Capsule reviews of recently released films

 

OPENING FRIDAY
ART & COPY (NR) Fans of “Mad Men” will want to check out the Plaza Theatre’s run of this documentary about the recent history of the advertising industry and its relationship between art and commerce. $6.50-$8. Times vary. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.

THE BAADER-MEINHOF COMPLEX 4 stars (R) See review on p. xx.

THE BURNING PLAIN (R) Oscar-nominated screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga makes his directorial debut with this drama starring Charlize Theron as a restaurant manager whose life becomes connected to other women in America and Mexico, including Kim Basinger.

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 3 stars (PG) See review on p. xx.

THE INFORMANT! (R) See review on p. xx.

JENNIFER’S BODY (R) See review at atlanta.creativeloafing.com.

LORNA’S SILENCE (R) The Dardenne brothers, who directed the intriguing drama The Son, helm this film about two pretty Albanian immigrants in Belgium seeking to find better lives.

LOVE HAPPENS  (PG-13) Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart star in this romanitic drama about learning to let go and give love another chance.

DULY NOTED
REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA (R) (2008) In the not-so-distant future an organ failure epidemic devastates the planet. GeneCo, a biotech company, is able to offer transplants, but for a price. Those who cannot pay for their pricey surgeries are hunted by ruthless Repo Men. $6.50-$8. 10 p.m. Sat., Sept. 19. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.

VISIONEERS (2008) In a world where people are literally exploding due to unhappiness, George Washington Winsterhammerman (Zach Galifianakis) is forced to re-evaluate his mundane existance. Donations appreciated. 8 p.m. Sat., Sept. 19. Eydrum, 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive S.E., Suite 8. 404-522-0655. www.eyedrum.org.

NOLLYWOOD BABYLON (NR) (2008) This film — directed, written and photographed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal — introduces the viewer to the mystical yet modern world of Nigerian cinema. $3-$5. Times vary. Sept. 16-22. Cinfest Film Theatre, Georgia State University, University Center, Suite 240. 404-413-1798. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft/

CONTINUING
9 3 stars (PG-13) In a post-apocalyptic city, robotic ragdolls, including inquisitive 9 (voiced by Elijah Wood), fight off the remnants of the war machines that destroyed humanity. With so many computer-animated cartoon features devoted to pop-savvy kiddie comedies about talking animals, it’s refreshing to see a CGI adventure with a unique vision. Director Shane Acker’s vision of jerry-rigged, Rube Goldberg-style inventions and landscapes can be fascinating. That said, 9 is PG-13 for a reason, and may be too intense for little kids and too dark for many adults. It’s like Pinocchio vs. Terminator. — Curt Holman

A PERFECT GETAWAY (R) Cliff and Cydney (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) are an adventurous young couple celebrating their honeymoon by backpacking to one of the most beautiful — and remote — beaches in Hawaii. Hiking the wild, secluded trails, they believe they’ve found paradise. But when the pair comes across a group of frightened hikers discussing the horrifying murder of another newlywed couple on the islands, they begin to question whether they should turn back.

ALL ABOUT STEVE (PG-13)

ALIENS IN THE ATTIC (PG-13) Aliens in the Attic, co-scripted by one of the writers of Madagascar and the Academy Award-winning Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbits, is an adventure/comedy about kids on a family vacation who must fight off an attack by knee-high alien invaders with world-destroying ambitions — while the youngsters' parents remain clueless about the battle.

BIG FAN 4 stars (R) “Paul from Long Island” (Patton Oswalt), a parking lot attendant and obsessed fan of the New York Giants, has a life-changing encounter with a star linebacker (Jonathan Hamm). Writer/director Robert D. Siegel also wrote the screenplay for The Wrestler and shows a similar insight to the subcultures and rituals of sports culture. Oswalt gives Paul a compulsiveness comparable to his voice performance in Ratatouille and offers a grim character study of an individual who can’t imagine a better life. — Holman 

CARRIERS (PG-13) Star Trek’s Chris Pine, Piper Perabo and Christopher Meloni star in this horror film about four friends attempting to flee from a viral pandemic.

THE COUNTRY TEACHER 2 stars (R) A natural sciences teacher (Pavel Liska) leaves his Prague prep school to teach at a small rural school and forms a bond with a widowed cattle herder (Zuzana Bydzovská) and her troubled teenage son (Ladislav Sedivý). Bydzovská nearly carries The Country Teacher on her own sturdy shoulders, and director Bohdan Sláma films the farm scenes with sunshiney cinematography that finds the beauty in country life without sugar-coating its realities. Despite building to moments of real tenderness, the title character's passivity and the script's heavy-handed metaphors make the film a sleepy experience. — Curt Holman

THE FINAL DESTINATION (R) The fourth and allegedly "final" film in the Final Destination series follows a group of young people who avoid a disaster at a race track, only to fall prey to more outlandish demises after the fact. Presented in 3-D at participating theaters, so you can feel like stuff is flying right at your head.

