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Archive for the ‘Flicks’ Category

Hysteria
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Rupert Everett, Jonathan Pryce

No matter what their malady—major or minor—Victorian-era women frequently received a medical diagnosis of “hysterical” (usually followed by a curt wave out the door). We’re not betting that you’ll find this period comedy even close to that, but it does concern a real-life breakthrough of no small interest: the invention of the vibrator. Everett and Dancy perfect their device, designed to treat the aforementioned diagnosis, behind discreet curtains while patients Felicity Jones and Gyllenhaal enjoy the cure. But don’t go in expecting hard-core action—unless you’re a time traveler from the Victorian era.

The Dictator
Sacha Baron Cohen, Megan Fox, Anna Faris

Has Baron Cohen’s shtick jumped the shark? His latest “outrageous” character looks, at first glance, like his weakest: a decades-in-power Arab despot with a skanky beard who rules with an iron fist. This minor-league Hussein comes to America, parades down Fifth Avenue, and antagonizes New Yorkers—expect many terrorism jokes, possibly of the boundary-pushing variety. We have doubts about the comic potential here, but very few misgivings about the supporting cast: The sultry Fox plays a high-priced hooker, and the underrated Faris has a sizable role, too. Crucially, Baron Cohen isn’t duping unwitting civilians into fake interviews this time out. Can he make a scripted story fly?

The Avengers
Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson

All those sneak-peak trailers at the end of the Iron Man movies and Captain America: The First Avenger ? Frankly, they’ve meant bubkes to us. We don’t want to incur the wrath of comic-book fans worldwide, but this elite club of superheroes they’ve been touting is strictly for higher-level geeks, not casual fans of the genre. But The Avengers is finally here, and some of these characters have grown on us: Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is wittier than most action heroes, while Chris Hemsworth’s Thor turned out to be unexpectedly likable for a Nordic lunkhead. But all eyes will be on Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner (he’s the third actor to fill the role in nine years), Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, and Johansson’s sultry Black Widow. The studio is hoping they’ll help draw the nongeek vote, and put this blockbuster combo-platter over the top at the box office.

The Raven
John Cusack, Brendan Gleeson, Alice Eve

Unlikely source aside, spirits are high for this action-thriller based (extremely loosely) on the final days of Edgar Allan Poe’s life in Baltimore. A serial killer is on the loose, committing atrocities inspired by the fictional works of the famed author, who is enlisted by the local constable to help track him down. As the unwitting impetus for the murders, and the inventor of the detective novel, Poe is uniquely suited to the task. Director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) is due for a smart breakthrough, and the casting of Cusack as the hyper-verbal hero is spot-on.

Marley
Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Rita Marley

Still a fixture on dorm-room posters across the country, reggae legend Bob Marley desperately needs a reevaluation as more than just a happy herbsman. (You could even say it’s high time.) After directors Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme abandoned the task, Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) finished it: His lengthy, two-hours-plus documentary is being called “definitive.” Heavy on the Jamaican icon’s politics, the film touches on his occasionally naive strain of activism, along with his cultivation of a rapt, global audience. Naturally, the music sounds as vital as ever. Put this in your pipe and smoke it: Marley might have been the most important artist of the 1970s.

The Cabin in the Woods

Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Chris Hemsworth
The setup sounds as generic as they come: Five horny young people make their way out to the proverbial title retreat for some fun, but there is an evil force out there in the boondocks, waiting to prey upon them. The producing presence of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s witty Joss Whedon, however, guarantees there’s a twist or two being protected, and the trailer reveals a Matrix-like atmosphere with a computer-driven control center that manipulates the campers’ reality. We don’t remember that from our last rustic vacation.

Coming to a theater near you, the Farrelly brothers’ take on slapstick legends the Three Stooges.

The Three Stooges
Sean Hayes, Chris Diamantopoulos, Will Sasso

As card-carrying members of the Stooges faithful, we have zero problems with a Hollywood movie based on the old shorts—this one’s finally out of development hell, and it’s a labor of love for directors the Farrelly brothers. Do we mourn the departure of formerly attached stars Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, and Jim Carrey? Not so much. The guys they ultimately cast to play the beloved trio are all dead ringers, especially Sasso’s Curly, supplying the jiggle and the high-pitched “woop woop woop.” They’ve mastered their impressions of the originals as well as the physical comedy: Wave upon wave of painful head-bonking, eye-gouging, and triple-face-slapping should ensue. In the downtime, there’s the impossibly curvy Sofía Vergara to watch, as well as Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton, who dons some revolutionary swimwear in her role as Sister Bernice.

American Reunion
Eugene Levy, Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan
It’s almost a foregone conclusion that pastry will be defiled—and that Biggs will pretend he became a big movie star. But how can we not rally behind another sequel to the series that defined millennial debauchery? Elements we’re looking forward to: Levy returning as Jim’s dad, wandering into new regions of embarrassment; Stifler being Stifler; and, of course, Stifler’s mom (Jennifer Coolidge). There also should be a fresh wave of sweet young things, including Katrina Bowden (30 Rock, Sex Drive), always a welcome presence in R-rated comedies. Of course the whole affair seems hopelessly tired— but there could be laughs in that, too.

The Hunger Games
Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth
Millions of young adults are swapping these books like cult candy—should you care? Even if you don’t, you ought to keep an eye out for this first installment of the movie version, because the phenomenon is much more than another sappy Twilight. First, there’s the heroine, Katniss (ignore the silly names), a fierce, arrow-shooting mountain girl who’s played by X-Men: First Class hottie Lawrence. Then there’s the fact that it all takes place in a nightmarish future where annoying teens kill one another off on reality TV. Doesn’t that already sound like a world you’d like to live in?

Will Ferrell, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna
So long as beloved shoutyman Will Ferrell is raging like a perturbed four year-old, he can appear in anything—say, a Spanish-language telenovela Western—and we’d probably line up. Turns out that’s exactly what he’s done: His latest has him saddling up as the proud son of a financially troubled ranch owner in Mexico, where everyone, Ferrell included, speaks Spanish. The entire time. (There are English subtitles.) On the horizon are a violent drug lord and his minions, thirsting for territory. Y Tu Mamá También’s Bernal and Luna, who worked on the script, costar.