MOVI E CLOSE - UPS
No stars: Wretched ★ Awful ★★ Mediocre ★★★ Average ★★★★ Good ★★★★★ Excellent Film Classifications: General: Suitable for all ages. Parental guidance: May not be suitable for all children. 14A: Under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. May contain violence, coarse language and/or sexually suggestive scenes. 18A: Under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. May contain explicit violence, frequent coarse language, sexual activity and/or horror. Restricted: Must be over 18. Contains frequent sexual activity, brutal/graphic violence, intense horror and/or other disturbing content. Adult: 18 years of age or older. Contains predominantly sexually explicit activity. STC: Subject to classification.
OPENING FRIDAY
FLIGHT ★★★ Starring: Nadine Velazquez, Denzel Washington, Carter Cabassa Director: Robert Zemeckis Classification: 18A
Parental advisory: Substance abuse LUV SHUV TEY CHICKEN KHURANA (NOT YET RATED) Starring: Kunal Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Rahul Bagga Director: Sameer Sharma
Classification: STC (Hindi with Eng
lish subtitles) THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS (NOT REVIEWED) Starring: Russell Crowe, Cung Le,
Lucy Liu Director: RZA Classification: 18A Parental advisory: Gory violence SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN
★★★★
Starring: Rodriguez, Steve Segerman, Dennis Coffey Director: Malik Bendjelloul Classification: PG
Parental advisory: Coarse language WRECK IT RALPH 3-D ★★★ 1⁄2 Starring: The voices of John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch Director: Rich Moore Classification: G
OPENING THURSDAY
SKYFALL (NOT YET RATED) Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris Director: Sam Mendes Classification: 14A Parental advisory: Violence
RECENT RELEASES
ALEX CROSS ★★ 1⁄2
Starring: Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Rachel Nichols
Director: Rob Cohen Tyler Perry ditches the drag outfits from the Madea franchise to don a shoulder holster as Alex Cross, one of Detroit’s finest. A smart detective with Sherlock Holmes’s skills of deduction, Alex seems to be in control of his life until a psycho-killer with artistic talent sets his sights on Alex’s family. A standard cat-and-mouse story finds grit from the Motor City setting, but the suggested violence and emotional emptiness voids any real chance at viewer empathy. ARGO ★★★★ Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman
Director: Ben Affleck Ben Affleck’s wildly entertaining thriller recasts the Canadian Caper – the 1979 rescue of American hostages in Iran – as a U.S.-led caper. Affleck stars as a CIA agent who puts together a fake movie so he can smuggle the Americans out disguised as Canadian filmmakers. It’s further proof that in Hollywood, fiction is stranger than truth. CHASING MAVERICKS ★★★ 1⁄2 Starring: Jonny Weston, Gerard Butler, Elisabeth Shue
Directors: Michael Apted, Curtis Hanson Gerard Butler and Jonny Weston play two legendary surfers from Santa Cruz, Calif., in this tender drama based on the real-life story of Jay Moriarity. Moriarity was one of the youngest surfers to attempt a giant wave, but his life adds up to more than a Kodak moment in this movie from Michael Apted and Curtis Hanson. Thanks to incredible surf footage and a palpably pure heart, it overcomes sport clichés to deliver an emotionally poignant – but still manly – drama. CLOUD ATLAS ★★ 1⁄2 Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant
Directors: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski David Mitchell’s sprawling novel has been turned into an ungainly film that spans the centuries, including everything from 18th-century sailing vessels to a future apocalypse. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and others play multiple roles in an ambitious sci-fi extravaganza with a message — we are all connected — that hardly seems worth it. ENGLISH VINGLISH (RATING NOT AVAILABLE) Starring: Sridevi, Adil Hussain, Mehdi
Nebbou
Director: Gauri Shinde Hindi with English subtitles. FRANKENWEENIE ★★★ 1⁄2 Starring: The voices of Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short
Director: Tim Burton Tim Burton and screenwriter John August create a very dark fairy tale about a young kid named Victor Frankenstein and his quest to reanimate his beloved bull terrier, Sparky. Because Burton is smart enough to acknowledge every cinematic reference, as well as every moral implication, the movie weaves a dark magic that’s hard to resist. FUN SIZE ★ Starring: Victoria Justice, Chelsea Handler, Ana Gasteyer
Director: Josh Schwartz Fun Size is a comedy with a laugh-free plot in which adults act like teenagers, teenagers act like eight-year-olds and eight-year-olds have the good sense not to act at all. HERE COMES THE BOOM ★★
Starring: Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Henry Winkler
Director: Frank Coraci A middle-aged and middling science teacher tries to save his failing school’s music program by entering a mixedmartial arts fight to raise $50,000. Experience? Well, he did some wrestling in high school, and he verbally spars with his stuck-up principal. Cue a flurry of comedic punches, only a few of which make contact. MMA fans may appreciate the efforts at cage-fighting reality, but most filmgoers will find this a swing that misses with a mild love story attached. HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA ★★ 1⁄2 Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Andy Samberg
