Movies

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/05/2009 (6322 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Recommended:

WALTZ WITH BASHIR
Cinematheque. 18A
You just have one night — tonight — to catch this hypnotic, one-of-a-kind “animated documentary” in which filmmaker Ari Folman investigates his own memory lapses of events that took place during Israel’s war with Lebanon in 1982. It screens at 7 p.m. tonight; if you can’t make it, it’s expected to come out on DVD June 23. 4 stars

 

Starting Friday:

CHE
Globe. 14A
Steven Soderbergh’s vast, ambitious, four-hour-plus biographical drama was adapted from the revolutionary memoirs of Ernesto (Che) Guevera (played by Benicio del Toro, who also serves as executive producer). Both parts of the film are screened consecutively in this “road show” edition.

DRAG ME TO HELL
Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A
An ambitious bank loan officer (Allison Lohman) is put through the titular state after her rejection of an old woman results in a formidable curse. Director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) returns to his horror roots.

UP
Garden City, Grant Park,  Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. G
Pixar Animation’s latest is the tale of a square-headed senior, retired balloon salesman Karl Frederickson (voiced by Ed Asner), who decides to see the world by attaching hundreds of helium balloons to his roof. Unfortunately, Karl takes on a pesky boy scout as an unwitting stowaway. It’s in 3-D at Grant Park, Polo Park and St. Vital only.

 

Starting Saturday:

THE ART STAR AND THE SUDANESE TWINS
Cinematheque.
A documentary on performance artist Vanessa Beecroft and her efforts to adopt a pair of Sudanese babies over the course of 16 eventful months.

 

Now playing:

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

ANGELS AND DEMONS
Globe, Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A
Director Ron Howard is not as reverential to author Dan Brown’s ecclesiastic potboiler as he was when adapting The Da Vinci Code, and the result is a fast-paced thriller wherein symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) must race against time to prevent the destruction of the Vatican by a group claiming to be the church’s ancient enemy, the Illuminati.  If only Langdon weren’t such a boring hero… 3 stars

DANCE FLICK
Polo Park, Towne. 14A
As the Wayans family gets bigger, they produce fewer laughs, as evidenced by this insipid parody of the girl-with-a-dream dance movie (referencing specifically Save the Last Dance, as well as Flashdance, High School Musical and Hairspray), which features eight Wayanses in the cast, and somewhat fewer laughs. 1 star

GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST
Polo Park, St. Vital. 14A
The premise of Charles Dickens’ masterful A Christmas Carol is degraded to a grimy sex farce as handsome, wealthy and misogynistic photographer Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey) is called on his callous, womanizing ways when the ghost of his playboy uncle (Michael Douglas) take him on a tour of his sordid past. 2 stars

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN
Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG
The production design is divine. The intent is altogether noble. The actors are uniformly committed to the moment, and yet, Night at the Museum 2 feels a bit like strolling a mile-long gallery on a hard marble floor. 2-1/2 stars (Reviewed by Katherine Monk)

THE POOL
Globe. 14A
Based on a short story that was set in Iowa, this drama from American director Chris Smith has been transposed to India, where its story of ambition and classes plays more realistically. A young boy dreams of swimming in the pool at the luxurious villa, and insinuates himself into the lives of the owners. The themes of rising in society are similar to those of Slumdog Millionaire, minus the Bollywood dance number and with a more grounded realism. 4 stars (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

17 AGAIN
Polo Park. PG
Apparently, director Burr Steers didn’t get the memo that body-switch comedies are supposed to be dreary exercises in middle-aged wish fulfilment. Steers plays up the wit in a premise that sees a failed husband and father (Matthew Perry) given the chance of to make good on his mistakes with his wife (Leslie Mann) and kids when he is transformed into his 17-year-old self (Zac Efron). As for Efron, the guy has good locks, a ripped torso, physical grace, and an ability to hold his own opposite some formidable comic talent. Hate him all you want: he’s got the goods. 3 stars

THE SOLOIST
Grant Park. PG
A down-on-his-luck journalist (Robert Downey Jr.) befriends an even more down-on-his-luck street person (Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy now playing his violin on the streets of L.A. The thespian duet between Downey and Foxx make this worthwhile. Sadly, director Joe Wright is afflicted with a kind of esthetic arrhythmia that tends to inhibit the drama with its start-and-stall momentum. 3-1/2 stars

STAR TREK
Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG
Instead of making a movie for Star Trek fans, J.J. Abrams boldly went and made a movie for movie fans, with the result that this reboot of the old series may be the most exciting and entertaining, if not challenging, Star Trek movie ever. 4 stars

TERMINATOR SALVATION
Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A
The first Terminator movie with no time travel, this noisy franchise extender by director McG is thick with post-apocalyptic visuals, but light on compelling characters, as designated saviour John Connor (Christian Bale) uncovers a new weapon against the machines while a convict (Sam Worthington) attempts to solve the mystery of how he was executed in 2003 but is still walking the Earth in 2018. 2-1/2 stars

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG
Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the instantly healing, adamantium-reinforced superhero, gets his own full-blown 150-year-spanning backstory. It makes for a perfectly adequate superhero comic-book movie, all explosions, chases, gunfights, sword fights and blood feuds. But the coolest thing about Wolverine in the X-Men movies was his mystery, and that’s what Marvel set out to delete here. 3 stars (Reviewed by Roger Moore.)