Town Topics — Princeton's Weekly Community Newspaper Since 1946.
Vol. LXIII, No. 30
 
Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Kam’s Kapsules by Kam Williams

Away We Go (R for profanity and sexuality). Road comedy chronicling the misadventures of an expecting couple (Maya Rudolph and Jon Krasinski) traveling around the country to find the perfect place to put down roots and start a family. Cast includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney, and Catherine O’Hara.

Brüno (R for profanity, sexuality, crude humor, and graphic nudity). Sacha Baron Cohen is back with another shockumentary, this time posing as a flamboyant gay Austrian fashionista ostensibly to expose a series of unsuspecting foils as homophobes. With cameo appearances by Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Sting, Elton John, Bono, Slash, Ron Paul, and Paula Abdul.

Cheri (R for sexuality and brief drug use). Stephen Frears directs this drama set in Paris in the 1920s revolving around a spoiled teenager (Rupert Friend) who embarks on a steamy affair with a considerably older retired courtesan (Michelle Pfeiffer) only to have his mother (Kathy Bates) interfere by arranging his marriage to an heiress (Felicity Jones).

The Collector (R for sexuality, nudity, profanity and pervasive, sadistic bloody violence). Crime thriller about an ex-convict (Josh Stewart) whose attempted burglary of his boss’s country home goes awry when he discovers that another criminal (Juan Fernandez) has rigged the place with a maze of deadly booby traps.

Food, Inc. (PG for mature themes and disturbing images). Consumer advocate documentary exposes how America’s food supply is controlled by a handful of agribusinesses that put profits ahead of health and nutritional concerns.

Funny People (R for profanity, sexuality, and pervasive crude humor). Judd Apatow wrote and directed this raunchy film about a terminally-ill comedian (Adam Sandler) with less than a year to live who decides to hire a deli counterman (Seth Rogen) as his opening act only to have his disease go into remission. Cast includes Leslie Mann, Dr. Ken Jeong, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, Norm MacDonald, and RZA.

G-Force (PG for mild action and crude humor). Disney mixes live action with animated characters in this kiddie-oriented adventure about a crack squad of specially trained animals sent on a mission by the FBI to put a stop to a diabolical billionaire (Bill Nighy) bent on world domination. Cast includes Penelope Cruz, Will Arnett, Tracy Morgan, Sam Rockwell, Niecy Nash, Jon Favreau, and Steve Buscemi.

The Hangover (R for sexuality, nudity, drug and alcohol abuse, and pervasive profanity). “What Happens in Vegas” comedy about three friends (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis) of the groom-to-be (Justin Bartha) who throw a wild bachelor party in a suite at Caesar’s Palace only to have their pal disappear without a trace the day before the wedding. With Heather Graham, Mike Tyson, Jeffrey Tambor, and Dr. Ken Jeong.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (PG for violence, frightening images, mild epithets, and some sensuality). Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and company return for the sixth screen adaptation based on the famed J.K. Rowling series of children’s novels. This installment finds Harry starting another year at Hogwarts School where he discovers new dangers lurking in the castle’s shadows due to the return of his archenemy Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

The Hurt Locker (R for violence and profanity). Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty co-star in this Iraq War story, set in the summer of 2004, as members of an elite bomb squad assigned to defuse improvised explosive devices, who are alarmed by their reckless new Staff Sergeant’s (Jeremy Renner) utter disregard for military protocol. Support cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, and David Morse.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG for crude humor and scenes of peril). Third installment in the animated series finds woolly mammoth Manny (Ray Romano) and the rest of his prehistoric pals on a mission to rescue Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) from a mysterious underground world where they have a close encounter with dinosaurs and a one-eyed weasel (Simon Pegg). Voice cast includes Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Bill Hader, Karen Disher, and Jane Lynch.

My Sister’s Keeper (PG-13 for profanity, sensuality, mature themes, disturbing images, and underage alcohol consumption). Drama about a girl (Abigail Breslin), conceived as a bone marrow donor for her leukemia-stricken sister (Sofia Vassilieva), who sues her parents (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) for medical emancipation when they want a kidney, too. With Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack, Mary Jo Emily, Deschanel, and Al Quinn.

Orphan (R for sexuality, profanity, and disturbing violence). Horror film about a married couple (Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard) who discover that the 9-year-old girl (Isabelle Fuhrman) they adopted after they suffered a miscarriage might not be as innocent as she appears. Supporting cast includes CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett, and Margo Martindale.

The Proposal (PG-13 for profanity, nudity, and sexuality). Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds co-star in this romantic comedy about a high-powered book editor who impulsively pressures her long-suffering assistant into pretending they’re engaged in order to prevent immigration officials from deporting her back to Canada. Supporting cast includes Betty White, Michael Nouri, Mary Steenburgen, and Craig T. Nelson.

Public Enemies (R for profanity and gangland-style slayings). Michael Mann directs this grisly crime saga, set in the thirties, revolving around the efforts of the FBI to bring mobsters John Dillinger (John Depp), Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham), and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) to justice. With Christian Bale as the lawman leading the chase, Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover, and Marion Cotillard as the gangsters’ gun moll.

The Stoning of Soraya M. (R for brutal violence and brief profanity). Film set in Iran in 1986, about an ill-fated mother of four (Mozhan Marno) falsely accused of adultery by her husband so he can marry a much younger woman. With Jim Caviezel as the curious French journalist who cracks the case. In Persian and English with subtitles.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (PG-13 for violence, profanity, crude behavior, sexuality, and brief drug use). Science fiction sequel features Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox who team with the Autobots for another epic battle against the Decepticons, a race of evil robots returning to Earth with revenge in mind. Cast includes John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Rainn Wilson, Anthony Anderson, Hugo Weaving, and Isabel Lucas.

The Ugly Truth (R for profanity and sexuality). Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler co-star in this romantic comedy about a love-starved morning show producer who finds herself teamed with a chauvinistic TV personality determined to prove his theories about relationships while helping her find a man. With Bree Turner, Eric Winter, and Nick Searcy.

Up (PG for peril and action). Family-oriented animated comedy about an adventurous 78-year-old (Edward Asner) who finally pursues his lifelong dream of traveling to the wilds of South America by attaching thousands of balloons to his home, unaware that he’s being accompanied by an 8 year-old stowaway (Jordan Nagai). Voice cast includes Christopher Plummer, Delroy Lindo, and John Ratzenberger.

Whatever Works (PG-13 for nude images, sexual situations, frank dialogue, and mature themes). Woody Allen wrote and directed this romantic comedy about a suicidal, grumpy old genius (Larry David) who gets a new lease on life after falling in love with a young Southern Belle (Evan Rachel Wood). Cast includes Patricia Clarkson, Michael McKean, and Ed Begley, Jr.

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