Kansas City Star: Movies

‘Bruno' review: Laugh. Wince. Repeat. | 2 ½ stars

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:15 CDT

“Bruno” contains moments of explosive, outrageous, I-can’t-believe-what-I’m-seeing hilarity. At the same time, the second feature (after “Borat”) from satiric agent provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen points out the limits of his guerrilla comedy style.

‘Food, Inc.': A horror movie with a message | 3 ½ stars

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:15 CDT

I’m happy to have any appetite at all since watching “Food, Inc.” Director Robert Kenner’s documentary is powerful. Maybe even life-changing.

Photos | Sacha Baron Cohen is 'Bruno'

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:00 CDT

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens Wednesday

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:35 CDT

Photos | "Public Enemies," starring Johnny Depp

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:56 CDT

Photos | "My Sister's Keeper," starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:53 CDT

Photos | "Away We Go," starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:39 CDT

Photos | "Transformers 2," starring Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:39 CDT

Photos | "Year One," starring Michael Cera and Jack Black

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:15 CDT

Photos | "The Hangover"

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:20 CDT

Photos | "The Twilight Saga: New Moon"

Sun, 31 May 2009 20:21 CDT

Photos of "Drag Me to Hell"

Thu, 28 May 2009 15:18 CDT

‘Harry Potter' vs. ‘Twilight': A comparison

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

For three years in a row we’ll have both a ‘Harry Potter’ and a ‘Twilight’ film. We must compare.

Bruno punks KC's Hotel Phillips

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

KC hotelier Blaine Proctor makes his screen debut in “Bruno.” Involuntarily.

‘E.T.' gets roasted; aliens descend on Crown Center

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Phone home … now! CounterClockwise Comedy troupe promises to “slowly destroy your precious family-movie memories” with a roast of “E.T.” Shows are at 9:45 tonight and 7 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday at the Screenland Crossroads.

The Bruno brouhahas: A brief history

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:15 CDT

Staying in character, Sacha Baron Cohen has been generating plenty of free publicity: •The July GQ: He’s the magazine’s first fully nude cover model, sporting nothing but a tanned glow and highlighted hair. For a photo spread inside, wearing shoulder pads and tight red shorts, he poses with some L.A. high school football players. The school superintendent was fuming; now the school is breaking away and becoming a charter school.

Now showing

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

2009

Butler's Top Five

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

BUTLER’S TOP FIVE The top five movies now showing, according to Star movie editor Robert W. Butler:

Free films, special screenings

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

FREE FILMS “INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM” Indy goes to India. 8:30 p.m. today, Hyde Park.

Movie Mom | ‘Bruno,' ‘I Love You, Beth Cooper'

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Information for parents deciding which movies are best for kids ages 2 to 18: ‘Bruno’

Jason Sudeikis is mighty busy; Sam Worthington is ready for a ‘Clash'

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

The week’s top performances Critic Robert W. Butler says:

'Moon' exploration: Director probes notions of home, self

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Duncan Jones’ eerie yet playful science-fiction feature debut, “Moon,” flirts with a number of contradictions. Much of it is special-effects driven, yet its technical wizardry all but vanishes from mind as viewers are pulled in by the dazzling performance(s) of Sam Rockwell as a lunar mining engineer and his mysterious double. It’s a film that explores our notions of home and self, even as it portrays a figure who may not have either.

‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' review: Fun has its ‘Age' limit | 2 stars

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:11 CDT

In a nutshell, the third film in the successful “Ice Age” series is a mediocre standard bearer for a genre that kids love and adults tolerate. Doubtless it will make piles of money, but the Law of Diminishing Comedic Returns looms large, and the gags seem increasingly hollow in a basically weak product.

‘Public Enemies' review: Johnny Depp is wanted, so very much | 3 stars

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:15 CDT

Is there any role Johnny Depp cannot make his own? Last seen as a singing Victorian barber and serial killer in “Sweeney Todd,” the human chameleon has effortlessly mutated into Depression-era desperado John Dillinger for director Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies.”

‘Whatever Works': Larry David cranks it up | 2 ½ stars

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:15 CDT

Even second-rate Woody Allen beats most of the junk littering our movie screens. So let’s be thankful for “Whatever Works,” despite it working only half the time.

'Cheri': An affair to forget | 1½ stars

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:18 CDT

The last time Michelle Pfeiffer and director Stephen Frears got together, the result was “Dangerous Liaisons,” a film that today looks as good and plays as well as it did back in 1988. Alas, “Cheri” isn’t in the same league. Not even close.

'My Sister's Keeper:' An emotional drama | 3 � stars

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:15 CDT

"Weeper" doesn't begin to describe "My Sister's Keeper." Yet that pejorative cheapens a film that overcomes an obscenely melodramatic setup to come by its tears honorably.

‘Away We Go': A comedy with feeling | 3 ½ stars

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:15 CDT

“Away We Go” is a road-trip comedy. It’s also one of the best films about love I’ve ever seen. Not sex. Not romance. Love.

�Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' is robotically dull | 1 � stars

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:20 CDT

Something is seriously amiss when a movie as noisy and frenetic as “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is so boring it puts you to sleep.

‘Valentino: The Last Emperor': A stylish love story | 3 ½ stars

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:15 CDT

You needn’t care about high fashion to get into “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” an engaging documentary about the 40-year reign of Valentino Garavani. At 77, Valentino, who has dressed Jackie Kennedy and scores more of the world’s most glamorous women, is in many ways an incomplete person. He’s such a total aesthete that day-to-day reality holds little interest for him.

