1 hr. THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU 2 stars. 1 hr. An inspirational, illuminating doc about the on-the-go, octogenarian New York Times photographer. 10 PG-13 (violence, intense action, profanity, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> FOUR LIONS 2 1/2 stars. 54 PG (profanity, cartoon mayhem, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT 1 1/2 stars. The latest barrage of green-screen effects and comic book portentousness from "300" and "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder is nightmarishly awful. Well-meaning, to be sure, this evangelical soap calls out for, well, absolution. Steamy and sexy with a smack of sadism, this atmospheric adaptation of the Sara Gruen novel is a throwback to old-school Hollywood action/romance. 42 PG-13 (scares, violence, children in jeopady, adult themes) – Steven Rea</p><p> JANE EYRE 3 stars. The actors (Josh Radnor, Zoe Kazan, Malin Akerman and Kate Mara) are appealing. With Helen Mirren. 1 hr. 33. A perfect storm (although "perfect" is definitely the wrong word) of potty jokes, sex jokes, breast implant jokes, bratty kid jokes and sheep CPR jokes, starring Adam Sandler as a womanizing plastic surgeon, Jennifer Aniston as his long-time assistant and Brooklyn Decker as the hottie he thinks he’s fallen for. Carlos Saldanha’s joyous carnival of animation celebrating avian (and human) biodiversity. Bad sex and identity crises ensue. PG-13 (profanity, sexual candor) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> I AM 3 stars. It is Kidman’s most engaging and emotionally-layered work and a triumph for all involved. 31 PG-13 (mature themes, profanity) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> RANGO 2 1/2 stars. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are the handsome couple who move into a house with their son and newborn, only to discover that something is terribly, eerily amiss. 41 R (violence, profanity, drugs, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> ANOTHER YEAR 3 1/2 stars. The aquatic and surf scenes are spectacular. A sloppy comedy that looks as cheesy and out of date as the 1980s era it aspires to celebrate. 41 PG-13 (violence, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> HANNA 3 1/2 stars. 1 hr. Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, working at the top of their games, star in this "true crime" drama about the scion of a New York real estate family suspected of killing his wife. Franchise spawners Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson bring back original "Scream" threesome Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell and David Arquette, throwing new faces – Rory Culkin, Erik Knudsen, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts and many more – into the hallways of Woodboro High for an intergenerational bloodbath. Sunny sequel to last year’s adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s illustrated novels about Greg Heffley, a middle child in middle school trying to find his place. Fanaticism gets the farce treatment in director Chris Morris’ whopping strange and incendiary comedy about a band of bumbling British Jihads. Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s first feature set outside his homeland offers a shambling, multilingual discourse on the nature of art and the nature of marriage (and the nature of movie narratives, for that matter). With vintage muscle cars and special purpose monster trucks, over-the-top-stunts, heist jobs and rescue missions, all set in colorful Rio de Janeiro. Thriller about a college student who becomes obsessed with her new roommate. Winging and singing creatures frolic in Brazil’s capital of fun. PG (cartoon mayhem, scary stuff, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> HOW DO YOU KNOW 3 stars. 1 hr. EVIL 2 stars. 50 PG-13 (drunkenness, sexual content) – David Hiltbrand</p><p> ATLAS SHRUGGED, PART I 2 stars. 48 R (sexual content, profanity, drugs) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> 127 HOURS 3 1/2 stars. Macy, Marisa Tomei and Bryan Cranston. Prey. 50 PG-13 (violence, action, adolescent themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> INSIDIOUS 2 1/2 stars. Dick’s short story "Adjustment Team" stars a disengaged Matt Damon as an aspiring pol who goes off message when he falls for flirty dancer Emily Blunt. 46 R (profanity, adult themes) – Steven Rea</p><p> YOUR HIGHNESS 2 stars. 