Movie Capsules A-Z
The following capsule reviews, listed alphabetically, will give you an idea of the caliber of films unreeling locally. Please refer to the movie schedule for theaters and show times.
The films are graded as follows: excellent/very good (A); good (B); fair (C); poor (D); turkey (F). Those with (NP) have not been previewed. (To locate a website, go to www.google.com and type in the film’s title.)
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
TAKEN 2: (B-) Liam Neeson returns as a deadly former government operative who in this sequel must use his lethal skills to rescue his wife (Famke Janssen) from his old enemies and team with his daughter (Maggie Grace) to get the job done. The follow-up, which isn’t nearly as involving as the intense and exciting original, became inevitable when the modestly budgeted original enjoyed a global gross of $226.8 million, plus millions in sales of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, and turned Neeson into an action hero. (91 minutes) Intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality. (PG-13)
BUTTER: (C+) Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Alicia Silverstone and Hugh Jackman star in this comedy about the extreme reaction of a wife after her husband faces trouble in remaining Iowa’s champion butter carver. British filmmaker Jim Field Smith (“She’s Out of My League”) directed. It will play exclusively at the AMC Neshaminy 24, 3900 Rockhill Drive, Bensalem, Pa. Call 215-396-8050. Quality rating based on website and wire-service reports. (91 minutes) Language, sexual content, drug use. (R)
FRANKENWEENIE: (B+) The voices of Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder and Christopher Lee are featured in Tim Burton’s long-planned stop-motion-animation version of his black-and-white short about a beloved canine, Sparky, who dies and is resurrected by his owner. Burton also co-wrote. Quality rating based on website and wire-service reports. (87 minutes) Scary images and action, thematic elements. (PG)
LITTLE RED WAGON: (B) In this uplifting factual tale, starring Chandler Canterbury, an 8-year-old boy uses his beat-up red wagon to get food and supplies to people trapped by 2004’s Hurricane Charley in Tampa, Fla. David Anspaugh (“Hoosiers”) directed. The PG-rated drama is playing exclusively at the Regal Oaks, 180 Mill Road, Upper Providence, Pa. 19456. Call 610-666-6564. Quality rating based on website and wire-service reports. (103 minutes) Thematic elements, some language. (PG)
THE ORANGES: (C) Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, Catherine Keener, Allison Janney and Oliver Platt form the ensemble of this biting comedy-drama-romance. In the story, an older man throws a community into turmoil after he becomes involved with the much younger daughter of his friend and neighbor. Julian Farino (BBC’s “Byron”) directed. Quality rating based on website and wire service reports. (90 minutes) Language, sexual references, some drug use. (R)
THE OTHER DREAM TEAM: (A-) Marius A. Markevicius directed this documentary on the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic basketball team. The players won the bronze at the Barcelona Olympics and then used their newfound fame to help their countrymen break away from the shackles of communism. Quality rating based on website and wire-service reports. (88 minutes) (Unrated)
TAKEN 2: (NP) Liam Neeson returns as a deadly former government operative who in this sequel must use his lethal skills to rescue his wife (Famke Janssen) from his old enemies and team with his daughter (Maggie Grace) to get the job done. The follow-up became inevitable when the modestly budgeted original enjoyed a global gross of $226.8 million, plus millions in sales of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, and turned Neeson into an action hero. (91 minutes) Intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality. (PG-13)
V/H/S: (B-) David Bruckner, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Ti West and Adam Wingard directed parts of this low-budget anthology picture featuring five segments about the horrors generated by stacks of VHS tapes filled with shocking images. This is a found-footage movie, a la “The Blair Witch Project,” and those bothered by choppy camera movements have been warned. (115 minutes) Strong violence, sex, nudity, harsh four-letter profanity, drug use. (R)
RETURNING FILMS
ARBITRAGE: (B+) Ever-dependable leading man Richard Gere appears aged to perfection during this financial thriller about a desperate 60-year-old investment guru who has been defrauding his auditors to sell his business and is short more than $400 million. Brit Marling, Tim Roth and Susan Sarandon co-star in the timely tale that benefits from Gere’s performance as a financial manipulator fearing he will plunge into the economic abyss. Documentarian Nicholas Jarecki makes his filmmaking debut. (100 minutes) Language, brief violent images, drug use. (R)
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD: (B+) Talented screen newcomers Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry star in this fable about an imaginative little girl who sees floodwaters and prehistoric monsters seemingly combining to destroy the planet. The impressionistic film-festival favorite chronicles the hard, no-frills existence of a child named Hushpuppy and her single father surviving various flooding disasters in Louisiana. Benh Zeitlin made his directing debut. (92 minutes) Themes including child imperilment, some disturbing images, language, brief sensuality. (PG-13)