‘The Proposal' is too predictable | 2 stars

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:15 CDT

Is Sandra Bullock the female Matthew McConaughey? Or is Matthew McConaughey the male Sandra Bullock? Pondering this pop-culture conundrum kept my mind occupied while watching “The Proposal.&rdquo

‘Year One': A disaster of biblical proportions | 1 star

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:15 CDT

So which is worse: the recent “Land of the Lost” or today’s “Year One”? Well, these “comedies” are equally mirthless, but at least “Lost” has plenty of expensive CGI eye candy. “Year One” is so cheap, the papier mache is still wet on the walls of Sodom.

‘The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3' is a riveting ride | 3 stars

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:15 CDT

You don’t go to a movie by Tony Scott looking for subtlety and subtext. But give him a good story and Scott delivers.

‘Every Little Step' a powerful ‘Chorus Line' documentary | 3 ½ stars

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:15 CDT

“A Chorus Line,” a groundbreaking work when it debuted in 1975, is too often today viewed as a cliché. That perception is turned inside out by the new documentary “Every Little Step.”

‘The Hangover' will make you laugh (and wince) | 3 stars

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:15 CDT

If there is any justice in the universe, “The Hangover” will make Zach Galifianakis a household name. Holy heck, he’s funny. And he wears a man-purse better than anyone in Hollywood.

Pixar's ‘Up' is sublime | 3 ½ stars

Thu, 28 May 2009 13:15 CDT

If you had to leave Pixar’s “Up” after watching only the first 15 minutes, you’d still walk away satisfied.

'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian' is a struggle | 2 stars

Thu, 21 May 2009 10:15 CDT

Busy is not the same as clever. This distinction eludes the makers of “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.” They figured that if they kept Ben Stiller racing from one special effect to another, nobody would notice that the movie isn’t about anything.

‘Cowtown Ballroom … Sweet Jesus': One far-out film, man | 3 stars

Thu, 21 May 2009 11:00 CDT

Once upon a magical time in a place called River City there was a former roller-skating rink that attracted some of the biggest names in rock ’n’ roll.

‘Angels & Demons' review: ‘Da Vinci' follow-up keeps moving | 2 ½ stars

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:15 CDT

Ron Howard’s “Angels & Demons” is so preposterous that it begins to fall apart the minute you leave the theater. Yet this sequel to “The Da Vinci Code” keeps our attention with breathless pacing and the sort of grand spectacle only Hollywood can provide.

�Star Trek' seeks out new life and succeeds | 3 stars

Tue, 05 May 2009 22:15 CDT

As rousing as a Klingon war chant and more fun than an engine room full of tribbles, “Star Trek” successfully reboots the venerable franchise, pleasing diehards and newbies alike.

Bruno punks' Kansas City hotel

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:00 CDT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City hotelier Blaine Proctor makes his screen debut in "Bruno."

Paris Hilton insists she plugged sorority movie

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:40 CDT

Paris Hilton repeatedly fussed with her hair and makeup in a federal courtroom Friday, sported six-inch stiletto heels and a black dress and amused the judge with a little wave on the way to the witness stand.

The Hurt Locker'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:00 CDT

Yellow wire, green wire? In "The Hurt Locker," a tense, impressively realistic portrait of a bomb disposal squad in Baghdad, the most important decisions the characters will ever make come down to this stark binary choice. Snip the wrong cord and you're red mist. How could someone volunteer for such hazardous duty?

`Potter' cast reflects on a childhood at Hogwarts

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:07 CDT

When the "Harry Potter" film series is completed, its three young stars - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint - will have inhabited J.K. Rowling's universe for half their lives.

Carrey to be a grandfather; his daughter expecting

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:10 CDT

Jim Carrey is going to be a grandfather.

GLAAD: `Bruno' reinforces negative gay stereotypes

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:10 CDT

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said Friday that "Bruno," the new film starring Sacha Baron Cohen, reinforces negative stereotypes and "decreases the public's comfort with gay people."

Bruno'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:00 CDT

Sacha Baron Cohen finds himself slammed hard against the walls of heightened Hollywood expectations and diminishing artistic returns.

What's opening in theaters next week

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:00 CDT

Opening Wednesday:

Paris Hilton insists she plugged sorority movie

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:37 CDT

Christian group wants cities to ban Bruno'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:00 CDT

A pro-family group is calling on cities to ban screenings of "Bruno" because it says the movie is offensive and loaded with inappropriate sexual content.

Movie poll | Explain Transformers' phenomenal success

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:51 CDT

We knew Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen would do well, but $300 million well? In less than two weeks? What's its secret?
Vote here.

‘I Love You, Beth Cooper': Not really | 1 ½ stars

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:15 CDT

“You know, this is not fun any more,” our bloodied and beaten young protagonist complains about an hour into “I Love You, Beth Cooper.” We’re way ahead of you, pal.

‘Moon' does sci-fi right | 3 stars

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:15 CDT

Good science fiction is less about shiny hardware than human imagination. “Moon” is darn good science fiction.

‘Summer Hours': A quiet, profound family study | 3 ½ stars

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:15 CDT

“Summer Hours” — a quiet study of a French family in the wake of a death — features no big outbursts, no raging melodrama. Instead it offers conversation, gentle observation and delicate melancholy.