Daily Herald movie list
KEY: Four stars means superior; three stars means good; two stars means average; one star means poor. D for drug use, L for language, N for nudity, S for sexual situations or references, V for violence. Ratings by Dann Gire, Daily Herald film critic, unless otherwise noted.
Picks
"Away From Her" -- Superb drama about the devastation of Alzheimer's. (PG-13) L. 110 minutes. 4 stars
"Becoming Jane" -- How Jane (Anne Hathaway) became an Austen-tacious novelist. With James McAvoy. (PG) 113 minutes. 3 stars
"The Bourne Ultimatum" -- Matt Damon's slick action sequel delivers the goods. Reviewed by Matt Arado. (PG-13) V. 111 minutes. 3 ½ stars
"Death at a Funeral" -- Stiff Brits bury a stiff -- with comic results. (R) D, L. 90 minutes. 3 stars
"Hairspray" -- Plump Baltimore girl (Nikki Blonsky) sings for tolerance of blacks and plus-sizes in this joyful musical with John Travolta in drag. (PG) 115 minutes. 3 ½ stars
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" -- Harry leads rebel wizards to stop You-Know-Who. The darkest and most confusing in the Potter series. Still entertaining. (PG-13) V. 139 minutes. 3 stars
"Hot Rod" -- Motorcycle stuntman Andy Samberg wants to save his stepfather's life so he can beat him up. Dumbness equals laughs here. (PG-13) D, L, V. 83 minutes. 3 stars
"Live Free or Die Hard" -- A computer geek (Justin Long) and a cowboy cop (Bruce Willis) save America from computerized terrorism. (PG-13) L, V. 130 minutes. 3 ½ stars
"No Reservations" -- Chefs Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart cook up a tasty and tasteful romance. (PG) 105 minutes. 3 stars
"Ocean's Thirteen" -- George, Brad and the gang target Al Pacino's casino. Lots of fun if you don't take it too seriously. (PG-13) S. 122 minutes. 3 stars
"Once" -- Two Dublin denizens make beautiful music together. (R) L. 85 minutes. 3 ½ stars
"Ratatouille" -- An animated rat cooks up a cinematic dessert in this delightful Pixar production. (G) 110 minutes. 4 stars
"Rescue Dawn" -- Riveting true story of a U.S. pilot (Christian Bale) plotting to escape a Vietcong prison. (PG-13) L, V. 120 minutes. 3 ½ stars
"Sicko" -- Michael Moore's doc knocks American health care. A fine Christian sermon, not just a doc. (PG-13) L. 113 minutes. 4 stars
"The Simpsons Movie" -- D'oh! It's really good! Reviewed by Ted Cox. (PG-13) L, N. 86 minutes. 3 ½ stars
"Superbad" -- Supergood raunchy teen comedy. (R) D, L, S, V. 112 minutes. 3 ½ stars
"Surf's Up" -- Computer-animated penguins go surfing, dude! (PG) 85 minutes. 3 stars
"Talk to Me" -- Biopic about a controversial 1960s DJ with inspired performance by Don Cheadle. (R) L, S. 118 minutes. 3 stars
"Waitress" -- A woman tries to escape her trapped, small-town life. (PG-13) L, S. 107 minutes. 4 stars
Passables
"Arctic Tale" -- A humanizing doc about polar bears and walruses struggling to survive. Reviewed by Pam DeFiglio. (G) 84 minutes. 2 ½ stars
"El Cantante" -- A shameless vanity project with good music. Salsa musician Hector Lavoe (Marc Anthony) gets his own movie. With Jennifer Lopez. Associated Press review. (R) D, L, S. 116 minutes. 2 stars
"Evan Almighty" -- God appoints a congressman as his new Noah. (PG) 90 minutes. 2 ½ stars
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" -- Captain Jack is back! (PG-13) V. 168 minutes. 2 ½ stars
"Stardust" -- Screwy fantasy inhabited by cannibalistic witches, a cross-dressing pirate and a drab young hero. Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro ham it up. (PG-13) V. 125 minutes. 2 stars
"Transformers" -- The 1980s toys become action stars. Reviewed by Matt Arado. (PG-13) L, S, V. 144 minutes. 2 stars
Pits
"Bratz" -- A witless, pointless, shallow and badly made high school comedy based on materialistic, snobby dolls. (PG) 110 minutes. Zero star
"Cut Sleeve Boys" -- Chinese gays in London live cliched lives. At the Century Centre Cinema in Chicago. (NR) D, L, N, S. 86 minutes. 1 star
"Daddy Day Camp" -- Cuba Gooding Jr. runs a summer camp in this pandering kids comedy. (PG) 93 minutes. 1 ½ stars
"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" -- Superheroes fight a platinum Oscar on a silver surfboard. (PG) 92 minutes. 1 ½ stars
"I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" -- Two Brooklyn firefighters (Kevin James and Adam Sandler) pretend to be gay to gain city benefits. Homophobic jokes with a hammered message of tolerance. (PG-13) D, L, N, S. 115 minutes. 1 ½ stars
"The Invasion" -- Alien virus turns humans into emotionless peaceniks. (PG-13) V. 95 minutes. 1 ½ stars
"Nancy Drew" -- The teen sleuth returns in a light thriller way duller than her IQ. (PG) 99 minutes. 1 star
"Rush Hour 3" -- Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker return as cops in this Tuckered-out action sequel. (PG-13) L, V. 91 minutes. 1 ½ star
"Shrek the Third" -- The green ogre returns with his sense of humor frayed. (PG) 92 minutes. 1 ½ star
"Underdog" -- The 1960s cartoon super mutt can't survive this lackluster, simple-minded CGI/live-action update. (PG) 84 minutes. 1 star
Unpreviewed
"The Last Legion" -- A 12-year-old emperor saves Rome. Not screened for critics, and we all know what that means. (PG-13) V. 110 minutes.
"La Vie En Rose" -- Edith Piaf's story. (PG-13)
"Rocket Science" -- More comic adolescent angst. At the Century Centre Cinema in Chicago and the Evanston CineArts 6. (R) L, S. 98 minutes.