27 R (profanity, drugs, alcohol, sexual candor) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> CERTIFIED COPY 3 1/2 stars. 42 R (drug humor, sexual candor, Minotaur frontal nudity) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> RATINGS:</p><p> 4 stars: Excellent; 3 stars: Good; 2 stars: Fair; 1 star: Poor. Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung star as inmates in an insane asylum, diving into far-out, anime fantasy realms. Lots of Hitchcockian huggermugger, fights and chases, and the ending isn’t as satisfying as it could be, but still lots to recommend. 1 hr. She’d like to keep the arrangement strictly physical, but his emotions keep getting in the way. Stars Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly lack the acting chops the create the tension that makes a quality thriller. Defying laws of physics, laws of acting and the law of diminishing returns, the fourth sequel in the "Fast and Furious" franchise delivers a ridiculously fun mix of motorized macho mayhem and multicultural bonding. 45 PG-13 (violence, sex, profanity, drugs, adult themes) – Steven Rea</p><p> THE LINCOLN LAWYER 3 stars. 1 hr. Tapping into the same vein of teen melodrama that runs through the "Twilight" franchise, this silly adaptation of the popular Pittacus Lore book hurls a moody adolescent from outer space into the halls of a small-town American high school. Morgan Spurlock bites the hand that feeds him and then asks for more, as he gets more than 20 big name brands to finance his expose about product placement in the media and movies. 46 PG (rude humor, animated violence, smoking) – "C.R. Not for the squeamish. 59 R (violence, language, sexual content) – Carrie Rickey.</p><p> LORD OF THE DANCE 3D 2 stars. Robin Wright is exceptional as Mary Surratt who owned the boardinghouse where John Wilkes Booth hatched plans to assassinate President Lincoln and in this provocative film from Robert Redford was the scapegoat sacrificed those hungry to avenge the president’s death. Darkness Itself has swallowed up virtually everyone on the globe, save four hapless survivors in this creepy thriller from Machinist helmer Brad Anderson. Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz co-star as a veterinarian, trick rider and unstable ringmaster struggling to save a financially-ailing circus during the Depression. Enjoyable, if uneven, comic romance more of the prickly-pear than love-apple variety. One part biography, one part idol worship, this portrait of the late Pakistani prime minister, the first woman to lead a Muslim state, is a bullet train through South Asia, chronicling its subject’s 54 years while providing an incomplete, if sympathetic, portrait of her. 13 R (intense images of survivalists in extreme situations, suitable for strong-stomached viewers over age 12) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> WIN WIN 3 stars. 36 PG (poop jokes) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> EXPORTING RAYMOND 3 stars. A tiny indie with big, bold ideas – and a big prize from the South By Southwest Film Festival. PG-13 (violence, action, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> VANISHING ON 7TH STREET 2 1/2 stars. There’s no real story, or purpose (beyond the obvious one of making money), just lots of high tech-y, "Mission: Impossible"-style action and "Kill Bill" martial arts and mysticism. Jake Gyllenhaal keeps waking up as a stranger on a train. An exhilarating thriller, directed with rocket-propelled, fractal-zoom ingenuity by Neil Berger. Steeped in Christian tenets of forgiveness, brotherhood and prayer, and rife with earnest platitudes about race and family, this overwrought melodrama tracks a white Memphis police officer as he struggles to deal with the loss of a child, a crumbling marriage, a troubled teenage son and his own racial prejudices and rage. It’s a move at once meta and masterful. 1 hr. Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro co-star. Reese Witherspoon is a softball player courted by baseball star Owen Wilson and out-of-work businessman Paul Rudd. With Taylor Schilling, Jon Polito and Grant Bowler. But this modern-day kitchen sink drama is ultimately too painful, too labored, to care about. Laughs galore until the film and its protagonist get sober. A rip-roaring fairy tale cloaked in spy clothing, starring Saoirse Ronan as a mystery girl raised off-the-grid and trained as a killing machine. Ominously whooshing ceiling fans and a visit from a bunch of ghost-busting nerds ensue. 