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
“Bernie” * * *
Reviewed on Page 6C
“Battleship” * * ½
Reviewed on Page 6C
“What to Expect When You’re Expecting” * *
Reviewed on Page 7C
“Crooked Arrows”
Reviewed at
“The Color Wheel”
Not reviewed
“First Position” * * *
Reviewed at
“Headhunters” * * * ½
Reviewed at
CONTINUING
Here are selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically.
“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
Travel comedy. * * * ½ PG-13. The hotel of the title is a retirement destination in India for “the elderly and beautiful.” It has seen better days, and if you want to see what the better days looked like, just examine the brochure, which depicts a luxurious existence near Udaipur, a popular tourist destination in Rajasthan. To this city travel a group of seven Brits with seven reasons for making the move. As we meet them jammed on the bus from the airport, we suspect that the film will be about their various problems and that the hotel will not be as advertised. What we may not expect is what a charming, funny and heartwarming movie this is, a smoothly crafted entertainment that makes good use of seven superb veteran actors. (Roger Ebert, Universal Uclick) 124 minutes
“Boy”
Kiwi drama. * * * ½ Not rated. This film is narrated by its title character, called that name by everyone, an enormously likable 11-year-old Maori kid who lives in a village near the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand in 1984. Boy (James Rolleston) impresses us as smart, with a lively imagination and the most responsibility of anyone in the crowd of children he joins every day on the beach. We learn that Boy’s mother died giving birth to his brother and they live with their grandmother. Boy idealizes his absent father as a version of Michael Jackson. And then one day a big ol’ car comes swerving up a country road in a cloud of dust, and the man at the wheel introduces himself as Boy’s father. At the Denver FilmCenter/Colfax. (Ebert) 90 minutes
“Dark Shadows”
TV remake. * * ½ PG-13. Entombed for 200 years by a scorned witch, vampire Barnabas Collis returns to his ancestral home in 1972 to find his descendants a much diminished lot and the world full of new oddities. Though hardly in a class with director Tim Burton and star Johnny Depp’s most memorable collaborations (starting with “Edward Scissorhands”), this big-screen reprise of the cult-beloved daytime TV series, which ran from 1966 to 1971, is an often amusing, teasingly naughty lark. With Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter and Eva Green. (Kennedy) 120 minutes
“Darling Companion” Comedy drama. * PG-13. It is depressing to reflect on the wealth of talent that conspired to make this inert and listless movie. I walked in knowing it was directed by Lawrence Kasdan (“Grand Canyon,” “The Big Chill”). And that the cast included Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline, Richard Jenkins, Dianne Wiest and Sam Shepard. How could it fail to be good? Lacking that, how could it fail to be fair? How could it be so appallingly pointless? How could it be such thin soup? All the rest of the movie involves a search for the missing dog. Three days of it. At the Chez. (Ebert) 103 minutes
“Marvel’s The Avengers”
Superhero flick. * * * ½ PG-13. Leave it to director/writer Joss Whedon to find potent, wry, even touching chemistry in a bickering collection of superheroes used to going it alone. The creator of Buffy, slayer of vampires, knows his way around bold action, special effects that earn the moniker, and character above all. The gang’s all here, marshaled on screen by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Franchisees Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk, as well as Black Widow and Hawkeye. (Kennedy) 143 minutes
“Marley”
Music documentary. * * * ½ PG-13. This is an ambitious and comprehensive film and does what is probably the best possible job of documenting an important life. Authorized by all the members of his scattered family and with rights to all of his music and a wealth of previously unseen film and video footage, it shows the growth of a legend. What is interesting is that Marley seems not to have had a concrete goal for his career other than to use music to bring people together. His instincts were good, and to an unusual degree he found independence in a white-ruled music industry. At the Mayan. (Ebert) 144 minutes
“The Raven”
Mystery. * * R. Edgar Allen Poe, one of America’s greatest literary geniuses, comes to life as a dashing, conflicted writer caught in a series of maddening events shortly before his mysterious death. John Cusack’s accessible, Hollywood-friendly Poe is a charming, penniless rogue and boozer, and Cusack brings an inherent likability to the role. But a lurching plot and director James McTeigue’s (“V for Vendetta”) indecisive tone prevent Cusack from ever rising above a slight portrayal. (John Wenzel, The Denver Post) 111 minutes
“Safe”
Violent action. * ½ R. This is the worst Jason Statham movie since the last Jason Statham movie, carrying on the bargain-budget action star’s tradition of building a body of work out of, well, dead bodies. Writer-director Boaz Yakin proves the ideal enabler for Statham’s brand of mindless carnage. Together, they turn Manhattan into little more than a shooting gallery, stacking up corpses in service of a supposed story about one man’s path to redemption. (David Germain, The Associated Press) 95 minutes
“Sound of My Voice”
Cult drama. * * * R. Behold the trials and tribulations of going undercover. It doesn’t matter if it’s cop or journalist, a muddying of purpose takes hold once a mole plunges deeper into the darkness. In this involving indie drama, lovers Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius) set out to make a documentary exposé of a mysterious group holed up in a sleepy L.A. neighborhood. At the Mayan. (Kennedy) 84 minutes
GIANT SCREEN
IMAX — Denver Museum of Nature & Science
“Tornado Alley 3D” and “Flying Monsters 3D.” Dates, times and tickets vary. 2001 Colorado Blvd., 303-322-2009,
IWERKS — The Wildlife Experience “Turtle Vision 3D,” “Sharks 3D,” “The Alps” and “Planet’s Best: North American Wildlife Encounters.” Dates, times and tickets vary. 10035 S. Peoria St., Parker, 720-488-3300, thewildlife
