http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/?track=rss Headlines from calendarlive.com en ©2009, calendarlive.com Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 calendarlive/movies/reviewshttp://feedburner.google.com http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/9Sgn2XGcfrg/cl-et-betsy26-2009nov26,0,7105530.story Director David Lean would do many films in his 83 years, but he would become a master of sweeping historical dramas, "Doctor Zhivago" and "A Passage to India" among them. On Friday night, the Egyptian Theatre will have one of Lean's greatest in "Lawrence of Arabia." The 1962 film won seven Oscars and became a career changer for its star, Peter O'Toole. The tragedy is that too many movie buffs have never witnessed O'Toole as Lawrence on the big screen -- racing on horseback across an endless desert, battered by winds, changed by time. The sheer beauty and magnitude of the images will truly take you away. For those of you who've never experienced Lean in breathtaking 70-millimeter (and no, a 60-inch plasma doesn't count), celebrate the day after Thanksgiving watching instead of shopping. Who knows when Lawrence will return again? <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3kkDHMaWL1jzzBBEfoLtxBSVJ_s/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3kkDHMaWL1jzzBBEfoLtxBSVJ_s/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3kkDHMaWL1jzzBBEfoLtxBSVJ_s/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3kkDHMaWL1jzzBBEfoLtxBSVJ_s/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/9Sgn2XGcfrg" height="1" width="1"/> Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-betsy26-2009nov26,0,7105530.story?track=rss http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/mkLz3sHbZS0/cl-et-kenny26-2009nov26,0,6646776.story Bodies in motion tend to remain in motion, but almost never with the heart-stirring beauty and grace on view in Frederick Wiseman's exceptional portrait of the Paris Opera Ballet, "La Danse." It's a film that takes you inside the essence of dance in such an intense way that if you don't already swoon over this art form, you'll wonder what took you so long. To be so close to these performers is to understand what makes ballet such an elevated form of human activity. Choreographer Maurice Bejart defined a ballet dancer as "half nun, half boxer," and it is the triumph of Wiseman's method, and this film, that it shows exactly what Bejart meant. <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BROA7b0xVQ_K7QOSMkLLCu9Fl84/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BROA7b0xVQ_K7QOSMkLLCu9Fl84/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BROA7b0xVQ_K7QOSMkLLCu9Fl84/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BROA7b0xVQ_K7QOSMkLLCu9Fl84/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/mkLz3sHbZS0" height="1" width="1"/> Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-kenny26-2009nov26,0,6646776.story?track=rss http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/ydDloaf3mzc/cl-et-princess25-2009nov25,0,5659229.story The hand-drawn animated Disney film set in jazz-soaked 1920s New Orleans is a refreshing, lively version of the fairy tale. <br/><br/> Go ahead and pucker up. Because long before "The Princess and the Frog" is over you'll want to smooch the charming couple, air kiss a romantic firefly and hug a voodoo queen in this foot-stomping, smile-inducing, heart-warming animated twist on the old Brothers Grimm frog-prince fairy tale. <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/IFgbjn7Ay1DOnug-fZiGMWuvMH0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/IFgbjn7Ay1DOnug-fZiGMWuvMH0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/IFgbjn7Ay1DOnug-fZiGMWuvMH0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/IFgbjn7Ay1DOnug-fZiGMWuvMH0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/ydDloaf3mzc" height="1" width="1"/> Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-princess25-2009nov25,0,5659229.story?track=rss http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/pIgp-5VQUWo/cl-et-road25-2009nov25,0,3675757.story An honorable, yet unfulfilling, attempt at filming Cormac McCarthy's unfilmable book. <br/><br/> "The Road" is a road you'll wish hadn't been taken. Not because anything's been badly done, but because there's a serious imbalance in the complicated equation between what the film forces us to endure and what we end up receiving in return. <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/7VhGSFfGroLP9a_8Ry1Zd0Dc6nA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/7VhGSFfGroLP9a_8Ry1Zd0Dc6nA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/7VhGSFfGroLP9a_8Ry1Zd0Dc6nA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/7VhGSFfGroLP9a_8Ry1Zd0Dc6nA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/pIgp-5VQUWo" height="1" width="1"/> Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-road25-2009nov25,0,3675757.story?track=rss http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/tXliWb35XNo/cl-et-redcliff25-2009nov25,0,4305938.story Director John Woo returns to his roots with a different kind of action picture than he is known for in Hollywood, an old-fashioned historical epic based on an AD 208 Chinese battle. <br/><br/> John Woo has set himself a new challenge in "Red Cliff," and that's to be as old-fashioned as possible. Returning to his roots after a stint in Hollywood, Woo has made the most expensive film in mainland Chinese history, a pleasantly traditional picture that marks a new direction for one of the world's premier action