300 **
Gerard Butler, David Wenham, Lena Headey, Vincent Regan. Directed by Zack Snyder. 117 minutes. Rated R.
The film is about the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Thanks to the whiny indecision of corrupt religious leaders and spineless bureaucrats, Spartan King Leonidas (Butler) is unable to take his full army to meet the massive Persian forces, and must make do with only 300 of his best soldiers, acting as his personal retinue. It’s brutal, it’s painful, it’s mind-numbing and, most disturbingly, it’s a rallying cry for the testosterone-heavy that posits “no mercy” as the most noble sentiment in the world. –JB
Amazing Grace ***1/2
Ioan Gruffudd, Albert Finney, Ciaran Hinds. Directed by Michael Apted. 111 minutes. Rated PG.
The story tells of how young activist William Wilberforce (Gruffudd) fought for decades in the House of Commons to abolish the slave trade. Where the film succeeds is in its portrait of naïve optimism and relentless compassion combating the self-interests of stuffy legislators. The best scenes take place in the House of Commons, where grown men hurl accusations and insults at each other like schoolyard children, until the one voice of reason is literally drowned out in the bureaucratic cacophony. –MSH
Are We Done Yet? *
Ice Cube, Nia Long, John C. McGinley. Directed by Steve Carr. 92 minutes. Rated PG.
Nick (Cube) has softened since Are We There Yet?; he’s married and living with Suzanne (Long) and the kids in his cramped apartment. Nick moves the entire brood, plus a set of twins on the way, to a house in the country. A slick real estate agent, Chuck (McGinley), sells Nick the money pit, then turns up again as the town’s contractor, electrician and inspector. If the movie had simply placed the streetwise Cube in the country and told a fish-out-of-water story, it might have had something, but instead it follows a tired, family-film formula, grinding along on worn-out gears. –JMA
Blades of Glory **
Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler. Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck. 93 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Ferrell’s macho, womanizing and buffoonish blowhard, perfected in Anchorman and Talladega Nights, shows up again as Chazz Michael Michaels, a renegade figure skater with a sex addiction and a fondness for leather. He’s acting opposite Heder, a one-note actor if ever there was one, as Jimmy MacElroy, Chazz’s fey rival-turned-partner thanks to a skating-bylaws loophole that allows them to compete as a pair even after they’ve been banned from singles competition after a nasty fistfight. So it’s Ricky Bobby and Napoleon Dynamite on skates, with exactly one joke for the whole movie: Figure skating sure is gay, isn’t it? –JB
Breach ***
Ryan Phillippe, Chris Cooper, Laura Linney. Directed by Billy Ray. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Ray’s sophomore effort tackles the FBI’s sting operation against Robert Hanssen, one of its own agents, who spent 20 years funneling intelligence to the former Soviet Union. The Feds lure Hanssen (Cooper) to Washington to head an imaginary new department and install untested surveillance operative Eric O’Neill (Phillippe) as his make-believe assistant. Part of the problem with Breach may be that its antagonist comes across as so much more formidable than his pursuer. To the extent that the film works, it functions primarily as a character study of this deeply weird individual. –MD
Dead Silence **
Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Wahlberg. Directed by James Wan. 90 minutes. Rated R.
After the mysterious death of his wife, Jamie Ashen (Kwanten) heads back to his creepy hometown to see if a local legend is behind her murder. Wan is not all that good at atmosphere or foreboding, and after its somewhat exciting opening the movie turns tedious and nonsensical. The pure creep-out factor of ventriloquists’ dummies is never used to its full potential, and Wahlberg seriously misses the mark on all the comic-relief bits. This is just another mediocre-to-bad horror movie, which wouldn’t be getting any notice at all if it weren’t from the creators of Saw. –JB
Firehouse Dog (Not reviewed)
Josh Hutcherson, Bruce Greenwood, Bill Nunn. Directed by Todd Holland. 111 minutes. Rated PG.
Rexxx, Hollywood’s top canine star, gets lost and is adopted into a shabby firehouse. He teams up with a young kid (Hutcherson) to get the station back on its feet.
