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November 19 - 25, 2009
Mini Reviews
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Y SISTER’S KEEPER (Drama, PG-13, 108 m., 2009). An 11-year-old girl files suit to prevent her parents from making her donate a kidney for her very ill 16-year-old sister. An effective tearjerker, well acted, based on the best seller by Jodi Picoult. Persuasive performances by Abigail Breslin as the girl who is suing, Sofia Vassilieva as her sister, Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric as her parents, and Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack. Directed by Nick Cassavetes. Rating: Three and a half stars.
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HE GOODS: LIVE HARD, SELL HARD (Comedy, R, 90 m., 2009). A cheerfully, energetically vulgar comedy. Contains a lot of laughs and has studied Political Correctness only enough to make a WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 list of groups to offend. It involves a failing car dealer (James Brolin) who calls in a hired gun (Jeremy Piven) and his team to move goods off the lot over the Fourth of July. With David Koechner, Kathryn Hahn, Ving Rhames, Ed Helms and Charles Napier. Rating: Three stars.
“THE PERFECT HOLIDAY ANIMATED COMEDY.” Jim Ferguson, KGUN (ABC) Tucson
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S ANYBODY THERE? (Comedy/ drama, PG-13, 92 m., 2009). Michael Caine is superb as the Amazing Clarence, a retired magician who checks into an old folks’ home and slowly makes friends with Edward (Bill Milner), the owners’ 10year-old son. The rest of the film, unfortunately, isn’t up to their level; it’s clunky and sitcomish, but Caine is almost worth the price of admission. Rating: Two and a half stars.
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TAR TREK (Sci-fi action, PG13, 126 m., 2009). Using the device of time travel, the new movie reboots the original franchise with younger characters and actors, as we meet Kirk, Spock, Scotty, NESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 Uhuru and Bones in their younger days. Lacks the twists and challenges of classic “Star Trek” and is essentially a space opera, with young Kirk (Chris Pine) battling a Romulan super ship from the future. Leonard Nimoy is very effective as an elder Spock, who is, paradoxically, a Vulcan25 who seems the most human Y, NOVEMBER of the characters. Rating: Two and a half stars.
(c) 2009 The Ebert Co.
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RUNO (Comedy, R, 82 m., 2009). The title character is a flamboyantly, deliberately provocative gay man who ambushes innocent bystanders in his desperate bid for celebrity. Sacha Baron Cohen (“Borat”) shows nerve in placing himself in real situations in front of a rabid wrestling crowd and an outraged TV studio audience. Among those not in on the gag are congressIN THEATRES man Ron Paul, who angrily flees WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 The an apparent seduction attempt. needle on my internal Laugh Meter 1 Col. x 2" Filler Ad went haywire, bouncing between hilarity, appreciation, shock, admiration, disgust, disbelief and appalled incredulity. Rating: Three and a half stars.
IN THEATRES WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25
TRISTAR PICTURES PRESENTS AN ILION ANIMATION STUDIOS PRODUCTION “PLANET 51” IN ASSOCIATION WITHCASTINGHANDMADE FILMS INTERNATIONAL DWAYNE JOHNSON JESSICA BIEL WILLIAM SCOTTEXECUTIVE AND JOHN CLEESE AS “PROFESSOR KIPPLE” BY RUTH LAMBERT, CSA AND ROBERT McGEE, CSA COMPOSER JAMES BRETT JUSTINEDITEDLONG GARY OLDMANDIRECTORSEANN OF BY ALEX RODRÍGUEZ TECHNOLOGY GONZALO RUEDA PRODUCERS JUAN ANTONIO PÉREZ RAMÍREZ MICHAEL RYAN PETER GRAVES ALBIE HECHT AND JOSÉ A. RODRÍGUEZ CO-DIRECTED DIRECTED WRITTEN PRODUCED BY JAVIER ABAD AND MARCOS MARTÍNEZ BY JORGE BLANCO BY JOE STILLMAN BY IGNACIO PÉREZ DOLSET AND GUY COLLINS
1 Col. x 4" Filler Ad IN THEATRES WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25
1 Col. x 1" Filler Ad
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