolute newspaper heir Britt Reid fighting crime with tech whiz and sidekick Kato. The action scenes are flat and draggy, but the lousy dialogue and lazy storytelling are worse. [D-]
HOP (1 hr., 35 min.; PG for some mild rude humor) There didn't used to be very many movies out there about the Easter Bunny, and now this is one. That's about the best that can be said of the mostly inoffensive, dull and convoluted "Hop," which wastes some first-rate special effects work on an occasionally lively, mostly plodding father-son story about learning to live up to one's candy dispensing duties. [C-]
INSIDIOUS (1 hr., 42 min.; PG-13 for thematic material, violence, terror and frightening images, and brief strong language) An all-American family gets more than they bargained for from the two-story suburban home they move into in this devilishly entertaining fright film. Rose Byrne is especially good as a mother who fights for her comatose son against things that go bump in the night. [B+]
THE KING'S SPEECH (1 hr., 58 min.; PG-13 for language) Colin Firth is a regal revelation as the self-consciously stammering British monarch elevated to the throne at the onset of World War II. Firth and Geoffrey Rush, playing the king's unconventional therapist, have a complex, merry and deeply engaging rapport in this bracingly excellent historical drama. Originally rated R; special edited version released April 1. [A]
LIMITLESS (1 hr., 45 min.; PG-13 for thematic material involving a drug, violence including disturbing images, sexuality and language) A frustrated novelist ("The Hangover" star Bradley Cooper) gets the ultimate kick-in-the-creative-pants after ingesting a top-secret drug that dramatically magnifies his cognitive function. It's a fun premise, smartly executed, that gets somewhat muddled by a generic murder plot. [B]
THE LINCOLN LAWYER (1 hr., 58 min.; R for some violence, sexual content and language) It's pure pleasure to watch Matthew McConaughey operate as slick attorney Mickey Haller, who does business from the back seat of his Lincoln town car. Though it gets talky some moments and is annoyingly stylized at others, the film stays on its feet from start to finish with a solid story and involving, interesting characters. [B+]
RANGO (1 hr., 47 min.; PG for rude humor, language, action and smoking) Adults and children can both enjoy this madly inventive homage to Hollywood Westerns in which a timid chameleon who fancies himself an actor (and has the voice of Johnny Depp) becomes the unlikely sheriff and savior of a dusty desert town. A triumphant first foray into feature animation for George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic. [B+]
THE ROOMMATE (1 hr., 33 min.; PG-13 for violence and menace, sexual content, some language and teen partying) Foxy Minka Kelly gets a tough break when vixenish Leighton Meester is assigned to share her college dorm room. That's it, more or less: a dear damsel tormented by her psychotically needy roomie. Even on the bargain-basement level of cheesy fright fests, this one is surprisingly lame. [D]
SOURCE CODE (1 hr., 33 min.; PG-13 for some violence including disturbing images, and for language) An Army captain serving in Afghanistan wakes up in the aftermath of a combat blackout to find himself riding a commuter train bound for Chicago. There's more to his circumstances than meets the eye, however, in the clever thriller that tracks a secret military mission to foil a terrorist bombing. [B+]
SUCKER PUNCH (1 hr., 49 min.; PG-13 for thematic material involving sexuality, violence and combat sequences, and for language) A teenage girl locked up in a hospital for the criminally insane gets the other girls there to help her break out by all of them imagining that they're strippers and soldiers. More like a hospital for the criminally inane. Visually arresting, but thematically vacuous and narratively indecipherable. [D]
TANGLED (1 hr., 40 min.; PG for brief mild violence) The 50th feature-length film from Walt Disney Animation Studios is a lively romantic adventure, a visually stunning and fleet-footed lark through the fairy tale story of golden-haired Rapunzel. "Tangled" has great songs, a cagey villain and Disney's most engaging wooer of a princess in many a year, as well as providing two delightful animated animal sidekicks. [A]