1 hr. A superior cast (Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo and Thandie Newton) and brilliant idea ruined by lame script and uneven direction. 1 hr. Liam Neeson is the victim of an elaborate identity theft scheme in this tricky thriller, set in a gray, wintry Berlin and co-starring January Jones, Diane Kruger, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz and Frank Langella. Nutty and exhilarating, violent and smart, with action set in snowy Nordic regions, the deserts of Morocco, and grungy Berlin. 1 hr, 47 R (violence, profanity, nudity, adult themes) – Steven Rea</p><p> LIMITLESS 3 1/2 stars. Affable comedy with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman as friends with benefits. 1 hr. 42 PG-13 (discreet sexuality) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> BATTLE: LOS ANGELES 2 stars. 1 hr. 2 hrs. 2 hrs. 39 PG-13 (discreet sexuality, profanity, discreet violence) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> AFRICAN CATS 3 stars. 1 hr. The quarterback’s girlfriend falls in love with "John Smith," and interplanetary trouble ensues. 24 No MPAA rating (nothing offensive) – Steven Rea</p><p> BLUE VALENTINE 2 1/2 stars. That acting chameleon Johnny Depp gives voice to one in Gore Verbinski’s off-center animated Western that’s a mashup of "Chinatown" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." A film for movie geeks and those who enjoy watching Depp role-play around. Deftly. 1 hr. 30 G (may be too intense for children under 6) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> ALL GOOD THINGS 3 stars. Funny-in-spurts stoner comedy, set in the vicinity of Nottingham and Tattooine, costars the unfunny Danny McBride and mildly amusing James Franco as the Goofus and Gallant of medieval times. Slack adaptation of Philip K. 37 R (profanity, violence, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> GNOMEO & JULIET 2 stars. Anne Hathaway doesn’t return as the voice of Little Red Riding Hood in this hopped-up, "Shrek"-ian mash of Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm teetering with pop culture references and wisecracking anthropomorphic sidekicks. It’s a field day for schoolgirl fetishists and fanboys with a penchant for steampunk – but with Snider’s leaden dialogue, you’ve got to call it steamclunk. 1 hr. 1 hr. Topher Grace stars as an aimless college grad lying his way through a one-crazy-night scenario in order to impress his secret high school crush. 30 No MPAA rating – Carrie Rickey</p><p> NO STRINGS ATTACHED 3 stars. 1 hr. Alas, Jonathan Hensleigh’s ’60s/’70s period piece is the kind of artless and obvious saga that telegraphs its punches and stocks its smoky bars with muscle from "The Sopranos. Animator Mamoru Hosoda combines Miyazaki-like elegance with pop art, psychelia and the cartoonish whimsy of Takashi Murakami. Like its star, Stellan Skarsgard, who plays a sensitive former hitman, Hans Petter Molander’s film walks the line between funny-ha-ha and funny-awkward. 1 hr. 51 PG-13 (violence, profanity, adult themes) – Steven Rea</p><p> HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE 1 1/2 stars. 3 PG-13 (violence, mature themes) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> DIARY OF A WIMPY KID 2: RODRICK RULES 2 1/2 stars. That’s the cycle of life of the lioness and cheetah mother in this magnificent Disneynature documentary, a live-action "Lion King, that is deeply involving and primally moving. 2 hrs. 1 hr. 1 hr. In Cary Joji Fukunaga’s moody adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 novel, Mia Wasikowska progresses from a womanchild scared of her own shadow to one who, after a long eclipse, comes into the light. Michael Fassbender is magnetic as Rochester, Jane’s employer. 2 hrs. Manhattan twentysomethings at that awkward age: Too old for casual relations, not ready to commit. Ray Stevenson stars as Greene, with Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken, and Vincent D’Onofrio chewing up the Lake Erie scenery. The plausibility quotient of the film is so low, however, you don’t believe in them. The story, a cliched climb to inspiration. 1 hr. 1 hr. 38 No MPAA rating (sex, profanity, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> UNKNOWN 3 stars. 1 hr. 33 R – Carrie Rickey </p><p> PAUL 2 stars. 1 hr. 56 PG-13 (sex, profanity, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> KILL THE IRISHMAN 2 stars. 