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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian / *1/2 (PG)
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by Roger Ebert
Don't trust me on this movie. It rubbed me the wrong way. I can understand, as an abstract concept, why some people would find it entertaining. It sure sounds intriguing: "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." If that sounds like fun to you, don't listen to sourpuss here.
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The Girlfriend Experience / **** (R)
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by Roger Ebert
This film is true about human nature. It clearly it sees needs and desires. It is not universal, but within its particular focus, it is unrelenting. Steven Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience" is about a prostitute and her clients. In such a relationship, the factor of money makes the motives fairly direct on both sides.
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Summer Hours / *** ()
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by Roger Ebert
Sometimes what holds a family together is custom and guilt. "Summer Hours" begins on the 75th birthday of Helene, a woman who is joined in the French countryside by her three children and their families. Much of the talk is about how far two of the children had to travel -- one from New York, the other from China -- and there's the sense they're eager to be going home. Sure, they love their mother. They really do. But you know how it is. They visit less because they should visit more.
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The Brothers Bloom / **1/2 (PG-13)
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by Roger Ebert
Those con-man movies are best that con the audience. We should think at some point that everything is for real, or even better, that we can see through it when we can't. I offer as examples works by the master of the genre, David Mamet: "House of Games," "The Spanish Prisoner" and "Redbelt."
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Adoration / *** (R)
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by Roger Ebert
Atom Egoyan is fascinated by the way life coils back on itself. He uses coincidences and chance meetings not as plot devices but as illustrations of the ways we are linked across generations and national boundaries. His characters are often not completely connected to where they find themselves, and bring along personal, sometimes secret associations. These often reflect much larger realities in the outer world.
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Terminator Salvation / ** (PG-13)
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by Roger Ebert
One of Hollywood's oldest axioms teaches us: The story comes first. Watching "Terminator Salvation," it occurred to me that in the new Hollywood, the storyboard comes first. After scrutinizing the film, I offer you my summary of the story: Guy dies, finds himself resurrected, meets others, fights. That lasts for almost two hours.
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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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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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People: Sex, truth & call girls
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by Roger Ebert
In the late months of 2008, while the economic storm was gathering, Steven Soderbergh made a film about buying and selling. "The Girlfriend Experience" follows a high-priced escort named Chelsea as she interacts with clients, many of them regulars, all of them wealthy. It stars Sasha Grey, 21, who in real life has made more than 150 porn films. This is her second film role that doesn't involve explicit hard-core sex.
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