THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2010
28 Also Playing
Capsule reviews of recent releases playing in area theaters. Movies not reviewed by The Post will be marked “NR” for not rated. For older movies, see the Movie Directory.
BBTHE A-TEAM
Co-starring Bradley Cooper, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Sharlto Copley, this film engages in the same blurry, in- coherent close-up action to which young filmgoers have now become ac- customed. During a preamble set in the Mexican desert, we meet the guys: the unflappable Smith; Face, the ladies’ man; Murdock, the crazy-like-a-fox pi- lot; and Bosco “B.A.” Baracus, the Mo- hawked muscleman. The movie pro- ceeds to ever-more-risible lengths to up the action ante. In case watching a guy machine-gun his enemies from atop a tank isn’t enough, the filmmakers treat viewers to an elaborately staged climax at the Los Angeles piers. Jessica Biel also appears as one of Face’s love inter- ests. Between the electric baby-blues of Cooper, men worshipfully assessing one another’s Ranger tattoos, and a fi- nal-act cameo from a male heartthrob, this film might be selling itself as an ac- tion flick, it’s really just a hopeless bro- mantic. (PG-13, 117 minutes) Contains in- tense sequences of action and violence throughout, profanity and smoking. Area theaters.
BBBBABIES
A portrait of four infants, “Babies” in- vites viewers simply to revel in babies being babies while chronicling child- hood throughout the world. Two afflu- ent couples raise their daughters with no expenses spared. In Tokyo, Mari’s fa- ther talks on a cellphone while fiddling with a mobile over her crib; in Califor- nia, Hattie’s mother responds to bad behavior with parenting books. Far away, a Mongolian boy who shares bath water with a goat is tied to a bedpost when left alone; a girl in a Africa pounds red clay from dirt. Through these se- quences, “Babies” suggests privilege and deprivation are relative and high- lights the grand universals of growing up. “Babies” shows every child reaches the same milestones of learning to walk and talk with feelings of triumph and hope, all while telling the most high-
FamilyFilmgoer by Jane Horwitz AND OLDER 7 MELISSA MOSELEY
Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl star in “Killers.”
stakes story of all: the drama of bond- ing and letting go. (PG, 79 minutes) In English and Japanese with English subti- tles. Contains maternal nudity through- out. At AMC Loews Shirlington and Landmark’s Bethesda Row.
BBB1 — Ann Hornaday ⁄2 CITY ISLAND
Vince Rizzo (played by Andy Garcia, who also produced) is a corrections of- ficer, would-be actor and beleaguered husband. Domestic relations being what they are, he tells his wife, Joyce (Julianna Margulies), that he’s going out to play poker rather than admit he’s taking an acting class. For her part, Joyce is the personification of matrimo- nial displeasure who puts all her hopes and dreams into her college-student daughter, Vivian (Dominik Garcia-Lori- do), who has dropped out of school and is working as a stripper. One of the amazing things about Raymond De Fe- litta’s film is just how many enormous secrets are being harbored by so few people: an illegitimate son, forbidden lust, illicit smoking. The acting is, in fact, superb and, given the amount of drama per frame, the best current buy for one’s movie dollar. (PG-13, 100 min- utes) Contains vulgarity, adult content and lots of smoking. Area theaters.
— A.H.
TOY STORY 3 (G). Ingenious and funny, but with a truly harrowing cli- max (intensifed because the film is in 3-D) and an undercurrent of real sadness, “Toy Story 3” will transfix kids 7 and older as well as teens and adults. From the start, Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the other toys face a bittersweet life change, because their human owner, Andy, is going off to college. The toys hope to be sent to the attic, where they’ll stay togeth- er, but except for Woody, whom Andy intends to take with him, they’re do- nated to a day-care center where toddlers rough them up with hilari- ous abandon. Even worse, when the humans are away, the toys at the center are ruled by a tyrant bear. Woody sneaks in and plans their es- cape. There’s a Pixar short titled “Night and Day” that precedes the film. It’s a cleverly imagined but rather eso- teric tale of two blobby beings that represent nighttime and daytime.
