Movies

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This article was published 23/09/2012 (5124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE BOURNE LEGACY

Grant Park, Polo Park, St. Vital. PG

A Bourne movie without Jason Bourne feels like a squeeze at the franchise cash cow: The Bourne Lactation. But this fourth entry adds something fresh into the mix with a new tormented hero, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), and a different dynamic: The Bourne Legacy is largely an oft-riveting old-school damsel-in-distress story, courtesy of an endangered scientist played by Rachel Weisz. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2

 

THE CAMPAIGN

Polo Park, St. Vital. 14A

Will Ferrell plays a slothful incumbent Democrat congressman in the fight for his life when he is challenged by a nebbish Republican (Zach Galifianakis). We’re used to politicians talking out of both sides of their mouths. This is a political comedy that attempts that feat. It’s a rude and crude farce but movies that step on that third rail of filmgoer appeal — politics — always pull their punches. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö (Reviewed by Roger Moore)

 

CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER

Globe. 14A

Rashida Jones co-wrote and stars in this rom-com about a woman who attempts to maintain a close friendship with her about-to-be-ex-husband (Andy Samberg). It’s debatable if you can even call this a romantic comedy given it’s about a protracted break-up, but given the option between this and the usual Boy-meets-Girl/Boy-loses-Girl/Boy-gets-Girl-back formula flick, we’ll take C+J gladly. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2

 

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Polo Park, St. Vital. 14A

Christopher Nolan completes his Batman trilogy in style with this apocalyptic tale of class warfare in Gotham City, as Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is forced out of exile by a mysterious terrorist known as Bane (Tom Hardy), as well as the feline cat-burglar Catwoman (Anne Hathaway). Even at its most outrageous, there is a recurrent ping of realpolitik plausibility here that distinguishes this movie from all other superhero movies and summer blockbusters in general. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

 

DREDD 3D

Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 18A

A comic-book adaptation about a futuristic “judge” (also jury and executioner) played by Karl Urban sent into a deadly tenement with a new rookie (Olivia Thirlby) to take out a gang dealing a deadly drug called Slo-mo. It’s richly rewarding in its visuals and there is some comic payoff too, thanks largely to Urban, who strips the hero figure of almost all human qualities save for slow-burning rage. But within the film’s giant visual scale, there is no actual fixed target for the jet-black humour. Like its two heroes cut off from the rest of the world, Dredd’s satire has no place to go. ‘Ö’Ö1/2

 

END OF WATCH

Grant Park, Polo Park. 18A

While going about their harrowing duties, a pair of L.A. street cops (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pe±a) are targeted for by a violent drug cartel. This compelling slice of cop life pivots on the excellent chemistry between Gyllenhaal and Pe±a. Reminiscent of the fiction of cop-turned-writer Joseph Wambaugh, it feels like an authentic insider glimpse of law enforcement, encompassing bravado, friction, battlefield bonding, mischief and sheer horror. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

 

THE EXPENDABLES 2

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

A group of over-the-hill action heroes — Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren et al. — and their more modern confreres (Jason Statham, Liam Hemsworth) return for another impossible, high-velocity mission. It’s explosive and absurd, but it has a certain nostalgia value. ‘Ö’Ö1/2 (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

 

FAREWELL MY QUEEN

Globe. PG

Director Benoit Jacquot captures the final days of the royal court of Louis XVI as seen through the eyes of an ambitious reader (Lea Seydoux) in the service of the loathed queen Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger). Knowing that the only sure thing in the queen’s future is the guillotine, viewers have nothing left to do but enjoy watching as this finely tailored gown begins to unravel thread by thread. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2

(Reviewed by Jesse Kinos-Goodin)

 

FINDING NEMO 3D

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

Pixar’s 3D processing of their back catalogue continues with this 2003 feature about a panicky clownfish (voiced by Albert Brooks) intent on finding his lost son in the big blue ocean. It’s the details that stand out whenever a classic film is converted to 3D. With this one, the shimmering sea surface, scratches on the lens of a diver’s goggles and smudge marks Nemo the clown fish makes when he mashes his face up against the glass wall of the aquarium that imprisons him all pop off the screen in this stellar reissue of Pixar’s undisputed masterpiece. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö (Reviewed by Roger Moore)

 

HOPE SPRINGS

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park. 14A

Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones are a 31-years-married couple whose relationship is in need of a shakeup. You don’t have to be married for 31 years to feel inspired by the film’s message about the importance of keeping your relationship alive. Without a single special effect or explosion, this is an unexpected summer movie with real punch. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2 (Reviewed by Christy Lemire)

 

THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET

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

A low-cal psychological thriller about single mom (Elizabeth Shue) and her teenage daughter (Jennifer Lawrence) who move into an isolated house next door to a place where a horrific murder took place. The secrets are familiar, however, rather than terrifying, and despite many thematic homages, director Mark Tonderai is no Hitchcock. ‘Ö’Ö1/2 (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