1 hr. 1 hr. The voices of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine and Maggie Smith are put to no good use. 1 hr. 37 R (sex, drugs, profanity, comic mayhem, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> TINY FURNITURE 3 1/2 stars. 56 PG-13 (sustained battle sequences including death and destruction) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> BHUTTO 2 1/2 stars. Mild, meandering and super-profane comedy about British geeks (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) on a UFO pilgrimage tour in the American Southwest when they meet a real ET in cutoffs (voice of Seth Rogen). 28 PG-13 (adult themes) – Steven Rea</p><p> RABBIT HOLE 3 stars. PG-13 (violence, gore, sex, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> RIO 3 stars. Love. The story of Danny Greene, a real-life stevedore turned union boss turned mob-connected Cleveland folk hero. Just goes to show that the Gospel isn’t always right. Standard-issue combat film with a twist: The invaders are armored aliens from another planet coming to suck the Earth dry of its resources. 26 PG (nothing unsuitable for children) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> FAST FIVE 3 stars. With Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel. PG-13 (abusive behavior to humans and animals, discreet sex) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> THE WAY BACK 3 stars. "Soul Surfer" is more parable than plot. 51 No MPAA rating (mature themes, political violence) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK 4 stars. 2 hrs. The flash of satin, sequins, spandex and precision step dancing that is Michael Flatley comes at you in stereo vision in "Lord of the Dance 3D," an insistent spectacle blending Las Vegas razzmatazz with World Wrestling Entertainment showmanship. 1 hr. 1 PG-13 (discreet nudity) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> JUST GO WITH IT 2 stars. 46 No MPAA rating (adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> THE CONSPIRATOR 3 stars. The Ghostface Killer runs amok, prank calling, punking and posting messages on Facebook. Matthew McConaughey keeps his shirt on and is surprisingly good as the bottom-feeder attorney in this twisty, cleverly plotted thriller based on the crime novel by Michael Connelly. 09 PG-13 (profanity) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> ARTHUR 2 1/2 stars. 1 hr. Ready? Go! This distemporal thriller is even more disjointed than it means to be. Bradley Cooper stars as a deadbeat New York writer who takes an experimental drug that sets his brain firing on all cylinders. 30 R (profanity, terror, existentialism) – Tirdad Derakhshani</p><p> WATER FOR ELEPHANTS 3 stars. 1 hr. Cheap laughs and Hawaiian backdrops. From the writing/directing team behind the grisly "Saw" comes this far more rarefied, and atmospheric scare pic. 1 hr. 1 hr. The takeaway line from this reverent retelling of shark-attack victim Bethany Hamilton’s ordeal is that with faith, all things are possible. Wrenching, poignant, and quietly healing, John Cameron Mitchell’s adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play about a tightly-wound wife (Nicole Kidman) and her unraveling husband (Aaron Eckhart), still reeling months after losing a child. 36 G (animal adventure) – "C.R.</p><p> THE ROOMMATE 1 1/2 stars. A clever concept – Shakespeare’s tragic romance, with garden gnomes – gets bungled every which way in this CG-animated bore, full of second-rate puns, hackneyed scenarios and an overdose of Elton John tunes. Trippy, eye-popping anime fun about a virtual world universe colliding with real-world teen romance. 1 hr. 1 hr. Russell Brand is thoroughly enjoyable as the inebriated playboy in this faithful remake of Dudley Moore’s 1981 comedy. 1 hr. He has eight minutes to find a bomb, save Chicago and get the girl (Michelle Monaghan). The first installment of the planned three-part series adapted from the 1957 epic by Ayn Rand, philosopher and romance novelist of free-market capitalism, is speechy and preachy and just a teeny-weeny bit naughty. – David Hiltbrand.</p><p> SUCKER PUNCH 1 1/2 stars. Documentary about the the difficulties faced by the creator of "Everybody Loves Raymond" when he attempts to adapt the show for Russian television. 33 PG-13 (adult themes, violence, mild sexuality, murdered kitten) – Tirdad Derakhshani </p><p> SCREAM 4 2 1/2 stars. Reilly. Hollywood director Tom Shadyac sheds the trappings of wealth and makes a documentary on how people can make the world a better place. 