Calgary Herald

CHEAP SEATS

Capsule reviews of second-run films now showing at Calgary theatres

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Alvin and the Chipmunks:

Chip-wrecked ★★ ½ out of five

The mischievou­s creatures are grounded for causing a ruckus while aboard a cruise ship.

The Artist ★★★★★

An Oscar-winning enchanting fable about the early days of Hollywood. Jean Dujardin plays an idol of silent films whose career collapses with the talkies, even as a spunky ingenue (Berenice Bejo) begins her rise.

Big Miracle ★★★

A family film based on the 1988 incident when three whales were trapped beneath Alaskan ice and in danger of dying.

Chronicle ★★

A teenager and his two friends gain the power of telekinesi­s after falling down a rabbit hole. This one’s only for audiences who don’t mind the shakiness of camera.

Contraband ★★★

Mark Wahlberg stars in this complex, but unremarkab­le thriller that generates tension, de-

spite several large plot holes.

The Descendant­s ★★★★ ½ George Clooney plays a Hawaiian businessma­n whose wife is in a coma in this tragicomed­y from Alexander Payne. Ghost Rider: The Spirit

of Vengeance ★★ ½ This five-years-later sequel finds Ghost Rider/johnny Blaze (Nic Cage) approached by Moreau (Idris Elba), a neo-french Resistance fighter on a mission of mercy. A 13-year-old boy (Fergus Riordan) has been targeted by Satan (Ciaran Hinds) and is being chased by his henchmen. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

★★★ ½ Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig star in a U.S. version of the Swedish bestseller from Stieg Larsson. The film benefits from David Fincher’s esthetic treatment.

The Grey ★★★ ½ A surprising­ly philosophi­cal adventure film about a group of oil workers, led by Liam Neeson, who are trapped in the cold Alaska snows and threatened by wolves.

Hugo ★★★★ ½ Scorsese’s film is a love letter to cinema. It’s about a young boy (Asa Butterfiel­d) who lives in a train station in 1930 and falls in with a toymaker (Ben Kingsley).

Man on a Ledge ★★ A loopy drama about an escaped convict (Sam Worthingto­n) who tries to prove his innocence by going out on a window ledge as his accomplice­s plan a robbery. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol ★★★ Tom Cruise takes on the role of super-spy Ethan Hunt one more time. Hunt pulls together a group of ex-agents to stop a terrorist.

The Muppets ★★★★ Jason Segel stars in this charming revisit to The Muppet theatre. Funny and smart, the script winks to modern sensibilit­y. The Secret World of Arrietty

★★★★ ½ The source material is Mary Norton’s The Borrowers, which has been adapted for TV several times and made into a movie in 1997. This version is much quieter than that one, and features stunning hand-drawn animation and sound design. On his arrival at the home of his aunt, Shawn (David Henrie) glimpses a tiny girl in the garden. Soon he befriends and protects these little people.

This Means War ★ ½ Reese Witherspoo­n plays the cute, perky woman dating two spies (Chris Pine, Tom Hardy) who fight for her affection with a series of ridiculous dates and Neandertha­l-like behaviour. It’s

neither funny nor romantic. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ★★★★ With Gary Oldman as George Smiley, this is a precise assembly of creative gears and actor-cogs in mechanical harmony under tension. More than just another spy movie, it’s a classic timepiece. Underworld: Awakening ★★ Kate Beckinsale returns to play the vampire, Selene, in another instalment of the series.

The Vow ★★★ A car crash robs Paige (Rachel Mcadams) of the last few years of her memory, leaving her husband (Channing Tatum) to woo her all over again. The Vow could have descended into eight kinds of mawkishnes­s. Instead, it only hits about three. The Woman in Black ★★★ ½ Daniel Radcliffe stars in this unabashedl­y old-fashioned haunted-house film as a lawyer in Victorian England sent to investigat­e the death of a woman in a creepy mansion.

 ?? Courtesy, Disney Studios ?? Arrietty (voiced by Bridgit Mender) ventures into the garden.
Courtesy, Disney Studios Arrietty (voiced by Bridgit Mender) ventures into the garden.

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