.Movies & Film Events: Week of Jan. 28

EDGE OF DARKNESS  Mel Gibson gets back in front of the camera to star in this political thriller about a tough homicide detective investigating the murder of his actvist daughter who discovers a sinister government agency is also interested in the case, hoping to hush things up. Adapted from the mid-’80s BBC miniseries, with an updated script by William Monahan (The Departed.) Ray Winstone and Danny Huston co-star for veteran action director Martin Campbell. (R) 117 minutes. Starts Friday.
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WHEN IN ROME Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel star in this romantic comedy about a New York career gal with an unfotunate love life. On vacation in Rome, she impulsively steals a few coins tossed into the famous Trevi Fountain—and suddenly finds herself pursued by an extremely odd lot of lovelorn men. Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard, Danny DeVito and Anjelica Huston co-star for director Mark Steven Johnson. (PG-13) Starts Friday.

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Film Events

CONTINUING SERIES: MIDNIGHTS @ THE DEL MAR Eclectic movies for wild & crazy tastes plus great prizes and buckets of fun for only $6.50. This week: GENTLEMEN BRONCOS A popular sci-fi novelist (Jermaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords) steals a story idea from a teenage fan (Michael Angarano) and publishes it as his own in this offbeat 2009 pop-culture comedy from Jared and Jerusha Hess (Napoleon Dynamite). Sam Rockwell is featured as the hero of the epic tale, whose story keeps changing depending on who’s telling it. (PG-13) 111 minutes. Fri-Sat midnight only. At the Del Mar.

CONTINUING EVENT: LET’S TALK ABOUT THE MOVIES This informal movie discussion group meets at the Del Mar mezzanine in downtown Santa Cruz. Movie junkies are invited to join in on Wednesday nights to discuss current flicks with a rotating series of guest moderators. Discussion begins at 7 pm and admission is free. For more information visit www.ltatm.org.

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ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKUEL In this second installment of the franchise, the animated rodent trio signs up for a battle-of-the-bands contest to earn cash for a school music program, but find themselves in competition with a girl-group called the Chipettes. Live-action co-stars include Jason Lee, Zachary Levi, and Drew Barrymore. Betty Thomas directs. (PG)

AVATAR James Cameron proves he still has some mojo in this wildly fascinating, often compelling new sci-fi epic. The story revolves around a US military unit sent to a tropical planet whose cultured, indigenous warrior population will do anything to keep their land intact. Sam Worthington takes the lead role here, offering an impressive turn as a young war vet technologically altered to resemble native people–he’s sent in as a scout. Zoe Saldana is the indigenous tribeswoman. Sigourney Weaver also costars alongside Michelle Rodriguez. A riveting unforgettable ride with a powerful message that doesn’t feel overly preachy. (PG-13) 150 minutes. (★★★1/2) Greg Archer

THE BOOK OF ELI It’s getting crowded out there in the post-apocalypse. After 2012, and The Road, now it’s Denzel Washington fighting his way across the ravaged landscape in this action drama from the Hughes Brothers, protecting the secret he carries, the only hope for the survival of humankind. Gary Oldman, Jennifer Beals, and Michael Gambon co-star. (R) 118 minutes.

BROKEN EMBRACES (LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS) Lust and obsession, storytelling and filmmaking, betrayal and redemption—all are whipped into a gorgeous and volatile froth in this spicy drama from Pedro Almodóvar, served with a side of wry. A blind filmmaker with a split identity, a powerful financier, and Penelope Cruz at her most vibrant and earthy, as the woman both love propel the plot that keeps us on edge and enthralled. But it’s Almodóvar’s love affair with the delirium of filmic storytelling (from his artfully fragmented narrative and beauteous visuals to sly comic homages) that make this a gift to be cherished by a master of the rapturous. (R) 128 minuutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. (★★★★) Lisa Jensen

THE BLIND SIDE It’s true–Sandra Bullock shines here. Basded on the real-life story of All-American football star Michael Oher is dramatized in this inspirational tale. Bullock is the woman who virtually adopts the homeless, neglected teen into her family and changes his life–and theirs. Newcomer Quinton Aaron plays Oher. Tim McGraw and Kathy Bates co-star. (PG-13) 126 minutes. (HHH) Greg Archer

CRAZY HEART Jeff Bridges is an actor of such wry, thoughtful subtlety who makes it all look so effortless, some viewers might miss the exquisite craftsmanship of his performance in Scott Cooper’s adaptation of the Thoman Cobb novel. Bridges plays broken-down country singer, “Bad,” with all the cantankerous brio and slightly shopworn charm of a hard life lived on the road. Plotwise, it’s a road we’ve all been down before, but happy surprises include the grown-up sensuality of Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Colin Farrell as a glitzy, but good-hearted country superstar. Songwriters Stephen Bruton and T Bone Burnett craft a beautiful repertoire of music for Bad, a song cycle essential to the storytelling that furthers plot and enhances character, which Bridges performs with ragged authority. (R) 111 minutes. (★★★1/2) Lisa Jensen

DAYBREAKERS In the near future when a rampant virus has turned most of the earth’s population into the bloodsucking undead, biologist Ethan Hawke races to find a cure. (R) 98 minutes.

