Movies

November 13, 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.

BOONDOCK SAINTS: ALL SAINTS DAY — Writer-director Troy Duffy has returned with exactly the same vigilante shlock he produced a decade ago in the original “Boondock Saints,” a ridiculously over-the-top action film about a pair of Irish-American twins who set out with guns, recklessness and boozy bravado to rid Boston of criminals and mafia. R for bloody violence, language and some nudity. 117 minutes. Half a star out of four.

THE BOX — Cameron Diaz and James Marsden have a moral dilemma: Press a button on a mysterious container and they’ll get $1 million, but someone they don’t know will die. What button, on whose box, did writer-director Richard Kelly push to get the money to make this awful, preposterous thriller? PG-13 for thematic elements, violence and disturbing images. 115 minutes.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL — The time is ripe for a new version of “A Christmas Carol.” When Charles Dickens wrote his classic story, it was a cautionary tale to greedy capitalists of the 19th century. Dickens’ story is about as sturdy a one as we have — it would be nearly impossible to mar what might be the finest ghost story this side of “Hamlet.” Unfortunately, our 2009 version is defined only by its technology. PG for scary sequences and images. 95 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

THE FOURTH KIND — In a sleep-inducing performance, Milla Jovovich plays an actress re-enacting an Alaska psychologist’s research into patients’ reports of strange phenomena. Olatunde Osunsanmi presents these events in split-screen fashion with the “real,” raw videotaped footage of patients’ recollections playing side by side with the actors’ reconstructions. He invests so much time and energy trying to convince the audience of the events’ veracity that he forgets to create even a rudimentary sense of tension. PG-13 for violent/disturbing images, terror, thematics and brief sexuality. 98 minutes.

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.

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS — A fun tone is undermined by disjointed storytelling in George Clooney and producing partner Grant Heslov’s romp based on Jon Ronson’s amusing nonfiction book about the U.S. military’s research into psychic warfare and espionage. R for language, some drug content and brief nudity. 93 minutes.

1/2

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.

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.

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