Newsday's Movie Reviews

'Not Easily Broken'

Meet Dave ( Morris Chestnut), a handsome, smart, athletic, sensitive man who in his spare time coaches a baseball team of underprivileged youth. For some reason, he's married to Clarice (Taraji P. Henson, of "Benjamin Button"), a self-centered, condescending, materalistic nag with a sub-zero libido and a poisonous mouth inherited from her harridan mother, Mary Clark (Jenifer Lewis).

'The Unborn'

Partway through "The Unborn," an elderly Holocaust survivor writes an ominous letter to her young granddaughter: "It has fallen upon you to finish what was started in Auschwitz."

'Bride Wars' with Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway

In " Bride Wars," a cheerfully sexist, bourgeois comedy, two women trash their friendship while battling for a wedding date at a posh hotel. Imagine one of those claws-out reality shows, like "The Bachelor," only without the self-awareness. Better yet, imagine a disempowering "Mean Girls."

'Defiance'

A true-life story, a family drama, an epic tale of war - "Defiance" aims to be an all-in-one movie. Director Edward Zwick ("Glory," "The Last Samurai") knows how to turn history into Hollywood entertainment, but with this story of three Jewish brothers who led a resistance group during World War II, he goes for grit as much as gloss. "Defiance" comes alive in its quieter scenes and smaller details.

'Valkyrie' starring Tom Cruise

In "Valkyrie," the latest Hollywood film to delve into Nazi Germany, the Jews are almost entirely absent. There is a brief mention of the concentration camps, and that's about it. A moralist might find this an outrage, but a moviegoer, especially one exhausted by grim dramas about the Holocaust, may feel relief.

'Four Christmases'

Like a gift card in your stocking, the romantic comedy "Four Christmases" is pretty generic, though you might still be grateful for it. The jokes are old, but they hit as often as they miss. And while the free-spirited lovers at the film's center succumb predictably to tradition, they also serve as an accurate send-up of today's overly modern relationships.

Review: 'Australia'

You can almost hear director Baz Luhrmann begging for " Australia," his old-fashioned adventure-epic, to be compared to "Gone With the Wind." That 1939 film stands as the ultimate in Hollywood pageantry and large-scale moviemaking, but it's also an overstuffed potboiler soured by racial caricatures. So the comparison is apt.

'Transporter 3'

The rule on sequels used to be "avoid at all costs," unless they were "The Godfather II" or "The Empire Strikes Back." But that axiom has sort of been debunked in recent years. Now, it's the sequel to the sequel that needs to be avoided. Exhibit A: "Transporter 3," which has the aptly named director Olivier Megaton behind it and, fortunately, star Jason Statham up front. But even Statham can't keep this chase movie from rolling right off its Gallic rails.

'Milk'

Director Gus Van Sant plays it straight, so to speak, with "Milk," a biopic based on the short career of Harvey Milk, a San Francisco city supervisor who in 1977 became the first openly gay man elected to a major public office. Aside from a brief, stylized montage of an activist phone-tree that recalls the old Fabergé Shampoo commercials ("and they told two friends"), "Milk" unfolds as somberly as any "Ray" or "Ali."

Movie Review

'I've Loved You So Long'

The face of Kristin Scott Thomas provides the opening image of Philippe Claudel's "I've Loved You So Long," and it's a striking portrait. Ash-gray, lips curled, dark blue satchels beneath her vacant eyes, Scott Thomas sits in an airport, looking like someone whose journey has come to an end. In a few moments the British actress, playing a haunted woman named Juliette, will begin speaking French, but in these moments her face reveals more than any dialogue.

'Bolt'

The canine star of Walt Disney's "Bolt" bears a strong resemblance to the toy astronaut Buzz Lightyear of Pixar's "Toy Story" films. Both characters live in fantasy worlds where they feel all-powerful and indestructible. And both are shoved suddenly into the real world, where they must face their limitations before becoming the heroes they believe themselves to be. Not coincidentally, dog and toy share the imprint of John Lasseter, the prolific animator who helped create Buzz and served as executive producer on "Bolt."

'A Christmas Tale'

The usual holiday adjectives don't quite describe " A Christmas Tale," Arnaud Desplechin's unconventional contribution to the winter movie season. It's not heartwarming; any flushes of emotion remain hidden behind blasé French faces. And it isn't exactly joyful; there are too many raw nerves and loose ends for that. Yet this story of imperfect love and tentative redemption is utterly life-affirming.