1 hr. 43 No MPAA rating – Carrie Rickey </p><p> SOUL SURFER 1 1/2 stars. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are a couple going through the throes of new love, old love and no love at all; there’s a loose, verite vibe, and times when they root down deep to deliver something resonant and true. Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett co-star. A celebration of individualism, integrity, fashion, passion, urban living, street art, magazines and newspapers, and the absolute essentialness of a vintage 3-speed bike. 24 G (cartoon mayhem, domestic discord) – Steven Rea </p><p> THE GRACE CARD 2 stars. 2 hrs. Juliette Binoche and William Shimell star. 1 hr. </p><p> RED RIDING HOOD 2 stars. Eat. 51 R (violence, gore, adult themes) – Steven Rea</p><p> A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN 2 1/2 stars. 44 R (language, sexual references and drugs) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD 3stars. 38 R (sexual candor, profanity) – Carrie Rickey</p><p> HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. Faith clearly does not assure a good movie. 20 No MPAA rating (sophisticated discussion of scientific and religious exploration) – Carrie Rickey </p><p> I AM NUMBER FOUR 2 stars. Cool. It’s a strange, thrilling tale, begrimed by bad memories, by bad deeds. The action sequences feel like filler, the romantic leads have little magnetism and the metaphysical underpinnings fall to pieces. Storks samba! Toucans tumba! Parrots party in kaleidoscopic formations to the music of Sergio Mendes! Voice work by Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway and Jamie Foxx. 1 hr. A film so cartoonish that it makes the cartoonish "Independence Day" look as nuanced as "Saving Private Ryan." With Aaron Eckhardt. Peter Weir’s World War II-era survivalist saga of gulag prisoners who escape from Siberia and embark on a 4,000-mile trek south to Mongolia and across the Gobi Desert, up to the Himalayas to find sanctuary in Tibet and India. 1 hr. 1 hr. Amy Ryan and newcomer Alex Shaffer are onboard, and Tom McCarthy – "The Station Agent, "The Visitor – directs. 52 R (sex, nudity, profanity, domestic violence, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> CEDAR RAPIDS 3 stars. Think of it as the Coen Brothers, Norwegian style. 49 PG-13 (violence, intense action, profanity, adult themes) – Steven Rea </p><p> SUMMER WARS 3 stars. Pushing the envelope of political correctness well into another dimension. When it works – and it doesn’t half the time – it’s as if Monty Python were back, putting its merrily imbecilic stamp on the dark world of terrorism. With Ryan Phillippe, Wiliam H. 1 hr. 46 PG (intense action sequence) – David Hiltbrand</p><p> SOURCE CODE 2 stars. Writer/director/star Lena Dunham’s fiercely witty, self-lacerating study of a college grad’s aimless return to the family nest (in artsy downtown New York). 1 hr. 1 hr. The quavery, saucer-eyed Amanda Seyfried stars in "Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke’s "Twilight-ian take on the fairy tale about the a girl, a wolf, and a grandma (Julie Christie, of all people!) A trippy tweenage bodice ripper that’s funny and sexy and ridiculous. That this purposefully twisting exercise takes place amid the sun-burnished cypresses and towns of Tuscany makes this playfully enigmatic meditation all the more pleasing. Human cork Ed Helms bobs to the surface of the river of raunch in this gentle, gross-out comedy that tickles laughs from the misadventures of a small-town innocent at large in a midsize, Midwestern burg With Anne Heche and John C. Mike Leigh’s meditation on why some people chase happiness and others radiate it takes the form of four seasons in the life of a couple for all seasons, shaggily played by Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen. Danny Boyle’s blunt, mythic and gutwrenching account of Aron Ralston (James Franco), the outdoorsman whose right hand and forearm are pinned to a canyon wall by a falling boulder, and his Sisysphusean struggle to survive. Paul Giamatti stars as a small-town lawyer who makes a big-time ethical misjudgment, jeopardizing his career, his marriage and even the high school wrestling team he coaches. 2 hrs. 1 hr. PG-13 (language, violence).
Read more »
posted
May 16, 2011 by News Gatherer
![The History Of Thor Explained [COMIC]](http://celebrity.morenewsnow.com/files/2011/05/the-history-of-thor-explained-comic.jpg "The History Of Thor Explained [COMIC]")
