DEFIANCE (R, 140 min.): 3 1/5 stars
Watching “Defiance,” it’s difficult not to play the “guess what happens next” game–if you’re even moderately good at predicting plot turns, you’ll probably know where the story’s headed. But the movie, which tells the tale of a group of Jews who hid in the Nazi-occupied Belarusian woods during WWII, is emotionally gripping despite its overall predictability. It also doesn’t hurt that the visuals are genuinely stunning. See it if you like emotional dramas and aren’t bothered by the occasional clichÈ. (Emma Mohney)
Showtimes: Friday (7:05, 10), Saturday (7:05, 10)
FROST/NIXON (R, 122 min.)
Three years after his resignation in 1974, Nixon granted his first post-presidency interviews to English journalist David Frost in an attempt to reform his tarnished image. Based on the Peter Morgan play of the same name, this historical drama hinges on a game of cat-and-mouse between the two men, as each tries to outsmart the other in an attempt to save his own image and career. (Not reviewed.)
Show times: Friday (2:35, 5:05, 7:40, 10:15), Saturday (12, 2:35, 5:05, 7:40, 10:15)
GRAN TORINO (R, 116 min.): 3 æ stars
Clint Eastwood delivers yet another captivating performance (purportedly his last) as Walt Kowalski, a curmudgeonly Korean War vet who’s irked at life – specifically, at his bum kids, the recent death of his wife, and the immigrant hoodlums who have recently begun to overrun his Michigan neighborhood. Adding insult to injury, on the day of his wife’s funeral, the racist Kowalski is chagrined to find a Hmong family moving in next door. Kowalski hangs on to his bigotry until his teenage neighbor Thao, under pressure from Hmong gang members, tries to steal Kowalski’s most prized possession, a ’72 Gran Torino. When Thao’s parents persist in forcing the boy to pay his dues for his attempted auto theft, Kowalski eventually relents and brings the kid under his wing. The two form an unlikely bond (surprise, surprise) that draws the vet into the life and troubles of his neighbors. Eastwood’s classic persona comes out as he leads us through a dramatic story about a local gang that is terrorizing the Hmong kids. (Genevieve Hutchings)
Show times: Friday (2:30, 5, 7:40, 10:15)
HOTEL FOR DOGS (PG, 100 min.)
Pitiful orphan kids and adorable puppies team up in this saccharine film to rescue stray canines in a fictional city. Meanwhile, Don Cheadle tries to pretend that he wandered into this film by mistake. (Not reviewed.)
Show times: Friday (2:30, 4:50, 7), Saturday (12:10, 2:30, 4:50, 7)
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INKHEART (PG, 106 min.)
Based on the first volume of Cornelia Funke’s “Inkworld Trilogy,” this fantasy film plays like the retarded love-child of “Jumanji” and “Labyrinth” (with maybe a little “Neverending Story” thrown in for good measure). Mortimer Folchart (Brendan Frasier) and his daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett) share the unique power to bring fictional characters to life simply by reading books aloud. Unfortunately, every time this happens, a real person disappears into fairy tale-land. When Meggie is kidnapped by an evil lord, fictional characters appear in the third dimension, and epic quests ensue. (Not reviewed.)
Show times: Friday (2:20, 4:45), Saturday (12, 2:20, 4:45)
NEW IN TOWN (PG, 96 min.)
Renee Zellweger is a high-powered businesswoman sent to Minnesota on a corporate assignment that involves fucking over the little people. Harry Connick, Jr. is a dreamy union rep for the plant she’s been ordered to close. Luckily, conflict turns to love (a la “You’ve Got Mail”) as their mutual physical attraction overcomes deep cultural and ideological differences. Overall, a pretty lame flick–unless you love romantic comedies, or need fodder for a paper about gender and/or the economy. (Not reviewed.)
Show times: Friday (2:35, 4:50, 7:05, 9:20), Saturday (12:20, 2:35, 4:50, 7:05, 9:20)
NOTORIOUS (R, 123 min.): 2 stars
Starring Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett and Derek Luke, this Biggie Smalls biopic directed by George Tillman, Jr. (“Soul Food,” “Men of Honor”) delivers a straightforward account of the slain rapper’s life, beginning with his death and then jumping back to his childhood. The depiction of Biggie’s early years presents the audience with a more relatable portrait of the rapper from his pre-fame days, and the director does a fine job highlighting the contradictions of Biggie’s personal and public life. In this sense, “Notorious” does its job as a biopic, but it fails to move beyond the basic biographical info that any good Biggie fan has already read on Wikipedia. This inability to break beyond the surface of who Biggie really is leaves the audience with a serviceable but mediocre story.† (Genevieve Hutchings)
Show times: Friday (9:15), Saturday (9:15)
PAUL BLART: MALL COP (PG, 98 min.)
