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'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs'
(Animated, PG, 93 minutes). There are more action and cuddly creatures for kids to love in this third adventure than in the animated franchise's first two installments. For parents, it's more of the same, a "Yawn of the Dinosaurs" adventure with some new faces and places but the same central characters rehashing the themes of the first two movies. The worn-out idea the filmmakers have yet another crack at: Families can be found objects, stitched together from all sorts of misfits who bond to form their own loving little clan. The main thing that distinguishes this movie from its predecessors is the setting as the gang of prehistoric animals journeys underground to a lost world of dinosaurs. Once again, the main players are Manny the woolly mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano), his wife, Ellie (Queen Latifah), Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary) and Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo). Sibling possums Crash and Eddie (Seann William Scott and Josh Peck) also tag along again. A new member of this extended family, one-eyed weasel Buck (Simon Pegg) steals the movie with his lively, looney patter and daring antics. But it's strictly a slapstick tale for the young ones. PG for some mild rude humor and peril. 93 min.
Rating: HH
Info for Parents: Rated PG for some mild rude humor and peril.
'Cheri'
(Drama, R, 92 minutes). Back in 1988, director Stephen Frears and screenwriter Christopher Hampton teamed up for "Dangerous Liaisons," one of the juiciest guilty pleasures ever. Reveling in high-class deception and manipulation, the film earned seven Academy Award nominations including best supporting actress for Michelle Pfeiffer, and it won three. Frears and Hampton have reunited for "Cheri," with Pfeiffer as their star, but the film has none of the same irresistible meat or bite. Pfeiffer is luminous as ever as an aging courtesan in belle epoque Paris - the schemer this time instead of the pawn. But the romance in which she finds herself, the one that supposedly upends her carefully crafted world, is totally implausible from the start. And that's a problem, because that's the thing we're supposed to care about. Based on the novels "Cheri" and "The Last of Cheri" by Colette, the film features Pfeiffer as Lea de Lonval, a venerable seductress on the verge of retirement at the end of a lucrative career. Her longtime rival, the catty gossip Charlotte Peloux (a shrilly over-the-top Kathy Bates), asks Lea to knock some sense into her 19-year-old son (Rupert Friend), an incorrigible party boy whom Lea long ago nicknamed Cheri. Trouble is, they fall in love with each other and end up in a six-year romance, despite the difference in their ages, personalities and life experiences. At least we're meant to believe they fall in love with each other: They keep saying so, but they have so little chemistry and the development of their relationship seems so truncated, it's hard to accept.
Rating: HH
Info for Parents: Rated R for some sexual content and brief drug use.
Food, Inc.
(Documentary, Not rated, 93 minutes). You put food in your mouth every day. But do you know exactly what you're consuming when you pick up chicken breasts at the grocery store or drive though a fast-food restaurant for a quick cheeseburger? Or do you even bother to care? Probably not, says documentarian Robert Kenner - and you should. Kenner presents an even-tempered but nonetheless horrifying dissection of the U.S. food industry, where corporate-owned, mass-produced and chemically enhanced edibles can be unhealthy at best and deadly at worst. One look inside a cramped, dusty chicken house - where the birds are so puffed up from being stuffed with chemicals, they collapse under the weight of their breasts and die before they can be slaughtered - will make you think twice about how you spend your money at the supermarket. Similar to Al Gore's warnings about climate change in the Oscar-winning "An Inconvenient Truth," Kenner's findings - with significant contributions from authors Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation") and Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma") - produce a cumulative effect that's depressing. But he balances that sense of helplessness with evidence that organic foods are becoming more prevalent, and with suggestions of how individual consumers can affect change through their purchasing decisions.
Rating: HHH
Info for Parents: This film is not rated, but contains disturbing images.
