theCLog

By Matt Brunson

PUBLIC ENEMIES
**1/2
DIRECTED BY Michael Mann
STARS Johnny Depp, Christian Bale

Moviegoers hoping that Public Enemies would have been the film to save the summer season from its own worst impulses will be disappointed to learn that the Michael Mann production, while hardly part of the problem, is certainly no solution. A classy motion picture whose individual moments are greater than the whole, this period gangster saga may be filled with exciting gun battles yet can’t deliver the firepower in ways that matter the most: empathy, originality, and a willingness to burrow beneath the legend. (more…)

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By Matt Brunson

WHATEVER WORKS
**
DIRECTED BY Woody Allen
STARS Larry David, Rachel Evan Wood

It’s a fact that several of Woody Allen’s movies have found him paired on-screen with women decades his junior (Mira Sorvino, Tiffani Thiessen, Mariel Hemingway, etc.). But with Whatever Works, it appears the 73-year-old filmmaker finally drew the line and elected to pair 21-year-old Evan Rachel Wood with someone closer to her own age.

So he sent in 62-year-old Larry David to pinch-hit. (more…)

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Public Enemies

Opened Yesterday:

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - Animated

Public Enemies - Johnny Depp, Christian Bale

Opens Friday:

Whatever Works - Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood

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The Proposal

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $108.9 million ($200.0 million)
2. The Proposal - $18.5 million ($69.1 million)
3. The Hangover - $17.0 million ($183.0 million)
4. Up - $13.0 million ($250.2 million)
5. My Sister’s Keeper - $12.4 million ($12.4 million)
6. Year One - $6.0 million ($32.5 million)
7. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - $5.4 million ($53.4 million)
8. Star Trek - $3.7 million ($246.3 million)
9. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - $3.6 million ($163.3 million)
10. Away We Go - $1.7 million ($4.0 million)

(Gross for weekend of June 26-28. Figure in parentheses is total gross to date. Source: www.boxofficemojo.com.)

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Sasie Sealy

Charlotte native Sasie Sealy is among the 10 semifinalists in the Netflix FIND Your Voice competition presented by Netflix and Film Independent (FIND). Over 2,000 aspiring moviemakers submitted two-to-three-minute video shorts, with FIND selecting these 10 remaining candidates for the grand prize: a $150,000 production grant for a full-length feature, film equipment, distribution through the Netflix Web site, and advice during production from industry insiders.

The five finalists will be selected by the public; go here to watch the shorts and cast your vote (voting is open now through July 5). Sealy’s film is a fantasy thriller titled SARAHN_12. On the site’s Leaderboard, which tracks viewer votes, her short is presently in seventh place.

The winning film will be chosen from the remaining quintet by a panel of judges (including Oscar nominee Josh Brolin) and will premiere at the 2010 LA Film Festival.

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Following is a list of some major DVD releases debuting today. For a complete list, go to www.amazon.com. (more…)

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Terminator Salvation

Here are Creative Loafing’s star ratings for all reviewed movies playing in the Charlotte area through Thursday. See this week’s issue for select reviews and our Web site’s archives for all reviews. (more…)

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By Matt Brunson

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
*
DIRECTED BY Michael Bay
STARS Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox

To both my horror and delight — horror because of my general disdain for the Michael Bay oeuvre, delight because of my desire to enjoy every picture I see (contrary to popular belief, film critics don’t enter a theater wanting to hate the movie; what sort of dreary, masochistic career would that make?) — I somewhat dug 2007’s Transformers, writing in my original review that “even folks who wouldn’t know a Transformer from a Teletubby can expect to have a good time” and praising the film for being “decidedly more character-driven than expected” and “balancing action with emotion.” For this, I credited the presence of executive producer Steven Spielberg, who was described in the press notes as being a “hands-on producer” during the making of a film that, in its best moments, recalled the mirth of Spielberg’s own 1980s output. Well, Spielberg must have been on an extended vacation and far away from the set during the making of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a perfectly dreadful sequel that’s the filmic equivalent of a 150-minute waterboarding session. (more…)

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By Matt Brunson

AWAY WE GO
**1/2
DIRECTED BY Sam Mendes
STARS John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph

One of the best films of 2008, director Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road offered a powerful and penetrating study of a bickering couple trapped by the conformity they felt defined — and controlled — their lives. Mendes’ latest picture takes a different tack, examining a loving pair who forge their own path in an attempt to find their place in the world. It’s a nice about-face for the director, even if the results prove to be wildly uneven. (more…)

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By Matt Brunson

MY SISTER’S KEEPER
***
DIRECTED BY Nick Cassavetes
STARS Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin

Making a weepie for mass audiences can’t be that hard: Just place a person in a tragic situation and steer clear of the resultant flood. But making a weepie that doesn’t feel manipulative, exploitive or sloppily sentimental is another matter altogether. With My Sister’s Keeper, an adaptation of Jodi Picoult’s novel, director-cowriter Nick Cassavetes largely succeeds in respecting both his subject matter and his audience. (more…)

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