'Quantum of Solace'

After years of lighthearted tomfoolery, James Bond tightened his gut and clenched his fist in "Casino Royale," the 2006 movie that introduced Daniel Craig as a meaner, steelier version of the British secret agent. The cartoonish stunts of past films were replaced by close combat, glib one-liners hardened into terse threats, there was less techno-gadgetry, more bludgeoning. It was an exciting if imperfect movie that promised a more serious, grown-up Bond.

'Slumdog Millionaire'

Trivia can be a great socio-economic equalizer, putting the well-educated on the same footing as the self-taught. Ken Jennings, the long-reigning "Jeopardy!" champion, didn't go to Harvard but to Brigham Young University, and those guys who keep winning the quiz-nite kitty at your local pub probably aren't a bunch of summa cum laudes, either.

'The Dukes'

The directorial debut of Robert Davi, a veteran character actor with roots in Astoria and Patchogue, "The Dukes" tells the story of a small-time Los Angeles doo-wop group that takes an ill-advised turn to crime.

'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'

There's a kind of unspoken child-parent agreement underlying "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," the sequel to the enormously successful DreamWorks adventure and a film that hews close to the whole "Lion King"/species-as-destiny/self-fulfillment paradigm. Don't tell anybody ...

'Soul Men'

The alleged laugh fest "Soul Men" is clearly inspired by the famously warring '60s Stax act Sam & Dave - except Sam & Dave could sing - as well as by every gross-out comedy made since 1989. It's rather unfortunate that this Malcolm Lee-directed film should end up being the swan songs of both star Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes (playing himself), given how easily it slips into conventionally vulgar and predictably crude.

'JCVD'

If you didn't think he had it in him, check out Jean-Claude Van Damme's acting - that's right, acting - in "JCVD," an offbeat, fun and very funny movie in which The Muscles goes back to Brussels and earns a whole new kind of celebrity.

'Role Models'

Way back in 1976, "The Bad News Bears" turned the family film upside-down with its story of a beer-guzzling misanthrope coaching a team of foul-mouthed Little Leaguers. Since then, we've seen plenty of cursing kids ("South Park") and unfit mentors ("Bad Santa"), which means "Role Models" has its work cut out for it.

'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas'

Let's be honest: It's not easy to drag yourself to a Holocaust movie.

Movie Review

'Zack and Miri Make a Porno'

At a time when young Americans are baring their souls on blogs and just about everything else on viral video, it's almost quaint that writer-director Kevin Smith ("Dogma") finds shock value in the idea of two friends delving into pornography. Then again, the lead characters in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" are in their late 20s, which makes them relative geezers compared to today's generation of Internet exhibitionists. If this film were about teenagers, it might seem less like an outrageous comedy and more like a mundane slice of life.

Movie Review

'Ashes of Time Redux'

Wong Kar-wai's "Ashes of Time," released in 1994, became one of the first Hong Kong films to piqué the imagination of Western audiences, who later flocked to martial-arts epics like Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and Zhang Yimou's "Hero." Over the years, several versions of "Ashes" have appeared - some sanctioned, some not - leading Wong, a notoriously meticulous director, to re-edit the material into a definitive version. The result, "Ashes of Time Redux," shaves a few minutes from the running time and adds a gripping new soundtrack featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma, but it remains a singularly unconventional film, as beautiful as it is frustrating.

Movie Review

'Splinter'

Two couples, one gas station and a freaky forest creature - "Splinter" is certainly economical, and the filmmakers saved a lot of energy by letting other horror films generate ideas for them. If you've seen "The Thing" or "The Evil Dead," you've seen much of "Splinter," but it's a lean, fast-moving and fun little flick that doesn't waste any of its scant 82 minutes.

Sneak peeks: Holiday season movies

As winter settles over the multiplexes, it's time for Christmas comedies, heartwarming dramas and ... Nazis?

"Saw V"

Thank goodness Lionsgate made another "Saw" film! Otherwise, how would we as a country get to feel good about ourselves while watching humans suffer through prolonged torture, degradation and death?

'Pride and Glory''

Crackheads, homicidal cops, New York streets overripe with discontent - if you were feeling cocky, you might call " Pride and Glory" a period piece. But despite its sprawl and sometimes unwieldy narrative, this very personal effort by director Gavin O'Connor (a Long Islander and himself the product of a police family) is intelligently directed, beautifully shot (by Declan Quinn) and takes what has come to be an unorthodox approach to the writing of screenplays: It assumes the audience isn't made up of idiots.

