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September 3- 9, 2009
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(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 and Flatiron. — Michael Phillips
Adam
A toy engineer (Hugh Dancy) with the high-functioning autism classified as Asperger’s syndrome becomes romantically involved with a neighbor in his Manhattan apartment building (Rose Byrne). Sweet, simple and more than a little dodgy, writer-director Max Mayer’s film gets a lift from its ensemble cast, thereby proving that a film’s acting typically is the least of its problems. Rated PG-13 (thematic material, sexual content and language). At Chez Artiste. — Michael Phillips
 The Breakfast Club (1985)
When five high school students from different social groups are forced to spend a Saturday together in detention, they find themselves interacting with and understanding each other for the first time. A jock (Emilio Estevez), a criminal (Judd Nelson), a princess (Molly Ringwald), a basket case (Ally Sheedy), and a brain (Anthony Michael Hall) talk about everything from parental tension to sex to peer pressure to hurtful stereotypes while serving time. Ultimately, the five find that they may have more in common than they ever imagined and learn more about themselves as well as each other. The only question is: Will they remember what they’ve learned after they leave detention? Director and writer John Hughes, along with the stellar Brat Pack, cast makes this a memorable, moving film filled with believable dialogue, intelligent humor, and a sufficient dose of high school hijinx. Rated R. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
 The Cove
Former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry (Flipper) came to realize that these deeply sensitive, highly intelligent and self-aware creatures must never be subjected to human captivity again. His mission brings him to Taiji, Japan where, under cover of night, fishermen driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling — and the consequences are so dangerous to human health — they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it. So O’Barry joins forces with filmmaker Louie Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society to get to the truth of what’s really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone in the world. Not Rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Dead Snow
The group of friends had all they would need for a successful Easter vacation: cabin, skis, snowmobile, toboggan, copious amounts of beer and a fertile mix of the sexes. Certainly, none of them had anticipated not returning home alive. However, the Nazi-zombie battalion haunting the mountains surrounding the aptly named Øksfjord (Axefjord) had other plans. Not Rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
District 9
The premise: An enormous UFO descended from the sky 20 years ago, hovered over Johannesburg and stayed there. Then humans got curious and opened it up, and out spilled a million-plus alien creatures, leading to an immigration crisis. This film, shot like a documentary from the future, packs such a terrific central idea that even its flaws can’t stop the train. In its first hour it barrels along with the velocity of a new classic; as it settles for being a good addition to the venerable aliens-come-calling genre, you feel a slight letdown. But that first half? Nice. Rated R (bloody violence and pervasive language). At Flatiron, Century, Twin Peaks and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
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 Starz. — Michael Phillips
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 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 Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
Inglorious Basterds
A queasy historical do-over, Quentin Tarantino’s new film has been described as a grindhouse version of Valkyrie; a rhapsody dedicated to the cinema’s powers of persuasion; and a showcase for Austrian-born character actor Christoph Waltz, who waltzes off with the performance honors as a suavely vicious Nazi colonel. All true. Tarantino’s revenge fantasy recasts the iconography and mythic cruelties of Sergio Leone’s Westerns as the stuff of World War II history — not the history we know, but an alternate-reality version. Rated R (strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality). At Flatiron, Century, Twin Peaks 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
The Lemon Tree
A beautiful example of how a film can explore grand themes in microcosm, Eran Riklis’ Lemon Tree encapsulates the anger and frustration of the West Bank in the defiant act of a simple Palestinian village woman. Not Rated. At the International Film Series. — IFS
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Pretty but poor, Andie’s (Molly Ringwald) a good student who develops a crush on Blane (Andrew McCarthy), the sensitive, well-born preppie. But Blane runs with a fast crowd of haughty rich kids, the kind of clique Andie and her new wavy best friend Duckie (Jon Cryer) can’t stand. Going against her fretting father (Harry Dean Stanton), peer pressure and social expectations, she decides to date him. But their big plans for the senior prom ultimately fall apart when Blane heeds his friend Steff’s (James Spader) warning to “quit slumming.” Will Blane find the courage to claim what he really wants and give up the so-called friends he doesn’t need? Rated PG-13. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Ponyo
The title character in this animated feature is a goldfish (voiced by Noah Cyrus, Miley’s sister) who longs to become human. Five minutes into this magical film you’ll be making lists of the people you can expose to the special mixture of fantasy and folklore that make up the enchanted vision of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. This sweet-natured feature emphasizes the joys of childhood friendships, but it still manages to be exciting when it needs to, and it’s been given first-class treatment by distributor Walt Disney Studios. Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson and Tina Fey lend their voices to this charmer. Rated G. At Flatiron and Century. — Kenneth Turan
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
 Sixteen Candles (1984)
Teen angst abounds in this classic comedy written and directed by John Hughes. Samantha Baker’s (Molly Ringwald) 16th birthday should be perfect and memorable. Unfortunately, her whole family is preoccupied with her sister’s impending wedding and completely forgets Samantha’s big day. To add insult to injury, the school geek (Anthony Michael Hall) won’t stop hitting on her, she has to bring a foreign exchange student (Gedde Watanabe) with her to the school dance, her visiting grandparents have taken over her bedroom, and she’s sure that the boy of her dreams (Michael Schoeffling) doesn’t know that she exists. John Hughes’s script captures the range of teenage emotions, from embarrassment to peer pressure to the pangs of puppy love, with humor and honesty. Rated R. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Shorts
See full screen review on page 54. Rated PG At Flatiron, Colony Square, Century and Twin Peaks.
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Keith (Eric Stoltz) is finishing up with high school. A sensitive loner, he prefers to work on his art over going to sporting events and hanging with the cool crowd. Instead, he platonically whiles away the hours with Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson), the pixieish drummer girl he’s known since grade school. But Keith does have one popular obsession: Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson), the most desired girl in school — and girlfriend of obnoxious rich guy Hardy Jens (Craig Scheffer). When Hardy and Amanda part ways, Keith finally has his chance — and true blue Watts will do all that she can, even if that means biting her tongue and suppressing her true feelings for her longtime friend. John Hughes’ follow-up to the classic Pretty in Pink takes essentially the same story and flips the gender roles, with another positive “follow-your-heart” message. Rated PG-13. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Taking Woodstock
See full screen review on page 54. Rated R. At Flatiron, Colony Square, Century and Twin Peaks.
The Time Traveler’s Wife
This film’s best feature is Rachel McAdams in the title role of the serenely long-suffering mate of a man born with a dilly of a chromosomal irregularity. Involuntarily, usually at inconvenient times, Henry (Eric Bana) zwoops to an entirely different locale and chronological point in his lifetime, often encountering his wife at a different chronological point in her lifetime. Despite the efforts of McAdams and the rest of the cast, the film version of Audrey Niffenegger’s best-selling 2003 novel fails to engage. Rated PG-13 (thematic elements, brief disturbing images, nudity and sexuality). At Twin Peaks, Century, Flatiron and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
The Windmill Movie
Two hundred hours of footage, dusty boxes of film, a broken editing computer: these were the pieces of filmmaker Richard P. Rogers’ daring attempt to make his own autobiography. He died in 2001, leaving behind a lifetime of filmed memories, until his student and protégé, Alexander Olch began making a movie out of the pieces. Writing in his teacher’s voice, working with with Wallace Shawn, Bob Balaban, and Richard’s wife — acclaimed photographer Susan Meiselas — Olch steps into his mentor’s shoes and his past to make a film that was impossible to make. An autobiography, that isn’t. A documentary which is fiction. A lifetime of questions, finally answered. Not Rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
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