'Public Enemies'
(Drama, R, 130 minutes). All the pieces would seem to be in place for an epic gangster drama: director Michael Mann, who has an affinity for complicated criminals; stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, who are famous for immersing themselves in their roles; and a thrilling true story of brazen bank robbers on the run. Trouble is, "Public Enemies" feels rather stagnant. It looks terrific with its period details and costumes, rich production values and striking high-definition cinematography from frequent Mann collaborator Dante Spinotti. Crisp, blue Midwestern skies pop off the screen and nighttime chases and shootouts have an eerie theatricality about them. But until the final third, the film maintains a low-key, steady pace when it should be percolating with unbearable suspense. Mann follows the string of bank robberies John Dillinger (Depp) and his crew pulled off between his well-orchestrated escape from an Indiana prison in 1933 and his death at the hands of federal agents on the crowded streets of Chicago 14 months later. Mann, who co-wrote the script, romanticizes him rather than presenting a complete picture including whatever wildness or darkness might have existed inside him and driven him. Bale also gets this kind of affectionate treatment as Melvin Purvis, the rising FBI agent charged with bringing Dillinger down.
Rating: HH1/2
Info for Parents: Rated R for gangster violence and some language.
'Whatever Works'
(Comedy, PG-13, 92 minutes). Woody Allen continues in whatever-works mode, churning out another slight plot with slighter characters and lackadaisical storytelling that recycles enough of the neuroses-fueled charm of his earlier films to keep him in business. Kindred soul Larry David, co-creator of "Seinfeld" and star of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," is Allen's ranting, curmudgeonly stand-in, a suicidal misanthrope who never met a person with whom he couldn't find extreme fault. For his first film back in New York after four shot in Europe, Allen manages his best string of one-line zingers in a long while. He throws in a May-December romance involving a naive Southern runaway (Evan Rachel Wood) and some radical Manhattan transformations for her conservative parents (Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley Jr.). It's all contrivance, as is the performance from David, who smirks his way through the movie, delivering hearty laughs but never quite capturing the melancholy and self-loathing underlying his character's bluster.
Rating: HH
Info for Parents: Rated PG-13 for sexual situations including dialogue, brief nude images and thematic material.
OK for all ages
Under the Sea 3D
(Documentary, G, 40 minutes). You never get used to it. Even about halfway in, even having settled into your seat, you'll still find yourself dazzled again and again by the impossibly breathtaking beauty of this underwater IMAX adventure. Longtime documentary filmmaker Howard Hall took his cameras to Australia's Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Triangle of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia to capture footage of a wild array of sea life. His intention was to entertain with wondrous visuals as well as convey a message about the impact global warming is having on these exotic creatures. Jim Carrey provides the narration, but the images are so distractingly awesome, it's often hard to pay attention to what he's saying. Kids will be delighted by the vibrant colors and the film's frequently playful tone - the sea lions with their expressive eyes, for example, are just too cute for words - while adults will be wowed by the complexity of the three-dimensional technology. Truly, giant chunks of coral seem to have been plopped right into your lap. A great white shark swims so close to your face, you can count its piercing teeth. And countless black-and-white-striped catfish cascade over each other as they feed on silt, undulating toward you in delicate waves. But much of the joy comes from discovering animals you might never have heard of before, such as the giant cuttlefish, which change color from deep red to bashful beige and back again to communicate with each other. They're a mesmerizing sight to behold - until their long, sharp tongues suddenly snap from their mouths to zap some poor, unsuspecting smaller fish. Cycle of life, man. Sunrise, sunset - even in some of the most remote places on Earth. Playing at the IMAX Theatre in The Quarter at Tropicana Casino and Resort.
Rating: HHH1/2
Info for Parents: The movie is rated G for general audiences.
OK for 10 and older
Imagine That
(Comedy, PG, 107 minutes). The words "Eddie Murphy family comedy" are enough to send shivers down the spine of any self-respecting film lover. Between "Meet Dave," "The Haunted Mansion" and "Daddy Day Care," he doesn't exactly have the greatest track record with this genre, at least in terms of quality (box-office success can be an entirely different and often baffling phenomenon). Which is what makes "Imagine That" such a pleasant surprise. It's based on a clever premise and it makes good use of Murphy's comic strengths - singing, dancing and creating myriad voices and personalities - without letting him go overboard and get too obnoxious. Its feel-good revelations are predictable, yes, but it only really turns sappy toward the very end. And it offers an irresistible young co-star in newcomer Yara Shahidi, who very much holds her own as Murphy's daughter without being too cutesy or cloying. Murphy stars as Evan Danielson, a Denver-based financial executive who barely has time for his 7-year-old, Olivia. Estranged from his wife (Nicole Ari Parker), Evan is stuck watching Olivia for a few days but has no idea what to do with her, so he ignores her and instead focuses on his computer screens and constant phone calls. But she's paying attention to everything he says and does - and so are the princesses, Olivia's imaginary friends. Somehow, the princesses come up with advice on which stocks daddy should buy and sell - and somehow, they're always right. When Evan gives in and starts following their suggestions, he becomes a superstar at work - and naturally, learns to loosen up at home and have a little fun with his daughter in the process.
