Town Topics — Princeton's Weekly Community Newspaper Since 1946.
Vol. LXIV, No. 35
 
Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Kam’s Kapsules by Kam Williams

The American (R for violence, sexuality, and nudity). George Clooney stars in the title role of this international thriller as an assassin who reports to a tiny Italian town for his last assignment before retiring who befriends a priest (Paolo Bonacelli) and woos a local lass (Violante Placido) while awaiting further instructions from his Belgian contact (Thekla Reuten). In English and Italian with subtitles.

Cairo Time (PG for smoking and mature themes). Romance drama about an American magazine editor (Patricia Clarkson) who embarks on a brief affair with the handsome retired cop (Alexander Siddiq) hired by her diplomat husband (Tom McCamus) to escort her around town until he arrives from Gaza. In English and Arabic with subtitles.

The Concert (Unrated). Bittersweet comedy about a former conductor of the Bolshoi, fired 30 years earlier for hiring Jews, who decides to try to reassemble musicians purged from the orchestra for a Paris concert. With Melanie Laurent, Dmitry Nazarov and Valeriy Barinov. In French and Russian with subtitles.

Eat, Pray, Love (PG-13 for brief profanity, sexual references, and male nudity). Julia Roberts stars in this screen adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir about an unhappily married career woman who quits her job and divorces her husband (Billy Crudup) and embarks on a globetrotting journey of self-discovery financed by an advance from the publisher who purchased the rights to her book. With Javier Bardem, James Franco, Viola Davis, and Richard Jenkins.

The Expendables (R for profanity and graphic violence). Sly Stallone wrote, directed, and stars in this political potboiler about a team of mercenaries on a mission to overthrow an evil South American dictator (David Zayas) who discover that they’ve been double-crossed by a traitor in their midst. Cast includes Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Flipped (PG for mild epithets and mature themes). Drama about a 2nd grader (Madeline Carroll) whose crush on a cute classmate (Callan McAuliffe) goes unrequited for a half dozen years until the script is flipped when she starts to lose interest just as he finally begins to fall for her. With Rebecca De Mornay, Anthony Edwards, and Aidan Quinn.

Get Low (PG-13 for mature themes and brief violence). True tale which transpired in Tennessee in the 30s when a reclusive hermit (Robert Duvall) came out of the woods to throw himself a funeral party so he could attend his own wake while still alive. Cast includes Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek, Lucas Black, Gerald McRaney, and Bill Cobbs.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Unrated). Screen adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s best seller of the same name about a journalist-turned-amateur sleuth (Michael Nyqvist) who, with the help of a rebellious young computer hacker (Noomi Rapace), tries to solve the mysterious disappearance of a teen heiress which occurred forty years earlier. In Swedish with subtitles.

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Unrated). Action thriller, based on the Stieg Larsson novel, about a computer hacker (Noomi Rapace) who joins forces with a journalist (Michael Nyqvist) to try to crack a sex-trafficking ring, only to end up a fugitive after being accused of murder. In Swedish, Italian, and French with subtitles.

Going the Distance (R for sexuality, profanity, drug use, and brief nudity). Bicoastal romantic comedy about the trials and tribulations of a journalist (Drew Barrymore) and a music scout (Justin Long) trying to maintain their relationship after she moves to San Francisco while he stays behind in New York City. With Christina Applegate, Ron Livingston, and Kelli Garner.

Inception (PG-13 for pervasive action and violence). Christopher Nolan directs this science fiction thriller about a master thief (Leonardo DiCaprio) capable of hacking into people’s subconscious minds while they’re in the dream state, and who plans to pull off the perfect heist by implanting an idea inside of someone’s head. Cast includes Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The Kids Are All Right (R for nudity, profanity, graphic sexuality, and teen drug and alcohol abuse). Family comedy about the fireworks which ensue when two kids (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) conceived via artificial insemination by a lesbian couple (Julianne Moore and Annette Bening) decide to track down their anonymous sperm donor father (Mark Ruffalo). Cast includes Yaya DaCosta, Zosia Mamet (daughter of David), Sasha Spielberg, and Eric Eisner.

