CINEMA
At The Movies
Opening
1408
A horror novelist (John Cusack) checks into a notoriously haunted hotel room and tries to stay there for more than an hour. Adapted from a Stephen King short story. Samuel L. Jackson also stars. Review on Page 18. (PG-13)
A Mighty Heart
Angelina Jolie plays the wife of reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered while on assignment in Pakistan in 2002. Based on Mariane Pearl's memoir. Review on Page 27. (R)
Evan Almighty 1/2
This sequel to "Bruce Almighty" stars Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman, with Carell playing a Noah type, and Freeman as God. Review on Page 17. (PG)
Now Playing
PG
Are We Done Yet? 1/2
Ice Cube and Nia Long return in the sequel to the popular "Are We There Yet?" Nick and his ever-growing family move out to the Oregon countryside and have an adventure rebuilding their dream Victorian house. No cleverness was exerted on this movie, as it's more of an endurance test than a comedy.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
The superhero team returns to unravel the mysterious arrival of an enigmatic intergalactic herald that precedes a planet-destroying force. Plus, Dr. Doom is back.
Shrek the Third
Everybody's favorite green ogre is back, this time embarking on a quest to find a suitable replacement king (besides himself) to rule the land of Far Far Away. This installment of the monster of an animated franchise still subverts the fairy tales we grew up with, but it's smothered in a suffocating sense of been-there, done-that. While visually more dazzling than ever, it lacks the zip of its predecessors.
Surf's Up
In this animated movie, a documentary crew follows Cody Maverick, a young penguin with a gift and passion for surfing, as he enters his first pro competition. Shia LeBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Jon Heder and Zooey Deschanel lead the voice cast.
PG-13
Blades of Glory
Will Ferrell and Jon Heder star as rival figure skaters, banned and disgraced from competition, who, in an attempt to make their return years later, team up to perform as the first male-male pair in the sport. There's enough material here for a great little "Saturday Night Live" sketch, but the trouble is there's an extra 80 minutes or so of downtime in which the cast has to repeat their characters' shallow schtick again and again.
The Ex
Tom, an underachiever (Zach Braff), must take a job when his pregnant wife Sofia (Amanda Peet) quits her high-pressure, big salary career. Unfortunately, Tom gets fired and is forced to start working with his father-in-law in his wife's Ohio hometown. There he clashes with one of his work colleagues, the wheelchair-bound Chip (Jason Bateman), who still carries a torch for Sofia from their high school days.
In the Land of Women 1/2
A brokenhearted young man moves in to care for his grandmother and stumbles into the lives of the family across the street, a mother and her two daughters.
Kickin' It Old Skool
In 1986, a 12-year-old boy ends up in a coma after a break dancing accident at a school talent contest. He wakes up 20 years later as a man-child. When his parents' yogurt store faces closure, the dancer attempts to save the place by entering a top-dollar competition with the help of his old crew, who have all long left breakin' behind them. This movie is more amusing than it has a right to be, thanks to the surprising subtlety of Jamie Kennedy's performance and the script itself.
Lucky You
Eric Bana stars as a high-stakes card player who sets out to win both the World Series of Poker and the affections of a Vegas lounge singer (Drew Barrymore).
Nancy Drew
Julia's niece Emma Roberts stars as the resourceful teen sleuth who goes to Hollywood and involves herself in the long-unsolved death of a glamorous movie star.
Next 1/2
Nicolas Cage stars as a man who can see into the future. His ability makes him a target of the FBI, which wants him to help stop America's enemies before they strike. This supposed paranormal thriller, unfortunately, shows how a solid crew of filmmakers and performers can apply a big-studio budget to a good story and still have absolutely everything come out wrong.
Ocean's Thirteen
Danny Ocean and the gang are back as they team up with an old nemesis to help settle a score. George Clooney and director Steven Soderbergh return with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Andy Garcia, plus new cast members Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 1/2
With Jack Sparrow trapped in Davy Jones' locker, Will and Elizabeth ally with Capt. Barbossa on a desperate quest to free him. But first, the trio must forge their way to exotic Singapore and confront a cunning Chinese pirate. Generous as the movie may be with action and spectacle, there's still a ponderousness to this sequel that counterweights the good booty.
Spider-Man 3
In this latest installment of the hugely successful franchise, there are more villains, more supporting characters and more plot lines, and the result is a bloated, uneven behemoth of a flick. Peter Parker/Spider-Man not only battles human foes and their supervillainous alter egos, he goes to the dark side when a black goop from outer space attaches to him -- plus, he juggles two love interests! As people and threats come and go, the movie's narrative feels scattered.