Ghost Rider **1/2
Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Peter Fonda. Directed by Mark Steven Johnson. 114 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze (Cage) sells his soul to the devil and turns into a fiery spirit of vengeance. Cage cannot help but bring his twitchy Nicolas Cage-ness, which is probably entirely inappropriate for the character but nevertheless adds a weird layer of existential dread. But the plot really fails in the villain department. Bentley looks like a cast-off from Good Charlotte, and is more whiny than menacing, and defeated way too easily. The effects when Cage changes into Ghost Rider look silly, and it doesn’t help that he then speaks in a voice that sounds like Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget. –JB
Grindhouse ****
Rose McGowan, Kurt Russell, Freddy Rodriguez, Rosario Dawson. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. 191 minutes. Rated R.
This three-hour double feature lovingly re-creates a moribund moviegoing experience, providing younger audiences—anyone under 40, pretty much—with a simulacrum of Z-grade escapism from the era before home video. Both Rodriguez and Tarantino have turned in excellent work, films several orders of magnitude more sophisticated and accomplished than anything you’d likely have found at the drive-in. Planet Terror, Rodriguez’s zombie flick, superficially resembles a routine Romero knockoff. But the plainspoken yet eccentric characters feel like refugees from an early John Carpenter film, and Rodriguez augments the homage by borrowing Carpenter’s vivid and muscular compositional style. Death Proof, featuring Russell as a homicidal stunt-car driver who targets young women, may be the most structurally audacious movie since ... well, I can’t say which all-time classic, as that would spoil the surprise. Suffice it to say that no actual grindhouse film has ever been remotely this ambitious, nor toyed as masterfully with an audience’s expectations. –MD
The Hills Have Eyes 2 (Not reviewed)
Michael McMillian, Jessica Stroup, Daniella Alonso. Directed by Martin Weisz. 89 minutes. Rated R.
A group of National Guard trainees find themselves battling against a vicious group of mutants on their last day of training in the desert.
The Hoax ***
Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom. 115 minutes. Rated R.
Gere exudes a sort of manic desperation as Clifford Irving, the mildly successful author who in the early 1970s, after seeing his latest novel rejected by his publisher, concocts from thin air the notion that he has been selected as Howard Hughes’ official biographer. Along with his trusty sidekick and researcher (Molina), Irving sets out to learn everything he can about Hughes, all in the name of propping up his increasingly untenable charade. Hallstrom strikes the right balance between humor and introspection, delving into Irving’s simultaneous narcissism and self-loathing while keeping the absurdity of the situation constantly apparent. –JB
The Host *****
Song Kang-ho, Byeon Hie-bong, Park Hae-il. Directed by Bong Joon-ho. 119 minutes. Rated R.
Ostensibly a big-budget monster movie, The Host gets in a few political digs, while subverting the genre in other ways as well. The Host’s action is carried by one of the most feckless assemblages of close relatives ever seen on the screen, who set out to rescue the little girl who’s been abducted by the monster for later-on snacking. As an action movie, it lacks the usual pedal-to-the-metal pacing; even the film’s climax has a grimly measured andante feel to it. Which of course makes The Host a better movie, even as it goes off-track as a monster movie. In Korean with English subtitles. –KWJ
I Think I Love My Wife (Not reviewed)
Chris Rock, Kerry Washington, Gina Torres. Directed by Chris Rock. 90 minutes. Rated R.
A married man who daydreams about being with other women finds his will and morals tested after he’s visited by the ex-mistress of his old friend.
The Last Mimzy ***1/2
Chris O’Neil, Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, Joely Richardson, Timothy Hutton. Directed by Robert Shaye. 94 minutes. Rated PG.
A mimzy is a tattered, plush bunny stuffed with cotton and an alien nervous system that gives the doll artificial intelligence. Scientists from a dying future teleport the last of these rabbits to a Seattle beach in our present day, where precocious siblings Noah (O’Neil) and Emma Wilder (Wryn) scoop the toy up and bring it home. So begins Shaye’s pleasant adventure, which should do for sci-fi exploration what Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids did for family espionage. –SO
The Lives of Others ****
Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Muhe, Sebastian Koch. Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. 137 minutes. Rated R.
Set in East Germany in pre-glasnost 1984, the film centers on an exceedingly bizarre love quadrangle. The long-term romance between successful, outwardly line-toeing playwright Georg Dreyman (Koch) and his girlfriend-muse, actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Gedeck), is thrown into jeopardy when a corpulent minister of culture turns his lustful attention to Christa-Maria. Soon enough, secret-police-school instructor Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe) begins 24/7 surveillance on Dreyman. Von Donnersmarck strikes an uncommonly graceful balance between his narrative’s espionage-thriller accoutrements and love-story sentimentality, and he leavens things throughout with surprising and welcome bursts of wry humor. In German with English subtitles. –MH
The Lookout ****
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode. Directed by Scott Frank. 99 minutes. Rated R.
