Now Showing
Some reviews originate at newspapers that do not award star ratings; some movies are not screened in advance for critics. Ratings range from zero to four stars.
OPENING THIS WEEK
“The Hunger Games” * * * ½
“The Forgiveness of Blood” * * *
“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” * * ½
“Being Flynn” * * *
“October Baby” * *
“Delicacy” * * *
“Let the Bullets Fly” * * *
“People vs. the State of Illusion”
Not reviewed
CONTINUING
Here are selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically.
“Act of Valor”
Action. * * ½ R. The early version of this film, starring actual Navy SEALs, was intended as a training or recruitment film, and was made outside the usual Pentagon guidelines for motion pictures. It now emerges as a thriller involving two (non-factual) scenarios, one about a SEAL mission to free a kidnapped CIA operative (Roselyn Sanchez), the other about a plot to smuggle terrorists into the U.S. through tunnels from Mexico constructed by drug cartels. (Roger Ebert, Universal Uclick) 101 minutes
“Casa de mi Padre”
Telenova spoof. * * R. Will Ferrell has starred in some exceedingly odd comedies (“Anchorman,” “Talladega Nights,” “Land of the Lost”), but he’s never made one as flat-out bizarre as this one. The fact that the entire film is in Spanish, and Ferrell plays a Mexican named Armando, are two of the tamest elements in the movie. There are much, much stranger things in store, from a wedding massacre in which the shotgunned guests spout ridiculous fountains of blood to a mystical Bengal tiger (played by a stuffed animal) who becomes Armando’s Yoda. Written by Andrew Steel and directed by Matt Piedmont, “Casa de mi Padre” spoofs telenovelas and grindhouse B-movies. (Rene Rodriguez, McClatchy Newspapers) 84 minutes
“Crazy Horse”
Documentary. * * * Not rated. Frederick Wiseman’s latest documentary follows the women of a Parisian nude revue. At the Denver Film Center/Colfax. (Ebert) 134 minutes
“Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax”
Animated environmentalism. PG. Like “An Inconvenient Truth” for the 12-and-under crowd, “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” is a cautionary environmental tale with a thin veneer of entertainment on top. Based on Seuss’ 1971 picture book, this musical adaptation is in eye-popping 3-D CGI. The film opens in the polluted, futuristic town of Thneedville, where trees don’t grow anymore and where the only fresh air comes in plastic jugs. It’s simultaneously silly and preachy, and with precious little room for fun. Voices are provided by Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White and Danny Devito. (Michael O’Sullivan, The Washington Post) 86 minutes
“Friends With Kids”
Relationship comedy. * * ½ R. Don’t let the trailer touting “Bridesmaids” cast members fool you. This relationship comedy, written, directed and starring Jennifer Westfeldt, is more conventional, less hilarious. And it’s not Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm and Chris O’Dowd who lend charm to this story of two 30-something best friends who decide to have a baby together while remaining romantically apart. No, that feat belongs to the slim, dark-haired, emotionally nimble Adam Scott, who plays Jason to Westfeldt’s Julie. (Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post) 100 minutes
“Jeff, Who Lives at Home”
Coming-of-age tale. * * R. This is a surprising misfire from brothers Jay and Mark Duplass, a hug-it-out, touchy-feely movie that succumbs to the maudlin sentimentality they had avoided in their previous pictures (“The Puffy Chair,” “Baghead,” “Cyrus”). The movie starts out promisingly, as the titular 30-year-old pothead (Jason Segel) launches into a post-bong rant about the M. Night Shyamalan movie “Signs” and how the film holds the key to understanding the universe. Jeff, who is so unmotivated his harried mother (Susan Sarandon) can barely get him to leave the basement, is finally forced to venture outside and run an errand for her. Ed Helms stars as his brother. (Rodriguez)83 minutes
“John Carter”
Adventure. * * ½ PG-13. What we have here is a rousing boy’s adventure story, adapted from stories that Edgar Rice Burroughs cranked out for early pulp magazines. Amazingly, this is the first John Carter movie, but it is intended to foster a franchise, and will probably succeed. Burroughs’ hero is a Civil War veteran who finds himself in Monument Valley, where he has an encounter that transports him to the red planet Mars. This is not the Mars that NASA’s rovers are poking into, but the Mars envisioned at the time Burroughs was writing, which the astronomer Percival Lowell claimed was crisscrossed by a system of canals. (Ebert) 132 minutes
“Project X”
Teen party adventure. * * * * R. A brutal, unapologetic comedy about the fantasy every high school kid carries around in his head about being popular, cool and beloved. The movie was inspired by the real-life exploits of Corey Delaney, an Australian teenager who threw a house party that got so out of control the riot police had to be called in. Director Nima Nourizadeh uses the found-footage approach (one of the characters in the movie is filming everything with his camera) to tell a similar story. When his parents go away on vacation, the likable nerd Thomas (Thomas Mann) and his pals Costa (Oliver Cooper) and JB (Jonathan Daniel Brown) decide to throw the mother of all bashes.(Rodriguez) 88 minutes
“Rampart”
Psychological drama. * * * * R. Woody Harrelson is a cop in the Los Angeles police district that became notorious in 1999 as a cesspool of corruption. His character, Dave Brown, is an overt racist and has no moral center. Eight years after the brutality against Rodney King, he is videotaped beating a suspect. The district attorney’s office sees him as an ideal target, and Sigourney Weaver is finely focused as an assistant DA who has him in her sights. Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon also star. (Ebert) 112 minutes
“Silent House”
Horror. * * * R. A dad. A daughter. An unseen intruder in a locked lake house. Such is the setup for the jitters-inducing, impressively suspenseful “Silent House,” starring Elizabeth Olsen as the fetching, frightened resourceful Sarah. But the real draw is that the film unfolds in real time and in one continuous shot. Directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau adapted into English Gustavo Hernandez’s gimmicky 2011 Uruguayan chiller, purportedly based on a true story. (Kennedy) 88 minutes
“21 Jump Street”
Spoof. * * * R. The Reagan-era TV series that inspired this inspired comedy was serious about its laughable premise. A team of young-looking police officers went undercover as high-school students to investigate youth-related crimes. In the revival, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum play high-school antagonists turned police- academy grads who find themselves thrown together in an identical back-to-school operation. Their captain (Nick Offerman of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation”) explains the program was revived because “the people who think these things up have no creativity or imagination. All they do now is recycle (stuff) from the past and expect us not to notice.” (Colin Covert, Star Tribune) 109 minutes
“Undefeated”
Sports documentary. * * * ½ PG-13. Like the best sports-narrative films, this real-life account of a season for Tennessee’s Manassas High is more than a football film. It is sure to remind audiences of “The Blind Side.” Like that story, this one features a well-off, white Southerner driven to intervene in the lives of some young black men. Unlike that Sandra Bullock vehicle, T.J. Martin and Dan Lindsay’s documentary gets closer to revealing what makes coach Bill Courtney and players O.C. Brown, Montrail Brown and Chavis Daniels tick and click. (Kennedy) 113 minutes
