movie dope Some releases may not be showing locally this week. THE AMERICAN (R) This quiet thriller starring George Clooney might surprise a few people, but most will be turned off by its somber inaction. Those who tough it out might find they were unknowingly in the mood for a mod, Eurostyle throwback. …AND THIS IS MY GARDEN (NR) In this documentary, two Canadian school teachers help 58 students establish gardens in their own backyards. Shows Saturday, 10/2 (Ciné). AVIVA MY LOVE (NR) 2006. Hotel cook Aviva Cohen’s (Assi Levy) life changes when her sister introduces her to famous novelist Oded Zar (Sasson Gabai), who promises to make her a great writer. Written and directed by Shemi Zarhin. BAG IT (NR) Watch as Jeb Berrier stops using plastic bags and learns a lot more about our plastic world in this multi-award winner. The 10/1 screening with ACC Recycling is free and includes dessert and a reusable shopping bag. Shows Friday, 10/1 (Ciné). BORN SWEET/ SUN COME UP (NR) In Born Sweet, 15-year-old Vinh Voeurn lives with fatal arsenic poisoning. In Sun Come Up, some of the world’s first environmental refugees, the Carteret Islanders, are relocated. Part of EcoFocus. Shows Sunday, 10/3 (Ciné). BURNING IN THE SUN (NR) Twentysix-year-old entrepreneur Daniel Dembele returns to his native Mali to sell solar panels. Returned Peace Corps volunteers and others will take part in a post-film discussion. Part of
The EcoFocus Film Festival. Shows Sunday, 10/3 (Ciné). CALL OF LIFE (NR) This award winning documentary looks at mass extinction, its causes, and ways to stem the tide. Shows Saturday, 10/2 (Ciné). CARBON NATION (NR) This self-described optimistic, witty documentary proposes climate change solutions. The screening will be accompanied by a gulf oil spill discussion with Riki Ott, Samantha Joye and Jim Porter. Shows Friday, 10/1 (Ciné). CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE (PG) Ugh. In this long-unawaited sequel to 2001’s Cats & Dogs, the pets take a timeout from duking it out for domestic dominance to take out a rogue cat, Kitty Galore (v. Bette Midler), bent on conquest. CHAIN LETTER (R) A killer is stalking some high schoolers (of course). Their crime: breaking the chain of gruesome emails sent by said killer. Writerdirector Deon Taylor is no stranger to straight-to-DVD horror, so what is Chain Letter doing getting a theatrical launch? At least it’s rated R. CHATTAHOOCHEE: FROM WATER WAR TO WATER VISION (NR) The world premiere of Rhett Turner and Jonathan Wickham’s film about the 20-year struggle between Alabama, Georgia and Florida over access to the great Hooch! Shows Saturday, 10/2 (Ciné). DESPICABLE ME (PG) Despicable Me may be no Toy Story 3, but the animated feature is as funny and entertaining as any other kiddie film released
M OVIE L ISTI N GS Schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.
ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)
Aviva My Love (NR) 7:00 (Th. 9/30)
CINÉ (706-353-3343)
Get Low (PG-13) 5:15, 7:30 (ends Th. 9/30) The Girl Who Played with Fire (R) 4:15, 7:00, 9:45 (add’l times Sa. 10/2–Su. 10/3: 1:30) (no 9:45 show Su. 10/3) (starts F. 10/1) I Am Love (R) 4:45, 7:15, 9:40 (no 7:15 show Tu. 10/5) (starts M. 10/4) I’m Still Here (NR) 9:45 (ends Th. 9/30) Manhattan Short Film Festival (NR) 4:45, 9:30 (add’l time W. 9/29: 7:15) (ends Th. 9/30) Ocean of an Old Man (NR) 7:15 (Th. 9/30); 3:15 (Su. 10/3) The Shaft (NR) 7:15 (Tu. 10/5) The EcoFocus Film Festival continues through Oct. 3. Complete film and event schedule online at www.ecofocusfilmfest.org …And This Is My Garden/The Story of Straw (NR) 5:00 (Sa. 10/2) Bag It (NR) 1:00 (F. 10/1) Black Wave: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez (NR) 7:00 (F. 10/1) Born Sweet/ Sun Come Up (NR) 11:00 (Su. 10/3) Burning in the Sun (NR) 5:00 (Su. 10/3) Call of Life (NR) 9:30 (Sa. 10/2) Carbon Nation (NR) 9:30 (F. 10/1) Chattahoochee: From Water War to Water Vision: (NR) 7:00 (Sa. 10/2) Dive! (NR) 7:30 (Tu. 9/28) The Last Days of Shishmaref (NR) 1:00 (Su. 10/3) The Lunch Line (NR) 3:00 (F. 10/1) Play Again (NR) 1:00 (Sa. 10/2) Queen of the Sun (NR) 5:00 (F. 10/1) Soundtracker (NR) 3:00 (Sa. 10/2) Vienen Por el Oro, Vienen Por Todo (NR) 3:00 (Su. 10/3) Waste Land (NR) 7:00 (Su. 10/3)
UGA TATE CENTER THEATER (706-542-6396)
Finding Nemo (G) 8:00 (Th. 9/30) Houston We Have a Problem (NR) 7:30 (W. 9/29) Toy Story 3 (G) 3:00, 6:00, 9:00 (F. 10/1–Su. 10/3)
Accurate movie times for the Carmike 12 (706-354-0016), Beechwood Stadium 11 (706-546-1011) and Georgia Square 5 (706-548-3426) cinemas are not available by press time. Visit www.flagpole.com for updated times.
