Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009
Capsule reviews of films now playing in Myrtle Beach area theaters.
ASTRO BOY Slick, stylish CG-animated take on the vintage Japanese TV 'toon, but as robotic as its boy hero. With the voices of Nicolas Cage, Charlize Theron, Kristen Bell, and with Freddie Highmore as the kid with rockets in his feet. 1 hr. 34 PG (cartoon violence, kids and 'bots in jeopardy)
THE BLIND SIDE (Rating not available) Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw play a well-to-do Texas couple who take in a homeless black teenager as their ward and watch him blossom into an excellent student and terrific football player. John Lee Hancock, who knows his way around inspirational sports movies after helming "The Rookie," directs.
2 hrs. 6 mins. PG-13
THE BOX Cameron Diaz and James Marsden are offered $1 million by a sinister stranger. Of course there's a catch. From that premise, the film veers off on a wild, incomprehensible cosmic tangent. What the ...? 1 hr. 55 PG-13 (violence)
COUPLES RETREAT A tropical vacation turns out to be a relationship workshop for four couples. Vince Vaughn, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love are part of a large cast in a skimpy comedy that is more adult than its rating indicates. 1 hr. 47. PG-13 (profanity, sexual content, rude humor).
DISNEY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL Robert Zemeckis' visually immersive, emotionally uninvolving animation of the Charles Dickens evergreen features "motion capture" performances by Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman and Robin Wright Penn. Lost in the video-game effects and ghostly grotesquerie is the redemptive saga of the man who learns that his stinginess has spiritually deformed him. 1 hr. 36 PG (really creepy effects, unsuitable for those under 10)
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler go toe-to-toe in this over-the-top and grisly Philadelphia-made criminal justice revenge thriller. A mash up of "Death Wish" vigilante vengeance with "Silence of the Lamb"mad-genius-behind-bars puppet-mastery. 1 hr. 48 R (violence, sexual violence, torture, profanity, adult themes)
THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS George Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Ewan McGregor star in this nutty based-on-true-stuff farce about a gang of psychic-powered military men going about their "remote viewing" business during Operation Iraqi Freedom. 1 hr. 33 R (profanity, drugs, violence, nudity, adult themes)
MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT Documentary on the final days of Jackson's life, including interviews and rehearsal footage, as he prepared for 50 concerts in London. 1 hr. 52 PG (suggestive choreography, scary imagery)
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL "PUSH" BY SAPPHIRE Harrowing, and with heroic performances from Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique as a 16-year-old and her abusive mother, Lee Daniels' film takes the audience from a girl's dehumanization to a life of purpose. 1 hr. 50 R (profanity, sexual abuse, physical abuse)
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (Rating not available) The tale of the sullen teenage misfit and her sparkly vampire boy-toy resumes with Edward (Robert Pattinson) leaving Bella (Kristen Stewart) seemingly for good over fear of harming her. In his absence, Bella's furry friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) tries to win her heart, just as a war threatens to break out between the blood-suckers and the werewolves. In other words, it's just another ordinary day in the small town of Forks, Wash. 2 hrs. 1 min. PG-13
2012 (Rating not available) Roland Emmerich's latest big-budget disaster movie takes place three years from now, the same year the Mayans supposedly predicted would mark the end of the world. John Cusack and Amanda Peet play an ex-married couple who are thrown back together to protect their children when a series of natural catastrophes threatens to destroy all life on Earth. Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton and Danny Glover also appear in the film, but the real stars here are the CGI-enhanced depictions of global devastation. 2 hrs. 38 mins. PG-13
