crankyhanke
theaterlistings Friday, August 12 - Thursday, AUGUST 18
Due to possible last-minute scheduling changes, moviegoers may want to confirm showtimes with theaters. n
Please call the info line for updated showtimes. Bridesmaids (R) 10:00 (no show Wed, Aug. 18) Dead Man (R) 10:00 Wed. Aug. 18 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (PG-13) 7:00 Mr. Popper’s Penguins (PG) 1:00, 400 n
Carmike Cinema 10 (298-4452)
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Carolina Asheville Cinema 14 (274-9500)
30 Minutes or Less (R) 12:15, 2:20, 4:30, 7:55, 10:00 Captain America: The First Avenger 2D (PG-13) 11:30, 2:15, 5:00, 7:45, 10:30 The Change-up (R) 12:05, 2:35, 5:05, 8:00, 10:25 (Sofa Cinema) Cowboys & Aliens (PG-13) 11:15, 2:00, 4:45, 7:30, 10:15 Crazy, Stupid, Love (PG-13) 11:25, 2:10, 4:50, 7:35, 10:20 (Sofa Cinema) Final Destination 5 3D (R) 12:10, 9:50 Final Destination 5 2D (R) 2:30, 4:45, 7:35 Glee: The 3D Concert Movie (PG) 11:50, 1:55, 4:05, 7:10, 9:30 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 2D (PG-13) 12:20, 7:20 The Help (PG-13) Starts Wednesday 12:25, 3:30, 7:00, 10:05 Horrible Bosses (R) 4:00, 10:15 Midnight in Paris (PG-13) 11:45, 1:55, 4:15, 7:40, 10:25 (Sofa Cinema) Rise of the Planet of the Apes (PG-13) 11:40, 2:05, 4:30, 7:15, 9:45 The Smurfs (PG) 11:35, 2:05, 4:35, 7:05, 9:25 Snowflower and the Secret Fan (PG-13) 11:55, 2:25, 4:55, 7:25, 9:55 The Trip (NR) 11:20, 1:50, 4:25, 7:50, 10:20 n
Cinebarre (665-7776)
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Co-ed Cinema Brevard (883-2200)
Captain America: The First Avenger (PG-13) 1:00 (Fri, Sun, Tue, Thu), 4:00 (Sun, Mon, Wed), 7:00 (Fri, Sun, Tue, Thu) Winnie the Pooh (G) 1:00 (Sun, Mon, Wed), 4:00 (Fri, Sun, Tue, Thu), 7:00 (Sun, Mon, Wed) n
Epic of Hendersonville (693-1146)
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Fine Arts Theatre (232-1536)
The Last Mountain (NR) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, Late show Fri-Sat 9:20 Midnight in Paris (PG-13) 1:20, 4:20, 7:20, Late show Fri-Sat 9:30 n
movie reviews & listings by ken hanke
Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co. (254-1281)
Flatrock Cinema (697-2463)
Midnight in Paris (PG-13) Sat-Sun only 12:30 The Tree of Life (PG-13) 3:30, 7:00 n
Regal Biltmore Grande Stadium 15 (684-1298)
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United Artists Beaucatcher (298-1234)
For some theaters movie listings were not available at press time. Please contact the theater or check mountainx.com for updated information.
