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 | The Wachowskis Are Back After a five-year hiatus, brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski ([b]The Matrix[/b] trilogy) are back behind the camera with [b]Speed Racer[/b], the family-friendly, live-action adaptation of the 60s Japanese animation series (released in Japan as [b]Mach GoGoGo[/b]). Their hiatus hasn’t lessened the Wachowski Brothers’ desire to create new worlds that exist only as binary code inside a server somewhere. Unfortunately, someone neglected to point out that moviegoers over the age of six will struggle to keep their attention from wandering during [b]Speed Racer[/b]’s two hour-plus running time.More |  | And Almost Lost the Audience Helen Hunt’s ([b]As Good as It Gets[/b], "Mad About You") first film, [b]Then She Found Me[/b] debuted at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Along with Alice Arlen and Victor Levin, Hunt adapted Elinor Lipman’s 1990 novel. She also stars as April Epner, a 39-year old schoolteacher facing a midlife crisis, exacerbated when her immature husband, Ben (Matthew Broderick), leaves her and moves back in with his mother. To add to an already emotionally wrenching time for April, her birth mother, Bernice Graves (Bette Midler), a local television host, has just showed up.More |  | A Thinking Person’s Superhero Film After more than a year of hype, [b]Iron Man[/b], Marvel Comics’ first film under its new Marvel Studios offshoot finally arrives at a multiplex near you. Iron Man (a.k.a. Tony Stark) seemed like a risky choice for Marvel’s first, big-budget film. While comic book fans are certainly familiar with Tony Stark, billionaire industrialist and superhero, he’s flourished most clearly as the co-leader and co-founder of The Avengers, an All-Star superhero team.More |  | The Golden Years (Indeed) Stephen Walker’s heartfelt documentary, [b]Young@Heart[/b], opens with Eileen Hall, a featured member of the Young@Heart chorus, singing (or rather speaking) The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” Swaying gently on her cane, the former war bride looks frail. She should. She was all of 92 when Walker first started filming [b]Young@Heart[/b]. Her rendition of The Clash’s song is quiet, almost meditative, but still drenched in emotion. It’s also, unsurprisingly, a crowd-pleaser, the perfect opening not just to the film, but to Young@Heart’s London performance where Walker saw the Young@Heart chorus for the first time in the fall of 2005.More |  | Stranger in a Strange Land Actor-turned-filmmaker Thomas McCarthy’s first film, [b]The Station Agent[/b], received almost universal acclaim from both critics and audience. With that much acclaim for a first effort, McCarthy could have easily gone down as a one-hit wonder, repeat himself with a similar story or characters, or try a different subject matter. The result, [b]The Visitor[/b], a drama centered on a college professor reawakening to meaningful human connection, is a well-structured, poignant film that never crosses over into overt sentimentality, heavy-handed contrivance, or political grandstanding.More |  | A Misfire Any Way You Cut It Eleven months after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, cineastes and critics in the United States are finally getting the chance to check out [b]My Blueberry Nights[/b], Wong Kar-Wai’s ([b]2046[/b], [b]In the Mood for Love[/b], [b]Fallen Angels[/b]) first film in English. Collaborating with an English-speaking cast (one Brit, the rest Americans), crime novelist Lawrence Block as his co-writer, cinematographer Darius Khondji, and musician Ry Cooder, [b]My Blueberry Nights[/b] seemed poised for critical acclaim and audience appreciation.More |  | A Career-Making Performance Sometimes when you least expect it -- when you think you have a film pegged by the synopsis, by the trailer, by a TV ad, or even by the lead actor prominently featured in the marketing campaign -- you end up completely surprised. [b]Chaos Theory[/b] surpasses expectations, due to both its script, which expertly handles a wide range of tonal shifts, and its lead actor, Ryan Reynolds.More |  | "The Shield" for the People with ADD For his second effort as director, David Ayer ([b]Harsh Times[/b]) decided to return to modern-day Los Angeles, police corruption and vigilante justice with [b]Street Kings[/b], a formulaic, convoluted, if no less action-packed, crime drama featuring a surprisingly convincing turn by Keanu Reeves ([b]Constantine[/b], [b]The Matrix[/b] trilogy, [b]Speed[/b]). Even though Ayer didn’t write [b]Street Kings[/b], it fits easily into his rapidly expanding oeuvre of violence-obsessed male characters confronted with conflicting loyalties and life-or-death moral dilemmas.More |  | ...Doing Very Stupid Things Directed by Noam Murro and written by novelist-turned-screenwriter Mark Poirier, [b]Smart People[/b] is a sometimes too clever, sometimes too contrived comedy/drama centered on a dysfunctional family and their many missteps as they learn, once again, that it’s love that offers the answers to all of life’s seemingly unanswerable questions.
Predictable as that sounds, [b]Smart People[/b] benefits hugely from a talented cast adding nuance and shading to their screwed-up characters and Poirier’s often witty, insightful dialogue.More |  | Alas, the Third Time isn’t the Charm For his third directorial effort ([b]Good Night, and Good Luck[/b], [b]Confessions of a Dangerous Mind[/b]), actor/writer/producer/director George Clooney choose sportswriters-turned-first-time-screenwriters Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly’s period screwball comedy, [b]Leatherheads[/b], an homage-laden, occasionally engaging, sporadically entertaining, affectionately nostalgic celebration of the early days of professional football.More |
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