Once a promising high school hockey player and a popular, well-liked guy, Chris (Gordon-Levitt) sustained a massive head injury in a car accident and now has trouble accomplishing basic daily tasks. His life shattered, he works as a janitor at a small-town bank. It’s only because we understand and care about Chris so much that we can see just how tragic it is when local bad boy Gary (Goode) enters his life. Gary really has no respect for his so-called friend, and his only interest is in the access Chris can provide to the bank. Even when the film picks up steam and heads toward its tense climax, Chris’ internal conflict and emotional turmoil are at its core. –JB
Meet the Robinsons ***1/2
Voices of Angela Bassett, Jordan Fry, Wesley Singerman. Directed by Stephen Anderson. 93 minutes. Rated G.
This animated time-travel adventure tells the story of a young inventor and orphan named Lewis. Lewis’ entry in the science fair is sabotaged by a mysterious villain in a bowler hat. As it turns out, Bowler Hat Guy has come from the future to steal Lewis’ invention and pass it off as his own. But an ally has traveled back in time to help—young Wilbur Robinson. Together, Lewis and Wilbur travel back to the future. There are enough funny gags and visual delights to keep adults interested, and kids are sure to enjoy the fast-paced madness of it all. –MSH
Music and Lyrics **1/2
Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Haley Bennett. Directed by Marc Lawrence. 96 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Washed-up ’80s pop star Alex Fletcher (Grant) hasn’t been relevant in years. He’s busy playing state fairs and amusement parks and enduring pitches for reality shows when a Britney-esque pop star (Bennett) commissions him to write her a song. There’s virtually no tension between Alex and his romantic foil, flighty Sophie Fisher (Barrymore), who comes to water Alex’s plants and shows a surprising flair for writing lyrics. Barrymore and Grant have played these parts countless times, and for good reason: They know what they’re doing, even if they just keep doing it over and over again. It’s all rather nauseatingly pleasant, hard to find offensive but easy to get sick of—sort of like an insipid pop song. –JB
The Namesake ***
Kal Penn, Irfan Khan, Tabu. Directed by Mira Nair. 122 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Nair follows the Ganguli family from Calcutta to Queens in the late 1970s with surprising thoroughness and attention to detail. Ashoke (Khan), a quiet, young engineering student who survives a horrific accident, and beautiful aspiring singer Ashima (Tabu) embark on an arranged marriage and subsequent move to New York City. The middle third of The Namesake shifts focus to the Gangulis’ oldest child (Penn). Wholly Yankified and borderline surly, adolescent Gogol grapples with his own demons. Generally well-observed and more contemplative than Nair’s previous works, The Namesake nevertheless has its deficits. –MH
Norbit **1/2
Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding Jr. Directed by Brian Robbins. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13.
With Norbit, Murphy narrows it down to essentials. He plays three characters: the weak-willed Norbit (the Ego), raised in an orphanage; the monstrous, plus-size, Rasputia, his wife (the Id); and the wise father figure, Mr. Wong (the Superego), who runs the orphanage. The silly plot about Norbit falling in love with the “right” girl (Newton) or the part about the bad guys trying to turn the orphanage into a strip club is beside the point. The real thrill of Norbit is watching Murphy split into three and work out his innermost fears and desires right in front of us. –JMA
Peaceful Warrior **1/2
Scott Mechlowicz, Nick Nolte, Amy Smart. Directed by Victor Salva. 120 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Peaceful Warrior’s gas-station guru, Socrates (Nolte), is happy to impart New Age wisdom while checking your fluid levels. He’s a full-service sage. This particular spiritual mentor comes to the aid of aspiring Olympic gymnast Dan Millman (Mechlowicz), a self-centered jerk who needs either a good beating or a dose of common sense. The film’s Achilles’ heel is that the take-home messages, whatever their validity, seem more like overused platitudes than revolutionary wisdom. –MSH
Premonition *1/2
Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Shyann McClure. Directed by Mennan Yapo. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13.