JJJJJ max rating
additional reviews by justin souther contact xpressmovies@aol.com
pickoftheweek The Last Mountain
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Director: Bill Haney (The Price of Sugar) Players: Robert Kennedy Jr., Maria Gunnoe, Michael Shnayerson, Joe Lovett, Ed Wiley Activist Documentary Rated PG
The Story: A documentary covering the dangers of mountaintop-removal mining, and of the coal industry as a whole. The Lowdown: A worthy topic explored with plenty of passion, but the resulting film feels unfocused due to information overload. Seeing as how Bill Haney’s The Last Mountain is an activist documentary, it is — by its very nature — vulnerable to the same issues and shortcomings that plague most activist documentaries, namely an inherent “preaching to the choir” tone. That’s no slight against the film’s topic — in this case, the evils of the coal industry — but rather in the narrow scope of interest, which limits its appeal to the average viewer. Unfortunately, no matter how well-made or informative a film like The Last Mountain may be, it’s only really going to be of interest to those already sympathetic to its views. The film begins by focusing on a small West Virginia community and the mountaintop removal taking place around them by Massey Energy. While the conflict is clearly between the activists and the corporate interests in this one location, it’s also a more general attempt at being a call-to-arms about mountaintopremoval mining. Every nook and cranny of the film is stuffed with some sort of statistical data, to the point it’s almost too much to take in. But again, the point of all this information — and the film’s other references to health and ecological dangers brought on by the coal industry — isn’t necessarily to notify. Since so much of this information isn’t exactly surprising (even to someone like me, who admittedly has just a cursory understanding of the situation), the point is to cram so much of it into 90 minutes that you’re outraged — or at least perturbed — into action. In this regard, The Last Mountain works, since the topic is worthy. The film begins by examining how coal mining impacts the people living below the mountains being razed for coal, and then expands its scope to examine this form of mining and how it affects everyone else in the country. The introduction section works better than the rest, however, as the film rapidly loses focus once we get beyond the obvious dangers of mountaintop removal. It soon becomes a polemic indictment of the coal industry, then
70 AUGUST 10 - AUGUST 16, 2011 • mountainx.com
Protestors take on the coal industry in Bill Haney’s documentary The Last Mountain. fossil fuel-based energy in general, only to bring in a variety of tangentially related asides on autism, cancer, union-busting, the merits of alternative energy, the efforts of college-age protesters and the occasional foray into the life and times of high-profile activist Bobby Kennedy Jr. It’s all a bit overstuffed. That said, The Last Mountain is nevertheless a sincere work made by people who honestly care about the subject, and free of the gadflyishness of a Michael Moore film. It has a lot to say, and what it has to say is worth listening to. Rated PG for some thematic material and brief language. reviewed by Justin Souther Starts Friday at Fine Arts Theatre
The Change-Up JJ
Director: David Dobkin (Fred Claus) Players: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin Body-swap Comedy Rated R
The Story: Two old friends wish for each other’s lives, only to actually get their wish. The Lowdown: Tired, tasteless, unfunny take on the body-swap comedy. David Dobkin — aided and abetted by screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (The Hangover, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) — set out the prove that the body-swapping comedy not dead. If it wasn’t already dead — and Mark Waters’ successful Freaky Friday remake in 2003 suggests it wasn’t all that dead — they have not only killed it, but mutilated the corpse by a desperate attempt to raunch it up. Despite one good scene, an amusing awareness of the sexual side of inhabiting someone else’s body, and a
funny final exchange between the two leads based on that awareness, this is a movie where pretty nearly everything is just plain wrong. Let’s start with the casting. Now, I like Jason Bateman fine, and even though I think Ryan Reynolds peaked in Blade: Trinity (2004), I have nothing against him. The problem is that I’m not buying them as having been friends since third grade — unless Reynolds was in third grade and Bateman was in high school. Sure, there’s only a seven-year age difference between the two, but it’s a difference that really shows here. That to one side, the fact is the film hands them two not-very-likable characters (read: jerks) and expects them to coast through it on their own innately pleasant screen personas — and it doesn’t work. Then there’s the raunch factor. I don’t in the least have an aversion to swearing — as those who know me will be glad to attest, I’m sure — but these people swear like amateurs, or like 12-year-olds who just learned a “bad” word and want to impress people. The nonstop, random and often peculiar permutations of “f**k” feel forced and awkward — and certainly not funny to anyone past the level of Beavis and Butthead. And is sex with a nine-month-pregnant woman really funny? Of course, there’s always that old standby — gross-out humor. There’s no shortage here. One might even say that the film is almost fixated on bodily functions. I suppose it should be noted that it’s pretty upfront about this, since in the movie’s first scene Jason Bateman gets his in the face with projectile baby diarrhea (you saw this in the trailer), followed by him getting a mouthful of it (that wasn’t in the trailer). You know — intellectual humor. The plot? Well, it’s not much of anything. Old