The Last Exorcism (PG-13 for mature themes, sexual references, terror, and violence). Horror film about a crooked evangelical minister (Patrick Fabian) who decides to come clean by allowing a documentary filmmaker shoot him performing another phony exorcism on a gullible subject only to get the shock of his life when the teenager (Iris Bahr) he’s been summoned to help turns out to be truly possessed. With Louis Herthum, Ashley Bell and Tony Bentley.

Lottery Ticket (PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, violence, underage drinking, and a drug reference). Bow Wow stars in this inner city comedy about a lotto winner from the ’hood eager to claim his $370 million prize, who first has to survive a weekend in the projects hiding his ticket from all the scheming opportunists aware of his good fortune. Ensemble includes Ice Cube, Mike Epps, Terry Crews, Charlie Murphy, Naturi Naughton, Keith David, Loretta Devine, T-Pain, and Bill Bellamy.

Machete (R for profanity, sexuality, nudity, and graphic violence). Revenge thriller about a renegade hit man (Danny Trejo) who embarks on a bloody rampage after being fleeced by a drug kingpin (Steven Seagal) and double-crossed by the Texas businessman (Jeff Fahey) who hired him to assassinate a Senator (Robert De Niro) who was sending illegal aliens back to Mexico. With Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba, Don Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, and Cheech Marin.

Mao’s Last Dancer (Unrated). Biopic recounts the acrobatic exploits of Li Cunxin (Chi Cao), a peasant plucked from poverty at the age of 11 to train at the prestigious Beijing Ballet Academy and who blossomed into one of the world’s elite dancers. With Joan Chen, Bruce Greenwood, and Suzie Steen. In English and Mandarin with subtitles.

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (PG for crude humor, mature themes, and mild epithets). Emma Thompson reprises the title role in this sequel set during World War II in the English countryside where the no-nonsense nanny with magical powers arrives in time to help an overwhelmed young mother (Maggie Gyllenhaal), saddled with the responsibility of raising her rambunctious kids and tending to the family farm alone, while her husband (Ewan McGregor) is fighting on the front lines. With Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, and Rhys Ifans.

The Other Guys (PG-13 for profanity, crude humor, sexuality, violence, and drug use). Comedy about a couple of grounded New York Police Department detectives, one (Will Ferrell), a dimwit, the other (Mark Wahlberg), a hothead with an itchy trigger-finger, who do their best to measure up to their highly-decorated idols (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson) when finally assigned street duty again. With Eva Mendes, Paris Hilton, Michael Keaton, and Anne Heche.

Piranha 3D (Unrated). Horror film, set over spring break on Lake Victoria, where the party’s fun is ruined by the arrival of hundreds of prehistoric, man-eating fish. Cast includes Richard Dreyfuss, Ving Rhames, Elisabeth Shue, Eli Roth, Christopher Lloyd, Jerry O‘Connell, and Steve McQueen II.

The Switch (PG-13 for nudity, sexuality, profanity, drug use, and mature themes). Comedy about an unmarried woman, desperate to have a baby who has no idea that her best friend (Jason Bateman) secretly supplied the sperm for her artificially inseminated child. Cast includes Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis, and Victor Pagan.

Takers (PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, partial nudity, and intense violence). Crime caper about a very successful gang of bank robbers (Chris Brown T.I., Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Michael Ealy, and Hayden Christensen) who decide to pull off one last heist before retiring only to come up against a hardboiled detective (Matt Dillon) intent on cracking the case. With Zoe Saldana, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Jay Hernandez.

Vampires Suck (PG-13 for profanity, partying, sexuality, slapstick violence, and crude humor.) The Twilight Saga gets spoofed in this film revolving around a high school senior (Jenn Proske) who has to choose between a vampire (Matt Lanter) and a werewolf (Chris Riggi) as her prom date. With Dr. Ken Jeong, Devon Kelly, and Crista Flanagan.

The Winning Season (PG-13 for profanity, sexual references, alcohol abuse, smoking, and mature themes). Sports comedy about a divorced, deadbeat dad (Sam Rockwell) who makes the most of a shot at redemption after taking a job coaching a girls’ high school basketball team whose members give him some good advice about how to relate to his estranged teenaged daughter (Shana Dowdeswell). Cast includes Emma Roberts, Shareeka Epps, Mara Rooney, and Rob Corddry.

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