Opening
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. Starts Wed., June 29.
larry crowne -(Odeon/Uni 4/Caprice) 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. Starts Fri.
monte carlo -(Odeon/Uni 4) 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. 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. See review.
★★★½ bridesmaids -(Odeon/SilverCity) 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 -(Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice) 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.
★★ green lantern -(Capitol/SilverCity) Vancouver superhunk Ryan Reynolds plays a chartreuse-coloured superherohunk in yet another comic book adaptation, this one about a test pilot who is given amazing powers then asked to save the Earth from a diabolical threat. Although not as dreadful as the trailer threatened, this is an overwrought mess with little to recommend it.
★★★¼ kung fu panda 2 -(Capitol/SilverCity) It’s sequel time and Po (Jack Black) joins forces with other kung fu masters to defeat a dire villain. Although the plot is pretty basic, the set design is both clever and gorgeous and the characters have heart. With voicings by Angelina Jolie, Gary Oldman and Seth Rogen.
★★★★ 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/SilverCity) 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.
★★ pirates of the caribbean:
on stranger tides -(SilverCity) 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.
★★½ super 8 -(Odeon/SilverCity) 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.
★★★★★ 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/SilverCity) 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.
leaving thurs.
★★ the hangover, part II
Imax
★★★★ born to be wild -(10am, noon, 3:00, 5:00) 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 on Thurs.-Sat.; 7:00 on Sun.-Wed.) 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.
journey into amazing caves -(1:00; and 7:00, but Thurs.-Sat. only)
rescue: disaster response -(11am, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00) This high-adrenaline film depicts the courageous men and women who respond when global disaster strikes.
screenings
Movie Monday – Screening ★★★ One Week. This bittersweet Canadian film stars Joshua Jackson as a man who discovers he has a terminal illness and takes off on his motorbike to discover the life he’d been avoiding for too many years. 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.
the arbor -(Wed., June 29: 7:10, 9:00) This acclaimed British film very consciously plays with the conventions of fact, fiction and documentary as it takes a layered approach to portraying the working-class family of playwright Clio Barnard.
the year dolly parton was
my mom -(Thurs., June 30: 7:00, 9:00 & Fri., July 1: 7:00 only & Sat., July 2: 7:00, 9:00) This first feature from Montreal filmmaker Tara Johns has an unbeatably charming premise: when an 11-year-old prairie gal wakes up to the fact that her family really isn’t very glamorous she hops on her bike on heads off in search of the woman she thinks just has to be her real mom — Dolly Parton.
★★★½ hanna -(Sun.-Tues., July 3-5: 7:00, 9:15) A 16-year-old girl, trained as an assassin by her CIA rogue agent of a father, is on the run across North Africa and Europe as ruthless intelligence agents try to track her down. Starring Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana and a very persuasive Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones). The plot cheats a bit, but this thriller couched in terms of a fairy tale is engaging and very well directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice).
l’amour fou -(Wed.-Thurs., July 6-7: 7:00, 9:10) This portrait of fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent and his sometime-lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé, celebrates the decadence and beauty at the heart of haut couture.
The Roxy
★★½ water for elephants -(7:00; Sat.-Sun., 4:05) Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon star in a crowd-pleasing adaptation of the bestselling novel about an illicit love affair set in the exotic world of a travelling circus during the Depression. Glamorous but sentimental and cliched and reeking with phoniness, this romantic melodrama benefits hugely from a stirring performance by Rosie the elephant.
★★ the hangover, part II -(9:05 only) In this follow-up to the raucous raunchfest of last year, that tragically awry bachelor party in Vegas seques into a different set of pre-nuptials in Thailand. Sadly, this sequel is tedious and rarely funny.
judy moody and the not
bummer summer -(1:00, Sat.-Sun.) A third-grader “sets out to have the most thrilling summer of her life.” Movie critics are having less optimistic expectations..
hoodwinked too! hood vs.
evil -(2:35, Sat.-Sun.) This kid-friendly animation is a wacky take-off of classic fairy tales, as Red Riding Hood and the Wolf are called on to investigate the disappearance of Hansel and Gretel.