maestros. <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/mMHZc1WZdvCEMP9pYvJAIBa2P0A/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/mMHZc1WZdvCEMP9pYvJAIBa2P0A/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/mMHZc1WZdvCEMP9pYvJAIBa2P0A/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/mMHZc1WZdvCEMP9pYvJAIBa2P0A/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/tXliWb35XNo" height="1" width="1"/> Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-redcliff25-2009nov25,0,4305938.story?track=rss http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/aJvJMgIf6FA/cl-et-orson25-2009nov25,0,4409360.story The famed director, as played by Christian McKay, can't help but be larger than life, even with Claire Danes and Zac Efron along for the ride. <br/><br/> "Me and Orson Welles" is a frothy backstage pass, courtesy of director Richard Linklater, to the early days of the great director (that would be Welles) during a stint as the mercurial head of the Mercury Theater Company in 1937. <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BNBge1gNnmFsxd4OTECPpjRYPSc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BNBge1gNnmFsxd4OTECPpjRYPSc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BNBge1gNnmFsxd4OTECPpjRYPSc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BNBge1gNnmFsxd4OTECPpjRYPSc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/aJvJMgIf6FA" height="1" width="1"/> Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-orson25-2009nov25,0,4409360.story?track=rss http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/cWbCUFk2fG8/cl-et-ninja25-2009nov25,0,5279699.story Korean star Rain metes out bloody revenge in a script low on story but big on all-out violence. <br/><br/> In "Ninja Assassin," which is numbingly gory when it isn't just plain numbing, the assassin Raizo, played by Korean pop star and budding actor Rain, rains down on his interchangeable adversaries like his own name. The script is pretty damp too. A deadly (duh) sect of super-secret ninjas (duh) known as the Ozunu Clan stakes a claim to the ownership of Raizo, trained from abusive childhood onward to become the most lethal of all the clan members. But he doesn't like the way they killed his sweetheart, so he bolts, goes undercover and eventually joins the Europol agent (Naomie Harris from "Pirates of the Caribbean" parts 2 and 3) who's stationed in Berlin and hot on the trail of several unsolved murders that seem like total ninja assassin handiwork. <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/H9FdQ5CWVGM86nLo5iXYhKxhzc0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/H9FdQ5CWVGM86nLo5iXYhKxhzc0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/H9FdQ5CWVGM86nLo5iXYhKxhzc0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/H9FdQ5CWVGM86nLo5iXYhKxhzc0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/cWbCUFk2fG8" height="1" width="1"/> Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-ninja25-2009nov25,0,5279699.story?track=rss http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/ZylvWjFjqts/cl-et-olddogs25-2009nov25,0,3619523.story The Disney comedy in the 'Wild Hogs' vein starring John Travolta and Robin Williams is thuddingly unfunny. <br/><br/> "Wild Hogs," "Old Dogs" -- what's next, "Bumps on Logs"? Truly, I would rather watch John Travolta and Robin Williams sitting on a tree trunk, doing nothing, than endure their best efforts to energize this ol' hound. <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Xw7YWUvWd0ukLtt3FyXCtylvkrU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Xw7YWUvWd0ukLtt3FyXCtylvkrU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Xw7YWUvWd0ukLtt3FyXCtylvkrU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Xw7YWUvWd0ukLtt3FyXCtylvkrU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/ZylvWjFjqts" height="1" width="1"/> Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-olddogs25-2009nov25,0,3619523.story?track=rss http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/GIsKoPG6HxY/cl-et-end-poverty25-2009nov25,0,4020881.story Philippe Diaz's one-sided documentary lays blame for the world's ills on the doorstep of the U.S. and Europe, but its dry, dense construction makes it feel more like a textbook than cinema. <br/><br/> "The End of Poverty?" covers a wealth of territory in an attempt to answer its central question: Why does poverty persist in a world of growing wealth? Unfortunately, this globe-hopping documentary, written, directed and shot by Philippe Diaz, takes such a dry and long-winded approach to its vital topic that it often loses focus and tries patience. <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3Z7nIMxzm2Zn6x9XdfZC5BfKrSU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3Z7nIMxzm2Zn6x9XdfZC5BfKrSU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3Z7nIMxzm2Zn6x9XdfZC5BfKrSU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3Z7nIMxzm2Zn6x9XdfZC5BfKrSU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/GIsKoPG6HxY" height="1" width="1"/> Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-end-poverty25-2009nov25,0,4020881.story?track=rss http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~3/r1hbUCFLPu4/cl-et-princessbox25-2009nov25,0,632586.story 'The Princess and the Frog' MPAA rating: G for general audiences <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/AI7rfRW8X-fWhgRo1WatquzmqWE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/AI7rfRW8X-fWhgRo1WatquzmqWE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/AI7rfRW8X-fWhgRo1WatquzmqWE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/AI7rfRW8X-fWhgRo1WatquzmqWE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/calendarlive/movies/reviews/~4/r1hbUCFLPu4" height="1" width="1"/> Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-princessbox25-2009nov25,0,632586.story?track=rss