See It? Skip It?

The Wrestler

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:14:26

At first glance, Darren Aronofsky's THE WRESTLER may seem like a departure for the oftentimes frenetic filmmaker, and in some ways it is. When this story of a past-his-prime performer is compared to PI, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, and THE FOUNTAIN, there is relatively little trace of psychoscientific addiction imagery, hip-hop editing, or grimly elegant peeks into dreams, nightmares, and otherworlds. Comic moments are plentiful. Aronofsky's signature close-ups of faces have been replaced with ones that force themselves into wounds inflicted for visceral spectacle. Much of the time the camera floats and bobs with an observant, almost documentary-like quietness, ethereally following the wrestler as if it were his past, and the viewer may perceive vague connections to a later, lonelier, less legitimate Rocky Balboa. But Mickey Rourke isn't the Italian Stallion--he's Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a man who has spent decades slicing himself open in choreographed fights while adoring crowds roar. Pro wrestling isn't as lucrative as it was for Randy in the 1980s, but he stays at it while working menial jobs because performing isn't just the only thing he craves--it's the only thing that, at 50, he knows how to crave. While courting his one true friend, a stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), Randy does his best to restart a relationship with the angry daughter he abandoned. But Rourke imbues the image of Randy, ready to pounce from the ropes, looking almost as unreal as the box art on action figure packaging, with an expression of pain, desperation, and joy. It's a close-up that makes two things clear. For one, Randy's charisma is inseparable from the crippling fixation that's kept him alive. For another, THE WRESTLER might be at once a simpler and more complex meditation on addiction and eternal struggle than any of Aronofsky's earlier work.

Official X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:44:58

Hugh Jackman can't escape Wolverine's claws as he returns for a fourth turn as the Marvel mutant. Gavin Hood (RENDITION, TSOTSI) directs this film that takes place before the three previous X-Men movies and explores Wolverine's mysterious past.

Australia

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:07:01

Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a cattle driver (Jackman) in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:10:58

In this remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic, Keanu Reeves stars as the alien who comes to earth. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL also stars Oscar winners Jennifer Connelly and Kathy Bates, as well as Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm (MAD MEN) and Jaden Smith (THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS).

Bolt

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:23:38

For super-dog Bolt (voice of JOHN TRAVOLTA), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York... For super-dog Bolt (voice of JOHN TRAVOLTA), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he begins his biggest adventure yet a cross-country journey through the real world to get back to his owner and co-star, Penny (voice of MILEY CYRUS). Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and the help of two unlikely traveling companions a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voice of SUSIE ESSMAN) and a TV-obsessed hamster named Rhino (voice of MARK WALTON) -- Bolt discovers he doesn't need superpowers to be a hero. -- © Walt Disney Pictures

Twilight

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:49:20

BELLA SWAN has always been a little bit different. Never one to run with the crowd, Bella never cared about fitting in with the trendy, plastic girls at her Phoenix, Arizona high school. When her mother remarried and sent Bella to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she didn't expect much of anything to change. But things do change when she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful EDWARD CULLEN. For Edward is nothing like any boy she's ever met. He's nothing like anyone she's ever met, period. He's intelligent and witty, and he seems to see straight into her soul. In no time at all, they are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance unorthodox because Edward really isn't like the other boys. He can run faster than a mountain lion. He can stop a moving car with his bare hands. Oh, and he hasn't aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he's immortal. That's right VAMPIRE. But he doesn't have fangs that's just in the movies. And he doesn't drink human blood, though Edward and his family are unique among vampires in that lifestyle choice. To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. Somehow or other, they will have to manage their unmanageable love. But what will they do when LAURENT and JAMES, the Cullens' mortal vampire enemies, come to town, looking for Bella? Based on the #1 New York Times Bestselling series by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight is a cultural phenomenon, with a fanatic fanbase that eagerly awaits this movie. Critically acclaimed director Catherine Hardwicke brings to life this modern, visual, and visceral Romeo and Juliet story of the ultimate forbidden love affair between vampire and mortal. -- © Summit Entertainment

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:46:17

The prequel will trace the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian (Sheen) emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor (Nighy), the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Viktor's daughter Sonja (Mitra), in his battle against the Death Dealer army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.

Haunting in Connecticut

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:44:38

The astounding, well-documented story of a family forced to relocate near a clinic where their son was being treated for cancer. Strained financially and emotionally, the family discovers their recently renovated home was a former mortuary with a dark history. After experiencing violent supernatural events both inside and out of the house, the family seeks the help of ghost hunters and the Catholic Church, which performs an exorcism.

Delgo

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:39:54

The land of Jhamora is torn apart by the mutual prejudice of two peoples—the winged Nohrin, masters of the skies, and the terrestrial Lockni, who harness the mystical powers of the land. When Delgo (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), a reckless Lockni teenager, forms a forbidden friendship with the spunky Nohrin Princess Kyla (Jennifer Love Hewitt), hostilities between the two peoples escalate, setting the stage for an exiled Empress (Anne Bancroft) to exact her revenge and reclaim her rule. Falsely imprisoned, Delgo and his faint-hearted best friend, Filo (Chris Kattan), must put aside their differences to join forces with a sworn enemy (Val Kilmer) and travel to the mysterious land of Perran, where they discover more than just a scorned Empress and her two bumbling servants.

Bedtime Stories

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:37:00

Hotel handyman Skeeter Bronson's life is changed forever when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to mysteriously come true. He attempts to take advantage of the phenomenon, incorporating his own aspirations into one outlandish tale after another, but it's the kids' unexpected contributions that turn Skeeter's life upside down.