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“Standing Ovation” Applause not encouraged
Jul 29th
- Genre: Musical
- Running Time: 108 min.
- MPAA Rating: PG
- Director: Stewart Raffill
- Writer: Stewart Raffill
- Cast: Al Sapienza, Mario Macaluso, Michael Pericoloso, Jeana Zettler, Krystal Tini, Austin Powell, Cory Kastle, Monique Impagliazzo, Devon Jordan, Sal Dupree
“Standing Ovation” bills itself as a musical about and for tweens, the middle school version of “High School Musical.”
I guess that leaves me out, though during the movie I found myself experiencing high-fructose flashbacks to an earlier era, to Saturday mornings in the thrall of the Monkees and Banana Splits, and under the influence of Cap’n Crunch.
The drenched-in-music and slightly bonkers “Ovation” has the manic energy of those old free-form TV shows, most of it supplied by an appealing cast of performers from Philadelphia and South Jersey.
It’s about the Ovations, a group of blue-collar singing-dancing girls (Kayla Jackson, Alexis Biesiada, Na’jee Wilson, Pilar Martin, Kayla Raparelli, eventually Alanna Palumbo) competing against a girl group comprising rich snobs (London Clark, Erika Corvette, Ashley Cutrona, Devon Jordan, Jeana Zettler) in a million-dollar music video contest. More >
Predators
Jul 28th
- Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror, SciFi/Fantasy
- Running Time: 107 min.
- MPAA Rating: R
- Director: Nimród Antal
- Writer: Michael Finch, Alex Litvak
- Cast: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Carey L. Jones
Predators, while far from perfect, is the inspiring story of a sequel that shouldn’t have been greenlit, and yet it was. The original Predator came out in 1987 to initial mixed reviews but went on to be regarded as one of the best action films of all time, and rightfully so. A mere three years later the franchise was plunged into a rapid downward spiral when Predator 2 was released to negative reviews.
14 years later Paul W. S. Anderson resurrected the ugly alien for Alien vs Predator, but a triumphant return it was not, as the film garnered a worse reception than Predator 2. Even then Hollywood was not done milking the character of its glowing green blood and out came Alien vs Predator: Requiem to a substantially poorer reception than its predecessor. More >
The Last Airbender “Four Nations, One Destiny”
Jul 28th
- Genre: Action/Adventure, Family
- Running Time: 103 min.
- MPAA Rating: PG
- Director: M. Night Shyamalan
- Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino
- Cast: Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Dev Patel, Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi, Cliff Curtis, Seychelle Gabriel, Katharine Houghton
The Last Airbender does not just bend air to his will, he is in charge of keeping the world in balance – but he is not ready for the task. Atrocious writing is the pustule on a strikingly beautiful movie with decent acting and captivating action sequences.
While out hunting, Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), of the water tribe, find a frozen sphere with a boy and his floating beast of burden inside. When he escapes the bubble, the brother and sister realize he is different. He is an airbender. Aang (Noah Ringer) is the last of the Air tribe. Aang is not just the last of his kind, he is what the world has been missing to keep the world in balance. When the leaders of the Fire Tribe realize Aang is alive, they dedicate their resources to hunting him down.
A bender is a person who can manipulate the elements of the earth. There are earth, fire, water and wind benders. They control the elements using what appear to be martial arts forms. Much of the movie is the characters using these forms. Occasionally the forms get a bit tiring because there is a disconnection between the motion and the effect, but generally, they are beautiful expressions of discipline. More than just the forms, the fight choreography is captivating. There are transitions between live and computer generated fights that are hard to spot. More >
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Jul 28th
- Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
- Running Time: 124 min.
- MPAA Rating: PG-13
- Director: David Slade
- Writer: Melissa Rosenberg
- Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Jackson Rathbone, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Dakota Fanning
The good news for Twilight fans is that director David Slade lends their favorite franchise a heavy dollop of pseudo-gravitas with The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the latest film in the hyper-popular family-friendly monster romance saga. The bad news for everybody else is that the film is still just as nonsensical, tawdry, unsexy, hypocritical, and ill-conceived on every level as the last two films. This is, after all, a franchise that tries to sell wholesome sex to tweens. The fact that the franchise has such a rabid fanbase has made unfortunate comparisons to Harry Potter inevitable, and its creators have moved on from trying to prove to parents that the series about a love triangle between a teen wolf, a glittery goth wannabe, and an emo girl is as wholesome as The Munsters.