Rating: HH1/2
Info for Parents: The movie has rare mild profanity, brief toilet humor, a divorce theme (Olivia lives mostly with her mother, played by Nicole Ari Parker) and an awkward scene in which Evan sneaks into a little girls' slumber party to borrow Olivia's "magic" blanket for work. Intermittently amusing for kids 8 and older.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
(Comedy, PG, 105 minutes). This is one of those sequels in which "bigger" is supposed to mean "better," in which more characters, more sight gags and more adventures are supposed to add up to more fun. They don't. The follow-up to the enormous 2006 hit "Night at the Museum" heaps on the historical figures and crams them into not one but two museums, with the end result feeling crazed, scattered and desperate. So many new characters have been added to the ones who appeared in the original film, and director Shawn Levy flits between them at such a zippy pace, no one gets much of a chance to register. And that's a huge waste of the comic talents amassed among the cast. Besides returning stars Ben Stiller, Ricky Gervais, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan and Robin Williams, now we have Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Jonah Hill and Bill Hader. Having said all that, kids are the primary targets for a lot of the visuals, and will probably enjoy themselves. Stiller gets smacked around by two capuchin monkeys this time, and the T-Rex skeleton that acts like a playful pup should provoke some giggles. Stiller, as former night guard Larry Daley, returns to Manhattan's Museum of Natural History and discovers that the friends who came to life in the middle of the night are being shipped off to storage at the Smithsonian in Washington. And so he must step into action and save them, while also battling the Egyptian ruler Kahmunrah (Azaria), who has awaked from a 3,000-year slumber with plans to take over the museum, and the world.
Rating: HH
Info for Parents: The littlest kids might briefly cower at the roaring T. rex skeleton, the giant squid, the Egyptian warriors with shrieking eagles' heads, or the huge sculpture of Abraham Lincoln coming to life. Al Capone (Jon Bernthal) carries a tommy gun, and Huns and Neanderthals wield swords and clubs, but no one gets hurt.
Up
(Animated, PG, 90 minutes). The title is deceptively simple, which is fitting, because the latest achievement from Pixar Animation is deeper and more complex on every level than it would initially appear. It's a classic B-movie exotic adventure, the kind that inspired Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to make "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but it's told through the most high-tech, gorgeous 3-D animation. It's a mismatched buddy comedy, the kind we've seen countless times before, but the buddies are a curmudgeonly 78-year-old man and a tubby 8-year-old boy - who wind up together in a flying house, traveling to South America. And, as with many family films that get pumped out each summer, it has talking dogs. But it's how the dogs talk and what they say that are truly inspired, and oddly realistic. Pete Docter (Pixar's "Monsters, Inc.") and co-director and writer Bob Peterson turn their imagination this time to human beings, rare creatures in the animated kingdom. But between the richness of the characters, the meatiness of their interaction and the authenticity of the details, it won't take you long to forget that "Up" is a cartoon and become immersed. Ed Asner is the perfect choice to voice the cranky widower Carl Fredricksen, who ties thousands of helium balloons to his house and takes to the skies, with endearing newcomer Jordan Nagai playing the overeager scout who's trapped on his front porch.
Rating: HHH1/2
Info for Parents: Kids younger than 6 may start to fidget and wonder what's going on. There are some genuinely scary scenes, too, in which threatening dogs chase our heroes through jungle and canyon.
