Here are selected minireviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically. Ratings range from zero to four stars.
“Akeelah and the Bee”
FAMILY DRAMA|*** 1/2|PG|Yes, it’s another spelling bee movie, and yes, it follows a predictable formula about an underprivileged, under-rated child coming from nowhere to earn unlikely triumphs. But it’s futile to resist, as Keke Palmer is consistently wonderful as young Akeelah, and her genuine smarts and desire overcome a lot of clichés written in by writer-director Doug Atchison. A great family film for your movie nights. (Michael Booth)|
112 minutes
“The Break-Up”
UN-ROMANTIC COMEDY|** 1/2|PG-13|No one will accuse wise-cracking Vince Vaughn of being afraid of Virginia Woolf. While “The Break-Up” star, who cowrote the story, hasn’t made a movie as dark as Mike Nichols’ classic, its bickering couple is as loud, and nearly as unpleasant to hang out with, as Taylor and Burton’s boozy battlers. Only Jennifer Aniston’s Brooke and Vaughn’s Gary don’t have any 86-proof excuses for their combustible relationship. Who knew the most anticipated romantic comedy of the summer would turn out to feel like a quasi-documentary? (Albeit with a few tart lines and so gruff fun from Jon Favreau.) The movie doesn’t come with a warning. Perhaps it it should: The filmmakers are not liable for any misunderstandings, parking-lot arguments or ruined dates. (Lisa Kennedy)|105 minutes
“The Da Vinci Code”
THRILLER|** 1/2|PG-13|Not so dark – or gripping – the con of man, it turns out. Ron Howard’s big-screen version of Dan Brown’s mega-selling thriller isn’t nearly as volatile a cocktail of the sacred and the profane. Brown mixed history with conjecture about the life of Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene and the founding of the Catholic Church. As Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, Tom Hanks takes too long to deliver the type of performance that makes him such a classic American actor. Audrey Tautou plays French police cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, whose grandfather’s murder sets off the intrigue. Ian McKellen enjoys himself as Sir Leigh Teabing, Holy Grail expert and exquisitely enunciating expositor of way too much backstory. (Kennedy)|148 minutes
“District B13”
ACTION|***|R|Forget those cars hurtling like Molotov cocktails in the “X-Men” sequel. In this French import, stuntman-turned-actor David Belle makes a jaw-dropping argument that the foot chase might be the next wave in action, and the body still can have the most special effect of all. Belle plays Paris ghetto dweller Leïto, who, along with cop Damien (Cyril Raffaelli, also a former stuntman), must find and disarm a bomb that has become the illicit property of a kingpin Taha in a bunkered suburb in 2010. Terse, taut and willing to pack on some philosophical weight, “District B13” is a bold action flick that body doubles as a cautionary tale about class, race and civic disregard. (Kennedy)|85 minutes
“Down in the Valley”
DRAMA|***|R|Edward Norton plays another one of his deceptively innocent characters, this time as a self-proclaimed and self-taught cowboy wandering the urban range of the San Fernando Valley. As “Harlan,” Norton pursues rebellious teenager Evan Rachel Wood and proposes to sweep her away on figurative horseback to a better life. A depressingly realistic portrait of unhappiness with a dystopia of aimless suburban life in Southern California. Norton excels at this kind of wide-eyed nice guy, a gentleman we want to embrace but know we probably shouldn’t. (Booth)|112 minutes
“Friends With Money”
COMEDY OF MANNERS|** 1/2|R |Almost any of the great Victorian novels could have been titled “Friends With Money,” so it’s not a bad idea to update the concept of friendly envy to modern-day Southern California. Jennifer Aniston has tried many jobs but ended up as a housecleaner, while her wealthier friends pursue careers, marriages and parenthood. It almost works, but there’s no one here to like and root for. The Victorians knew enough to supply a brave heroine or a nasty villain who made us care about the ending. (Booth)|88 minutes
“Ice Age: The Meltdown”
