12

SHOWBIZ

The Edmonton Sun n Friday, april 27, 2012

OutGoing
MOVIES
21 jump street
In 21 Jump Street, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum turn up first as high school enemies. Hill is a nerd; Tatum is the popular jock. Time passes, and both men enrol in the police academy. Theyre hopeless as cops. Nonetheless, they get an assignment to catch a drug lord operating out of a high school, and so our bumbling heroes turn back the clock several years to go undercover. The film is rude, speedy and outrageous, and we mean that in the best way. **** what. The less you know about this film, the more fun youre going to have. The Cabin in the Hoods is clever, naughty, irreverent, exhilarating and truly bizarre. **** The nature documentary Chimpanzee goes inside the life of a young chimp named Oscar and his family; the group has been followed for decades by evolutionary biologist Christophe Boesch, so the filmmakers had plenty of history to draw upon. Chimpanzee was filmed in Africa over a period of about four years. Chimpanzee offers an opportunity to help children learn more about the primates and how their environment is changing. *** cynical Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson). The Hunger Games is undeniably a rich fantasy adventure. **** Willem Dafoe stars in The Hunter as Martin David, a mercenary employed by a biotech company to follow up on sightings of a Tasmanian Tiger. Hes to hunt down the animal, keeping blood and bone samples and destroying everything else. He stays in a rural cabin with a hippie family, where the power is off, theres no hot water and mom is heavily sedated. Theres a constant tension in The Hunter between the danger involved in Dafoes relentless quest for the tiger and the beauty of the landscape he moves through. *** Guy Pearce stars as Snow i n L o c k o u t , a n e x-s e c re t agent who is sent to a futuristic space jail to rescue the presidents daughter (Maggie Grace) from rioting prisoners. At no point should Lockout be taken too seriously. Its funkysilly humour, sense of adventure and bravado makes it worthwhile. *** In The Lucky One Zac Efron plays a U.S. Mar ine who returns home from a stint in Iraq. Wracked by survivor guilt, Efron goes on a crosscountry journey to find himself and the woman of his broken dreams. The charismatic Taylor Schilling, playing the owner-operator of a Louisiana dog kennel, is Efrons salvation. And he is hers. Melodrama and sappy music envelope all. Yet, at its core, The Lucky One is compelling and Efron is surprisingly up to the task of conveying this humanity. ***

The weekend guide

the hunter

chimpanZee

american reunion
American Reunion is the fourth installment of the sex-crazed comedy. The old crowd gets together back for a high school reunion, and it turns out some things never change. Jim (Jason Biggs) is still preoccupied with masturbating; Oz (Chris Klein) is a successful TV sportscaster; Stiffler (Seann William Scott) is still a lusty loose cannon obsessed with high school girls; and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) are about the same. American Reunion is a dopey movie with two or three laugh-out-loud moments. ** The documentary Bully shows the immediate negative effect of bullying but also points to the lasting damage that will be done to some of the children. Bully is an intelligent and completely engaging film and its also an important social document that shows, in the experience of a few kids, a contemporary epidemic. ****

Dr. seuss the loraX

The Lorax, based on Dr. Seuss book, focuses on a lovestruck boy named Ted (voiced by Zac Efron), whos determined to find a real tree for the beautiful Audrey (Taylor Swift), with the help of his raging granny (Betty White). The quest takes him to the hermit home of the Once-ler (Ed Helms), who tells the tale of a misguided young man and how his dream of providing materials for the masses produced ecological disaster. This despite the fervent efforts of the defender of the trees, the Lorax (Danny DeVito). The Lorax is a fun, fast-paced little movie. ***

locKout

the lucKy one

bully

the FiVe-year enGaGement

Opens today.

Zac Efron stars as a U.S. Marine in the sappy romantic flick, The Lucky One.
names such as Grub and Wolf to distinguish them from the whole Disney take. While colourful and full of silly jokes, Mirror, Mirror is a tad too long and slow. *** tacularly violent, The Raid has been making waves wherever it plays. ****

fILE pHOTO

unDeFeateD
Opens today.

the hunGer Games

Based on the popular book, The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen who lives in an American dystopia, where the rich, decadent Capitol rules brutally over 12 districts. The Hunger Games are a ritual, wherein each district chooses a boy and girl to take part in a mass fight to the death. Katniss steps in to replace her fragile kid sister, and is joined by the local baker Peeta Mell a r k ( Jo s h Hu t c h e r s o n ) . Theyre joined by a couple of dubious mentors, including etiquette advisor Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), wardrobe advisor Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), and the drunk and

the raVen
Opens today.

Wrath oF the titans

The sequel to Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans returns us to Perseus (Sam Worthington), who is called into battle again when Zeuss ( L i a m Ne e s o n ) b ro t h e r Hades (Ralph Fiennes) plan to unleash Chronos, the exiled god of the Titans. Perseus fights a Minotaur, not one but three Cyclops, and so on. Wrath of the Titans is a big, dumb, spectacular, dazzling, roller-coaster of pseudo-awesomeness. **
Ratings out of five

the cabin in the WooDs

The set-up in The Cabin in the Woods is familiar: a handful of attractive young men and women go off to an isolated cabin for a restful weekend. Theres the tarty girl (Anna Hutchison), the studly guy (Chris Hemsworth) a couple (played by Kristen Connolly and Jesse Williams) on a blind date and theres stoner guy (Fran Kranz) for comic relief. Theres something else going on here, but youll have to see the movie to find out

mirror mirror
In Mirror, Mirror, Lily Collins stars as Snow White, a princess left to fend for herself after the king, her father, vanishes. She is just a child when the kingdom is taken over by her fathers second wife; that stepmother queen (Julia Roberts) is concerned only with her own beauty and the things money can buy. The rest of the players are Armie Hammer as a visiting handsome prince, Nathan Lane as the Queens henchman and those famed seven little people, here given

the pirates! banD oF misFits

Opens today.

saFe
Opens today. The Three Stooges Moe, Larry and Curly updates Larry, Curly and Moe for 21st Century. The trio (Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes and Will Sasso) must find enough cash to save their orphanage and find themselves in a variety of hijinks. Unfortunately, random acts of violence, however beautifully timed, can only carry a bad idea so far. **

the raiD: reDemption

The Raid: Redemption is an Indonesian martial arts film starring Iko Uwais as Rama, a member of an elite SWAT team who must enter a decrepit apartment building in Jakarta and attempt to capture a drug lord named Tama (Ray Sahetapy) who controls the entire building. Energetic, technically impressive, laced with tension and spec-

the three stooGes

Reviews by Liz Braun, Bruce Kirkland, Jim Slotek, Kevin Williamson and Steve Tilley