Older 13s
Angels & Demons
(Action, PG-13, 138 minutes). Blessedly, "Angels & Demons" is more entertaining and less self-serious than its predecessor, the dense and dreary yet enormously successful "The Da Vinci Code." In adapting another of author Dan Brown's religious-mystery page turners, Ron Howard wisely gave in to its beat-the-clock thriller elements, which makes for a more enjoyable summer-movie experience. But its twists, turns and revelations are just as ridiculous as those in "The Da Vinci Code" - perhaps even more so - and it breezes through arcane details with just as much dizzying speed. The key players are back from that 2006 international hit, including Tom Hanks as Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon and Akiva Goldsman as screenwriter (joined this time by David Koepp). Although the book "Angels & Demons" came out before "The Da Vinci Code," the film is positioned as a sequel to take advantage of the strained relationship between Langdon and the Vatican - only this time, it's his expertise the folks there reluctantly need. With the pope dead and the College of Cardinals about to meet in conclave to choose a replacement, a secret society known as the Illuminati has kidnapped the four likeliest candidates. Langdon must decipher clues at various churches and historical sites throughout Rome to prevent the killing of the cardinals, one every hour, leading to a bomb explosion at the Vatican. But wait, we haven't even gotten to the most laughable part of the story yet! Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgaard and Armin Mueller-Stahl are among the estimable supporting cast, all of whom have enjoyed the benefits of stronger material but manage to supply gravitas nonetheless.
Rating: HH
Info for Parents: There are shootings, though with little gore, and mild profanity. Some will object to Langdon's sarcastic view of church doctrine.
Drag Me to Hell
(Horror, PG-13, 99 minutes). The name alone tells you exactly what this is - an unabashed celebration of B-movie schlockery - but the dichotomies director Sam Raimi presents within that familiar genre are what make this such a kick. Raimi returns to the kind of cheeky horror that made him a cult favorite with the low-budget "Evil Dead" trilogy, but he applies all the high-tech tricks he's acquired with the blockbuster "Spider-Man" trilogy. He and brother Ivan Raimi have written a rather old-fashioned terror tale, full of curses and creaks, bumps and shrieks, but they've added a heavy splattering of their trademark dark humor. (Some of the absurdly funny visual gags include creative uses for office supplies, a talking goat and an unsuspecting kitty.) All these contradictions add up to one hell of a ride: You'll squirm, you'll scream, you'll laugh your butt off and beg for more. Alison Lohman's character, the innocent Christine Brown, gets more than she ever could have imagined. A bank loan officer competing for a promotion, she denies a creepy old woman an extension on her mortgage loan, thinking that's the right decision to impress her boss (David Paymer). Turns out she turned down the wrong customer: Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) is a vengeful gypsy who feels so shamed, she places a powerful curse on Christine that torments her day and night.
Rating: HHH1/2
Info for Parents: The film's classic horror images include demons and corpses vomiting maggots and embalming fluid, eyeballs and false teeth popping out, a projectile nosebleed. Violent fights feature implied impalements, and there's a wormy scene in a reopened grave.
My Sister's Keeper
(Drama, PG-13, 103 minutes). A shameless weepy, one of the most manipulative and fundamental of genres, but it also raises some surprisingly difficult and thought-provoking ethical questions. Based on the Jodi Picoult best-seller, "My Sister's Keeper" focuses on the Fitzgerald family, and the drastic decision they made in medically engineering a child (Abigail Breslin) as a perfect genetic match to help save the life of their older daughter Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), who has leukemia. For years, little Anna provided blood, bone marrow, whatever Kate needed. Now at 11, with her teenage sister needing a kidney, Anna says no for the first time - and beyond that, she files a lawsuit seeking medical emancipation from her parents. Director Nick Cassavetes, who co-wrote the script with Jeremy Leven (writer of Cassavetes' "The Notebook"), traces this conflict through flashbacks from various characters' perspectives: bulldog matriarch Sara (Cameron Diaz), whose priority is preserving Kate's life at all costs; father Brian (Jason Patric), who's patient and supportive no matter what; only son Jesse (Evan Ellingson), who feels lost in the shuffle; and Kate and Anna themselves. Cassavetes tugs at the heartstrings, which has become a trademark in much of his work, providing opportunities to yank out the hankies early and often. But he also wisely refrains from demonizing any of these characters for the choices they make and lets us draw our own conclusions. On the flip side, some family members seem too good to be true.
Rating: HH1/2
Info for Parents: The movie includes comic sexual innuendo, a subtly implied sexual situation between two terminally ill teens (we see them cuddling afterwards with bare backs on a bed). An adult character has an epileptic seizure. There is some profanity, beer-drinking and a scene showing prostitutes on the street.