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER 2 stars (PG-13) Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a hapless would-be architect who falls for free-spirited Summer (Zooey Deschanel), despite her aversion to emotionally committed relationships. Quirky to a fault but nicely acted by Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel, the film offers a fresh substitute for cookie-cutter rom-coms, but Woody Allen brought more insight to scrambled chronology and surreal set-ups in Annie Hall. Summer would be on stronger ground if it offered a strong female perspective to balance Gordon-Levitt’s character. — Holman

EXTRACT (R) “Arrested Development’s” Jason Bateman plays Joel, owner of a beverage company called Reynold’s Extract, who juggles a corporate buyout, a personal injury lawsuit, a sexually disinterested wife (Kristen Wiig), a manipulative hottie (Mila Kunis) and the occasional horse tranquilizer. Mike Judge, who previously helmed the cult hits Office Space and Idiocracy, tends to be kind of half-assed with plot and structure, but deserves employee of the month for his hilarious, quotable dialogue and work with actors including Ben Affleck, J.K. Simmons and David Koechner, and Gene Simmons in a hilarious cameo as a personal injury lawyer with unbelievable helmet-hair. — Holman

FOOD, INC. 4 stars (PG-13) Director Robert Kenner serves a harrowing sampler’s platter of themes from such recent culinary exposes as Super Size Me, King Corn and the docudrama Fast Food Nation. The film offers a devastating portrait of how the admirable goal of cheap, plentiful foodstuffs has had unintended consequences that can harm the health and employability of the American work force, while forcing small farmers out of business. Despite icky food revelations and grim tales of corporate bullying, Food, Inc. includes enough positive examples to hold out hope for the future. — Holman

FUNNY PEOPLE 2 stars (R) In Judd Apatow's third film, Adam Sandler plays a fictionalized version of himself, a stand-up comic-turned-movie star who mentors an aspiring comedian (Seth Rogen) after being diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Apatow captures life at the top and bottom rungs of Hollywood comedy, from open-mic nights to lame sitcoms to high-concept movies, and Sandler deserves credit for his performance as a self-absorbed jerk. But if you're not already a fan of Sandler's humor, the incessant dick jokes won't convert you, and Apatow somehow stretches the thin plot to two and a half dreary hours. — Holman

G-FORCE (PG) Remember Spy Kids? Think of this as Spy Pets. A highly-trained team of cute fluffy animals, including guinea pigs and a mole, go on espionage missions in this 3-D comedy with such voice talents as Nicolas Cage, Tracy Morgan and Penelope Cruz.

GAMER (R) Gerard Butler stars in this futuristic action-satire in which real humans become unwitting pawns in a violent, multi-player on-line game created by an evil rich guy (“Dexter’s” Michael C. Hall). 

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (PG-13) Stephen Sommers, director of the first two Mummy movies, literally turns actors into action figures in this adaptation of Hasbro's G.I. Joe toy franchise. Remember, this draws on its 1980s incarnation, when G.I. Joe is not a person, but an organization that takes on the terrorist group called Cobra.

HALLOWEEN II (R) Laurie Strode struggles to come to terms with her brother Michael's deadly return to Haddonfield, Ill. Meanwhile, Michael prepares for another reunion with his sister.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE 4 stars (PG-13) The romantic misadventures of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his pals Ron and Hermione (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) distract them from the secret plans of Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) to respectively hinder and help the malevolent Lord Voldemort. The sixth Harry Potter film conspicuously lacks the headlong momentum and political metaphors of Order of the Phoenix, director David Yates' previous effort. Between a suspenseful first section and an eventful (if anticlimactic) finale lies a pleasant but draggy stretch primarily about teen hormones and magic charms, but it's all essentially a prelude to the final two films. — Holman

THE HURT LOCKER 5 stars (R) In 2004 Baghdad, two U.S. "bomb techs" (Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty) hope to finish their tour without getting killed by the confident, reckless Sgt. James (Jeremy Renner in a star-making performance). Director Kathryn Bigelow presents the most original and gripping war film since Saving Private Ryan by crafting bomb disposal set pieces that draw the audience's attention as taut as a tripwire. Compared to other Iraq War films, The Hurt Locker  keeps its politics close to the chest,  while exploring the psychological impact war can have on our soldiers' psyches. — Holman

I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER 2 star (PG-13) During his graduation speech, geeky valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust, who's in his late 20s and looks it) professes his true feelings to head cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere of Heroes), and they subsequently spend one of those "one crazy nights" typical of high school comedies. The painful slapstick and mean-spirited jokes border on contempt for the characters, and director Chris Columbus lost the flair he showed for the genre with Adventures in Babysitting. The script only glances at the idea that Denis's speech shook up high school clique roles. You can find more teen insight in the "Stick to the Status Quo" song from High School Musical. — Holman

ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (PG) In the third, 3-D entry in the Ice Age franchise, the wisecracking prehistoric mammals discover a subterranean realm populated by dinosaurs. Simon Pegg joins the vocal team of Ray Romano, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, et. al.