As its title implies, Eclipse is now about the darker side of the Twilight universe, one in which characters talk to each other about impending danger a lot whenever they’re not pouting or waiting for young tween idol Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) to choose between Edward (Robert Pattinson), her sparkly but distant 100-plus-year-old vampire boy toy, and Jacob (Taylor Lautner), her hot-blooded and frequently topless werewolf rebound. The trio’s love is professed in clichés and platitudes: We’re presented with a trite “fire and ice” metaphor for Jacob and Edward, respectively, and a lot of lifeless fretting about whether or not Bella should give in to Edward and marry him or reciprocate her feelings for Jacob and, um, ride around on him some more. Oh, and there’s a vampire war going on. Apparently, this matters to the characters, but not really. It’s just sort of there in the background. If only the same could be said for this execrable, in-your-face franchise. More >
Ramona and Beezus “a little sister goes a long way”
Jul 28th
- Genre: Comedy
- Running Time: 104 min.
- MPAA Rating: G
- Director: Elizabeth Allen
- Writer: Laurie Craig, Beverly Cleary
- Cast: Joey King, Selena Gomez, John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Duhamel, Sandra Oh
The film “Ramona and Beezus” follows Ramona (Joey King), a young girl with an over-active imagination that occasionally gets her into trouble both at home and at school. Her teacher, Mrs. Meacham (Sandra Oh), wants nothing more than for her to stop being a class distraction and as her sister Beezus (Selena Gomez) is growing into maturity, she is looked at as little more than a pest by her sibling. The only person that really seems to understand Ramona is her father (John Corbett), but after he loses his job and the family enters a serious financial situation, everyone’s relationships become strained and Ramona tries to find a way to fix it.
The film’s greatest weakness is its attempt to jam far too many storylines into a 104 minute runtime. The film soon begins to feel episodic instead of like one continuous plot. This would be fine if executed well, but, instead, all of the vignettes seem to follow the same pattern. 1) Ramona is being a rambunctious free spirit, 2) Someone gets upset about Ramona being a rambunctious free spirit 3) Someone has a heart-to-heart with Ramona about growing up, being responsible and learning to mature. The pattern then repeats, as Ramona fails to apply any part of the speech to her life. More >
Toy Story 3
Jul 28th
- Genre: Animation, Comedy, Action/Adventure
- Running Time: 109 min.
- MPAA Rating: G
- Director: Lee Unkrich
- Writer: Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Blake Clark, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf
Toy Story 3 is that most unusual of films: a second sequel that matches – or betters – its predecessors. The setting, as with Toy Stories 1 & 2, is the present – which means that Andy [John Morris] is about to head off to college. For Woody [Tom Hanks], Buzz [Time Allen] and the rest of his toys, this is a time for panic. Will they be thrown away? Stored in the attic? Donated to someone else?
Circumstances place the group in a daycare center where they meet a new bunch of toys – like Lots-O-Huggin’ Bear [Ned Beatty], whose folks charm hides depths of cruelty and the flamboyant Ken [Michael Keaton], Barbie’s dream boyfriend [but even he hides a dark secret]. After a day of brutal treatment at the hands of a roomful of unruly toddlers, Buzz learns that Lotso and his group are not what they seem. He’s captured and reprogrammed to keep his friends in a virtual prison. Before the story is over, the toys will face much worse. More >
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Jul 28th
- Genre: Comedy, Action/Adventure
- Running Time: 111 min.
- MPAA Rating: PG
- Director: Jon Turteltaub
- Writer: Lawrence Konner, Matt Lopez, Mark Rosenthal, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard
- Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell, Nicole Ehinger, Peyton List, Monica Bellucci
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” began life as a riff on the iconic Mickey Mouse segment of “Fantasia,” but what’s onscreen isn’t nearly as inviting or whimsical as the animated short. Instead, the feature is a winded stunt show, brought to its knees by overcooked writing and insistently fruitless attempts at comedy. Once again, Bruckheimer’s contraption takes a pure idea for adventure and kills the enjoyment by overthinking matters to a paralyzing degree.
Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a wise sorcerer who’s worked for a thousand years to keep his wicked compatriot, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina), in check, with the help of his loved one, Veronica (Monica Bellucci). Questing to find the prophetical chosen one that will bring balance to the magical realm, Balthazar meets Dave (Jay Baruchel), a geeky physics master with the hots for his school pal, Becky (Theresa Palmer). Taking the anxious boy wonder into perilous sorcerer training, problems arise when Horvath escapes his magical prison, ready to destroy Balthazar and clear a pathway for all-powerful witch Morgana (Alice Krige) to summon the armies of the dead and destroy the world.I’m starting to believe there’s a massive steel machine in super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s office, and, when he makes a movie, he feeds the pleasing results into the furious engine, which then takes whatever clicks wonderfully about the film and smashes it to pieces. More >
Despicable Me “Superbad, Superdad”
Jul 28th
- Genre: Animation, Family
- Running Time: 95 min.