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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 29, 2010
this year. This reverse Lemony Snicket (evil dude adopts three orphans) works for its laughs, rarely going for the cheap, kids’ll-laugh-at-anything humor that plagues the majority of animated fare. DEVIL (PG-13) It’s hard to separate the new supernatural thriller, Devil, from its increasingly unpopular, former superstar filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. His guilty Catholic fingerprints are all over this operatic, melodramatic parable about how the Devil punishes sinners on Earth, but the sturdy horror film from Quarantine director John Erick Dowdle deserves to succeed despite Shyamalan’s now leprous touch. DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS (PG-13) While Dinner for Schmucks is a stupidly funny movie that fulfills its hilarious obligations to the audience, I hope the French film on which it is based had sharper satirical teeth. DIRT! THE MOVIE (NR) 2009. I’ll give you three guesses what Dirt! The Movie is about. Shows Thursday, 9/30 (Ecology Building Auditorium). DIVE! (NR) 2009. Check out this multiple award-winning documentary about a group of dumpster divers and food waste as well as the short film, Cud (2008), about Georgia rancher Will Harris and his grass-fed cattle. Beforehand, get a free snack from Farm 255’s Farm Cart and $2 off every $10 farmers market purchase that afternoon with a festival ticket. Shows Tuesday, 9/28 (Ciné). EASY A (PG-13) This second movie from director Will Gluck and first-time feature writer Bert V. Royal accomplishes a rare feat for teen-aimed funny flicks. It starts with a fun concept that it treats respectfully and with genuine humor in a tightly written script good enough to attract a talented cast that includes Emma Stone, Lisa Kudrow and Malcolm McDowell. FINDING NEMO (G) 2003. Clownfish Marlin (v. Albert Brooks) goes searching for his son, Nemo (v. Alexander Gould), who is lost in the scary, big ocean. Fortunately, Marlin has pal Dory (v. Ellen Degeneres), a blue tang fish, to help him out. FREAKONOMICS (PG-13) Freakonomics the documentary is nowhere near as enlightening or entertaining as the book(s) upon which it is based. The most intriguing aspect of the film is its high-concept construction. Six acclaimed documentarians each take a chapter of Steven D. Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s bestseller. As a whole, it’s interesting, but its parts can disappoint. GET LOW (PG-13) Talk about casts. Director Aaron Schneider (an Oscar winner for the short “Two Soldiers”) convinced two Oscar winners, Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek, and an Oscar nominee, Bill Murray, to grace his feature debut. Felix Bush, a hermit living in the backwoods of 1930s Tennessee (Duvall) throws his own funeral. The festival buzz is huge. Duvall could generate award heat if Murray doesn’t steal his thunder as a funeral parlor owner. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE (R) 2009. I know I was kind of hard on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I just loved the book so much), but I am super-stoked for the sequel (as well as David Fincher’s in-the-works English-language Dragon Tattoo). Considering the books get better and better, I hope the films do the same.
