Films This Week
Check out the movies playing around town.
With reviews and trailers.
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NEW THIS WEEK
GROWN-UPS Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider star in this comedy about five former high school buddies who haven’t seen each other in years. (PG-13) 102 minutes. Starts Friday. Watch film trailer >>>
KNIGHT AND DAY Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are back together in a romantic action comedy that’s—brace yourself—not that bad. This clever, swift outing isn’t meant to be taken seriously. The fun is spawned by the outlandish premise—an ordinary woman (Diaz) gets caught up in an improbable chase scenario with a rogue agent (Cruise). Peter Sarsgaard and Viola Davis—both of whom are worthy of better roles—co-star for director James Mangold. (PG-13) 110 minutes. In theaters today. (★★1/2) Greg Archer Watch film trailer >>>
SOLITARY MAN Reviewed this issue. (R) 90 minutes. (★) Starts Friday.
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE It’s war between the good vampires of the Cullen clan and an invading force of evil bloodsuckers in this third installment. (PG-13) 124 minutes. Starts Wednesday (June 30). Watch film trailer >>>
WINTER’S BONE Reviewed this issue. (R) 100 minutes. (★★★1/2) Starts Friday.
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: THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE In English, German, and Japanese. Friday-Saturday midnight only. At the Del Mar.
CONTINUING SERIES: WEEKEND MATINEE CLASSICS AT APTOS CINEMA If you’ve only ever seen them on TV, don’t miss this series of classic movie matinees unspooling each weekend at Aptos Cinema. This week: TOUCH OF EVIL. (★★★★)— Lisa Jensen. Fri-Sat-Sun matinee only, 11 a.m. Admission $6. At Aptos Cinema.
CONTINUING SERIES: FLASHBACK FEATURES Oldies and goodies on Thursday nights at the Cinema 9. $5 gets you in. This week: CITIZEN KANE (PG) 119 minutes. (★★★★)—Lisa Jensen. Thursday only, 8 p.m., at the Cinema 9.
CONTINUING SERIES: THE MET: LIVE IN HD Digital broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera’s Summer Encore series projected onscreen Wednesday evenings through June and July at the Cinema 9. Series returns July 7 with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.
CONTINUING EVENT: LET’S TALK ABOUT THE MOVIES This informal movie discussion group meets at the Del Mar mezzanine in downtown Santa Cruz. Discussion begins at 7 pm and admission is free. For more information visit www.ltatm.org.
Now Playing
THE A-TEAM This month’s award for Remake-of-a-TV-Series-We-Wish-We-Could-Forget goes to this designated blockbuster about renegade ops pursuing their brand of kick-ass justice in an unjust world. Liam Neeson stars with Bradley Cooper and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. (PG-13)
BABIES It’s all about the koochie koo here as the doc chronicles the first year in the lives of four infants from around the world. Filmmaker Thomas Balmès manages to create a fine bundle of joy here. (PG) 79 minutes. (★★★1/2) Greg Archer
CITY ISLAND This one’s a gem—Moonstruck meets Mystic Pizza. But here, the life-pondering protagonist is Andy Garcia. He morphs into a Bronx prison guard with a big secret—he wants to act so he takes acting classes. This won’t sit well with this overbearing wife, Julianna Margulies. If you enjoy touching comedies about nutty families, you’ll dig this. Julianna Margulies, Emily Mortimer, Alan Arkin, Dominik Garcia-Lorido, and Steven Strait co-star. (PG-13) 100 minutes. (★★★1/2) Greg Archer
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP Is art a joke? The answer is yes and no in this wickedly entertaining doc. Video-obsessed Frenchman Thierry Guetta sets out to record the street art movement of the last decade, but when the result is unwatchable, one of his subjects, the notorious and elusive Banksy, takes over the footage. His insider’s viewpoint captures the evolution of art, culture, and politics in one sly, deft, subversive package. (R) 87 minutes. (★★★1/2) Lisa Jensen
GET HIM TO THE GREEK One of the most refreshing surprises of the summer movie season. This smart, sassy endeavor features Jonah Hill as a befuddled record company intern who must bring a British rock idol (Russell Brand offering a fine turn) to a concert at L.A.’s Greek Theater. A fun, engaging comedy that works from beginning to end.(R) 109 minutes. (★★★) Greg Archer
IRON MAN 2 Robert Downey Jr. returns as billionaire inventor Tony Stark / Iron Man. This round has a new foe in Mickey Rourke, who creates similar Iron Man equipment. Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Scarlett Johansson co-star. (PG-13) 124 minutes. (★★★) Greg Archer
JONAH HEX Josh Brolin stars as the scarred, bad-boy bounty hunter first introduced in the crossover horror-western comics series “Weird Western Tales.” John Malkovich plays the arch-villain Hex has to take down. (PG-13) 81 minutes.