IMAGINE THAT (PG) Eddie Murphy eschews latex makeup for this family comedy in which he plays a workaholic finance executive who discovers that his daughters' imaginary friends may be able to advance his career. It sounds kind of like Adam Sandler's Bedtime Stories, with fewer special effects.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS 3 stars (R) In Quentin Tarantino's World War II revenge fantasy, the Basterds are a band of Jewish-American G.I.s, led by Brad Pitt's drawling lieutenant, who murder Nazis behind the lines in occupied France. Inglourious Basterds spends surprisingly little time on the title characters, or even caper-style action scenes of WWII mission movies, and opts for long, talky confrontations involving French, German and British agents. Christoph Waltz's misleadingly polite Nazi lives up to the hype as the villain of the year, but the film's restless approach to its multiple storylines makes it feel less, rather than more, meaningful. — Holman

IT MIGHT GET LOUD 3 stars (PG-13) Having tackled global warming with his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, director Davis Guggenheim turns to global loudening in this portrait of electric guitarists from three generations: Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge and the White Stripes’ Jack White. The trio’s “summit” – part rap session, part jam session – includes a terrific cover of a hit from the Band but doesn’t seem to be quite the revelation Guggenheim hoped for. The threesome provides insightful perspectives on rock music, with the younger guitarists seeming ambivalent about the styles of the elders. Plus, their shop talk can be fascinating. — Holman

JULIE & JULIA 3 stars (PG-13) A woman verging on 30 and frustrated in a temp secretary job takes on a yearlong culinary quest: to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She chronicles her trials and tribulations in a blog that catches on with the food crowd.

MY ONE AND ONLY (PG-13) The beautiful Ann Devereaux (Renée Zellweger) leaves her adulterous husband Dan (Kevin Bacon) behind and hits the road. She drags her two teenage sons George (Logan Lerman) and Robbie (Mark Rendall) along for the ride and together they discover a new meaning of family.

MY SISTER’S KEEPER (PG) A young girl (Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin), brought into the world as a genetic match for her ailing older sister, sues her parents for medical emancipation. Cameron Diaz plays the no-doubt conflicted mom and Alec Baldwin plays as the younger sister’s lawyer. It’s hard to imagine any summer movie being a bigger, more overt tear-jerker than this one.

ORPHAN (R) Talented indie actors Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard play a couple who adopt a 9-year-old Wednesday Addams lookalike (Isabelle Fuhrman) who turns out to be a bad seed.

PONYO 4 stars (G) A magical fish-girl (voiced by Noah Cyrus) bonds with a 5-year-old human boy (Frankie Jonas) and throws the natural order out of whack. Compared to his finely detailed animated masterpieces like Spirited Away, director Hayao Miyazaki gives Ponyo a more childlike, pastel-colored style that feels a little more like Hello Kitty. Once you get used to the look, Ponyo offers a loose but wildly creative riff on The Little Mermaid with some of the most rhapsodic set pieces of the year. The voice cast includes Tina Fey, Liam Neeson and Cate Blanchett. — Holman

THE PROPOSAL (PG-13) Sandra Bullock plays a Canadian-born New York book editor who pretends to be engaged to her assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to avoid deportation. It sounds like Green Card gives way to Meet the Parents when they fly to Alaska to meet his family.

PAPER HEART 2 stars (PG-13) In this pseudo documentary, playful, girlish actress/comedian Charlyne Yi crosses the country to examine the nature of romantic love, claiming to be unable to feel it herself. The interview scenes have charms, as do Yi’s puppet-based re-creations of turning points in couples’ lives. The choice to include a clearly staged budding relationship between Yi and Superbad’s Michael Cera seriously undermines the film’s authenticity, although the idea probably looked great on paper. — Holman

POST GRAD (PG-13) Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) graduates from college and is forced to move back into her childhood home with her eccentric family while she attempts to find a job, the right guy, and just a hint of where her life is headed.