ANIMATED COMEDY|***|PG|The long-awaited sequel to “Ice Age,” which was a box-office hit and mixed an appealing array of animation styles. This time, the ice is going away, but don’t expect too many deep references to global warming. Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo reprise their voice roles, joined by Queen Latifah as a love interest for the big woolly mammoth Manny (Romano). (Booth)|90 minutes
“Just My Luck”
ROMANTIC COMEDY|** 1/2|PG-13|Teenage girls will love it, though the parents who have to give them a ride to the mall will be less than enthusiastic about this middling romantic stunt comedy. Lindsay Lohan plays the perfect Manhattan career girl who loses her luck in one kiss to lovable loser Chris Pine. Madcap hijinx ensue, along with a lot of movie clichés. The presence of the real British boy band McFly helps enliven the proceedings. (Booth)|102 minutes
“The Lost City”
PERIOD DRAMA|**|R|Andy Garcia stars and takes his first shot at directing, in a labor of love harking to his childhood memories of leaving Cuba in exile. “The Lost City” is an arty, beautiful but politically stilted love poem to old Havana, before Fidel ruined everything. Garcia plays a nightclub owner in conscious imitation of “Casablanca,” trying to stay neutral as revolution approaches. The music and dancing are impeccable, as are the lush tropical shots by cinematographer Manu Kadosh. But the portrayal of the revolutionaries and the reactionary Batista thugs feels retrograde, even for an angry expatriate. (Booth)|143 minutes
“Mission: Impossible III”
ACTION|*** 1/2|PG-13|Maybe they can’t quite humanize Tom Cruise, but they’ve made a good effort to humanize his signature character, Ethan Hunt, for the best of the three “MI” movies. Hunt has a new marriage and a desire to settle down a bit, thwarted by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s attempts to unleash a doomsday machine. Three terrific action sequences and a welcome sense of humor help propel “MI:III” to the top of the spring/summer action heap. (Booth)|125 minutes
“The Omen”
HORROR REMAKE|** 1/2|R|There wasn’t really much excuse to remake the spooky classic from 1976, and they didn’t even bother hiring a new screenwriter. Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles don’t pack the same emotional wallop as Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, but this do-over has its moments. Still, you want to shout at the screen, “Don’t name him Damien! Didn’t you see the first movie?!!” (Booth)|105 minutes
“Over the Hedge”
ANIMATED|*** 1/2|PG|Just when you thought you’ve had enough of cute talking animals, a good story and great comic timing revive the genre. Forest animals are newly hemmed in by a monstrous suburban development, and must find new ways to forage for food. Meanwhile, a duplicitous raccoon is duping them into stealing junk food. The set piece with an over-caffeinated squirrel is worth the price of entry. (Booth)|77 minutes
“Poseidon”
DISASTER FLICK|** 1/2|PG-13 |”Poseidon” is neither a disaster nor Velveeta. Too bad. Either would have made for a fun voyage. Instead, director Wolfgang Petersen’s return to the bumpy waters of the 1972 classic lists when it should terrify. And due to a leaky script, the promising cast wades through the shallowest emotions. Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell star as gambler Dylan Johns and former New York City mayor Robert Ramsey, an alpha-dog duo set on getting a handful of survivors from the top to the bottom of the famously overturned ship. The culprit this time is a rogue wave. But the real villian may be Hollywood’s proclivity to raid studio vaults. Also stars Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum, and Freddy Rodriguez. (Kennedy)|98 minutes
“The Proposition”
WESTERN|* 1/2|R|Rock musician Nick Cave tries penning an Australian Western, with limited success. Guy Pearce is the decent brother in the murderous Burns clan; the local police captain (Ray Winstone) tells him he must find and kill his villainous older brother if he wants to save the neck of his simpleton younger sibling. Meanwhile, the captain tries to maintain a civilized home life with the elegant Emily Watson, in a dusty, backwards town on the edge of the settled Outback. Some nice imagery and bold characters, but in the end not enough back story or development to make us care for all the brutality that ensues. (Booth)|102 minutes