THE BOURNE LEGACY: (B-) Jeremy Renner steps in for Matt Damon in this somewhat disappointing fourth installment of the super-spy franchise based on Robert Ludlum’s novels about a government operative. Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton co-star in the thriller, which contains a motorcycle chase that generates few thrills and goes on far too long. Director Tony Gilroy (“Michael Clayton”) fails to provide much exposition on Renner’s off-the-grid field agent. (125 minutes) Violence and action sequences. (PG-13)
CHICKEN WITH PLUMS: (B-) Mathieu Amalric stars in this French import about a famed musician whose lust for life evaporates after his favorite violin is destroyed. That event causes him to confine himself to bed and wait for death. Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi co-directed. Quality rating based on website and wire-service reports. (93 minutes) Some drug content, violent images, sensuality, smoking. (PG-13)
DREDD 3D: (B) Karl Urban (“Star Trek”) has the title role in this extremely violent comic-book fantasy about the brutal enforcer who’s judge, jury and executioner. Lena Headey (“300 Spartans”) co-stars as a gang leader focused on destroying Judge Dredd at any cost. Pete Travis (“Vantage Point”) directed. (95 minutes) Very strong violence, some disturbing images, pervasive language including sexual references, some drug use. (R)
END OF WATCH: (B+) Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena co-star in this riveting crime drama about two officers who patrol a dangerous area and become marked for death after confiscating some money and firearms from a deadly cartel. David Ayer (“Street Kings”) directed. Quality rating based on website and wire-service reports. (109 minutes) Strong violence, some disturbing images, pervasive language including sexual references, some drug use. (R)
FINDING NEMO 3-D: (A) The voices of Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres are featured in this remastered Pixar/Disney computer-animated favorite (2003) about a father fish searching for his son who is lost at sea. The title has been remastered in 3-D. Andrew Stanton (“Wall-E”) and Lee Unkrich (“Toy Story 3”) co-directed. (100 minutes) Some intense moments for younger children. (G)
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: (C+) The voices of Andy Samberg, Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, Cee Lo Green, Kevin James, Chris Parnell and Selena Gomez are featured in this strained computer-animated monster mash, which features the Frankenstein monster, the Mummy, werewolves and the Invisible Man. In the story, Dracula struggles to prevent his teen daughter from dating a human on her 118th birthday. Genndy Tartakovsky (“Samurai Jack”) directed. Quality rating based on wire-service and website reviews. (91 minutes) Scary images, rude humor. (PG)
HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET: (NP) Jennifer Lawrence and Elisabeth Shue team in this chiller about a divorced mother who moves to a small town with her daughter and then discovers some horrible things have happened in the neighborhood. Mark Tonderai (“Hush”) directed. (91 minutes) Intense sequences of violence, terror. (PG-13)
LAWLESS: (B+) Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Jessica Chastain and Guy Pearce lend their talents to this brutal gangster picture about three sibling bootleggers who challenge a corrupt Chicago federal agent obsessed with crushing them during Prohibition. It’s based on Matt Bondurant’s fact-based book “The Wettest County in the World: A Novel Based on a True Story.” Australian John Hillcoat (“The Proposition”) directed. (110 minutes) Strong bloody violence, language, some sexuality/nudity. (R)
LIBERAL ARTS: (B+) Josh Radnor (who also wrote and directed) and Elizabeth Olsen star in this charming slice-of-life tale about a 35-year-old college recruiter who returns to his alma mater to celebrate the retirement of his favorite former professor and then finds himself being attracted to a much younger 19-year-old student. Zac Efron and Richard Jenkins co-star. (97 minutes) Sexuality, drinking. (R)
LOOPER: (B) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt and Jeff Daniels star in this mind-twisting, time-travel thriller about hit men who kill targets transported back from the future. Rian Johnson (“Brick”) directed. (118 minutes) Strong violence, sex, nudity, drug content. (R)
THE MASTER: (A-) Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams form a solid ensemble in this intense drama set in the 1950s and following a charismatic man who begins a faith-based organization with the help of a drifter. The beautifully acted film was reportedly inspired by the genesis of Scientology. Paul Thomas Anderson (“There Will Be Blood”) wrote and directed. (137 minutes) Sex, nudity, drug use, adult themes. (R)
THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN: (B) Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton star in this feel-good fable about a couple who dream of having a child and then discover that the little boy who comes into their lives may be more than he appears. Peter Hedges (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”) directed. (125 minutes) Thematic material, brief language. (PG)
