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August 13 - 19, 2009
buzz@boulderweekly.com
 (500) Days of Summer
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays L.A. greeting-card writer Tom, whose heart gets kicked around by free-spirited co-worker Summer (Zooey Deschanel). As Tom sifts through memories of his time with Summer, the movie clicks onto different days, out of order, letting us eavesdrop on one vignette or conversation or argument after another. Days plays some fun structural mind games, Deschanel is captivating, and the film has an easygoing, inquisitive spirit. Rated PG-13 (sexual material and language). At Century, Mayan, Flatiron and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
The Answer Man
See full screen review on page 38. Rated R. At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.
A Perfect Getaway
Nothing is what it seems in this cockamamie but enjoyable honeymoon-fiasco picture. A newly married screenwriter (Steve Zahn) and his bride (Milla Jovovich) travel to Kauai, where they encounter a good-looking pair of secretive, possibly psychopathic hitchhikers (Marley Shelton and Chris Hemsworth) and, later, a good-looking pair of secretive, possibly psychopathic travelers (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez). The film keeps its character roster limited, so the mystery isn’t so much who’s fooling whom, but how and why. Rated R (graphic violence, language including sexual references and some drug use). At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks. — Michael Phillips
 The Big Lebowski
You are entering a world of pain if you miss Boulder Theater’s upcoming showing of this classic comedy! So bring out your bathrobes and bowling balls, order a White Russian and kick back with all your friends in the comfort only Boulder Theater can provide. $1 off White Russians in your Lebowski costume! Rated R. At Boulder Theater. — BT
Deadgirl
Rickie and JT are high school outsiders, bullied by jocks and despised by the in-crowd. Though both would rather drop out than bear this never-ending misery, Rickie chooses to stay, if only to catch fleeting glimpses of JoAnn, his childhood crush and the current girlfriend to the captain of the football team. Then one afternoon, while cutting class, the pair makes a bizarre discovery in the darkest depths of an abandoned hospital — a beautiful young woman, neither living nor dead, strapped to an operating table. Horrified by their find, Rickie flees, while JT stays behind to satiate his darker appetites. Soon, however, the pair’s secret slips out to the worst person imaginable, and what follows is a series of gory confrontations that test Rickie’s loyalty to both JT and JoAnn. Since its premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, no horror film has generated more buzz than Deadgirl and deservedly so. Not Rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Evangelion 1.0
After the second impact, all that remains of Japan is Tokyo-3, a city that’s being attacked by giant creatures that seek to eradicate the human kind, called Angels. After not seeing his father for more than eight years, Shinji Ikari receives a phone call, in which he is told to urgently come to the NERV Headquarters, an organization that deals with the destruction of the Angels through the use of giant mechs called Evas. Shinji’s objective is to pilot the Eva Unit 01,while teaming up with the Eva Unit 00 pilot, Ayanami Rei. The dramatic thriller received Animation of the Year and Best Director Award at Tokyo International Fair in 2007. Not Rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Food, Inc.
This eye-popping documentary from filmmaker Robert Kenner should win a few hearts and minds regarding what we put in our stomachs. But the film got virtually no cooperation from representatives of the dominant players in industrial food production, and as a result, Food, Inc. is a rangy, well-articulated essay rather than a compelling point-counterpoint. Rated PG (some thematic material and disturbing images). At Chez Artiste. — Michael Phillips
French Animated Shorts
August’s program is a selection of animated shorts provided by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and presented in cooperation with ASIFA-Colorado (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation), the Colorado chapter of an international organization dedicated to the art of animation. The French have a long history with animated films starting with Emile Cohl, believed by many to be the father of animation, and continuing with the creation of ASIFA in Annecy, France circa 1960. A recent collection of animated films compiled by the Culture Ministry provides a glimpse into the latest creations by the creative and artistic people of France. Not Rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Funny People
Director Judd Apatow digs into the question of what makes charismatically desperate comedians do what they do, and this film is also Apatow’s attempt to reconcile the huge success he has become with the up-and-comer he once was. When a comic turned movie star (Adam Sandler) is diagnosed with leukemia, he must change his ways and reconnect with those he’s sealed off from his life. His new assistant (Seth Rogen) acts as his apprentice, sounding board and punching bag. Funny People is 50 percent good and 50 percent close. Rated R (language and crude sexual humor throughout, and some sexuality). At Flatiron and Century. — Michael Phillips
 G-Force
The new Disney macho rodent action picture, G-Force, has the vibe of a typical R-rated Jerry Bruckheimer headbanger. Its sensibility isn’t so much childish as smarmily adolescent. Premise: Bill Nighy’s consumer-electronics maven plans to take over the world. U.S. government-funded guinea pigs must prevent the worst. The pacing’s unvaryingly nervous, as if a gerbil directed it. Luckily, Nicolas Cage is amusing voicing the commando mole, Speckles, single-handedly giving this energetically soulless enterprise some personality. Rated PG (some mild action and rude humor). At Century, Twin Peaks and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
G.I. Joe:The Rise of Cobra
See full screen review on page 38. Rated PG-13. At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.