The Proposal
(Romantic comedy, PG-13, 104 minutes). All the romantic comedy conventions are shamelessly on parade here, trampling on our brains and turning them into mush. They include an uptight character who literally lets her hair down to show she's loosening up, a spontaneous sing-along, wacky relatives, a shocking mid-wedding revelation, a mad dash to the airport and, finally, some very public I-love-yous. Where is the creativity, people? By definition, this is a predictable genre - a guy and a girl who are clearly meant for each other eventually end up together, despite the many madcap obstacles and misunderstandings that come their way. We know the destination before we even park the car at the multiplex; it's how we get there that matters. "The Proposal" seemed to be getting there with some spark and ingenuity, led by a couple of actors with solid comic chops. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are both well suited for snappy banter and they play off each other with some nice friction off the top. Bullock has always shown a flair for physical humor, but here she gets a chance to play a scheming, tyrannical book editor, which is a refreshing change from her frequently daffy winsomeness. But Anne Fletcher (who also directed the by-the-numbers "27 Dresses") and screenwriter Peter Chiarelli obliterate any good will they'd generated when "The Proposal" turns gushy and goes precipitously downhill. Bullock stars as Margaret Tate, a Canadian who's on the verge of being deported. She blackmails her put-upon assistant, Andrew (Reynolds), into marrying her to stay in the country. Think they'll fall in love for real?
Rating: HH
Info for Parents: There is midrange sexual slang and innuendo, including a threat to castrate someone, and a male exotic dancer in a G-string. There is moderate profanity, a tasteless remark about immigrants, and a scene in which an eagle swoops down and grabs a dog, but the dog is OK.
Star Trek
(Action, PG-13, 127 minutes). J.J. Abrams' hugely anticipated summer extravaganza boldly goes to the past within the distant future of the "Star Trek" universe, years ahead of the TV series and the myriad movies and spin-offs it spawned. And in doing so, he and his longtime collaborators, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, change everything you know - or obsess about, if you're into this kind of thing - about the kitschy pop-culture phenomenon. It's a daring and exciting approach that's sure to tickle and provoke purists, while at the same time probably cause neophytes to feel a bit lost. A major plot twist pops up about halfway through the film (along with Leonard Nimoy), one that doesn't exactly work and from which the film never completely recovers, and from there the adventures feel a bit repetitive. Having said that, Abrams clearly aimed to appeal to the broadest possible moviegoing audience with this dazzling visual spectacle while also leaving plenty of Easter eggs for the hardcore fans to find. It's an absolutely gorgeous film with impeccable production design - the lighting is wondrous, almost heavenly - and lovely, tiny details frequently emerge from within the larger, grander images. Abrams certainly puts on a good show - between "Lost" and the 2006 "Mission: Impossible" sequel he directed, there's no question the man knows how to stage an action sequence - and the opening gets things off to a thrilling start. He efficiently and satisfyingly presents the back stories of the men who will become Capt. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the half-Vulcan, half-human Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and puts them on a collision course with each other, which ups the excitement level early. John Cho, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana and Eric Bana co-star.
Rating: HH1/2
Info for Parents: There is implied torture, intense fighting, an implied impalement and a lobsteresque monster, as well as mild sexual humor and innuendo, a brief nongraphic sexual situation, rare mild profanity.
Terminator Salvation
(Action, PG-13, 114 minutes). We have seen the future, and the future is noisy. This fourth flick in the "Terminator" saga takes place in 2018, 14 years after Judgment Day. John Connor is a rising force in the resistance against Skynet, the artificial intelligence network that started thinking for itself and eradicating humanity, but he has yet to become its leader. He has seen destruction and listened to the recordings left by his mother that foretell his future, but he has yet to send anyone back in time in hopes of stopping it, including the man who will become his father. (You definitely need to have seen the first three movies to have a clue as to what's going on here, and why certain details matter. This is no time to play catch-up. Being a fan also helps.) Director McG, of the "Charlie's Angels" movies and "We Are Marshall," drops into this well-established lore and presents a post-apocalyptic world that is repetitively bleak and relentlessly loud. Yes, the machines have taken over, and so of course there's going to be a healthy amount of clanging, crunching metal - but even things that shouldn't be noisy, like the lighting of a flare, sound like a rocket launch. And Christian Bale steps into the role of John Connor, played previously by Edward Furlong and Nick Stahl, and he ... well, he does the same voice he uses when he dons the black suit for the "Batman" movies, a monotone, guttural growl regardless of the dialogue. John must find and protect his future father, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), while trying to determine whether to trust the mysterious Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) to help in this quest.