THE KARATE KID Jaden Smith gets lessons in discipline and self-esteem from humble janitor/king fu master Jackie Chan in this redux. (PG)
KILLERS Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher star in this romantic action comedy. Think True Lies—add 15 years and stir. (PG-13)
MARMADUKE Really? Is this movie necessary? For kids, perhaps. The kiddie comedy features Owen Wilson as the voice of the Great Dane. Tom Dey directs. (PG)
MICMACS French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s lovably goofy comedy has an unexpected comic hero—a man with a bullet in his brain—and a serious subtext: devastating weapons of war and the arms dealers who profit from them. Danny Boon, a graceful and winsome screen clown, stars as a man who rallies a crew of resourceful junkyard residents (and their wacky retro-steampunk contraptions) to drive two rival arms manufacturers out of business. Nobody combines dark themes and daffy humanism with as much charm and finesse as Jeunet. He’s a true original. (R) 105 minutes. In French with English subtitles. (★★★1/2) Lisa Jensen
ONDINE. Colin Farrell is soulful, funny, and romantic as a hard-luck fisherman trying to put his life back together who hauls up a mysterious woman (the lovely Alicja Bachleda) in his net. Alison Barry charms as the spirited little daughter who thinks her dad has caught a selkie, and Stephen Rea is marvelous as the deadpan village priest. In juxtaposing fantastical elements with gritty reality, Jordan spins a beguiling tale of suspense, poetry and enchantment. (PG-13) 111 minutes. (★★★★) Lisa Jensen
PLEASE GIVE Nicole Holofcener’s angsty new comedy considers liberal guilt in New York City among clueless, privileged characters. Catherine Keener, Rebecca Hall and Oliver Platt star. (R) 90 minutes. (★★) Lisa Jensen
PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Jake Gyllenhaal goes the action blockbuster route as the swashbuckling hero of this adventure fantasy based on a popular video game. (PG-13) 116 minutes.
PRINCESS KA’IULANI Q’orianka Kilcher brings regal bearing and multicultural integrity to the title role, the last princess of the royal line fighting to preserve Hawaiian independence, in Marc Forby’s lukewarm historical drama. Shot on lush locations in Honolulu (including interiors inside the royal Iolani Palace), and in Britain, Forby’s film aims for historical grandeur and righteous moral fervor. But while he offers a cogent depiction of how American business interests hijacked the Kingdom of Hawaii and stole the islands from their people in the name of “democracy,” Forby’s pedestrian storytelling never quite lives up to the story being told. (PG) 100 minutes. (★★1/2)
Lisa Jensen
ROBIN HOOD Ridley Scott unites with Russell Crowe in this wry, thoughtful integrity and his formidable presence to this Robin, an archer in the army of Richard Lionheart fighting the war against tyranny at home. Cate Blanchett is a piquant and feisty Marion. (PG-13) 140 minutes. (★★★)
Lisa Jensen
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS) This Oscar-winner for 2010 Best Foreign Language film is a fascinating, unforgettable mystery that grabs you in the beginning and doesn’t let go. The Argentinean mystery-drama, based on the novel by Edouardo Sacheri, takes place in 1999 and revolves around a befuddled police detective who decides to reopen a savage murder case that took place in a Buenos Aires suburb back in 1974. He soon finds himself embroiled in a trail of conspiracy, cover-up and corruption. Take note of the beautiful nuanaces found in the acting of Ricardo Darin, Soledad Villamil and Pablo Rago. This is one film you’ll relish. In Spanish with English subtitles.. (★★★★) Greg Archer
SEX AND THE CITY 2 It’s more like Sex in the Sand when Carrie and the girls travel to Morocco. (★★) (R) 146 minutes.
SHREK FOREVER AFTER It’s a wonderful life for everybody’s favorite green ogre—until he screws things up and sees what life would have been like for his loved ones if he’d never been born—in this fourth installment of the fractured fairy tale franchise. Directed by Mike Mitchell. (PG) 93 minutes. (★★★) Lisa Jensen
TOY STORY 3-D In this third (and 3-D) installment, Andy goes off to college, and his mom packs up Woody, Buzz, and the gang and recycles them to a day care center. To protect lives and limbs from the terrible tots, the toy plot their escape. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Michael Keaton, Ned Beatty, and Timothy Dalton lend their voices. Lee Unkrich directs. (G)