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES Reviewed this issue. (PG) 102 minutes. (★★1/2)
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FANTASTIC MR. FOX Roald Dahl’s droll children’s book get a wry, edgy adaptation from Wes Anderson. Done in fabulously retro stop-motion animation, it’s an ironic coming-of-age tale in which long-domestiated Mr. Fox (voiced with sly zest by George Clooney) starts giving in to his wild animal instincts as a last stab at carefree youth—jeopardizing the entire animal kingdom when the grim forces of human authority decide to hunt him down. Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and Michael Gambon lead the rest of the voice cast in this giddy treat. (PG) 88 minutes. (★★★1/2) Lisa Jensen

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS  Terry Gilliam’s epic fantasy (does he make any other kind?) ought to be better than it is: the pacing is off, his handling of actors can be erratic, and posing imagination as the opposite of evil makes for a slippery plot device. But the movie’s scruffy pleasures are in the details–from the tawdry, retro fun-house charm of the carnival sideshow that inspires the title, to some lovely moments provided by the marvelous Tom Waits as a purring, deadpan Devil. Heath Ledger is both delicious and bittersweet in his last film role as a mystery man who takes to the carny’s life with silky finesse, and Gilliam’s use of three other actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) to play aspects of Ledge’s character makes great narrative sense. As messy and imperfect as it often is, the movie scores points as a celebration of both the human imagination and the power of storytelling. (PG-13) 122  minutes. (★★★) Lisa Jensen

IT’S COMPLICATED The ever-busy Meryl Streep teams up with Alec Baldwin for this romantic comedy for director Nancy Meyers. (R)

INVICTUS Sports and politics mix in this true story of how restored South African president Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined with national rugby team captain, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), to unite the country devastated by the aftermath of apartheid during the 1995 World Cup championship race. Clint Eastwood directs on location in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Based on the non-fiction book “Playing The Enemy,” by John Carlin. (PG-13) 133 minutes. (★★★1/2) Greg Archer

LEAP YEAR En route to Ireland to propose to her longtime boyfriend on Leap Day (according to an old Irish custom), American Amy Adams is rerouted to the Welsh countryside. (PG)

LEGION Paul Bettany stars as the Archangel Michael in this apocalypse action fantasy in which a fed-up Allmighty sends his legion of angels to pull the plug on the humanity experiment. At a diner in the Southwest, a group of strangers battle for the survival of humankind. Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki, and  Guillermo del Toro shapeshifter Doug Jones star for director Scott Stewart. (R).

THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND Drugs, gossip, insanity, and forbidden desires lurk like dust biunnies in the shadowy corners of the plot in Jodie Markell’s handsome adaptation of a long-unproduced Tennessee Williams screenplay. It ought to be more fun, in a zany, spoofy, Almódovar kind of way, but the dialogue is so trite, the tone so mannered, and the exposition so obvious, all potential vitality drains away. Bryce Dallas Howard’s dreamy sensuality as the Jazz Age southern belle heroine doesn’t quite blunt her character’s obnoxious edges, although Chris Evans labors manfully to bring feeling and credibility to his poor-boy hero. (PG-13) 102 minutes. (★1/2) Lisa Jensen

THE LOVELY BONES Peter Jackson commits a sin of admission in his unwieldy adaptation of the bestselling Alice Sebold novel; he  spends so much creative energy depicting the mind-blowing afterlife from which the murdered teenage heroine narrates the story that the intimate human drama that should make it all meaningful falls by the wayside. Poised young Irish actress Saoirse Ronan is a vibrant, engaging Susie Salmon, and Mark Wahlberg is very affecting as her loving, grieving father. But time and again, Jackson interrupts their small moments of clarity with gigantic fx and impossible logistics, along with the less coherent aspects of Sebold’s plot. (PG-13) 135 minutes. (★★) Lisa Jensen

NINE Try to follow along: Rob Marshall (Chicago) directs this musical film based on the popular stage musical that was inspired by the Fellini film classic, 8 1/2. Daniel Day-Lewis stars as a befuddled film director. Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, and Sophia Loren (as the director’s mother) are the women in his life. Hudson , Cotillard, Cruz and Dench all stand out and the production numbers are often riveting. The problem? Day-Lewis is miscast. You never warm up to him or care about his evolution. (PG-13) 118 minutes. (★★) Greg Archer

PRECIOUS Lee Daniels’ masterful film, adapted from the 1996 novel, “Push,” by poet-turned-author Sapphire, shows how the tiniest flicker of compassion can transform a life of complete degradation into something triumphant. Gabourey Sidibe gives an astounding, adjective-defying performance in the title role, a wary, mountainous, hard-luck Harlem teenager who has learned to hide her spirit beneath protective layers of flesh and silence.  (R) 109 minutes. (★★★★) Lisa Jensen

