PAGE 30 • GO! MAGAZINE
THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2011
music From previous page When E.B. jams with The Blind Boys of Alabama, you will believe a rabbit can keep a beat. But even for a kids’ movie in the post-“Yogi Bear / Marmaduke” marketplace, even for a critter comedy where the critter has very big feet, “Hop” stands out as particularly flat-footed. Rating: One and a half stars. 93 minutes. (PG) “Insidious” — James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the director and writer who launched the “Saw” franchise, return with a traditional haunted house movie. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne move with their kids into a cavernous old mansion that is occupied by a sinister presence that moves things around, slams doors, generates loud sounds and sends their young son into a coma. Lin Shaye plays a psychic called in — bringing two ghostbusters for comic relief. Not a great movie, but delivers what you expect. Rating: Two and a half stars. 101 minutes. (PG-13) “The King’s Speech” — After the death of George V and the abdication of his brother Edward, Prince Albert (Colin Firth) becomes George VI, charged with leading Britain into World War II. He is afflicted with a torturous stammer, and his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) seeks out an unorthodox speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) to treat him. Civilized and fascinating, this is the story of their unlikely relationship. (The R rating, for language, is absurd; this is an ideal film for teenagers.) Rating: Four stars. 118 minutes. (R) “Limitless” — We use only a small percentage of our brains. Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) takes a pill that suddenly puts his entire brain online. He finishes his novel at typing speed, wins at poker, invests in the market and runs it up to millions. The girl who dumped him (Abbie Cornish) takes him back. Robert De Niro plays a billionaire who hires him. But everything depends on a supply of the pills. Passably entertaining. Rating: Two and a
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Marisa Tomei and Matthew McConaughey star in “The Lincoln Lawyer.” half stars. 105 minutes. (PG-13) “The Lincoln Lawyer” — Matthew McConaughey stars as Mick Haller, an LA attorney who works out of the back seat of his big old car. Hired to defend a rich kid (Ryan Phillippe), he gets involved in a fishy case. With Marisa Tomei as his ex-wife, William H. Macy as his private investigator, John Leguizamo as a bondsman and Michael Pena as a former client. Familiar stuff, but workmanlike, engagingly acted and entertaining. Rating: Three stars. 118 minutes. (R) “Paul” — Two middle-aged Brit
fanboys (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) travel to San Diego for Comic-Con and then rent an RV for a tour of America’s UFO sites. They strike gold when they encounter Paul (Seth Rogen), an actual alien, who comes along for the ride. The movie starts well but loses its way, perhaps because Paul is too much comic relief and not alien enough. But it has its pleasures. Rating: Two and a half stars. 104 minutes. (R) “Rango” — An animated comedy for smart moviegoers, wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly
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satirical and (gasp!) filmed in glorious 2-D. Johnny Depp plays a humble reptile saddled with the responsibility of bringing civilization to Dirt, an untamed Western town. He battles eagles, vultures and rattlesnakes in a highenergy comedy that’s fun for kids and maybe more fun for grownups. The clarity and imagination of the animation is wonderful. Directed by Gore Verbinski, who made all three of Depp’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. Rating: Four stars. 107 minutes. (PG) “Soul Surfer” — Based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb), a champion surfer who in her early teens was attacked by a shark and lost almost all her left arm. One month later, she was back on a surfboard, has won several championships, and is at age 21 a professional surfer. A
story of remarkable resilience and determination, but so cheerful and upbeat it scarcely seems convincing. Surely there was more anguish and despair? Some flagging of resolve? With Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt as the parents, and Sonya Balmores as a mean-spirited competitor who seems written a little over the top. Rating: Two and a half stars. 106 minutes. (PG) “Source Code” — Jake Gyllenhaal plays a character who finds himself inside the mind of a man aboard a commuter train that will be blown up by a terrorist in eight minutes. By reliving those minutes, can he uncover the secret of a plot even larger and more cruel? Michelle Monaghan is a woman on the train who shares the eight minutes with him, more than once. The “science” behind the story is preposterous, but never mind; director Duncan Jones (“Moon”) has devised an ingenious and appealing thriller. Rating: Three and a half stars. 93 minutes. (PG-13) “Unknown” — Liam Neeson plays a scientist who has his briefcase, his wife and his identity stolen from him while in Berlin to attend a conference. His wife (January Jones) claims she’s never seen him before. Aidan Quinn plays a man who claims he’s her real husband. Diane Kruger plays a Bosnian refugee taxi driver who saves his life more than once. The movie starts on a nice Hitchcockian note, but grows tangled in a web of absurd improbability until we finally just stop caring. Rating: Two stars. 113 minutes. (PG-13) “Your Highness” — A juvenile excrescence that feels like the work of 11-year-old boys in love with dungeons, dragons, warrior women, pot, boobs and four-letter words. A promising cast (James Franco, Natalie Portman, Danny McBride, Zooey Deschanel) in one of the worst films of the year, a witless farce set in medieval times and featuring a curious obsession with adding obscenities to every sentence. The screenplay co-written by McBride is more suitable for a campfire skit by dirty-minded 11-year-olds on the closing night of summer camp. Rating: One star. 102 minutes. (R)
— Roger Ebert, The Chicago SunTimes (unless otherwise noted)