Movie Review

'Changeling'

There seems to be some misunderstanding, thanks no doubt to the title, that Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" possesses something supernatural, or at least psychodramatic. Nothing could be further from the truth. Angelina Jolie's Christine Collins - whose son went missing in 1928 Los Angeles, and whose efforts to find him led her to being abused, arrested and imprisoned - is merely a victim of a system portrayed as cruel, sadistic and too stupid for its own political good. Out of such stuff, riveting drama is not quite made.

'High School Musical 3: Senior Year'

Some movies are simply considered "review proof." If movie critics were $5 umbrellas, "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" would be Hurricane Katrina.

'Synecdoche, New York'

You can look it up: A synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole ("wheels" for "car") or the other way around ("the law" for "policeman").

"Secret Life of Bees"

Based on the popular novel by Sue Monk Kidd, "The Secret Life of Bees" doesn't bother with the annoyances of character development, explication or too much of the period in which its period piece is set. No. It shifts into noble and pretty much stays there. With Dakota Fanning as the vulnerable Lily Owens ("I killed my mother when I was 4 years old. . . . ") and Queen Latifah as August Boatwright -- the beekeeping Moses of rural, Civil Rights-era South Carolina -- it's an exercise in earnestness, sugary philosophizing and the importance of family and belonging.

"Filth and Wisdom"

Madonna may be married to British film director Guy Ritchie, but for her directorial debut, "Filth and Wisdom," she turned to Eugene Hütz of the band Gogol Bordello. The mustachioed, fun-loving Hütz recently became Madonna's mascot -- he joined her onstage during last year's Live Earth concert, and her current tour features a Bordello-ish fiddle-and-accordion segment -- and now he seems to be her muse.

"Max Payne"

Since directing the well-regarded "Behind Enemy Lines" in 2001, the Irish-born John Moore has specialized in directing remakes -- "Flight of the Phoenix" (2004), "The Omen" (2006) and now the video game "Max Payne" which is also close enough stylistically to Timur Bekmambetov's "Night Watch"/ "Day Watch" to qualify as homage.

"Sex Drive"

Back in 1985, "The Sure Thing" featured John Cusack as a college freshman driving cross country to have meaningless sex with a hot blonde, and Daphne Zuniga as his reluctant traveling companion. After various scrapes and misadventures, they fall in love, and our horny hero learns that mere intercourse is no substitute for real emotion.

"What Just Happened"

Hollywood loves to satirize itself using its own medium. But with few exceptions -- "The Player" comes to mind -- the laughs are rarely as wicked as they should be, and the skewers barely break the skin. So it is with "What Just Happened," directed by Barry Levinson and based on the memoir by veteran producer Art Linson ("Fight Club," "Into the Wild"), who also wrote the screenplay. Populated with A-list stars and winking references to the biz, the movie is amusing but disappointingly mild.

Readers choose 'Halloween' as favorite scary movie

Not exactly a surprise here, but Newsday.com readers selected "Halloween" as their favorite scary movie in a month-long poll.

"W."

Oliver Stone doesn't do comedy, intentionally. But perhaps he should: The half-baked, hayseed "Hamlet" he's created in " W." -- his very speculative biopic about our current president -- feels alive only when it ventures into the comically absurd.

'Body of Lies'

Like a high-school teacher throwing up flash cards in a current-events class, " Body of Lies" assaults the audience with hot-button place-names and topics: Iraq! Jordan! Terrorism! Torture! Words and images fly by so quickly that the movie sometimes feels packed with information, a speed-read through modern Middle East history, CIA bureaucracy and American foreign policy.

'The Express'

No one is going to approach " The Express" - which is both a biopic and a sports movie - with anything but justifiable expectations that the subject will be exalted and the struggle severe. But what happens in "The Express" really happened. Which means 1) you can't count on anything and 2) much of the black-white controversy that fuels this period piece is a study in mottled, moral gray.

'City of Ember'

To call the sci-fi kids' film " City of Ember" a parable of energy independence might be pushing things, but it certainly abounds in symbols and allegories. It's set in a futuristic but delightfully rattletrap underground metropolis - part Fritz Lang, part Rube Goldberg - whose lights are ominously flickering.

'Quarantine'

For Los Angeles television reporter Angela (Jennifer Carpenter) and her faithful cameraman Scott ( Steve Harris), it was supposed to be a fun and fluffy feature on the local firehouse -- an interview with the chief, some tomfoolery on the fire pole, maybe even a real alarm.