The lead actors—Michael Nyqvist and the excellent Noomi Rapace—are back, while Guldbagge award winner Daniel Alfredson takes over directing duties from Niels Arden Oplev. GOING THE DISTANCE (R) Many filmgoers at large probably checked out of this latest romcom at the appearance of Drew Barrymore in the trailer. Bad move, dudes. Thanks to an uproarious supporting cast, the appealing chemistry of both leads, Barrymore and Justin “I’m a Mac” Long, and an atypical on-screen romance (long distance), Going the Distance is a lot funnier— and raunchier—than your average Kate Hudson flick. GROWN UPS (PG-13) Five old pals get together after their childhood basketball coach’s funeral. Inoffensive enough for easily amused families, the jokes in Grown Ups are primarily composed of friendly, heckling one-upmanship, better known as punchlines minus the work of a setup. Apparently, The Big Chill was too intellectual; what Lawrence Kasdan’s film lacked were fart/bunion/hairpiece jokes and bunch of Kevin James pratfalls. HATCHET II (NR) Original survivor Marybeth (genre vet Danielle Harris, Halloweens IV and V as well as Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake and its sequel) discovers her connection to slasher Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) and returns to the Bayou to confront him once and for all. HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM (NR) 2009. This multiple award winner looks for the truth about our nation’s dependence on oil. A free screening will be held on Wednesday, 9/29. (Tate). I AM LOVE (R) I Am Love, or Io Sono l’Amore, is set in turn of the century of Milan, where the Recchi dynasty is thrown into chaos after Emma (Tilda Swinton, who learned both Russian and Italian for the role) embarks on an affair with her brother-in-law’s friend/ business partner, Antonio (Edoardo Gabbriellini). I’M STILL HERE (NR) Was Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix serious when he retired from acting to pursue a career as a rapper? Maybe this documentary (mockumentary?), the directorial debut of Casey Affleck, will divulge the truth. INCEPTION (PG-13) Mysterious thief Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a mastermind at stealing from your mind. He and his team will forge your dreamscape, infiltrate it and extract whatever valuable secrets you are trying to hide. A perfect summer blockbuster that is also an Oscar contender (for set design and cinematography), the thrillingly original Inception is the cinematic equivalent of an intelligent, bestselling beach-read. JACK GOES BOATING (R) In Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut, the Academy Award winner goes with something comfortable. He developed and starred in an Off-Broadway production of the Bob Glaudino play. Limo driver Jack (Hoffman) goes on a blind date with Dr. Bob’s Funeral Home employee Connie (Amy Ryan), while the relationship of another working class couple, Clyde and Lucy (John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega), hits a rough patch. THE LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF (NR) 2008. In this multiple award winner, director Jan Louter travels to the
island of Sarichef to see how global warming threatens centuries of Inupiaq Eskimo tradition. Part of EcoFocus. Shows Sunday, 10/3 (Ciné). LEGENDARY (PG-13) What is this? A WWE movie that is not a sub-’80s action retread, Legendary stars John Cena as the older brother of a bookish teenager who joins his high school wrestling team in order to grow closer to a family that has grown distant since the death of their wrestling legend patriarch. LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE (PG) 300 director Zack Snyder was made for 3D animation, and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole proves it. Unfortunately, the film, based on the first three books in Kathryn Lasky’s bestselling children’s series, feels rushed and poorly explained. Owlets like Soren (v. Jim Sturgess) are being kidnapped by bad owls. After escaping from captivity, Soren and his band of pals travel to the Tree of Ga’Hoole where the legendary guardians live. LET ME IN (R) This Hollywood remake of excellent Swedish vampire film, Let the Right One In, might not be the worst idea in the world. Cloverfield director Matt Reeves still has something to prove, but he has assembled a hell of a cast. THE LUNCH LINE (NR) Six kids from Chicago’s public school system are on a mission to improve school lunch in this documentary film by Ernie Park and Michael Graziano. Shows Sunday, 10/3 (Ciné). OCEAN OF AN OLD MAN (NR) 2008. In the wake of the devastation brought on by the 2004 tsunami, a British schoolteacher in India embarks on a search for his missing students. Director Rajesh Shera’s film plays as part of the Global Film Initiative’s Global Lens Film Series. PLAY AGAIN (NR) Play Again follows six plugged-in teenagers representing “the average American child” into the wilds of Oregon without electricity, cell phones or any kind of virtual reality. Shows Saturday, 10/2 (Ciné). QUEEN OF THE SUN (NR) Is there a global bee crisis? Join UGA Entomology and see what Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma), Vandana Shiva, Gunther Hauk and beekeepers around the world think. Shows Friday, 10/1 (Ciné). RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (R) Calling Paul W.S. Anderson’s directorial return to this zombie videogameturned-movie franchise Resident Evil 4 would be an insult to arguably the best game in the mother series. Anderson felt apparently unbound by story, as the movie makes less sense than its far too convoluted source material. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (PG-13) Scott Pilgrim (MVP Michael Cera) is a 22-year-old slacker who will have to defeat his girlfriend’s seven evil exes, including an action star (Chris Evans), a vegan telekinetic (Brandon Routh) and the mysterious Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman). THE SHAFT (NR) 2008. Hard times fall upon a poor family in a small mining town in western China. Director Zhang Chi’s poetic film follows the intersecting lives of a father and his two children in this third film screening for the Global Film Initiative’s Global Lens Film Series.