“RV”
FAMILY COMEDY|** 1/2|PG |Proof that a movie about a family driving an RV across country can feel almost as stifling as actually driving an RV across the country. Robin Williams tries to liven up this family comedy, and it has a few laughs, but the loser-dad jokes get old quickly. And we saw enough RV sewage in “Meet the Fockers,” didn’t we? (Booth)|90 minutes
“Thank You for Smoking”
SATIRE|** 1/2|R|Christopher Buckley’s hilarious sendup of American contradictions loses some bite in the translation to film. Aaron Eckhart plays Nick Naylor, the world’s smoothest talker, and well he should be, as he’s the chief spokesman for the tobacco industry. The movie promises to explore the mixed morality of doing your job well in defense of the indefensible, but winds up delivering shallower comments on politics and family. The comic pacing and editing are atrocious, damaging otherwise respectable material. (Booth)|92 minutes
“United 93”
DRAMA|***|R|There’s something presumptuous in the arguments that say American need “United 93” so we’ll never forget the events of 9/11. After all, writer-director Paul Greengrass’ well-done, retrained film gets much of its emotional traction from the fact we haven’t forgotten but remember all to well the towers, the Pentagon, the cellphone calls, the story of a flight’s end in a Pennsylvania field. In depicting – often with a real-time veracity – Flight 93’s passengers and crew coming to terms with what was happening that morning the film suggest what we all hope is true: that faced with evil and our own deaths, we will act. (Kennedy)|110 minutes
“Water”
DRAMA|***|PG-13|”Water” reveals the traditional plight of widows in India. Set in British colonial India in 1938, it is as beautiful as it is harrowing, its idyllic setting beside the sacred Ganges River contrasting with the widows’ oppressive existence as outcasts. At begins with little girl sitting in the prow of a boat ferrying a sick middle-aged man to a doctor in a small Indian city. Once ashore, the man dies, leaving the girl, Chuyia ,as his 8-year-old widow. Her parents, with much pain, swiftly deposit her in an ashram for widows, never to see her again. The distraught child’s head is shaved, and she is clad in the white cotton sari that is to be her lifelong uniform. (Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times) |117 minutes
“X-Men: The Last Stand”
SUPERHEROES|* 1/2|PG-13 |The weakest of the three “X” episodes goes too talky and too silly at the same time. The government offers a “cure” for mutant human genes, and both sides of the “X” battle must choose a future. Promising plot, but tired writing makes it seem like a junior varsity version of the first two. Halle Berry gets a bigger role for Storm, but still can’t carry the action. Ian Mc-
Kellen spends far too much time in his goofy Magneto roller-derby helmet. (Booth)|100 minutes
GIANT SCREEN
“The Human Body”
IMAX: A look at the everyday functions that keep us alive|$8, $6 ages 3-12 and 65-plus|Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., 303-322-7009, dmns.org
“Mystic India: An Incredible Journey of Inspiration”
IMAX: The film begins in 1792 and follows an 11-year-old who left his home to begin a journey of spiritual awakening. It’s the true story of the boy’s seven-
year trip covering 8,000 miles|$8, $6 ages 3-12 and 65-plus|Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., 303-322-7009, dmns.org
“Wired to Win: Surviving
the Tour de France”
IMAX: The true story of two elite cyclists, Australian Baden Cooke and French teammate Jimmy Casper, as they compete in the legendary race.|$8, $6 ages 3-12 and 65-plus|Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., 303-322-7009, dmns.org
Wildlife Experience
IWERKS: The museum presents “Dolphins,” on its 45-by-60-foot screen through February 2007|$4.95-$7.95; free 2 and under|10035 S. Peoria St., 720-
488-3300, wildlifeexperience.org|PARKER