'Happy-Go-Lucky'

Mike Leigh's new comedy feels so light and fresh you may want to sit back and simply let it wash over you like a breeze. That's one approach, but the film also poses some heavy questions. For starters: Why are some people happy while others are not? And even heavier: Can happiness cause pain?

'RocknRolla'

Just as Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven" and its sequels seem distinctly American, reflecting the glitz and ersatz class of Las Vegas, so Guy Ritchie's crime capers feel distinctly British. His latest, " RocknRolla," set in the greasy streets and smoky pubs of London, lacks the glamour of George Clooney and Brad Pitt, but it compensates with plenty of rough humor, bruising action and a wicked dark streak.

'An American Carol'

Is there any filmmaker alive, whether Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, capable of producing a truly incisive, intelligent satire about our politically polarized times?

'Flash of Genius'

Like so many biography films, "Flash of Genius" obeys certain rules: The little guy fights the system, ignores the naysayers and sticks to his principles. But the movie makes one departure from convention: Its hero is also kind of a jerk.

'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People'

Take "The Devil Wears Prada," replace Anne Hathaway with a bottom-feeding British tabloid writer, and what you have is "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People," yet another vehicle in which Simon Pegg ("Hot Fuzz) can play yet another of the world's more obnoxious humans. And still make us love him.

'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'

Prior to the Friday-night club crawl that is "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist," Our Hero gets jilted and Our Heroine humiliated by Tris, a popular girl with a mean streak as wide as her smile.

'Beverly Hills Chihuahua'

If you're looking for a nuanced exploration of class, race and immigration, " Beverly Hills Chihuahua" is probably not the movie for you. If, however, you'd like to see these issues touched on in a blithely entertaining way by a cast of talking dogs, this is just the ticket. Your kids will probably love it, too.

'Rachel Getting Married'

The Buchmans, the family at the center of Jonathan Demme's unconventional and often unpredictable drama "Rachel Getting Married," have their share of issues, from garden-variety jealousies to drug abuse and shattering loss. The bride (Rosemarie DeWitt) may be the star of her wedding, but that means little to her sister, Kym ( Anne Hathaway), a recovering addict still nursing the twin habits of nicotine and cynicism. In a house filled with white dresses and flowers, Kym prowls around in black tights and Goth eyeliner, hogging attention from her protective father ( Bill Irwin, pitch-perfect) and distant mother ( Debra Winger). Even more dominant, however, is a sibling who's missing.

'Blindness'

In the apocalyptic drama "Blindness," the plague starts with one man who's driving through traffic in a busy, thriving Anycity. His vision suddenly goes white; his doctor (Mark Ruffalo) can't detect the cause. But the next morning, the doctor is stricken, and the "white sickness" quickly spreads through the populace, bringing civilization to a grinding halt.

'Religulous'

You don't need to believe in God to take issue with Bill Maher's " Religulous," a quasi-documentary that mocks religion as ridiculous, crazy, even dangerous. It's a nasty, condescending, small-minded film, self-amused and ultimately self-defeating. Its only accomplishment is to make atheists look bad -- and in this political climate they didn't need Maher's help with that.

'Nights in Rodanthe'

Diane Lane's character cheated on Richard Gere's in the overrated "Unfaithful" of 2002, so why their reunion would provide a romantic pedigree to the clumsy "Nights in Rodanthe" is a mystery. So is the mental process of onetime Public Theater titan George C. Wolfe, who accomplishes a neat trick in his miscarriage of the Nicholas Sparks novel: It feels like a play, and it feels like a TV commercial. He has avoided cinema entirely. Bravo!

'Eagle Eye'

Nestled within the techno-nonsense of "Eagle Eye" lies a potentially stinging indictment of the Bush administration's aggressive wiretapping policies. Another example of Hollywood liberalism, you say? Actually, this lightweight thriller isn't thinking that hard. When the last bullet is fired and the last circuit fried, the villain here isn't Our President or even The Government, but that dependable old bogeyman, The Computer.

'Miracle at St. Anna'

On Aug. 12, 1944, a Nazi battalion in the Tuscan village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema gunned down 560 men, women and children, a massacre that is re-enacted, along with a seemingly divine event, in "Miracle at St. Anna," an uneven blend of realism and fantasy. The movie is both vivid and baffling - which is to say, it was made by Spike Lee.