SLOW COFFEE (NR) Local filmmakers Ben Myers and Jason Miller show their short film about Slowness and how it can change the coffee industry. Shows Sunday, 10/3 (Ciné). THE SOCIAL NETWORK (PG-13) Rejoice! David Fincher has returned. OK. Such effusive praise might be a bit much, but a new Fincher film, for all its flaws, will still be more interesting than the majority of work coming from his age-grade peers. And his new film chronicles the rise of Facebook. THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE (PG) Disney hips up its seminal Fantasia sketch with Nic Cage as a curiously coiffed wizard backed up by his National Treasure director, Jon Turteltaub. SOUNDTRACKER (NR) Follow Emmy Award winning sound recordist Gordon Hempton as he ventures across the globe on one of his annual “soundtracker trips.” Shows Saturday, 10/2 (Ciné). TAKERS (PG-13) Takers is a bad, bad movie. Everything from the writing (woeful tough-guy dialogue) to the acting (made worse by the writing) to the direction (generically overstylized action crime thriller) is subpar, and the basic plot and characters are so uninteresting that the movie’s not even a redemptively fun sort of bad. THE TOWN (R) Terrific performances (though Jon Hamm is a bit stiff and too chivalrous for a G-douche) and tremendous direction from Ben Affleck (he obviously paid attention during the filming of Reindeer Games with the legendary John Frankenheimer) highlight the best film Hollywood has offered to mature adults in months. TOY STORY 3 (G) Toy Story 3 lacks the emotional heft (though parents of youngsters best bring the tissues) of recent Pixar masterpieces, but is every bit the satisfying curtain call for Andy’s toys. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE (PG-13) David Slade knows some vampires, having directed the adaptation of Steve Niles’ 30 Days of Night; he also helmed the sharp, Hard Candy. The Cullens (represented by RPattz) and the Quileute werewolves (repped by T-Laut) must unite to defeat a common foe, an army of vamps led by Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard), who has sworn to avenge her lover’s death by killing Bella (Kristen Stewart). VIENEN POR EL ORO, VIENEN POR TODO (NR) 2009. The U.S. premiere of Vienen por el oro, vienen por todo (They Come for the Gold, They Come for It All). In this award winning documentary, a small Patagonian town battles a Canadian mining company over mining rights to the gold and silver found in a nearby mountain. Shows Sunday, 10/3 (Ciné). THE VIRGINITY HIT (R) If you’ve seen one “losin’ it” sex comedy, you’ve apparently seen them all. In this lowbudget Blair Witch Meets American Pie flick, a group of pals (Matt Bennett, Zack Pearlman, Jacob Davich and Justin Kline) make a movie about losing their virginity. WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS (PG-13) See Movie Pick. WASTE LAND (NR) The festival’s final film! Artist Vik Muniz travels to his native Brazil to photograph the “catadores” that pick recyclable materials from Jardim Gramacho, the world largest garbage dump. Part of EcoFocus. Shows Sunday, 10/3 (Ciné). YOU AGAIN (PG) Marni (Kristen Bell) realizes her brother is about to marry the bully (Odette Yustman) that tormented her throughout high school. Now it is her job to expose her enemy’s true colors before they become family. You have to love Bell’s support: Cloris Leachman and Betty White. Could Bell finally have found her star-making hit? Drew Wheeler