Previews Sandra Bullock plays Margaret, a book editor who forces her young assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her so she can avoid deportation to Canada in the comedy/romance The Proposal, opening Friday, June 19. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, nudity and language. 107m. At the Broadway, Fortuna and Mill Creek. Jack Black fans can […]
Charlie Myers
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Land of the Dudes
Previews Opening Friday, June 12, is The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, a "reinterpretation" by director Tony Scott (Man on Fire) of the 1974 thriller about the takeover of a train by an armed gang seeking 10 million in ransom. Denzel Washington is the dispatcher matching wits with mastermind John Travolta. Rated R for […]
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Hyped Up
Previews If you’re looking for something other than brain-dead film fare this coming weekend, visit a local video rental store. Opening Friday, June 5, is The Hangover, a comedy directed by Todd Phillips (School for Scoundrels) about, as the title suggests, a wild bachelor party in Vegas wherein one of the celebrants fails to appear […]
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McG + Terminator = McTerminator
Note: I’m just back from six weeks in Portland and despite the manifold gastronomic and cultural seductions of the city I managed to see 24 films. Among the standouts are the beautifully realized Tokyo Sonata from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, about the disintegration of a contemporary Japanese family; Everlasting Moments, a wonderful historical film from Swedish […]
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Two Lovers: Love It!
Note to Readers: I will be on hiatus for six weeks while I’m in Portland. See you mid-May if I’m renewed. Previews Opening Friday, April 3, is Fast & Furious, 2009 version and the fourth in the series but set between Nos. 2 & 3. The film features four actors from the original: Vin Diesel, […]
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My Kind of Fluff
Previews The big opening on Friday, March 27 is the computer-animated Monsters vs. Aliens, which is being released in 3-D. Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) grows to 49′1″ after being conked by space junk on the way to her wedding. Captured by the military, she is housed with other monsters who become assets when […]
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Beyond Craven
Note to a Reader: Fred Hummel’s letter in the March 12 Journal makes the valuable point that the Sabra and Shatila massacres during the 1982 Lebanese War resulted from the Israeli Army’s enlisting of the Christian militia to purge the camps of "terrorists." Waltz with Bashir does allude to this fact, so I don’t want […]
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Hallelujah?
Previews The reinvented Dwayne Johnson, formerly known as "The Rock," stars in Race to Witch Mountain, itself a "reimagining" of the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain. Johnson is a Las Vegas cab driver who teams up with an astrophysicist (Carla Gugino from Watchmen) to rescue siblings (Anna Sophia Robb, Jumper and Alexander Ludwig) who […]
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The Massacre Remembered
Preview Opening Friday, March 6, is the long anticipated Watchmen, the latest superhero film based on the comic book series written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Directed by Zack Snyder (300), the story is set in an alternate history 1985 (Nixon is president) against the backdrop of rising tensions between the U.S. and the […]
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A Coot in Love
Note: My Supporting Actress pick didn’t pan out, so congratulations to Ryan Burns who bested me in our Oscar picks, which appeared last week in this column. Fortunately, my separate, friendly Oscar contest was more successful. Previews It didn’t win the Foreign Language Oscar, but happily local viewers will get to see Waltz with Bashir […]
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Pick O’ The Oscars!
Preview With the Academy Awards ceremony coming on Sunday, there is only one new local opening on Friday, Feb. 20 — although Defiance is returning, in case you missed it. Last Chance Harvey opened nationally on Jan. 16 and seems to have gotten lost in the Oscar shuffle. Set in London, the film stars Dustin […]
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Demme Goes to Dogville
Previews Opening Friday, Feb. 13, with a timely subject, is The International, directed by Tom Tykwer (Perfume). Clive Owen stars as an Interpol agent who is investigating international banking corruption and Naomi Watts is a Manhattan ADA who becomes his ally. If the trailer is accurate, he needs all the help he can get. Rated […]