MOVIES

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This article was published 18/08/2011 (5466 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Recommended

FINAL DESTINATION 5

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, Polo Park IMAX, St. Vital, Towne. 18A

The death-comes-stalking franchise continues with exactly the same plot as the four predecessors — a young person has a vision of a disaster and saves various souls from a gory demise. Not to be cheated, death claims the lucky survivors in various ways. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, but you could do worse starting with No. 5, which offers especially outlandish deaths and a truly impressive bridge disaster to start things rolling. Three stars

 

Starting tomorrow

CONAN THE BARBARIAN

Grant Park, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 18A

“I live, I love, I slay, and I am content.” It ain’t Dr. Phil. It’s Robert E. Howard’s Cimmerian warrior-thief re-invented with Jason Momoa as the titular hunka hunka burnin’ revenge, seeking out the warlord (Stephen Lang) who killed his dear old dad (Ron Perlman).

 

FRIGHT NIGHT

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

This remake of the 1985 horror cult hit stars Anton Yelchin as Charley Brewster, a kid who realizes his next-door neighbour Jerry (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. Also starring David Tennant as a magician deemed an occult expert, enlisted in the supernatural fight to the finish.

 

ONE DAY

Globe, Grant Park, Polo Park. 14A

Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway star as mismatched friends whose relationship is examined over the course of 20 years on the July 15 anniversary of their awkward first romantic encounter.

 

POSITION AMONG THE STARS

Cinematheque. Subject to classification.

Dutch filmmaker Leonard Rentel Helmrich documents the lives of the Shamshuddin family, whose life in a Jakarta slum is marked by generational divides in education and religion.

 

SPY KIDS 4: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD

Kildonan Place, Polo Park, Towne. G

A new generation of spy kids take on a would-be despot dubbed the Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) in this franchise reboot from director Robert Rodriguez.

 

NOW PLAYING

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

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

Polo Park, St. Vital. PG

Leading up to next year’s Marvel Comics hero-palooza The Avengers comes this likable retro comic-book movie set during the Second World War, wherein a 98-pound weakling (Chris Evans) is transformed into a super-soldier by a sympathetic scientist (Stanley Tucci) to do battle with the Nazi megalomaniac known as Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Director Joe Johnston creates some pacing problems as usual (see also: The Wolfman), but this is nevertheless a quirky entry in the superhero sweepstakes. Three and a half stars

 

CARS 2

Portage Place IMAX. PG

A sequel to the 2006 Pixar feature has race car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and the bumpkin tow-truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) enlisted into the realm of international espionage courtesy of British spy master Finn McMissile (Michael Caine). Although the Pixar flick introduces some amusing new characters, the movie lacks heart and humour. Three stars  (Reviewed by Chris Knight)

 

THE CHANGE-UP

Kildonan Place, Polo Park, Towne. 14A

Jason Bateman is a family man and Ryan Reynolds is a playboy and when they magically switch bodies, sexy/awkward hijinks ensue. The scriptwriters who gave us The Hangover dip their toes in the hackneyed body-switch sub-genre and should have produced a dud, except Bateman and Reynolds earn some laughs through sheer comic ability. Two and a half stars 

 

COWBOYS & ALIENS

Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A

An amnesiac stranger (Daniel Craig) stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution, Ariz., with a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. Apparently, it has something to do with the aliens attacking from the sky. This western-sci-fi hybrid from director Jon Favreau works as well as it does because Favreau seems intent on making a western that might stand well enough on its own without the sci-fi trappings. Three and a half stars

 

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE

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

Steve Carell stars as a guy who married his high school sweetheart (Julianne Moore) and has the rug pulled out from under him when he finds out she is having an affair and wants a divorce. He soon finds himself getting pick-up advice from Ryan Gosling’s practised ladykiller. It’s romantic, touching, a little risqué and screwball, yet reassuringly down-to-earth. Four stars (Reviewed by Colin Covert.)

 

GLEE: THE 3D CONCERT MOVIE

Polo Park. G

The original cast of Glee stars in this live concert film shot during a show in New Jersey. Because the actors stay in character, the movie has a gentle campy touch that matches the overall mood of the franchise. It also celebrates the opportunity to commune with fans, whose stories make for some touching moments. Three stars (Reviewed by Katherine Monk)

 

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART II

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

The richly diverse Harry Potter saga comes to a close as Harry, Ron and Hermione return to Hogwarts School for a final apocalyptic reckoning with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his mob of minions. This wrap-up to the franchise is big, thrilling and even moving at times as Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) learns unsettling revelations about his past and his destiny. Four and a half stars

 

THE HELP

Globe, Grant Park, Polo Park. PG

 Emma Stone stars as Skeeter, a woman who decides to shake the foundations of Jackson, Miss., in the early ’60s by compiling a book telling the experiences of black housekeepers in southern white homes. If the premise sounds like a southern liberal’s fantasy, the cast sells it, particularly Viola Davis as a maid who raised 17 white children, but could not save her own son. Three and a half stars

 

HORRIBLE BOSSES

Polo Park. 14A

Three pals (Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day), each victimized in different ways by their superiors, take the hate to the next homicidal level. Director Seth Gordon orchestrates very good and pertinent farce (raise your hands everyone who wants to quit their jobs in this economy), elevated by the offhand repartee between the three leads, who enjoy a wicked chemistry. Three and a half stars

 

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

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

The Frankenstein story gets extra mileage when you throw accelerated Darwinism into the tank, which is why this movie may well be the most important piece of the simian puzzle we’ve seen so far. Taking us back to the very moment when intellectually enhanced apes began walking the Earth, this prequel to the 1968 movie starring Chuck Heston as a befuddled astronaut isolates the moment of species cleavage. Smart but suitably silly, it all works in true B-fashion. Three and a half stars (Reviewed by Katherine Monk)

 

THE SMURFS

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

The little blue creatures come to the big screen with surprising zest in a film that sends them to New York City ahead of the evil wizard Gargamel (the deliriously hammy Hank Azaria). The film is aware of the story’s shortcomings and cleverly blends self-criticism into an amusing slapstick adventure for kids. Three and a half stars (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

 

30 MINUTES OR LESS

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

Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is a small-town pizza-delivery guy kidnapped by a couple of criminal lowlifes (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) who outfit him with a bomb and compel him to rob a bank. Aziz Ansari offers up a refreshing off-angle sense of humour as Nick’s best friend/co-bank robber, but Eisenberg is hopelessly miscast as a clutch-popping slacker dude. Two stars