 

ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT

Polo Park, St. Vital. G

Manny (Ray Romano), Diego (Denis Leary) and Sid (John Leguizamo) are back for another round of extinction-themed hijinks. The script is the weakest in the franchise, but there’s something darkly compelling about watching evolutionary Armageddon dressed as family fluff. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö (Reviewed by Katherine Monk)

 

LAWLESS

Grant Park, Polo Park, Towne. 14A

This tale of a moonshine war in Franklin County, Va. between crafty hicks and vicious city-slickers is partly undone by its mismatched cast, including Shia Labeouf as the youngest brother of a moonshining family, Tom Hardy as the clan’s taciturn leader, and Guy Pearce offering an unwelcome revival the ’70s staple character, the homosexual psycho villain. ‘Ö’Ö

 

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN

St. Vital. G

An achingly sweet but oddly emotion-free tearjerker about a small-town couple (Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Garner) who long to have a child of their own. It strains to find the magic, joy and heartbreak in a story manufactured with those traits in mind. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2 (Reviewed by Roger Moore)

 

PARANORMAN

Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG

A lavish stop-motion adventure about an outcast young boy who sees dead people, and comes to the realization he may be the only one who can save his town from marauding Puritan zombies and a vengeful witch. It’s darker than the usual kiddie fare, but also more rewarding in its elegant dissection of how fear is the most destructive monster of all. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2

 

PASSIONFLOWER

Cinematheque. PG

In 1962, a young girl on the brink of puberty is compelled to come to terms with her unstable mother. This feature debut from Winnipeg filmmaker Shelagh Carter benefits from a couple of strong performances, especially Kristen Harris delineating the anguish of a unstable personality trapped in a social role for which she is not equipped. But the film carries the affliction of countless other Canadian dramas in that it is largely humourless to the point of being dour. Should the story of an artist’s creative hatching be so wanting the quality of joy? ‘Ö’Ö’Ö

 

THE POSSESSION

Kildonan Place, Polo Park. 14A

A divorced couple (Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick) are alarmed when their younger daughter (Natasha Calis) starts to behave strangely after acquiring a mysterious locked box at a yard sale. One of the film’s more disturbing visual effects is how the demon pushes a victim’s eyeballs around every which way during possession. That aside, this movie’s box of tricks is mostly filled with genre clichés and the only rolling eyes you’ll encounter are your own. ‘Ö’Ö1/2

 

PREMIUM RUSH

St. Vital. 14A

A reckless bicycle courier (Joseph Gordon Levitt) accustomed to risking his neck actually finds his life on the line when he is given a special-delivery envelope for which some shady individuals are willing to kill to acquire. It’s silly yet satisfying B-movie entertainment that moves with the swiftness of a Schwinn — a ride made fun particularly by Michael Shannon’s enthrallingly comic performance as a dirty cop in mad pursuit of a bike messenger’s cargo. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2 (Reviewed by Jake Coyle)

 

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Towne. 14A

In anticipation of the upcoming Blu-ray release of the Indiana Jones collection comes this newly restored edition of the Steven Spielberg-directed 1981 adventure classic. It’s not the IMAX version screening in other North American cities, but seeing this on any bigger-than-your-TV screen is still a treat. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

 

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION

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

Alice (Milla Jovovich) continues her desperate battle against legions of the undead and the vicious Umbrella Corporation, this time coming up against weirdly reincarnated manifestations of former allies, which explains the presence of the first film’s presumed dead Michelle Rodriguez. Individual scenes are lovely to watch, thanks largely to Jovovich, but as usual, writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson riddles bullets into narrative coherence and fires grenade launchers at accepted notions of plot and character. ‘Ö’Ö

 

ROLLER TOWN

Polo Park. 14A

Canadian comedy troupe Picnicface is responsible for this stuck-in-the-’70s retro comedy about one man’s mission to save roller disco when a group of gangsters come to town intent on replacing the community’s beloved disco with video games. Filled with non-stop gags, this is amusing, but not really all that much funnier than the cinematic ’70s dreck (Skatetown USA, Roller Boogie) that inspired it. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö

 

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE

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

Clint Eastwood is a baseball scout with failing eyesight resolved to take one last scouting trip with his estranged daughter (Amy Adams). Eastwood is a spare and iconic presence in the middle of a pretty squishy story about fathers, daughters and the corporate world. ‘Ö’Ö1/2 (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

 

THE WORDS

Grant Park, Towne. PG

Writer Rory Jannsen (Bradley Cooper) achieves literary success after publishing a novel he didn’t write, forcing him into a reckoning for stealing another man’s work. It’s bad enough the movie is shot like a lifestyle commercial sustained over 96 minutes, the film is utterly devoid of humour and employs a too-clever narrative device that tends to subvert its own momentum.’Ö1/2