Rating: HH
Info for Parents: It's grimly violent, although with relatively little gore (a little blood and some needles) and rare profanity. A female character faces the briefly implied possibility of sexual assault. There are huge gun battles and crashing of machines.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
(Action, PG-13, 150 minutes). A joyless cacophony, an insistent and seemingly endless onslaught, director Michael Bay's follow-up to the 2007 smash "Transformers" plays like a parody of a Bay movie. You name it, it gets shot up, blown up or otherwise obliterated in a massive fiery ball, from suburban homes and cars to aircraft carriers and even an Egyptian pyramid. Along the way, our sense of sanity and humanity also get destroyed, as we feel as if we are being held captive by these walking, talking, shape-shifting robots - both the good guys and the bad. The Autobots and Decepticons aren't the only ones assaulting us in their epic battle: Regular people are just as obnoxious - probably more so - with their nonstop yammering. Everyone is overcaffeinated in this thing, everyone screams their lines, perhaps so they can hear each other over the explosions and the thunderous score. Who knows, and who cares? It is impossible to become emotionally invested in the Transformers, cool-looking as they are (the work of the venerable Industrial Light & Magic), because it's impossible to tell who's doing what to whom. It's all one messy amalgamation of twisted steel and shattered glass, accompanied by generic crunching and shrieking sounds. What's that, you say? You want to know what the "Transformers" sequel is about? How quaint. Basically, it follows the further adventures of plucky, young Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf, seriously straining his likability), who is yet again stuck in the middle of the eternal fight between the noble Autobots and the evil Decepticons. Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson return as eye candy, as does John Turturro, who provides a couple of laughs.
Rating: H1/2
Info for Parents: There is some profanity, an extended joke about an adult getting high on marijuana brownies, and toilet humor.
Year One
(Comedy, PG-13, 97 minutes). Making a solid summer comedy starring Jack Black, Michael Cera, David Cross and Hank Azaria should be so easy, a caveman could do it. Somehow, despite the presence of those reliable actors and the highly advanced skills of comic veterans Harold Ramis and Judd Apatow behind the scenes, "Year One" manages to be a dud. A few amusing moments and ideas pop up here and there, but more often the script feels flat, with a needlessly heavy reliance on scatological gags. (Director Ramis co-wrote it with "The Office" writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg; he and Apatow are among the producers.) Black's character literally eats feces at one point, while Cera's urinates all over himself - upside down; it could be a metaphor for what everyone is stuck doing in this movie. Black and Cera star as hunter Zed and gatherer Oh, mismatched Neanderthals who are banished from their village after Zed eats some forbidden fruit. Basically this allows Black to be Black (manic, unhinged but always overconfident) and Cera to be Cera (awkward, sarcastic but always sweet). Not much heavy lifting required of either of them. Zed and Oh set off on a road trip that takes them from their primitive land to a series of biblical settings, including encounters with Cain and Abel (Cross and an uncredited Paul Rudd) and Abraham and Isaac (Azaria and Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Ramis seems to be aiming for his own version of the Mel Brooks classic "History of the World: Part 1," but there's nothing terribly memorable about these adventures.
Rating: H1/2
Info for Parents: There is midrange profanity, sexual slang, crude sexual gestures, a protracted discussion of circumcision and toilet humor. There is a theme about sacrificing virgin girls to pagan gods, and some characters are sold into slavery.
