Your guide to the movies playing in Aiken
Everybody's Fine NEW!
Based on a similarly-titled 1990 Italian drama starring Marcello Mastroianni, this borderline weeper from Kirk Jones ("Waking Ned Devine," "Nanny McPhee") stars Robert De Niro as Frank, a blue-collar retiree in upstate New York. A recent widower, Frank is looking forward to having his four children home for a reunion. But one by one they cancel. Despite health problems, Frank decides to hit the road. He'll pay surprise visits to his offspring. His first stop doesn't pan out. Artist son David is AWOL from his NYC apartment. Apparently he's out of town. In Chicago, daughter Amy (Kate Beckinsale) runs an ad agency and is struggling with some unspecified marital crisis. There's lots of tension in the household, especially between Amy's husband and middle-school son. In Denver, Frank discovers that son Robert (Sam Rockwell) isn't an orchestral conductor after all. Rather, Robert is a somewhat sad underachiever content to bang away in the percussion section. In Las Vegas, daughter Rosie (Drew Barrymore) is a dancer between gigs and minding a friend's baby. None of the kids seems particularly glad to see Frank, and they all make a point of sending him off after just one night of frosty hospitality. "Everybody's Fine" is a mystery of sorts. Occasionally we intercept telephone conversations among Amy, Robert and Rosie. The topic is the missing David, who seems to have gotten into some sort of dire trouble in Mexico. They all agree to keep their father in the dark.
21âÑ2 stars out of 4 -- Robert Butler, McClatchy-Tribune
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language. 1 hour, 35 minutes.
Armored NEW!
A crew of officers at an armored transport security firm risk their lives when they embark on the ultimate heist against their own company. Armed with a seemingly foolproof plan, the men plan on making off with a fortune with harm to none. But when an unexpected witness interferes, the plan quickly unravels and all bets are off.
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence, some disturbing images and brief strong language. 88 minutes.
Not reviewed in advance for critics.
Old Dogs
Trashing "Old Dogs" is a bit like kicking a puppy. But here goes. The new comedy is badly written and broadly acted, shamelessly manipulative and not above stopping by the toilet for a laugh or two. It's almost certain to be a big hit. John Travolta and Robin Williams are lifelong friends and longtime high-rolling sports marketing business partners. Travolta is Charlie - the womanizing, back slapping tell-the-client-a-funny-story half of the team. Most of the funny stories are about Dan, played by Williams at his most downbeat. Sad Dan is a lonely soul, divorced and pining over a one-night stand (Kelly Preston) from seven years before. The guys are on the verge of their biggest deal ever when "South Beach Vicki" (Preston) comes back into Dan's life. She's going to jail (environmental protest) and oh, by the way, Dan's the father of 7-year-old twins. Would he mind watching them for a few weeks? The kids (Travolta's lovely daughter Ella Bleu plays Emily, Conner Rayburn is Zach) are props - seldom-used props. Director Walt Becker has no time to film father-child bonding since he was squeezing in cameos by Ann-Margret, Matt Dillon, Justin Long, Rita Wilson and, in his final role, Bernie Mac as a puppet entertainer who straps Dan into a motion-control suit, maybe the unfunniest scene Mac or Williams has ever performed. These "Old Dogs" have lost their bite.
11âÑ2 stars out of 4 -- Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune
Rated PG for some mild rude humor. 1 hour, 29 minutes.
Ninja Assassin
Director James McTeigue ("V for Vendetta") and his producing partners, Larry and Andy Wachowski ("The Matrix"), are clearly more interested in spraying geysers of digital blood than in establishing the ninja as a foe to be taken seriously. The death-dealers in "Ninja Assassin" belong to the Ozunu Clan. Their artery-severing antics have come to the attention of beautiful Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris). Fortunately for Mika, the clan's deadliest assassin, the brooding Raizo (Korean pop star Rain), has decided to betray his brothers after watching them butcher the love of his life. Since the ninjas only come out when it's dark, most of the movie's fight scenes are low on both visibility and excitement.
11âÑ2 stars out of 4 -- By Glenn Whipp, Associated Press
Rated R for strong bloody, stylized violence throughout, and language. 99 minutes.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Swoony love triangle plus swoopy camerawork equals this abstinence-makes-the-heart-grow-fondler adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's young-adult romance novel. With angst-princess Kirsten Stewart, passion prince Robert Pattinson and studmuffin Taylor Lautner.
3 stars out of 4 -- Carrie Rickey, Associated Press
Rated PG-13 for some violence, action. 2 hours, 10 minutes.
Planet 51
Machine-tooled computer animated feature that should satisfy undiscriminating pipsqueaks and nearly no one else. It's a low-IQ "E.T." in reverse, set on a faraway planet that looks like the "Happy Days" set, where a wayward American astronaut freaks out the antenna-headed locals.
2 stars out of 4 -- Steven Rea, McClatchy-Tribune
Rated PG for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor. 1 hour, 27 minutes.
The Blind Side
Sandra Bullock stars as a Southern woman who takes a destitute teen into her home. Based on a true story, it's part sports saga, all tearjerker.
21âÑ2 stars out of 4 -- David Hiltbrand, McClatchy-Tribune
Rated PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references. 128 minutes.
2012
Roland Emmerich sure knows how to make a doomsday movie with a happy ending. This preposterously diverting film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Cusack and Danny Glover is a wild ride that says, it's OK if 8 billion die as long as eight movie stars - and the dog - live.
21âÑ2 stars out of 4 -- Carrie Rickey, McClatchy-Tribune
Rated PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language. 158 minutes.