After her husband’s death in a car accident, Linda (Bullock) travels through time every time she nods off. She’ll go to sleep and wake up to find her husband dead, but after a night’s rest, she’ll awaken to find him alive again. Her initial inability to consult a calendar to discover the nature of her problem is borderline infuriating. Once she realizes that she’s inexplicably traveling through time, it gets worse. There’s nothing wrong with unexplained time travel, per se. It doesn’t have to make sense as long as it obeys the rules it sets, but Premonition is plagued with irritating inconsistencies. –MSH
The Reaping *1/2T
Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba. Directed by Stephen Hopkins. 96 minutes. Rated R.
Swank plays Katherine Winter, a fallen minister, who—after the death of her husband and child—now goes about scientifically debunking “miracles” all over the world. When the river near a small town called Haven turns blood red, Katherine and her faithful sidekick, Ben (Elba), heed the call. A river of blood, it turns out, is the first of the legendary 10 Plagues. From there, the film turns into a convoluted mess, chucking any kind of logical flow in favor of cheap thrills. –JMA
Reign Over Me **1/2
Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Liv Tyler, Jada Pinkett Smith. Directed by Mike Binder. 124 minutes. Rated R.
Sandler is Charlie Fineman, a widower whose wife and three daughters were killed in one of the planes on 9/11. Charlie has retreated into an isolated world of video games, classic rock and the endless remodeling of his kitchen when he runs into his old college roommate, Alan Johnson (Cheadle). Alan reaches out to Charlie, Charlie resists at first, and slowly the two forge a strong bond that helps them both come to terms with their issues. Binder doesn’t have much of note to say about grief, and Sandler doesn’t help with his irritating man-child histrionics, but Binder does have a decent understanding of male friendship that shines through in some of the film’s quieter moments. –JB
Shooter *1/2
Mark Wahlberg, Michael Peña, Danny Glover, Kate Mara. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. 120 minutes. Rated R.
Living in seclusion high in the mountains following a bungled mission in Ethiopia, former gunnery sergeant Bob Lee Swagger (Wahlberg) is approached by a trio of government operatives who say their intelligence indicates that a sniper intends to assassinate the U.S. president in a few weeks. Could he possibly provide them with a detailed blueprint for such an attempt? Swagger is soon running for his life, assisted only by the widow of his former spotter (Mara) and a rookie FBI agent (Peña). Fuqua seems unsure whether he’s making a caustic examination of real-world corruption and duplicity or a black-and-white Nietzschean fantasy, and winds up with a preposterous thriller that further insults your intelligence by purporting to address hard and unpleasant truths about the world we live in. –MD
TMNT **1/2
Voices of James Arnold Taylor, Nolan North, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Chris Evans. Directed by Kevin Munroe. 89 minutes. Rated PG.
Munroe wisely sidesteps a reiteration of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ origin, but he also dispatches with archvillain Shredder in a prologue, leaving the four heroes (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael) to fight a poorly defined supernatural threat, headed by an industrialist voiced by Patrick Stewart. It’s a Saturday-morning-quality take on the characters at best, with unremarkable CGI and a pedestrian, often boring story. –JB
Wild Hogs ***
John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, Tim Allen, William H. Macy. Directed by Walt Becker. 99 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Wild Hogs is about four guys who set off on a motorcycle trip across America. The road trip is inspired by the midlife crises of the four friends. The plot works methodically to solve these problems as soon as they’re introduced, without the slightest touch of subtlety. So the film’s intro, with its predictable dialogue drowning in the overly sentimental score, doesn’t bode well. But something wondrous happens. As soon as their hogs hit the highway, the movie becomes consistently funny. –MSH
Zodiac ***1/2
Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr. Directed by David Fincher. 156 minutes. Rated R.
Zodiac takes as its subject one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. Adapted from two books by editorial cartoonist-turned-amateur sleuth Robert Graysmith, Zodiac features a handful of ostensible characters: Graysmith himself, who worked at the San Francisco Chronicle during the period when the Zodiac was sending letters there, is played by Gyllenhaal, and we also spend significant face time with star Chronicle reporter Paul Avery (Downey) and legendary SFPD detective Dave Toschi (Ruffalo). Scene by scene, Zodiac is the director’s most visually restrained work to date, taking its cue from the mostly functional mise-en-scène of the police procedural; at the same time, he can’t resist the occasional expressionistic flourish. –MD
JMA Jeffrey M. Anderson; JB Josh Bell; MD Mike D’Angelo; MH Mark Holcomb; MSH Matthew Scott Hunter; KWJ K.W. Jeter; SO Sean O’Connell; BS Benjamin Spacek