The Valet
A French comedy about a billionaire industrialist who is caught with his mistress by the paparazzi. To avoid a messy divorce, he invents an outrageous lie and asks his mistress to pose as the sweetheart of a parking attendant.
Waitress
When a waitress in a cheery Southern diner discovers she's pregnant with her immature husband's baby, her dreams for a better life are squashed until a sympathetic and good-looking doctor arrives in town. With the help of the late director-actress Adrienne Shelly, Keri Russell gives one of the best on-screen performances of the year. It's clipped, direct and self-aware -- utterly unromantic and yet full of feeling.
Wild Hogs
Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy play a group of middle-aged buddies who decide to rev up their routine suburban lives with a freewheeling motorcycle trip. Sounds like a great premise, except that the guys are not really all that wild and, more important, just not all that funny. The humor and hi-jinks in this road romp are tame and tranquil.
R
28 Weeks Later 1/2
In this woeful sequel to the zombie hit "28 Days Later," it's now six months after the rage virus wiped out the British Isles. Even though the reconstruction of the country is beginning, the virus is still alive and, with no outward symptoms, deadlier than ever. It's a strained story with an empty message, stiff and shallow characters, and overflowing with a barrage of turgid action sequences that look like inferior outtakes from the first movie.
300
Director Zack Snyder painstakingly re-creates the panels from Frank Miller's graphic novel about the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans fought off a much larger Persian army. But the movie is so over-the-top it's laughable, and so full of itself it's hard to take seriously. The CGI effects and inventive violence are extremely cool at first, but the gimmicks wear off quickly and ultimately become overbearing, including the pounding musical score and profuse use of voice-over narrative.
The Condemned
Stone Cold Steve Austin plays Joe Conrad, a prisoner on death row who is put on a desolate island with nine other killers to fight to the death. The last living person gets his freedom back.
Fracture
Ryan Gosling plays a hotshot assistant district attorney prosecuting a man (Anthony Hopkins) who readily admits to murdering his wife.
Hostel: Part II
Director Eli Roth's horror sequel is about three young American women who are lured to the Slovakian torture chamber by a beautiful model, who promises them restful R&R at an "exotic destination."
Knocked Up
From Judd Apatow, the man behind "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," comes a new comedy more consistently hilarious than its predecessor, and with even greater heart. A goofball of a slacker-stoner (Seth Rogen) enjoys a drunken romp with an up-and-coming entertainment reporter (Katherine Heigl) who's way out of his league. When the reporter realizes she's gotten pregnant from the one-night stand, she decides to keep the baby, and major life changes ensue.
Mr. Brooks 1/2
Kevin Costner stars as a respected family man trying to hide a dark secret: He's a cunning serial killer. There's not much beyond the character's image, so extra material is thrown into the mix, like a second serial killer, a relative who might be a killer as well, and a witness who wants to help the next time he kills. And don't forget the homicide detective (Demi Moore) and an imaginary friend (William Hurt). It's just too much for this film to work.
Vacancy
Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale star as a couple who wind up at a middle-of-nowhere motel, complete with creepy night manager. They find graphic snuff movies on the TV set and find out that they were shot with hidden cameras right in their rundown room. This is the kind of horror flick that hopes the audience will get off on the violence it portrays, which is especially distasteful and, frankly, misogynistic.
Not Rated
Paano Kita Libigin
Regine Velasquez and Piolo Pascual star in the romantic story of a bad boy and a single mom trying to find love again.
Art House | Revival
The Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Academy of Arts
900 S. Beretania St.; $7 general; $6 seniors, students and military; $5 Academy members (532-8768):
In the Pit
At 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Monday; and 1 and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Movie Museum
3566 Harding Ave.; $5, $4 members; reservations recommended due to limited seating (735-8771):
Miss Potter
Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor star in the story of the life of Beatrix Potter, writer and illustrator of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit."
At 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Friday and Sunday.
Clear Water, Common Ground
Hawaii residents talk about water quality issues that plague the island. Winner of a Telly Award. A 15-minute discussion with executive producer Daniel Janik will follow. Then a showing of the documentary "Koyaanisqatsi." A non-narrative film of man's impact on the land through breathtaking time-lapse photography by Ron Fricke. At 12:30, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday.
Nostalgia for the Countryside aka Thuong Nho Dong Que
Coming-of-age story of a 17-year-old boy in North Vietnam. In Vietnamese with English subtitles. At 12:30, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Monday.
One Hundred Steps aka I Cento Passi
A man in a Sicilian village single-handedly battles the corruption generated by the Mafia. In Italian with English subtitles. At 12:30, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m. June 28 and 30.