Taken (PG13, 91 min.)
Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace star in this thriller about an ex-CIA agent whose daughter is kidnapped by sex-traffickers in Paris. Former operative Bryan Mills (Neeson) must call on all of his skills, knowledge, and brutality to recover his daughter within the next 96 hours, before she disappears forever. (Not reviewed.)
Show times: Friday (1:20, 3:30, 5:40, 7:50, 10), Saturday (1:20, 3:30, 5:40, 7:50, 10)
The Uninvited (PG13, 87 min.) – 3.5/5
In a way, it’s disappointing that this movie becomes a Horror Flick with a Twist.† We’re in the head of Anna (Emily Browning), a young girl who’s been in a mental institution since her mother died in a fire.† Upon returning home, she finds that her mom’s former nurse (a delightfully steely Elizabeth Banks) is now her soon-to-be-stepmother, who seems eerily determined to make the new family work.† Early scenes depicting Anna’s fearful visions of a threatened home and psyche are deliciously creepy, but once these trauma-colored visions are put in the service of plot mechanics, they become increasingly literal and derivative (especially when some pale ghost-kiddies straight out of “The Shining” appear).† The Twist, however, uproots not only our understanding of the characters and situation, but also our attitude toward those nightmare-visions that seduced us at the start of the film.† It’s a genuinely challenging reversal, slickly executed. (Dan O’Sullivan)
Show times: Friday (2:20, 4:20, 6:20, 8:20, 10:20), Saturday (12:20, 2:20, 4:20, 6:20, 8:20, 10:20)
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (R, 92 min.)
I read the Wikipedia plot summary, but I still couldn’t tell you what this movie’s about. It involves werewolves and vampires, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s all you need to know. (Not reviewed)
Show times: Friday (10), Saturday (10)
The Wrestler (R, 125 min.) 4.5/5
First, we see a montage of wrestling posters featuring RANDY THE RAM, a towering, sweaty juggernaut, accompanied by pumping rock music and booming announcers.† Then, we see tired, middle-aged Robin Ramzinski (a devastatingly muted Mickey Rourke) barely scraping by in his late middle age, spending his weekends on brutal play-acting and his weekdays in a humiliating grocery-store job.† This sorry split image of a man demands our sympathy, and gets it.† However, the film’s ultimate effect isn’t to show us that the wrestler is “really human, deep down;” the real, cathartic shock comes as we slowly see how a beautiful man, who loves someone and has a daughter and has a smile to break your heart, is really a beast- not because that’s his nature, but because that’s what he wants more than anything.†This movie takes what seems grotesquely farcical about professional wrestling and creates tragedy–real, raw, and overwhelming. (Dan O’Sullivan)
Show times: Friday (2:40, 5:10, 7:40, 10:05), Saturday (12:15, 2:40, 5:10, 7:40, 10:05)