That dude from “The King of Queens” plays a slightly buffoonish single dad who becomes a mall cop after being rejected from the actual police force. There, he develops a crush on one of the other mall employees, but keeps making gaffes in his attempts to impress her. Finally, when a group of bandits dressed as Santa’s helpers take the mall – and Blart’s love interest – hostage, the mall cop gets his chance to shine. (Not reviewed.)
Show times: Friday (2:40, 5, 7:10, 9:20), Saturday (12:20, 2:40, 5, 7:10, 9:20)
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD (R, 119 min.): 2 æ stars
Prepare for an emotionally draining two hours. Director Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road” (based on the 1961 novel by Richard Yates) examines the lives and disintegrating marriage of April and Frank Wheeler (Kate Winslet and Leonard DiCaprio), a 1950s couple desperate to escape the homogeneity of their Connecticut suburb (gee, I wonder what that’s like…). The Wheelers are presented as something of an anomaly in their suburban fishbowl, a couple whose fiery appetites for joie de vivre send them and their marriage into a tailspin. Winslet’s Golden Globe for Best Actress is well-deserved for her convincing, though emotionally inconsistent, portrayal of April, a housewife who is driven to insanity by her quiescent lifestyle. DiCaprio’s depiction of Frank, a man who tries to break free only to be sucked deeper in the misery of the suburbs, is dazzling.† Punctuated by poignant streaks of frustration and anger, DiCaprio’s performance transcends the two-dimensional limitations of the screen.† The film’s unexpected dÈnouement is surprising but ultimately unsatisfying, as it leaves the viewer with a sour aftertaste of annoyance. Despite its magnificent acting, it’s hard to ignore the feeling that “Revolutionary Road” is lacking something crucial. (Diana Giggans-Hill)
Show times: Friday (2:40, 5:15, 7:50, 10:20), Saturday (12, 2:40, 5:15, 7:50, 10:20)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (R, 120 min.): 2 _ stars
“Slumdog Millionaire,” directed by Danny Boyle, (“Trainspotting,” “The Beach,” “28 Days Later”) is the story of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), a poor kid from the Mumbai slums who has a series of flashbacks to his violent and heartbreaking childhood while appearing on India’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” His objective is not so much to win the money as it is to find Latika (Freida Pinto), the girl he fell in love with and was separated from at age six. Lucky for him, the gods are on his side: despite a fifteen-plus year gap (during which Latika was bought, sold and traded as sexual chattel by a number of Indian slumlords), she is still into him. Also, she looks like a supermodel. Despite the minor physical changes she underwent during that period of time, Jamal instantly picks her out of a crowd (current population of Mumbai: 13,662,885) and everything turns out fine. The movie ends in classic Bollywood style, with Jamal, Latika and an entire back-up crew of professional dancers shaking their hips in tandem to Indian pop music on the platform of a local train station. (Lisa Reade)
Show times: Friday (2:35, 5:10, 7:45, 10:20), Saturday (12, 2:35, 5:10, 7:45, 10:20)
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 (12:50, 3, 5:10, 7:20, 9:30), Saturday (12:50, 3, 5:10, 7:20, 9:30)
THE UNINVITED (PG13, 87 min.) – This American remake of the 2003 South Korean horror flick “A Tale of Two Sisters” tells the Hamlet-esque tale of a girl being haunted by the ghost of her dead mother. The ghost warns her that she and her sister must prevent their father’s marriage to his fiancÈe, because the woman is not who – or what – she appears to be. (Not reviewed.)
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)
THE WRESTLER (R, 125 min.)
Mickey Rourke essentially plays himself in this film about Randy “the Ram” Robinson, a washed-up pro wrestler in Jersey whose life has sunk to new lows – evicted from his trailer, working a dead-end job, estranged from his daughter, the works. After being offered the chance to fight in a comeback match, Randy seems to be on the road to redemption, a road paved by love interest Marisa Tomei and slowly warming daughter Evan Rachel Wood. But when tragedy threatens to derail Randy’s potential success, he must decide whether to opt for his health or his dream.
Show times: Friday (2:40, 5:10, 7:40, 10), Saturday (12:15, 2:40, 5:10, 7:40, 10)
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 (1:10, 3:20, 5:35, 7:45, 10), Saturday (1:10, 3:20, 5:35, 7:45, 10)
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