Movies for Nov. 19, 2009

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In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Robert Pattinson, background left, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner, right, are shown in a scene from "The Twilight Saga: New Moon." (CP)

Recommended

2012

Garden City, Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A

Failed novelist John Cusack realizes a prophesied Armageddon is near and attempts to save his family when he learns the government has a secret plan to save a few from the ravages of an impending mega-disaster. Yep, it's the end of the world as we know it, and Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) feels fine about layering big visual effects, melodrama and dark humour throughout his most elaborate apocalypse movie yet. 'Ö'Ö'Ö

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STARTING TODAY

TWILIGHT SAGA:

NEW MOON

Garden City, Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG

Smouldering vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson, above left) calls it quits with Bella (Kristen Stewart, centre) for her own protection, only to watch her rebound towards his mortal enemy Jacob (Taylor Lautner, right), a werewolf. See the review of the Twilight sequel in today's entertainment section.

STARTING FRIDAY

THE BLIND SIDE

Grant Park, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG

An affluent Memphis matron (Sandra Bullock) takes in a homeless young man (Quinton Aaron) who goes to the same Christian school as her kids, initiating his gradual inclusion into the family. Based on the true story of All-American football star Michael Oher.

BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY

Globe.

A sequel to a direct-to-video thriller wherein a couple of fraternal vigilantes (Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery) return to Boston to avenge the murder of a priest.

GOOD HAIR

Globe. PG

A documentary about hair care? Actually, the film's impetus was comedian Chris Rock's young daughter, who confronts him with the question: "Why don't I have good hair?" That query launches a serio-comic inquiry into the implications of what constitutes good hair in black culture.

PLANET 51

Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. G

The alien-from-outer-space concept gets turned on its ear in this animated feature when an arrogant Earthling (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) lands on an inhabited planet and inspires paranoia and panic among its residents.

NOW PLAYING

The following movies have been previously reviewed by Free Press movie critic Randall King, unless otherwise noted.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Garden City, Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG

Thanks to cutting-edge motion-capture technology, Jim Carrey and Robert Zemeckis's new take on the Charles Dickens classic brings to life the fantasy about miser Ebenezer Scrooge's holiday redemption in a way old Hollywood never could have dreamed. 'Ö'Ö'Ö (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

COUPLES RETREAT

Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital. PG

If you're looking for plot, narrative intricacy or layers of subtle characterization, you're barking up the wrong palm tree. This is a movie about four amiable couples, their low-level relationship woes, and the South Pacific getaway that makes everything all better. A slight but sweet coming-of-middle-age story for couples. 'Ö'Ö1/2 (Reviewed by Colin Covert)

THE FOURTH KIND

Polo Park, Towne. 14A

Unlike the benign aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the creatures in this film are engaged in abduction -- and generally messing with the lives of various citizens of Nome, Alaska -- or that's the startling conclusion of a doctor (Milla Jovovich) investigating several cases of apparent psychosis. It delivers a few goose bumps, but in the end the film is more desultory than disturbing. 'Ö'Ö (Reviewed by Robert W. Butler)

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS

Grant Park, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A

A reporter (Ewan McGregor) trying to lose himself in the romance of war gets more than he bargains for when he meets a special forces agent (George Clooney) who reveals the existence of a secret, psychic military unit whose goal is to end war as we know it. Director Grant Heslov convinces us we're watching a farce about silly soldiers and the lengths they'll go to in order to get the upper hand. But if you look deeper, this is also a very powerful treatise on the military, and the way it treats -- and eats -- its own. 'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö (Reviewed by Katherine Monk)

MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT

Grant Park, Polo Park. PG

Michael Jackson's final musical testament was cobbled together from rehearsal footage prior to his abortive concert tour. Going by this material, the show surely would have been the greatest musical comeback of all time; it leaves a bittersweet aftertaste knowing it will never be. 'Ö'Ö'Ö1/2 (reviewed by Rob Williams)

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A

This low-budget horror flick causes more terror with a billowing sheet or a creaking door than all the Saw movies put together. Director Oren Peli's less-is-more "documentary" about a couple haunted by a demon might be the most genuinely scary movie in years. 'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö (Reviewed by Jill Wilson)

PIRATE RADIO

Globe, Polo Park. 14A

During the height of the rock 'n' roll renaissance in the mid-'60s, a pirate radio operation in the Atlantic spun the platters that mattered courtesy of a crew of rogue DJs (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, among others) Writer-director Richard Curtis is given rich opportunity to portray a society in dramatic flux, and blows it on cloying boyish hi-jinks. Hazarding a guess: Curtis's favourite Beatle was probable Paul McCartney (the Cute One) and not John Lennon (the Smart One). 'Ö'Ö

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Towne. PG

Spike Jonze's adaptation of the classic kids' story embellishes Maurice Sendak's minimalist 10 sentences with a backstory to the wolf-costumed Max (Max Records). Max's troubled home life is imaginatively refracted through his fantastic adventures among a motley group of affable but dangerous monsters. It's a fine movie -- it's just not really a kids movie. Ends Tuesday. 'Ö'Ö'Ö1/2

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 19, 2009 E17