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER: (A) Emma Watson (the “Harry Potter” franchise), Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller and Dylan McDermott co-star in a touching coming-of-age tale about the highs and lows faced by a 15-year-old boy on his way to adulthood. It’s based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote the screenplay and directed. (103 minutes) Mature themes, a fight, and drug, alcohol and sexual content involving teens. (PG-13)
PITCH PERFECT: (B) Anna Kendrick, Elizabeth Banks and Christopher Mintz-Plasse star in a comedy about a struggling all-girl a cappella group that challenges a cocky boy team to a competition. Jason Moore makes his directing debut. Quality ratinb based on website and wire-service reports. (112 minutes) Sexual material, language, drug references. (PG-13)
THE POSSESSION: (NP) In this horror tale, starring Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a mother and father must battle an ancient spirit that possesses their daughter. Sam Raimi (“The Evil Dead”) served as a producer. Danish filmmaker Ole Bornedal (“Deliver Us From Evil”) directed. (92 minutes) Mature thematic material involving violence and disturbing sequences. (PG-13)
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION: (B-) Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez return in this franchise title. A deadly virus turns the undead into flesh-eating monsters, and Alice, Jovovich’s character, then hunts those responsible for spreading it. Paul W.S. Anderson (“Resident Evil: Afterlife”) wrote and directed. (117 minutes) Strong violence throughout. (R)
SAMSARA: (B) Co-directors Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson transport viewers around the globe and provide a sensory experience by creating stunning images photographed in 70mm over a five-year period in 25 countries on five continents. Quality rating based on website and wire-service reports. (99 minutes) Some disturbing and sexual images. (PG-13)
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN: (A) Malik Bendjelloul directed this documentary about two South Africans who search for a 1970s rock icon who was discovered in a Detroit bar in the 1960s and later disappeared. Quality rating based on website and wire-service reports. (85 minutes) Strong language, drug references. (PG-13)
SLEEPWALK WITH ME: (B) Comedian Mike Birbiglia presents this semi-autobiographical story about a struggling stand-up comic who’s avoiding commitment with his longtime girlfriend (Lauren Ambrose). He surrenders to bouts of sleepwalking that allow his subconscious to run wild. The picture began as an off-Broadway play and then became a best-selling book (“Sleepwalk With Me & Other Painfully True Stories”). Birbiglia also directed. Quality rating based on website and wire-service reports. (91 minutes) (Unrated)
STARS IN SHORTS: (NP) Colin Firth, Julia Stiles, Wes Bentley, Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench appear in a series of short films created by numerous directors, including Neil LaBute. (113 minutes) (Unrated)
TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE: (C+) Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Robert Patrick and Matthew Lillard team in this easygoing, cliché-ridden sports tale about an aging baseball scout who reconciles with his estranged daughter as they search for a batting phenomenon. Robert Lorenz makes his directing debut. (111 minutes) Language, sexual references, some adult themes, smoking. (PG-13)
WON’T BACK DOWN: (C+) In this well-intentioned-but-shallow drama, starring Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rosie Perez, Ving Rhames, Bill Nunn and Holly Hunter, two Pittsburgh-area women attempt to take over a troubled inner-city school where students aren’t being educated. They then face a bureaucratic nightmare in the factual tale that feels more like a Lifetime cable movie than a major motion picture. Daniel Barnz (“Beastly”) directed. (120 minutes) Thematic elements, language. (PG)
THE WORDS: (B) Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid and Olivia Wilde star in this intriguing drama about a hungry-for-success writer who finds a lost manuscript, claims it as his own work, and then suffers consequences as the story unfolds. (96 minutes) Language, adult themes. (PG-13)
Gaul on the radio
My “At the Movies” radio segment airs live at 11:35 a.m. every Friday as part of “The Dom Giordano Show” (WPHT-AM/1210 and www.thebigtalker1210.com).
The broadcast includes discussions of newly released movies and DVDs as well as motion picture news and cinema trends.
A different version of my “At the Movies” segment can be heard on Burlington County College radio station WBZC-FM/88.9, 95.1 and 100.7 on Fridays at 8:45 a.m. and 12:45 and 4:45 p.m. and on Saturdays at 10:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. The show can also be heard online at www.z889.org.
Gaul on the Web
My film reviews, features and columns can be found under entertainment/movies on our website, www.phillyBurbs.com.
Lou Gaul: 609-871-8055; email: lgaul@phillyBurbs.com
The Associated Press and websites contributed to this story.