Mature high-schoolers
Away We Go
(Drama, R, 90 minutes). Movies about pregnancy all too often feature mad dashes to the maternity ward, delivery-room histrionics and bumbling, hovering relatives. "Away We Go" rejects those cliches and instead takes an honest, humorous and ultimately moving look at the prospect of a family growing from two members to three. Husband-and-wife writers Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida were inspired by becoming parents themselves - they now have two kids - but didn't draw from their own experiences in writing the script. Nevertheless, the characters' adventures feel real and relatable. John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are lovely together as Burt and Verona, a couple in their 30s on the brink of having their first child who travel North America searching for the best place to settle down. Both actors have made their names with TV comedy - he with "The Office," she with "Saturday Night Live" - and while they enjoy plenty of funny scenes in "Away We Go," they also reveal an unexpected capacity for drama with effortless grace. Burt and Verona, who's six months along, realize there's nothing keeping them in their ramshackle house in suburban Denver. They can do their jobs anywhere and Burt's parents (a wonderfully weird Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara), who live nearby, are about to move out of the country just as the baby's coming - providing one of many examples to Burt and Verona of the kind of parents they don't want to be. So, they visit a series of cities that interest them, hoping to find one that's a good fit.
Rating: HHH1/2
Info for Parents: There is sexual language and innuendo, homophobic humor aimed at a child, talk of miscarriages, rare strong profanity, and drinking. Great for thoughtful high-schoolers.
The Hangover
(Comedy, R, 99 minutes). You'd be forgiven for thinking this is a documentary. After all, who hasn't woken up in a trashed Las Vegas hotel suite with a missing tooth, a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet and little or no memory of what happened the night before? Director Todd Phillips and screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore take this idea to bold new heights - or depths, depending on your perspective - with a comedy that stays weird and wild for the first two-thirds, only to disappoint in the final act. Structurally, though, it's based on a clever concept: Three guys take their buddy Doug (Justin Bartha) to Vegas for a bachelor party right before his wedding. When they wake up the morning after their debauched bacchanal, they realize the groom is missing - and that's only the beginning of their trouble. As they nurse their pounding heads and retrace their steps, they stumble down an increasingly absurd, and surprisingly dark, path. And because it all turns out to be so unpredictable, we feel like we're solving a mystery right along with them. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis make a believably motley trio, with Galifianakis in particular stealing many moments with a performance that's a fascinating balance of creepy and endearing. But Ken Jeong, veteran of many a Judd Apatow production, is stuck in a role that's a distasteful (and unfunny) stereotype of both Asians and gays.
Rating: HH1/2
Info for Parents: It features very strong profanity, rear-view nudity and toplessness, crude sexual language and innuendo, implied sexual situations, homophobic slurs, gross toilet humor, drug humor, and a poor joke about a grandmother's "Holocaust ring."
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
(Thriller, R, 106 minutes). The way the original 1974 film's title has been condensed tells you everything you need to know about the direction "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" is headed. In these fast-paced, mixed-up times, it simply takes too long to spell out the numbers. Then again, just knowing the director is Tony Scott ("Top Gun," "Man on Fire," "Domino") is a major indicator of the changes in store. A low-key, steadily paced thriller about a New York subway hijacking has been amped up with Scott's trademark acrobatics: incessant camera movement, sped-up footage that jarringly cuts to slo-mo, seizure-inducing edits and a blaring soundtrack. Considering that you have heavyweights Denzel Washington and John Travolta squaring off, with a script from Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland ("L.A. Confidential"), you just want to scream at the screen for Scott to settle down and let the exchanges play out for themselves. For the brief moments he does just that, "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" can be an engaging battle of wits, despite its preposterous premise. Inspired as the original was by the John Godey novel, "Pelham" stars Travolta in the Robert Shaw role as Ryder, the leader of a group of baddies who take over a downtown 6 train. He demands $10 million in one hour (up from $1 million in '74) or he'll start killing the passengers. Washington (in the Walter Matthau role) plays Walter Garber, the dispatcher on the other end of the microphone who must listen/probe/stall/cajole as a de facto crisis negotiator. While Washington brings his typical grace to this rare regular-guy role, Travolta gets shrieky in a way that recalls his performance in the infamous "Battlefield Earth."
Rating: HH
Info for Parents: There are bloody, point-blank shootings of subway personnel, passengers and hijackers. Children are among the hostages. Phobics note: There are rats in the subway tunnel. The script contains strong profanity, brief crude sexual innuendo and a couple of ethnic slurs.
Posted in Movies on Thursday, July 2, 2009 3:10 am
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