Weekly Film Listings July 14-20
Opening
harry potter and the deathly hallows: part 2 -(Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4/Westshore) The long-running fantasy series by JK Rowling comes to a dramatic climax as the plucky boy wizard has that deadly, long-anticpated final confrontation with nostril-challenged supervillain Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). Starts Fri.
winnie the pooh -(Capitol/SilverCity/Westshore) John Cleese narrates this (hand-drawn!) animated adaptation of the classic tale about the honey-loving bear and his menagerie of friends. Starts Fri.
Continuing
★★½ bad teacher -(Odeon/SilverCity) Cameron Diaz sets a bad example — and has lots of fun — playing a foul-mouthed, lazy and scheming junior high teacher. Co-starring Justin Timberlake.
★★★½ bridesmaids -(Odeon/SilverCity/Caprice) SNL’s Kristen Wiig co-wrote and stars in this raucous but smart and heartfelt comedy that celebrates female friendship (while often being rather rude).
cars 2 -(SilverCity) Disney’s animation classic from a few years back gets a snappy looking sequel, this one with a storyline involving international espionage. Featuring voices by Owen Wilson and Michael Caine.
★★½ horrible bosses -(Capitol/SilverCity/Westshore) Three guys with truly appalling bosses gradually realize that all their lives would be better off if the bosses were dead. This being a comedy, the guys are dumb and don’t plan well. At all. Starring Jason Bateman, Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston. See review.
★★★★ midnight in paris -(Odeon) The latest from Woody Allen is a delightfully romantic whirl through Paris, both in the present day and during the fabled 1920s. The fine cast includes Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Marion Cotillard.
mr. popper’s penguins -(Odeon) Jim Carrey stars in an amiably goofy comedy about an uptight businessman who learns to unwind when his fancy Manhattan apartment gets invaded by a flock of cute penguins.
★½ larry crowne -(Odeon/Uni 4) Tom Hanks directs himself in a romantic comedy about a middle-aged man who loses his job and is forced to go back to school to reinvent himself. Julia Roberts plays his hot teacher. This is a shocking misfire that is surprisingly charmless, vapid and phony.
★★½ super 8 -(Odeon) The latest from writer-director J.J. Abrams is a sci-fi-ish thriller that is set in 1979 and shows what happens as a group of kids react to very strange goings-on in their small town — think Stand By Me meets Invaders From Mars. Although often entertaining and definitely well-acted, this is calculated sentimentality, with many heavy-handed borrowings from Steven Spielberg.
★★ transformers: dark side of the moon -(Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice) Michael Bay returns to blow up whatever escaped his clutches in the first two iterations of this bombastic and noisy series about those shape-shifting Autobots and Decepticons.
★★★★★ the tree of life -(Odeon) The latest from reclusive cine-poet Terrence Malick (Thin Red Line) is a uniquely beautiful and philosophical tone poem that shifts perspective from a dysfunctional ’50s family to the deepest patterns of earthly and cosmic time and space. Winner of the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
★★★ x–men: first class -(Capitol) The earliest days of all those X-People are explored in a splashy and surprisingly entertaining action flick starring everyone from James McAvoy to Kevin Bacon.
zookeeper -(Capitol/SilverCity) The ever-amiable Kevin James stars in a comedy about a group of zoo animals who conspire together to help their favourite zoo keeper find the romance he’s been missing.
monte carlo -(Odeon) Three young women vacationing in Paris are whisked off to the Monte Carlo high life after one of them is mistaken for a British heiress.
Leaving Thurs.
★★ green lantern -(SilverCity)
★★ pirates of the caribbean: on stranger tides -(SilverCity)
Imax
★★★★ born to be wild -(noon, 2:00, 4:00, 7:00) Take a remarkable safari as this documentary takes you up close and personal with the people who nurture orphaned baby elephants and orangutans en route to re-releasing them into the wild. Narrated by Morgan Freeman. This is a great film!
★★★ fast five -(8:00 Thurs. and Fri.) In the latest Fast & Furious installment, those sort-of good guys once again end up on the wrong side of the law as they finds themselves trapped between a vicious drug lord and an implacable federal agent. Starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. This is fine, trashy fun.
★★pirates of the caribbean: on stranger tides -(Sat. to Thurs.) Penelope Cruz sets sail with Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush and the other piratical ne’er-do-wells of The Black Pearl in the fourth edition of this increasingly tedious — and alarmingly lucrative — action-comedy series. Catch it in IMAX.
journey into amazing caves -(6:00)
rescue: disaster response -(11am, 1:00, 5:00) This high-adrenaline film depicts the courageous men and women who respond when global disaster strikes.
★★★★ whales -(10am, 3:00) The perennial, much-loved classic about those noble leviathans of the deep makes another return visit.
The Roxy
★★ green lantern -(7:05 only)
★★ the hangover, part II -(9:00 only
★★★¼ kung fu panda 2 -(1:00, Sat.-Sun.
★★½ water for elephants -(4:10, Sat.-Sun.)
judy moody and the not bummer summer -(2:35, Sat.-Sun.)
Screenings
Movie Monday – Screening You Don’t Know Jack. Al Pacino stars in what is sure to be a riveting and debate-inspiring biography of assisted-suicide guru Jack Kevorkian. 6:30pm & 8pm MONDAY in the 1900-block Fort. By donation. 595-FLIC. moviemonday.ca
Cinecenta
Cinecenta at UVic screens its films in the Student Union Building. Info: 721-8365. cinecenta.com.
queen of the sun: what are the bees telling us? -(Wed.-Thurs., July 13-14: 7:15, 9:00) This upbeat piece of eco-advocacy strikes a soulful tone as it explores the plight of the world’s bees and the disastrous consequences that could stem from their drastically declining populations.
★★★½ amelie -(Fri., July 15: 7:00, 9:25) Despite an over-abundance of whimsy, this blithe French comedy about a free-spirited young Parisienne is effortlessly charming and romantic.
made in dagenham -(Sat., July 16: 7:00, 9:15) A great cast (Miranda Richardson, Bob Hoskins, Rosamund Pike) adds further lustre to a crowd-pleasing — and inspiring — comedy about the real-life strike in 1968 of female employees at the Ford Motor plant in Dagenham, England. By all accounts, feminist pieties take a back seat to sharp characterization and great dialogue.
★★½ jane eyre -(Sun.-Thurs., July 17-21: 7:00, 9:20) The classic Charlotte Brontë romance about a young governess and a house with terrible secrets gets a handsome-looking but rather dull remake that stars the wonderful Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and the rather wooden Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds).
