Paul Rudd & Tina Fey in a could-he-be-the-son-I-gave-up story
THE CROODS
3D & IMAX animated feature about a road trip for a prehistoric family
OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN
Gerard Butler tries to save the President as a huge assassination changes everything
INAPPROPRIATE COMEDY
Inappropriate Apps break out on everyone’s devices!
1. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY:
After literally years of legal wrangling and production hold-ups, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy has been viewed by fans as being well worth the wait. It tells the story of a young Bilbo Baggins, approached by the wizard Gandalf to go on a quest with a group of a dozen dwarfs to seek out the lair of a dangerous dragon. I found the exposition, the introduction of the players and the set-up, overly long, but when Bilbo has his encounter with Gollum, the film really picks up. The technology around special effects, and especially Gollum, has come a long way from the last films, and is a treat to watch. Rated PG.
2. ZERO DARK THIRTY:
Jessica Chastain got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as a CIA operative who spent her entire career in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Some of the movie is intentionally tedious – the scenes at the end where the Navy Seals attack the Bin Laden compound in Pakistan take place in real time – the actual event took 22 minutes – and that’s what happens in the film. To its credit, it shows the challenges of such an operation in very human terms – no action heroes here, just hard working military people doing a very difficult job. Directed by Katherine Bigelow (The Hurt Locker). Rated 18A.
3. PRICE CHECK:
An indie film that was big at the Sundance Film Festival offers Parker Posey (Superman Returns, Boston Legal) as an exec in the supermarket business who hires a family man who wants what the business offers … but there’s a price to be paid. It plays as a comedy, and a very funny one, for the first half, then it turns a little darker and loses some speed. Great insight into the management aspects of any business, and some good laughs. Eric Mabius (Ugly Betty) co-stars. Not Rated.
ZERO DARK THIRTY:
This film was originally about the unsuccessful hunt for Bin Laden, and was nearly complete when he was killed … had to be rewritten and re-shot almost from scratch.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS (2001):
You had a different TV when this one first appeared on DVD … try it again with your new equipment, and be ready for a real treat!
THE CALL
Halle Berry is fine as a 911 operator with a problem
