Movies

November 6, 2009

Capsule reviews of continuing films:

Capsule reviews of continuing films:

AMELIA — Considering the risks Amelia Earhart took, losing her life in the call of aviation, Hilary Swank and director Mira Nair don’t put much on the line in their film biography of the pioneering flyer. This is a biopic on autopilot. PG for some sensuality, language, thematic elements and smoking. 111 minutes.

ASTRO BOY — A shiny hodgepodge of “Pinocchio,” “WALL-E,” “Oliver Twist,” “Gladiator” and “Superman,” with some obvious visual touches taken from “The Iron Giant.” As its own entity, though, it’s pretty forgettable. It almost feels like there are too many movies competing simultaneously in what is essentially a pretty standard tale of good vs. evil. PG for some action and peril, and brief mild language. 90 minutes.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE’S ASSISTANT — Here’s the latest entry to the overcrowded vampire trend, and it’s adapted from a 12-book series. The film characterizes itself from other vampire fare in its outlandishness. We now get a freak show complete with a bearded Salma Hayek, a super-tall Ken Watanabe and a vampire John C. Reilly. PG-13 for intense supernatural violence and action, disturbing images, thematics and some language. 108 minutes.

1/2

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS — A delicious farce and a backhanded slap at America the Obese, this may be the funniest animated film of the year. PG for brief mild language. 81 minutes.

COUPLES RETREAT — Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn reteam for this broad comedy about four couples who go on a tropical vacation together. In theory, they’re all there to support their friends as they try to save their marriage. Little do they know they’ll all get sucked into therapy. PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and language. 110 minutes.

1/2

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN — Gerard Butler is Clyde Shelton, whose wife and daughter were murdered during a home invasion. Ten years later, he’s out for revenge, but before going after his ultimate target, he takes out everyone around him in ridiculous fashion. R for strong bloody brutal violence and torture, a scene of rape, and pervasive language. 101 minutes.

MICHAEL JACKSON’S THIS IS IT — Produced with the full, watchful cooperation of the Jackson estate, pulled from 100-plus hours of film and video shot between March and June 2009, “This Is It” has no interest in telling the full story of anything, or the crumbling state of anyone. Rather, director Kenny Ortega — Jackson’s partner in staging the London concert that never came to fruition — is simply trying to suggest in some detail what sort of overstuffed career retrospective Jackson was attempting in this phantom arena affair. Naivete, calculation and all, it looks like it would’ve been a helluva show. PG for some suggestive choreography and scary images. 111 minutes.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY —Micah (Micah Sloat) has bought a video camera to document the weird stuff that has been happening in the two-story San Diego home he shares with his girlfriend of three years, Katie (Katie Featherstone). The entire film takes place at the couple’s cookie-cutter dwelling. Its ordinariness makes the eerie, nocturnal activities all the more terrifying, but the thinness of the premise is laid bare toward the end. R for language. 84 minutes.

SAW VI — It’s still torture porn, more excruciating than scary. It’s still all about the elaborate and gory “games” the victims must win to survive Jigsaw’s test of character, redemption and humanity. Body parts are lost, guts spill, and sharp objects pierce to the sound of screams in the night. But this script has a more lyrical bent and a more satiric bite than any of the other “Saw” sequels. R for grisly bloody violence and torture and for language. 93 minutes.

THE STEPFATHER — Finally, a horror thriller served up straight. No werewolves, Lycans or jerks named Jigsaw. No “killer who will not die.” And best of all, no freaking vampires. But the most you can say about the remake of that serial-killer-in-mommy’s-bed tingler of 1987 is that it efficiently goes about its business. PG-13 for intense violence, disturbing images, mature thematics and brief sensuality. 100 minutes.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE — The book is just 339 words long, but in turning it into a feature-length movie, Spike Jonze has expanded the story with breathtaking visuals and stirring emotional impact. The beloved and award-winning children’s book, which Maurice Sendak wrote and illustrated 45 years ago, still holds up beautifully today because it shows keen insight into the conflicted nature of children. PG for mild thematics, adventure action and brief language. 101 minutes.

ZOMBIELAND — There’s been no shortage of zombies or vampires at the movies in recent years. But “Zombieland” mostly finds that tricky balance of the laugh-out-loud funny and the make-you-jump scary. R for horror violence/gore and language. 82 minutes.

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