Sun, Nov 22 2009
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Capsule reviews of feature films By Carrie Rickey and Steven Rea - Philadelphia InquirerGHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST 2 1/2 stars. A “Christmas Carol” update with Matthew McConaughey as a heartbreaker who behaves badly because he’s protecting a fragile heart and Jennifer Garner as the one gal who’s onto him. An average rom-com, a better-than average McConaughey movie. 1 hr. 40 PG-13 (sexual candor, profanity) — Carrie Rickey
THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE 2 1/2 stars. Steve Soderbergh’s coldly voyeuristic piece of cultural anthropology offers a short and anything-but-sweet case study of a high-priced escort and the men, and money, in her life. Porn star Sasha Grey stars. 1 hr. 17 R (nudity, sex, profanity, adult themes) — Steven Rea GOMORRAH 3 1/2 stars. A searing, documentary-like adaptation of Roberto Saviano’s best-selling expose about the Naples mafia. It’s tough, compelling stuff: a frightening portrait of corruption, cynicism, intimidation, greed and violence. 2 hr. 17 No MPAA rating (violence, drugs, profanity, nudity, adult themes) — Steven Rea THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD 2 1/2 stars. John Malkovich shines as a show-biz mentalist entertaining half-filled theaters in second-tier towns in this gently funny, nostalgia-tinged portrait. Colin Hanks’ turn as the magician’s ill-equipped new road manager muddies the water. But when Malkovich is front and center, things are fine. 1 hr. 27 PG (profanity, adult themes) — Steven Rea THE HANGOVER 3 stars. Four guys go to Vegas for a bachelor party, and mayhem and memory-loss ensue. A loopy farce from the warped mind that brought you “Old School,” with a scene-stealing performance from indie comedy dude Zach Galifianakis. Bradley Cooper also stars. 1 hr. 40 R (drugs, drink, profanity, nudity, cartoon violence, adult themes) — Steven Rea HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE 3 stars. Miley Cyrus as brunette Miley Stewart, by day a stuttering, accident-prone high-schooler, by night (under a Barbie blonde wig) a strutting pop princess. Can down-home girl coexist with upbeat celebrat? Mildly diverting for parents, a three-star entertainment for their spawn. 1 hr. 42 G (product placement, shopaholia) — Carrie Rickey HUNGER 3 1/2 stars. Filmmaker Steve McQueen’s powerfully disturbing Cannes-winning examination of the IRA hunger strikes that rocked Northern Ireland and the Thatcher government in the early 1980s isn’t so much a political film as it is a film about the human body, and spirit, as vessels for protest. At times jarringly beautiful and quiet, at times shocking in its Abu Ghraib-like depictions of abuse, this is strong, provocative work. 1 hr. 36 No MPAA rating (violence, nudity, profanity, adult themes) — Steven Rea IL DIVO 3 1/2 stars. Paolo Sorrentino’s sensational (in both meanings of the word) account of the corruption-plagued regime of seven-time prime minister Giulio Andreotti, the Anton Ego of Italian politics. In Italian with English subtitles. 1 hr. 51 No MPAA rating (violence) — Carrie Rickey THE INFORMERS 1 1/2 stars. In the same way “Valley of the Dolls” took the trash prose of Jacqueline Susann’s novel and turned it into awful cinema, Bret Easton Ellis’ tale of Tinseltown drugs, sex and excess transfers to the screen with mind-boggling, laugh-inciting horribleness. The acting — from Kim Basinger, Billy Bob Thornton, Winona Ryder, Mickey Rourke — astounds! 1 hr. 38 R (nudity, sex, drugs, alcohol, profanity, adult themes) — Steven Rea IS ANYBODY THERE? 3 stars. Michael Caine gives a beautiful performance as an old and worn-out magician who reluctantly checks himself into a little retirement home, where he befriends the proprietors’ death-obsessed young son. 1 hr. 35 PG-13 (profanity, adult themes) — Steven Rea KNOWING 2 stars. A weird and gloomy existential sci-fi thriller with Nicolas Cage as an MIT professor who discovers a page of numbers that seem to predict cataclysmic events. Run for your lives! 2 hrs. 02 PG-13 (violence, calamity, adult themes) — Steven Rea LAND OF THE LOST 2 stars. Will Ferrell stars in this epically silly homage to Sid and Marty Krofft’s much-beloved Saturday morning series — a lavish Hollywood redo of a cheesy ’70s TV show about three Earthlings transported to a planet of dinosaurs and walking reptiles called Sleestaks. Knuckleheaded comedy ensues. 1 hr. 41 PG-13 (profanity, sexual humor, cartoon violence, adult themes) — Steven Rea THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT 2 1/2 stars. Dennis Iliadis’ ultra-slick remake of Wes Craven’s 1972 classic about a couple who viciously kill the gang who raped their daughter, has high production values, polished performances and gorgeous visuals — and a happy ending. But it excises Craven’s dark political message: That violence is a virus which makes monsters of all us all, no matter how justified we think we are. 1 hr. 40 R (graphic and pervasive violence, profanity, sex, sadism, rape, gore) — Tirdad Derakhshani LEMON TREE 3 stars. A lively deadpan comedy set on the Israel/West Bank “green line,” about two women, an Israeli and a Palestinian, and the citrus grove between them that is declared a security risk. Starring the strikingly lovely Hiam Abbass (”The Visitor”). 1 hr. 46 No MPAA rating (mature themes) — Carrie Rickey THE LIMITS OF CONTROL 3 stars. Jim Jarmusch’s poetic, visually arresting take on the action thriller stars Isaach De Bankole as a man traveling through Spain, meeting strange, sinister types, having espressos and moving on. It’s about the space between the action, the steps along the way. 1 hr. 55 R (nudity, profanity, violence, adult themes) — Steven Rea 
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