- MPAA Rating: PG
- Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
- Writer: Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul
- Cast: Jason Segel, Steve Carell, Russell Brand, Will Arnett, Julie Andrews, Danny R. McBride, Kristen Wiig, Jack McBrayer, Jemaine Clement
There’s nothing like a little world domination to melt the most dastardly evildoer’s heart. Since villains so often steal the show in animation, “Despicable Me” smartly turns the whole operation over to megalomaniacal rogue Gru. Somewhere between the Grinch and Ernst Stavro Blofeld (and featuring a hunchbacked, hook-nosed look worthy of Charles Addams), the Steve Carell-voiced character feels like something Universal can franchise, if only they can convince auds to see it. Global prospects look solid (but hardly stellar) for this French-made 3D toon, the first in U’s all-ages animation deal with Chris Meledandri’s Illumination Entertainment.
Not unlike “Shrek” in the way it hinges on a high-concept character, a healthy dose of irreverence and a very weird accent, “Despicable Me” isn’t afraid to be silly in introducing an antihero for the ages (which makes for great in-the-moment fun, but not so much to take with you upon leaving the theater). With his clownish Russian-underworld-inflected voice, Gru prides himself in being the worst, though his exploits to date haven’t really been bad enough to earn his rightful place in history. When a rival villain makes off with the Great Pyramid of Giza, Gru realizes he has to step up his game. His plan: Get a Shrink Ray and steal the moon, then make everyone beg for mercy (though Shrink Rays are harder to come by than you might think). More >
Salt
Jul 28th
- Genre: Suspense/Thriller
- Running Time: 99 min.
- MPAA Rating: PG-13
- Director: Phillip Noyce
- Writer: Kurt Wimmer, Brian Helgeland
- Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alex Pettyfer, Gaius Charles, Victor Slezak, Marion McCorry, Jonah Keyes
Russia and America have to worry about agent Salt. Salt answers the age old question: What’s worse than an action movie with no plot?
CIA agent Evelyn Salt’s (Angelina Jolie) life is thrown into turmoil when her loyalty is questioned in front of her bosses by a man named Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) who claims to be an agent high up in the Russian government. They accuse her of knowing about the murder of a Russian dignitary. Worse, she knows that her husband, a Mike Krause (August Diehl), a German arachnologist, is in danger from the people who think she’s betrayed them. Like a caged animal, she breaks out of her surroundings, to find her husband.
When I left the theater after seeing Salt, I all could hear was the eternally true expression; two wrongs don’t make a right. While the acting could pass as adequate, the writing and directing left that adage bouncing around my brain. The writing was shallow and lacking any emotional connection, even though it was obvious that there was an attempt to pull on our heart strings. Writer Kurt Wimmer tries to throw curveballs at the audience but only succeeds and t-ball quality pitches. The actions of the characters range from perplexing to downright strange. More >
Christopher Nolan’s Inception
Jul 28th
- Genre: Action/Adventure, SciFi/Fantasy
- Running Time: 148 min.
- MPAA Rating: PG-13
- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Writer: Christopher Nolan
- Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, Lukas Haas
Inception is the latest from Christopher Nolan, who both writes and directs the film. Nolan first pitched the idea for Inception to Warner Bros in 2002 and got a positive response, but the script had not yet been written. He expected it to take him a few months, but it instead took him nearly eight years. So yes, Inception is a film at least eight years in the making.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, a man whose expertise lies in entering the dreams of others and stealing their ideas. He’s very good at it, possibly the best. Where things get tricky is planting an idea in someone’s head, which is referred to as Inception. Some insist that it can’t be done, like Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Cobb’s partner in dream crime. Cobb is adamant that it can.
Initially, Inception may seem like too much to take in. The core idea of going into someone’s dream – what with the architects and the totems and the kicks – is certainly a complicated process. But Nolan holds our hands, albeit very loosely, and helps us through this process, giving us just the right amount of knowledge without spoon feeding us. The film respects our intelligence. You won’t understand everything at all times, but it’s a deliberate lack of information. You’ll understand enough to keep you engaged and you can trust that you’ll be given the necessary pieces by the time the credits roll. More >