The Greening of Southie
Set on the storied streets of South Boston, The Greening of Southie is a feature documentary about Boston’s first residential green building, and the skeptical workers who are asked to build it. From wheatboard cabinetry to recycled steel, bamboo flooring to dual-flush toilets, The Macallen Building is something different — a leader in the emerging field of environmentally friendly design. But Boston’s steel-toed union workers aren’t sure they like it. And when things on the building start to go wrong, the young developer has to keep the project from unraveling. Not Rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
This meticulously atmospheric, wonderfully acted Potter adventure lands happily — broodingly, but happily — near the top of the series heap. As the concerns of novelist J.K. Rowling’s characters gravitate toward matters of the heart and the hormones, the Potter films are leaving childhood behind. Yet the friendship of the central trio — Harry (Daniel Radcliffe); Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) — remains the key to the magic. Audience familiarity, in this case, breeds nothing but contentment. Rated PG (scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality). At Flatiron, Century, Twin Peaks and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
The Hurt Locker
Vivid, assured and extremely suspenseful, director Kathryn Bigelow’s latest (and strongest) film takes moviegoers by the collar and throws them headlong into one horrifying life-and-death situation after another. Jeremy Renner plays a soldier in Iraq running toward the explosives while everyone else is ducking and covering. He’s a bomb tech whose job entails disarming one Improvised Explosive Device (IED) after another, day after day. Time will tell if this politically neutral war movie is a classic, but it’s certainly a formidable experience. Rated R (war violence and language). At Century and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
Julie & Julia
Writer-director Nora Ephron adapts and intertwines two books: Julia Child’s My Life in France and Julie Powell’s Julie & Julia. The latter grew out of Powell’s online experiment, a year spent cooking and blogging her way through the seminal Child volume Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It may not make for great cinema, but you go to a movie like this for the sauces and stews, and for the considerable pleasure of seeing (and listening to) Meryl Streep’s drolly exuberant performance as Child. Amy Adams is also very good as Powell. Rated PG-13 (brief strong language and some sensuality). At Flatiron, Century, Twin Peaks and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
Moon
This film could alternatively be titled 2009: A Space Odyssey, as it’s virtually impossible not to be reminded of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece between Kevin Spacey’s soothing ministrations as a computer named Gerty and Sam Rockwell’s efforts to cope as the lone occupant of a lunar outpost. Rockwell plays Sam, a technician working on a strip-mining operation on the moon. There’s an accident, a rescue and suddenly another man in this vacuum-sealed life who looks like a younger version of Sam. Director Duncan Jones, son of musician David Bowie, struggles to find entertainment within the esoteric. Rated R (language). At Starz and Century. — Betsy Sharkey
On the Waterfront
Marlon Brando is Terry Malloy, an ex-prize fighter struggling against union corruption along the New York waterfront, in Elia Kazan’s film classic. Malloy’s battle takes him all the way to the witness stand, where he finds himself testifying against union leaders. The film was Kazan’s response to his decision to turn in the names of his Hollywood contemporaries during Senator Joe McCarthy’s anti-Communism hearings. Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and Malden were all nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscars. Academy Award Nominations: 12. Academy Awards: 8, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), Best Story and Screenplay. Not Rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Paper Heart
A clever hybrid of a film that swings between comedy, documentary and puppet re-enactments with the slightest push from its stars — Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera — as variations on themselves. This romantic fable begins with the notion that Yi doesn’t believe in fairy tales when it comes to love. She confronts her state of disillusionment with a search for what love means to all types of people. But “real” life, in the form of Cera, who suddenly emerges as possible boyfriend material, complicates everything. Rated PG-13 (some language). At Century. — Betsy Sharkey