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG It’s taken the folks at Walt Disney more than seven decades to create their first African-American cartoon heroine, and when they finally do, she spends most of the movie green when a fairy tale kiss goes awry. But this movie is so much fun, and culturally rich, with its New Orleans/Louisiana bayou setting, there’s not much else to quibble about. Anika Noni Rose provides the lovely voice of the spirited heroine, and Bruno Campos oozes charm, wit, and joie de vivre as one of the funniest, most appealling heroes ever in a “Disney princess” movie. Lively songs by Randy Newman, and gorgeous hand-drawn cel animation make this one of the most entertaining Disney cartoon features since The Lion King. (G) 97 minutes. (★★★1/2) Lisa Jensen

THE ROAD Author Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic tale of a father and son journeying across a devastated landscape warns what might happen if Nature suddenly turned as savagely self-destructive as the humans who inhabit it. Viggo Mortensen is a ferocious force of nature unto himself as the haggard scavenger father keeping his son alive. (R) 119 minutes. (★★★)

Lisa Jensen

SHERLOCK HOLMES How could such a great cast and clever idea go so horribly wrong? Ask director Guy Ritchie, perpetrator of this soulless reboot, which reduces the rich possibilities of the Holmes canon down to a boring, conventional, action buddy-bromance. Robert Downey Jr. is as fun to watch as ever as a younger Holmes so hypersensitive to stimuli, he can barely function outside his man cave, but he’s playing Downey, not Holmes. Jude Law provides stature as a much more martial, war-hero Dr. Watson, trying to break free to marry his fiancee (Kelly Reilly, with far too little to do), but he’s mosty stuck playing straight man. An aggravating disappointment. (R) 140 minutes. (★)

Lisa Jensen

A SINGLE MAN Colin Firth gives a marvelously controlled, yet yearning performance as a quietly closeted gay expatriate British college professor in sunny L. A., grieving over the loss of his longtime patner, who no longer fits into his well-tailored life. Adapted from the Christopher Isherwood novel by rookie director Tom Ford, this spare, elegant study on the naturte of grief charts the disruptive course of renegade feelings in a life constructed around keeping feelings in check. The early ’60s era is cannily evoked, while Julianne Moore (in full diva mode) and the always excellent Matthew Goode are terrific in support. (R) 99 minutes. (★★★) Lisa Jensen

THE SPY NEXT DOOR Jackie Chan stars as an ex-CIA op retired to suburbia in this family comedy. (PG)

TOOTH FAIRY Dwayne Johnson stars in this kiddie comedy as a tough minor-league hockey player. (PG).

UP IN THE AIR It’s one of the best films of 2009 and it’s high time you experience it. Watch and relish how this clever film wins you over and keeps up interested in its characters from beginning to end. The film is also a rich expose of the times we’re living in–when real connecting and real communication have been become so fractured that we seem to only expereince rare glimpses of ourselves in the shadows of our ever-busy lives. (What are we so busy doing, anyway?)  George Clooney headlines this comedy-drama about a business exec who spends all his time on the road. Vera Farmiga is a fellow traveler and soon the two frolic during layovers. (No pun intended.) Jason Bateman and Anna Kendrick co-star as Clooney’s coworkers in a company that helps other companies lay off their employees. Jason Reitman (Juno) directs and co-wrote this adaptation of the Walter Kim novel. Not to be missed. (R) 109 minutes. (★★★1/2) Greg Archer

THE YOUNG VICTORIA Jean-Marc Vallee’s sumptuously mounted historical drama offers an intriguing glimpse of the lonely, fatherless, inexperienced 18-year-old girl thrust onto the throne of England (and destined to give her name to an entire age) before and after her succession to the crown. The radiant Emily Blunt is a graceful, yet piquant Victoria, and the ever-watchable Rupert Friend is charmingly soft-spoken and thoughtful as her groom-to-be, Albert. How coltish young Victoria  figures out how to resist manipulation, place her trust where it’s deserved, and blossom into the woman and monarch she needs to become give this handsome and entertaining history lesson a modern edge. (PG) 100 minutes. (★★★) Lisa Jensen

YOUTH IN REVOLT Michael Cera stars as both Nick Twisp, precocious hero and would-be sexual adventurer of the tart series of YA novels by C. D. Payne, and Nick’s suave fantasy alter-ego, Francois Dillinger. Portia Doubleday plays the sexy new girl in town to whom Nick determines to lose his virginity. Steve Buscemi and Jean Smart are on board as his parents. Screenwriter Gustin Nash does a fine job, given the challenges of whittling down Nick’s immense, imaginative universe from the literary adventures, and director Miguel Arteta gives this amusing romp a genuine liveliness not often seen in teen comedies. (R) 90 minutes. (★★★) Greg Archer