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky Adam Sandler lends his vocal talents to this story of a vampire who runs a hotel for monsters, where he can keep his daughter safe from the outside world. Part Heathcliff and part Opera Man, Sandler’s shtick doesn’t lend anything more than fart jokes to a tired story of father-daughter tension. The kids will find the 3-D razzle-dazzle and topnotch animation seductive, but grownups may tire of the dirty-diaper theme and meaningless action sequences. Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Selena Gomez, Molly Shannon and CeeLo Green provide vocal talent. LOOPER ★★★ 1⁄2 Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt
Director: Rian Johnson Rian Johnson’s twisty and genrebusting fantasy stars Joseph GordonLevitt as an assassin of the future who kills people sent back in a time machine — until his own future self (Bruce Willis) arrives as his target. It turns into a father-and-son story with Western elements that never quite lives up to its premise. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 ★★ Starring: Katie Featherston, Kathryn Newton, Matt Shively
Directors: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman Mockumentary filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman are back with part four of the Paranormal Activity franchise, this time setting the mysterious goings-on in Nevada instead of California but adding little to the recycled plot elements from previous films. Even a tackedon smattering of Satanism feels superfluous rather than sustaining. Still, it’s unlikely fans of these lowbudget scarefests will be put off. THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER ★★★ Starring: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller
Director: Stephen Chbosky Logan Lerman stars as a young man approaching high school with great trepidation, and a lot of childhood baggage. Fortunately, just when he thought he’d be a total loner, he meets a group of seniors who give him a place
to sit at the cafeteria. Emma Watson and Ezra Miller also star in this sweet, if entirely predictable, coming-of-age story set in the ’90s. PITCH PERFECT ★★★ Starring: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson
Director: Jason Moore A Glee-type musical with a more comic sensibility. Anna Kendrick plays a college student who joins an a cappella singing group that’s trying to defeat the male team. Romance is in the air, but it’s the music that carries the day. SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS ★★★ 1⁄2
Starring: Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell
Director: Martin McDonagh Colin Farrell plays a screenwriter seeking some inspiration, which he quickly finds through his good friends — who are all completely cuckoo. Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell play the well-intentioned buddies while Woody Harrelson plays a Mob boss who goes on the warpath when someone steals his Shih Tzu. It’s pure chaos, but it’s a whole lot of fun thanks to writer-director Martin McDonagh’s (In Bruges) clever writing and the ensemble cast, who fire up the comedy afterburners and gain a little extra altitude in the otherwise lowly darkcomedy-action genre. SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3-D ★★ Starring: Sean Bean, Radha Mitchell, Carrie-Anne Moss
Director: Michael J. Bassett It’s a sequel to the video game-inspired horror film about demons chasing a girl from a mysterious city. The fun comes in watching a host of stars, including Malcolm McDowell, dealing with the overheated material and endless exposition. SINISTER ★★★ Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone
Director: Scott Derrickson Ethan Hawke stars in this horror film about a writer of true-crime books who
moves his family into a house where a horrific murder took place. The mood of dread — not to mention some terrifying home movies he finds — will keep you on the edge of your seat, but the conclusion feels like a cheat. TAKEN 2 ★★★
Starring: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace
Director: Olivier Megaton Liam Neeson reprises the role of an over-protective father and former secret agent who uses his professional skills to keep a watchful eye over his family. Shortly after recovering from the last episode that witnessed the kidnapping of his daughter, Bryan (Neeson) is back on the case after Albanian bad guys scoop up his ex-wife and set sights on his daughter. Because the action is cartoonish without being entirely computer-generated, there’s real texture in the frames as well as a compellingly flawed hero at the centre. TED ★★★ Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane, Joel McHale
Director: Seth MacFarlane A crude comedy with Mark Wahlberg as a 35-year-old slacker who’s being held back by his best friend and roommate, a talking teddy bear (voiced by director Seth MacFarlane). The vulgar jokes push envelopes you didn’t know existed, but there’s a sweetness to the film, and it’s often very funny. THIS GUYS IN LOVE WITH U MARE! (NOT YET RATED) Starring: Vice Ganda, Toni Gonzaga, Luis Manzano
Director: Wenn V. Demaras TO THE ARCTIC ★★★★ Director: Greg MacGillivray Documentary: An Imax documentary about the environmental degradation of the Far North that finds its drama in the story of a polar-bear mother and two cubs trying to survive global warming. Meryl Streep’s narration and Paul McCartney’s songs underline the magnificent cinematography.