The Proposal
In this disposable romantic comedy, Ryan Reynolds plays the beleaguered Man Friday to a fearsomely mean book editor played by Sandra Bullock. The editor, a Canadian living in New York, has visa troubles and is threatened with deportation. She strong-arms the assistant into marrying her — quickie divorce to follow — under the suspicious eye of Immigration Services. It’s not terrible, but there’s not much fun to be had watching the Wicked Witch of the Upper East Side get her comeuppance and thaw out and fall in love. Rated PG-13 (sexual content, nudity and language). At Flatiron. — Michael Phillips
Somers Town
Two teenagers, both newcomers to London, forge an unlikely friendship over the course of a hot summer in this dramatic comedy from award-winning director Shane Meadows (This Is England, Dead Man’s Shoes, TwentyFourSeven). Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) is a runaway from Nottingham; Marek (Piotr Jagiello), a Polish immigrant, lives in the district of Somers Town, between King’s Cross and Euston stations, where his dad is working on a new rail link. When Marek agrees to let homeless Tomo move into his room, unbeknownst to his father, the pair forms a strong bond, as they work odd jobs for an eccentric neighbor and compete for the attention of Maria (Elisa Lasowski), a beautiful young French waitress with whom they are both infatuated. But it’s only a matter of time before Marek’s dad discovers what’s going on... Winner of the Best Actor award (for both young leads) at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, as well as the Best New British Feature award at the 2008 Edinburgh Film Festival. Not Rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Top Gun (1986)
Maverick (Tom Cruise) is a reckless F-14 pilot who flies by instinct and breaks all of the rules. While attending the Navy’s elite air combat training academy, affectionately known as Top Gun, Maverick romances the civilian astrophysics instructor (Kelly McGillis) and competes with crackerjack pilot Ice (Val Kilmer) for top honors. He is the quintessential rebel, upsetting senior officers with his antics and risk-taking while simultaneously amazing them with his skill. In the end, Maverick overcomes a tragic loss and his need to stand out in the crowd and proves that he can shine as part of a team. Anthony Edwards stars as Maverick’s best friend and co-pilot, Goose, and Meg Ryan first garnered attention as Goose's wife, Carole. Superb state-of-the-art aerial photography makes Top Gun, directed by Tony Scott, one of the most exciting and entertaining films of its genre. This top grossing movie of 1986 is allegedly based on a Navy fighter pilot program at the Miramar Naval Base in San Diego, Calif., and was filmed on location at the base. Rated PG. At Red Rocks. — Denver Film Society
The Ugly Truth
Yet another romantic comedy portraying a career woman as a harpy with nice clothes and no dates, The Ugly Truth feels about 150 years out of date — or it would, if the script weren’t so clinically dependent on the topics of masturbation and genitalia and raunch. Katherine Heigl plays Abby Richter, Type-A TV producer who hires loutish local cable-access host Mike Chadway (played by Gerard Butler) to boost ratings. Soon Mike is playing a Cyrano role between Abby and the surgeon she’s smitten with. Yet Mike’s heart is slowly breaking. Rated R. At Flatiron and Twin Peaks. — Michael Phillips
Up
Balloon salesman Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) shared a dream with his wife to visit South America. After his wife dies, Carl’s yearning for adventure dies as well. Yet it rises again, and Up becomes a chronicle of an unlikely friendship between Carl and an 8-year-old (Jordan Nagai). This Disney-Pixar film feels nervy and adventurous and a little messy, the result of formidable creators working on an enormous budget, enormously well-spent. Yet the expansive emotional landscape of Up is something new. More power to these people. They are making the best films coming out of Hollywood. Rated PG (some peril and action). At Flatiron. — Michael Phillips
Wall-E
A hunk of metal with binoculars for eyes — can this be the screen’s latest true hero? Yes. In Pixar’s marvelous new feature, set 700 years from now, planet Earth has become an uninhabitable garbage dump, whose last resident (besides a roach) is the title robot. How he saves the planet is the subject of director Andrew Stanton’s story, beautifully realized. Rated G. At Boulder Outdoor Cinema. — Michael Phillips
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