PUBLIC ENEMIES In 1933, celebrity outlaw John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) robs banks and eludes the pursuit of the FBI’s Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), who grows disenchanted with the investigative techniques championed by an oily J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup). The first hour or so comes on like, well, gangbusters as Heat director Michael Mann sets up compelling scenes of bank theft and manhunt procedures. The film feints at overarching themes, like the idea that neither Dillinger nor Purvis have a place among “modern” mobsters or feds, but the script leaves both men underdeveloped as characters. Public Enemies almost literally starts with a bang and ends with a whimper. — Holman

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE (PG-13) This documentary profiles Vogue magazine Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and the preparations for the magazine’s massive fall fashion issue in 2008.

SORORITY ROW (R) A group of sorority girls attempt to cover up a prank turned deadly, only to be stalked by an unknown killer. It’s a remake of 1983’s The House on Sorority Row, raising the question, are there any slasher films left that haven’t been remade?

SHORTS (PG) Sin City director Robert Rodriguez reverts to his Spy Kids family-oriented mode for this suburban fable about a boy who finds a rock that can make wishes come true.

SOUL POWER 3 stars (PG-13)

TAKING WOODSTOCK 2 stars (R) Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee offers a fresh perspective on Woodstock's mythologized "three days of peace and music" by focusing on Elliott Tiechberg (comedian Demetri Martin), a struggling artist who reluctantly works at his parents' dilapidated Catskills motel and plays a small but key role in securing the concert's location. The film's centerpiece sequence that captures the excitement at the outskirts of the festival conveys the timeless quality of Woodstock as a generational touchstone. Unfortunately, Lee never finds the right tone for the film's moments of broad comedy, and while Martin's performance features an appealing lack of obvious theatrical technique, one suspects the real guy wasn't as mousy as the script makes him out to be. — Holman

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (PG-13) The Autobots, those heroic space robots, must protect Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) from the evil Decepticons when the teen journeys from college campus to Egyptian desert to find an Earth-shaking artifact called the Matrix of Leadership. Bay’s original Transformers was hardly an exercise in subtlety, but at least it offered a sense of discovery and built some genuine suspense. At once sillier and more pompous, the sequel makes a chaotic hash of things from practically the first scene and draws out for two and a half deafening hours. If only it could transform into a movie that doesn’t suck. — Holman

I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF (PG-13) Heavy-drinking nightclub singer April (Benjamin Button’s Taraji P. Henson) attempts to care for three troubled young people with a little help from Madea in Tyler Perry’s latest feature film. Look for such local stage actors as Tess Malis Kincaid and Eric Mendenhall.

THE UGLY TRUTH (PG-13) In this rom-com from the director of Monster-in-Law, an unmarried morning TV show producer (“Grey’s Anatomy’s” Katherine Heigl) becomes reluctantly teamed with a boorish on-air personality (300’s Gerard Butler) for a series on dating and relationships. I wonder if they’ll fall in love?

UP 5 stars (PG) An elderly widower (voiced by Ed Asner) uses zillions of balloons to take his house on airborne adventure, unwittingly bringing a pesky boy scout (Jordan Nagai) along for the ride. Monsters, Inc. director Pete Docter helms Pixar's latest masterpiece, which begins with an achingly lovely montage of a marriage and builds to a rousing adventure story that combines Jules Verne, Indiana Jones and some of the most hilarious dog jokes every put on film. Plus, the instantly-iconic image of the floating house accumulates considerable richness as a metaphor for life and memory. — Holman

WHITEOUT (R) Underworld’s Kate Beckinsale plays a U.S. marshall tracking a killer in Antarctica when the sun is about to set for six months. This long-delayed action film is based on Greg Rucka’s graphic novel, which has a similarly stark color scheme as Sin City — only white.

WORLD’S GREATEST DAD 3 stars (R) Two former madcap comedians – director Bobcat Goldthwait and star Robin Williams – defy expectations in this strong, controlled dark satire about a would-be author and high school teacher (Williams) saddled by a sullen teenage son (Daryl Sabara, now unrecognizable from the Spy Kids movies). In a high school-set spoof reminiscent of Election and Heathers, the film skewers society’s manufactured heroism, and Williams suppresses his usual shtick to offer a compelling portrait of quiet desperation. — Holman

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG 2 stars (NR) Aviva Kempner’s gushy documentary aims to restore pioneering actor/writer Gertrude Berg to her rightful place alongside early TV entertainers like Milton Berle. Now nearly forgotten, Berg was “the Oprah of her day” (at least according to some of the film’s interviewees) as the creator and star of the Bronx-based situation comedy “The Goldbergs” on radio and then television. Named for the show’s catchphrase, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg reveals the chilling effect of the blacklist on a proudly Jewish program, but most of the film’s other anecdotes have little dramatic interest, and the droll, drab clips suggest that the show hasn’t aged well. — Holman