'The Lucky Ones'

Three American soldiers meet randomly in an airport and end up on a cross-country road trip in "The Lucky Ones," a thoughtful study on the way foreign wars can reverberate here at home. The word "Iraq" is never uttered; civilians speak respectfully of "over there."

'Choke'

The aggressively transgressive " Choke," based on the novel by punk-lit author Chuck Palahniuk, really piles it on: Sam Rockwell plays Victor Mancini, a con man who fakes choking attacks in restaurants to gain the sympathy of wealthy diners. He's also a sex addict who works at a Colonial theme park. His mother (the terrific Anjelica Houston) is a former radical now housed in a loony bin. Oh, and Victor may be a clone of Christ.

Movie review

'My Best Friend's Girl'

Now that Judd Apatow's twin blockbusters "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" have changed the rules of romantic comedy, mixing crude-dude humor with girly love-stuff to bring both genders to the box-office, the R-rated imitation "My Best Friend's Girl" probably won't be the last of its ilk. The movie spends a lot of time trying to be cute, vulgar and cutely vulgar. But it forgets about character, plot and believability.

'Lakeview Terrace'

Early in Neil LaBute's thriller " Lakeview Terrace," a tightly wound Los Angeles cop, Abel Turner ( Samuel L. Jackson), approaches the car of his new neighbor, a white-collar white guy named Chris Mattson (Patrick Wilson). Turner is amused to hear that Chris' wimpy hybrid is thumping with old-school hip-hop.

'The Duchess'

What is it about Keira Knightley that seems better suited to the past than the present? As the star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, "King Arthur" and the more serious "Pride and Prejudice," Knightley has starred in her fair share of period pieces, and "The Duchess" shows why. She breathes real life into the role of Georgiana Cavendish, an 18th century aristocrat with striking parallels to another, more modern, British notable.

'Appaloosa'

Ed Harris plays the taciturn, unruffled lawman Virgil Cole in "Appaloosa," an old-fashioned Western that's also taciturn and unruffled. Whether it's a volley of bullets, a band of bloodthirsty Indians or an exceptionally difficult woman, nothing ever gets Cole, or the movie, too riled.

'Igor'

There's always a pivotal moment in a monster movie when you know things are going to go terribly wrong. In the fanciful, smarty-pants "Igor," that moment arrives when the towering, patchwork, reanimated Eva (voice of Molly Shannon) is accidentally exposed to James Lipton of "Inside the Actor's Studio." She emerges ... an actress! Oh, the humanity.

'Ghost Town'

A delightful antidote to the comedic excesses of the season, "Ghost Town" is smart, sexy fun that should leave no doubt (if there was any) that Ricky Gervais is among the funniest men in film. As anti-

'Hounddog'

Let's get this out of the way: In Deborah Kampmeier's controversial "Hounddog," a naked, 12-year-old Dakota Fanning is raped on a muddy floor. The violation lasts merely a few seconds, but the film caused an outrage after premiering at Sundance in 2007. Talk-show conservatives pounced on it; the Catholic League demanded a child pornography investigation. Really, though, all "Hounddog" wants to be is the story of a young girl's rough childhood in rural Alabama in the 1950s.

Movie Review

'Burn After Reading'

PLOT Two clueless gym employees blackmail a former CIA agent with unintended results. (R)

Movie Review

'The Women'

PLOT A wealthy woman whose husband is dallying with a salesgirl tries to find inner strength. (PG-13)

Movie Review

'Towelhead'

PLOT A young Arab-American girl navigates the troublesome waters of sexual development. (R)

BANGKOK DANGEROUS

(RATED R) Joe, the contract killer at the center of " Bangkok Dangerous," tells us two things: "No one knows who I am. No one knows where I am."

'Everybody Wants to Be Italian'

Romantic comedies don't always have the strongest concepts, but "Everybody Wants to Be Italian" begins with what barely qualifies as an idea. Jake (Jay Jablonski), owner of a Boston fish store, is hung up on an ex-girlfriend when he meets pretty veterinarian Marisa (Cerina Vincent), but decides to go out with her anyway. The catch: Each thinks the other is Italian, but neither actually is! Can you see the possibilities for hilarity?

'A Girl Cut in Two'

Sex, murder, insanity, perversity - " A Girl Cut in Two" has it all, yet it stands as a singularly classy and sophisticated drama. It's erotic without showing skin, brutal but never bloody. It's not that French director Claude Chabrol, at 78, is a prude; the depravities here seem all the more shocking having gone unseen.