TRON LEGACY (2 hrs., 7 min.; PG for sequences of sci-fi action violence and brief mild language) Here we glow again: The visual effects in this return trip to the digital domain first envisioned almost 30 years ago in "Tron" are totally awesome. The father-son story (with Jeff Bridges reprising his Kevin Flynn character from the original film) is mostly silly and eventually grows tedious. [C+]
TRUE GRIT (1 hr., 50 min.; PG-13 for some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images) John Wayne himself would be pleased with Joel and Ethan Coen's gorgeously detailed, deeply felt new adaptation of the classic Western novel by Charles Portis. Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld give riveting performances as, respectively, one-eyed Marshal Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn and iron-willed teen Mattie Ross. [A]
UNKNOWN (1 hr., 53 min.; PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sexual content.) Dr. Martin Harris takes an ill-fated cab ride in Berlin and winds up hospitalized for several days. As Harris, Liam Neeson continues his late-career evolution into a startlingly effective macho action hero, and the movie is, refreshingly, much more plot-driven than bullet-riddled. [A-]
YOGI BEAR (1 hr., 20 min.; PG for some mild rude humor) Justin Timberlake does a spot-on Boo-Boo Bear voice in this lively and (mostly) live-action update of the formerly popular cartoon. Dan Aykroyd's Yogi voice is a bit more hit and miss, much like the film's rambling, unfocused story. Believe it or not, the movie has fewer talking bear hijinks than it should. [C]
These films are playing exclusively in Salt Lake County at the theaters indicated.
Carmike Ritz Hollywood Connection at 3217 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City -- (801) 973-4386
BEASTLY (1 hr., 35 min.; PG-13 for language including crude comments, brief violence and some thematic material) A hunk-tastic teen gets a taste of his own body image venom after a teenage witch turns him into a grotesque man-troll. Only the love of a good woman can save fallen Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) in this surprisingly wise and winning high school take on "Beauty and the Beast." [B] Cinemark 24, Megaplex 20
BLACK SWAN (1 hr., 48 min.; R for strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use) A technically brilliant but paralyzingly self-conscious prima ballerina struggles to rehearse the lead role in a production of "Swan Lake" while hounded by bizarre delusions in this riveting, offbeat thriller. [A] Cinemark 10
BLUE VALENTINE (1 hr., 52 min.; R on appeal for strong graphic sexual content, language, and a beating; originally rated NC-17 for a scene of explicit sexual content) Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are powerfully convincing in this topsy-turvy portrait of two people who used to be in love and now find their marriage skidding to a halt. First shown at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. [B+] Broadway
BORN TO BE WILD 3D (40 min.; G ) Morgan Freeman wasn't born to be wild -- though he did love being the wild card in that one thriller with Ashley Judd and Evil Jim Caviezel -- but he does narrate this involving nature documentary about wild animals at play in the fields of the Lord. [B] Clark Planetarium, Megaplex 12, Megaplex 17
CEDAR RAPIDS (1 hr., 27 min.; R for crude and sexual content, language and drug use) Ed Helms, an integral co-star of TV's "The Office" and moviedom's "The Hangover," steps up to leading man status as a Candide-like naif in this raucous comedy. As a gentle insurance salesman attending his first convention in hedonistic Des Moines, Helms is better than the scattershot material. [B-] Broadway
THE CONCERT (1 hr., 59 min.; PG-13 for brief strong language and some sexual content) Years after being wrongfully stripped of his duties for refusing to fire Jewish musicians, a Russian symphony orchestra conductor seizes an opportunity to revive his career for one last show. A magical movie that draws you right in and bustles you along to its warmly triumphant conclusion. [A] Broadway
DRIVE ANGRY (1 hr., 44 min.; R for strong brutal violence throughout, grisly images, some graphic sexual content, nudity and pervasive language) Instead of going TO (heck), which is the usual direction suggested in movies, Nic Cage plays a vengeful, gun-totin' hot-rodder who comes back FROM (heck). It's all outrageously silly and stratospherically over-the-top -- just the way genre lovers like it! [C+] Cinemark Valley Fair
