| Roger Ebert Movie Review |
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Angels and Demons / *** (PG-13)
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"Angels and Demons" (PG-13, 138 minutes). Prof. Tom Hanks is back on the trail again, racing through Rome against a ticking time bomb to save four kidnapped cardinals and reach a vial of anti-matter that could vaporize the Vatican. Meanwhile, intrigue within the College of Cardinals and evidence the previous Pope was murdered. This kind of thriller requires us to accept the preposterous, and if we do, it promises to entertain. "Angels and Demons" succeeds. Three stars.
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Management / *** (R)
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"Management" (R, 93). Well, they're both in management. Sue (Jennifer Aniston) is a high-powered sales rep from the New York office. Mike (Steve Zahn) is assistant clerk and maintenance man of his family-run motel, and lives on premises. Does he have a chance with this career woman? Maybe. It's his appealing puppy dog act. Sweet, innocent romcom. Three stars.
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Rudo y Cursi / *** (R)
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"Rudo y Cursi" (R, 103 minutes). Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, who became stars in "Y tu Mama Tambien" (2001), are reunited in a comedy about half-brothers who are discovered in a rural game by a talent scout for pro soccer clubs. They find themselves dazzled by the bright light in Mexico City, and and more alarmingly by high-stakes poker and sexy television personalities. Directed by Carlos Cauron, who wrote "Y tu Mama." Three stars.
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Every Little Step / *** (PG-13)
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"Every Little Step" (PG-13, 96 minutes). A backstage documentary about the auditions for a recent Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line." Beginning with a line reaching down the street at an open call, the film follows dancers through every step of an arduous and often heartbreaking ordeal. Ironically, that's what the musical is about. Powerful. Three and a half stars
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Star Trek / **1/2 (PG-13)
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"Star Trek" (PG-13, 126 minutes). Using the device of time travel, the new movie reboots the original franchise with younger characters and actors, as we meet Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhuru and Bones in their younger days. Lacks the twists and challenges of classic Star Trek, and is essentially a space opera, with young Kirk (Chris Pine) battling a Romulan super ship from the future. Leonard Nimoy is very effective as an elder Spock, who is, paradoxically, a Vulcan who seems the most human of the characters. Two and a half stars.
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Next Day Air / *** (R)
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"Next Day Air" (R, 90 minutes). Bloody screwball comedy about possibly the world's most inept bank robbers along with its most inept delivery man and most imprudent druglord. With Donald Faison, Mike Epps, Wood Harris and Mof Def. Funny. Three stars
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Little Ashes / *** (R)
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"Little Ashes" (R, 112 minutes). In a student residence in Madrid, 1922, three of the great artists of the Spanish century are young men finding themselves: the poet Garcia Lorca, the artist Salvador Dalí, the filmmaker Luis Bunuel. Lorca and Dalí are attracted romantically, but don't fulfill their feelings, and in a few years set course on widely different paths in life. Told against the formation of Surrealism in response to fascist Spain. Three stars.
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The Limits of Control / 1/2 (R)
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"The Limits of Control" (R, 116 minutes). An empty and pointless exercise in style, draining from the viewer such energy that the visitor sinks slowly in ennui. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. One and a half stars.
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The Perfect Sleep / *1/2 (R)
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"The Perfect Sleep" (R, 105 minutes). An unnamed man returns to an unnamed city after ten years and is caught again in a web of violence, intrigue, revenge and retribution, in a great-looking film noir that makes almost no sense at all. It's all style, and no plot we can hold onto. Written by and starring Anton Pardoe, plus Roselyn Sanchez, Patrick Bauchau, Peter J. Lucas and Tony Amendola. One and a half stars.
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Great Movie: Thief of Bagdad (1940)
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by Roger Ebert
To begin with a story: Our grandson Taylor was deeply immersed in a video game on his laptop. I began to watch "The Thief of Bagdad" on DVD. At first he ignored it. Then I saw him glancing at the screen. Then he closed the laptop and watched full time. During the spider sequence, only his eyes were visible above the neck of his T-shirt. "That was a good movie!" he told me. "What did Taylor say when he found out it was almost 70 years old?" his mother, Sonia, asked me. "I didn't tell him," I said.
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Movie Answer Man: You're tuned to AM 2387:
All Star Trek, all the time
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Q. I disagree with much of your "Star Trek" review, but for a reason more related to the origin of this entire film "species." While this latest effort pays homage to the earliest of the "Star Trek" series, let's not lose sight of the origin of so much of that series: "Forbidden Planet" (1956). The captain, doctor and engineer are all ripped from that seminal movie, as are facets of the ship, especially the transporters (which began as stasis fields to cushion the crew during deceleration from warp speed). Even the banter between characters, Kirk's womanizing, McCoy's fondness for drink and Scotty's ability to accept impossible tasks are all borrowed from "Forbidden Planet," as are the grand vistas, meaningful plots, lost civilizations and invincible enemies. So, let's enjoy this latest (and, yes, perhaps the best) sequel to the 1950s best space saga.
George L. Curran III,
Harrisonburg, Va.
A. Also, Robby the Robot introduced the concept of robots with personalities, grandfathering R2D2, C3PO and WALL-E.
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