— John Anderson
THE BOTTOM LINE: The toys’ final adventure near the end of the film becomes very frightening. Humor ul- timately returns, but it is a very dark interlude. Earlier in the film, the des- olate atmosphere at the day-care center echoes classic prison escape films. There is mildly homophobic humor directed at Barbie’s other half, Ken. There’s also mild toilet hu- mor.
AND OLDER 8
MARMADUKE (PG). The ability of kids 8 and older to enjoy “Marma- duke” (based on the comic strip) will depend on how they react to seeing real-life animals move their lips, thanks to digital effects, when they “talk.” If kids don’t find that creepy, they’ll get into the predictable hi- jinks. The bumptious Great Dane Marmaduke moves to California with his family and finds the upscale dog park just like high school. Mazie and her posse of mixed-breed outcasts befriend Marmaduke, but he gets a crush on Jezebel, a gorgeous collie who hangs with Bosco, the snarling leader of the pedigreed gang.
MAGNOLIA PICTURES
Colin Farrell, with Alison Barry, center, plays a fisherman who catches an mysterious woman (Alicja Bachleda, right) in his net in “Ondine.”
THE BOTTOM LINE: Marmaduke and Mazie are nearly carried off by a storm sewer deluge. Dogs are placed in threatening confrontations with one another, though there are no bites or injuries. There is much doggie toilet humor.
©DISNEY/PIXAR
Woody doesn’t disappoint in the bittersweet third installment of Pixar’s lovable “Toy Story” series.
SHREK FOREVER AFTER (PG). This fourth feature in the animated “Shrek” saga will keep kids 8 and older amused and even moved. Now daddy to three babies, Shrek realiz- es he misses his easier bachelor days. He meets the evil Rumplestilt- skin and unwittingly signs away a crucial day from his past. Far Far Away becomes a grim place where ogres are slaves because Shrek nev- er existed. Now a stranger to wife Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots, Shrek must win their trust to break the spell.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Since it’s the first “Shrek” film done in 3-D, the ac- tion sequences are a bit harrowing. The idea that a parent could get tired of parenting is a mature theme.
10 AND OLDER
THE KARATE KID (PG). Jaden Smith brings charm, vulnerability and a be- lievable chip on his shoulder to skin- ny adolescent hero Dre Parker in this likable update of the 1980s films. Twelve-year-old Dre and his mom move from Detroit to China for her job. Dre makes friends with a pretty violin prodigy, but a jealous bully and his gang target Dre for vi- cious beatings at and after school. During one attack, he’s rescued by the maintenance man from his apartment building, Mr. Han. Dre begs Mr. Han to teach him kung fu.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The fight scenes include more pure pounding (intensified by sound effects) than you’d expect in a teen martial arts film. Some of the attacks are hard to watch. Dre’s initial homesickness and the way he tries to hide from the bullies at school carry real emotional weight. There is a sad story late in the film about how Mr. Han lost his family.
THE A-TEAM. This remake of the popular 1980s TV series will give ac- tion-loving teens a kick, but the near- ly nonstop mayhem, filmed almost like an amusement park ride, is too violent for preteens. The Special Forces A-Team gets into a tug-of-war with military intelligence and the CIA. The team is framed, court-mar- tialed and imprisoned, but the mem- bers break out to clear their names.
13 PG-
THE BOTTOM LINE: The mostly bloodless action is loud and dizzying and too intense for preteens. There is low-level profanity and mild sexual innuendo. There’s a mysterious character crudely referred to as “the Arab.”
PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME. Teens who like action flicks may get into the thundering battles and nifty special effects in “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.” In the prologue we meet Das- tan, a little street urchin who defies the king’s guards. The king admires the boy’s grit and adopts him. As an adult, Dastan and his adoptive brothers and their uncle lay siege to a holy city. Inside is Princess Tamina guarding a magical dagger. When Dastan becomes a suspect in his adoptive father’s murder, he and Ta- mina flee with the dagger.
THE BOTTOM LINE: This is awfully violent for preteens, with vivid sounds of swords clashing and of people being pierced with blades and arrows. There is mostly mild sex- ual innuendo. The narrative gets frustratingly convoluted.
weekend@washpost.com
Horwitz is a freelance reviewer.
Watching with kids in mind
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