HALL PASS (1 hr., 45 min.; R for crude and sexual humor throughout, language, some graphic nudity and drug use) Boys will be sex-obsessed tools in this torturous comedy from aging schlock-slingers Peter and Bobby Farrelly. The brothers have lost their gross-out fastball, as well as most of their grasp on actual human relationships. [D-] Cinemark 24
I SAW THE DEVIL (2 hrs., 21 min.; no MPAA rating) A police investigator will stop at nothing -- including brutal violence -- to run an elusive sociopathic killer to ground in this grim, ultra-gory South Korean crime drama. For those who have an ironclad tolerance for blood and brutality, the cat-and-mouse chase and the who's-the-real-killer moralizing may be impactful. [B-] Tower
JANE EYRE (2 hrs.; PG-13 for some thematic elements including a nude image and brief violent content) The prototypical Gothic romance gets a wonderfully tempestuous, visually enchanting presentation from director Cary Fukunaga and writer Moira Buffini. Starts Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender are ideally matched as waifish Jane and devilishly magnetic Rochester. [A] Broadway, Century 16 Salt Lake, Megaplex 20
JUST GO WITH IT (1 hr., 56 min.; PG-13 for frequent crude and sexual content, partial nudity, brief drug references and language) Jennifer Aniston is still quick with a quip and curvy Sports Illustrated swimsuit sensation Brooklyn Decker looks good in a bikini. Adam Sandler's new comedy about a white lie that becomes a white whale (of a tale) has little else to offer. [D] Cinemark 24, Megaplex 20
THE LAST LIONS (1 hr., 28 min.; PG for some violent images involving animal life) This unsparing nature documentary about wild lions clashing with each other in Botswana is a riveting combination of astonishing footage and solid storytelling. Some of the animal-vs.-animal violence may be too intense for younger viewers. Narrated by actor Jeremy Irons (the voice of Scar in "The Lion King"). [B] Broadway
THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED (1 hr., 45 min.; PG for thematic elements, some mild drug references, language and smoking) The melody keeps churning in this quietly affecting story of a dad trying to reconnect with the son who fled from his home many years earlier and is now receiving treatment after suffering a debilitation brain tumor. Excellent performances keep the movie's squishy sentimentality in check. [B+] Broadway
PAUL (1 hr., 44 min.; R for language including sexual references, and some drug use) Better than its wretched trailers, yet far less funny that it ought to be, "Paul" is a genial, lightly amusing disappointment. Seth Rogen steers far too much of the comedy as the voice and weed-addled soul of a canny American E.T. [B-] Carmike Ritz, Century 16 Sandy, Century 16 SLC, Cinemark 24, Megaplex 12, Megaplex 17, Megaplex 20
RED RIDING HOOD (1 hr., 40 min.; PG-13 for violence and creature terror, and some sensuality) A bosomy, blushy-cheeked village lass dangles in the winds of romantic destiny in this howlingly overwrought mashup of a relatively benign fairy tale and the swelling canon of teen supernatural romance. The entire enterprise is ripe for ridicule from start to finish. [D] Cinemar 24, Megaplex 17, Megaplex 20
TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT (1 hr., 37 min.; R for language, sexual content and drug use) Eh, take me somewhere else. As blandly generic as the Eddie Money rock ditty that shares its title, this plodding romp through '80s nostalgia force feeds us its shallow characters. Only Australian actress Teresa Palmer feels like she belongs in the movie's youthful milieu. [C-] Cinemark 9, Cinemark 10, Cinemark Valley Fair
THE WILDEST DREAM (1 hr., 34 min.; PG for thematic elements involving hardships of climbing, and some historical smoking images) The icy crags and forbidding cliffs of Mount Everest are the real star of this engaging documentary that explores whether British climber George Mallory, who died attempting to summit Everest in 1924, may have actually gotten to the top. [B] Clark Planetarium
WIN WIN (1 hr., 46 min.; R for language) A sad-sack lawyer (played by Paul Giamatti, who excels at cinematic sad-sackery), agress to care for an elderly client in exchange for a court-mandated stipend -- only to dump the old coot in a rest home and pocket the difference. More sympathetic and human than it sounds, the film is a warmly engaging view of an American family scraping by. [B+] Broadway
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment