Weekly Film Listings November 20-26

OPENING

Bolt - (Capitol/SilverCity/Caprice) This animated family comedy features a dog, the star of a TV show, who thinks he really has superpowers. When he escapes from the set and tries to be superdog, much comedic chaos ensues. Starts Friday.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - (Odeon) Set in Nazi Germany, this drama features the eight-year-old son of a concentration camp commandant (the great David Thewlis) who befriends a boy his own age on the other side of a chain-link fence—unaware that he is a Jewish POW. Starts Friday.

Extreme - (IMAX) The latest on the ultimate big screen features so-called extreme athletes who like to risk death by surfing 60-foot waves, skiing down near-vertical slopes, and other forms of legal insanity. The adrenaline pumps starting Friday.

Twilight - (Star, 7:00; Fri.-Sat., 9:30;

Sat.-Sun., Tue., 2:00/Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4) Millions of tweens are waiting to sink their teeth into the film version of the popular book series focusing on the supernatural romance between a cute human girl and a soulful vampire dude. Love hurts, starting this Friday.

CONTINUING

The Alps - (IMAX) Hit the heights with the newest IMAX offering, which chronicles a daring ascent of the deadly Eiger face.

***½ Body of Lies - (Roxy, 7:00) Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott helms this corkscrew-plotted spy thriller about CIA agents trying to outsmart each other and some very bad guys in the Middle East. Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe are the stars.

***½ Changeling - (Odeon) Clint Eastwood directs and Angelina Jolie stars, in a grim and disturbing true-life drama from 1920s Los Angeles about a single mother whose son his abducted. The story gets weird when the police return him—only the mom says it’s not her child, and things become ugly. This tale of death and police corruption is not for the faint of heart.

***The Dark Knight - (IMAX) The dark death of Heath Ledger casts a shadow over the latest Batman tale. Although initially gripping, this is an A-list film trying way too hard to find thematic depth in comic book material. With Christian Bale, Gary Oldman and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia - (IMAX) Donald Sutherland narrates this speculative account of the life of a dinosaur in the Argentina of hundreds of millions of years ago.

*** Heaven on Earth - (Capitol) Oscar-nominated Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehta (Water) explores the plight of a young Indian woman flown to Canada for an arranged marriage where things don’t work out. Note: ends Tues., Nov. 25.

** High School Musical 3: Senior Year - (Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4) A better name would be High School Overkill, as Disney’s tuneful teens migrate from TV to the silver screen for a revved up and squeaky clean bunch of singing and dancing. Although harmless fun this is bland and one-dimensional, with robo-choreography that seems derived from the Thriller video.

*** Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - (SilverCity/Capitol/Uni 4/Caprice) In this sequel to the animated hit from 2005, all those escapee zoo animals crash-land in Africa—and find out what “into the wild” is all about. The storyline hits a few potholes, but this is a funny and tuneful charmer. With voices by Chris Rock, Ben Stiller and David Schwimmer.

**½ Passchendaele - (Odeon) Paul “multi-talented” Gross wrote, directed and stars in this brutal account of the epic World War I battle that Canada was instrumental in winning. Despite an excess of symbol-mongering and sentimentality, this appropriately old-fashioned film is a serious and thoughtful tribute to our country’s long-ago soldiers. Note: leaves Tues., Nov. 25.

*** Quantum of Solace - (Star, 7:15; Fri,-Sat., 9:20; Sat.-Sun., Tue., 2:15/Odeon/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice) James Bond is back and looking for revenge on the people who killed the only woman he ever loved, in a violent, rather bleak film that certainly won’t appeal to fans of the series who prefer the cartoonish touch of Roger Moore. The plot is only middling, but the hard-edged action scenes have a tangy brutality. See review.

**** Rachel Getting Married - (Odeon) A de-glammed Anne Hathaway is getting Oscar buzz for her performance as the prodigal daughter who gets out of rehab to attend her sister’s wedding. Jonathan Demme directs this utterly persuasive and immersive portrait of a dysfunctional family trying to come to terms with a lifetime of emotional misconnection.

Role Models - (Capitol/SilverCity) Bad behaviour lands two young men in court, where they are sentenced to perform 150 hours of community service for Big Brothers. Predictably, their unruly charges make their lives a living hell.The Secret Life of Bees - (Odeon) Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifah star in a promising period drama about a 14-year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother.

** Synecdoche, New York - (Odeon) Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) stars as a playwright undergoing a midlife crisis (and other transformations), in a wildly ambitious comedy-drama with Catherine Keener, Hope Davis and Samantha Morton. This marks the directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman, screenwriter of Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Despite exploring potentially touching themes such as aging and death, this ploddingly directed and clever-clever “meta” film is such a deeply ironic brain game that it eventually vanishes up its own ass.

** Zack and Miri Make a Porno - (Roxy, 9:15/SilverCity) The once-talented writer-director Kevin Smith (Dogma, Jersey Girl) settles for stupid vulgarity mixed with ham-handed romanticism in a comedy about two lifelong platonic friends who, when strapped for cash, decide to make an adult film. Starring the chubby slacker’s Cary Grant, Seth Rogen.

IMAX

The Alps - (11am, 2:00, 5:00; and also 7:00, Sun.-Wed.)

*** The Dark Knight - (7:00 only, Thurs.-Sat.)

Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia - (10am, noon, 3:00)

Extreme - (1:00, 4:00, 6:00; and also 8:00, Sun.-Wed.)

SCREENINGS

Social Justice Film Night - The Goods for Cuba Campaign hosts a screening of War on Democracy, John Pilger’s examination of the role of Washington in America’s manipulation of Latin American politics during the last 50 years. 7pm THURSDAY at BCGEU Hall, 2994 Douglas. By donation. 250-743-2994.

Club Cinoche - This French movie night series continues with 2007’s Les 3 P’tits Cochons. 7pm THURSDAY at Victor Brodeur School, 637 Head. $2-$5. francocentre.com

Amnesty International Human Rights Film Festival - (See Arts) Check out eight powerful stories of human struggle, sacrifice and triumph at this seventh annual event. 7pm-9pm FRIDAY-SUNDAY at UVic’s David Lam Auditorium. By donation. Check amnestyfilmsvictoria.ca for full details.

Films on Palestine - CAIA-Victoria presents a variety of films including Palestine for Beginners and Reel Bad Arabs. 1pm SUNDAY at BCGEU Hall, 2994 Douglas. By donation.

Movie Monday - Showing Cracked Not Broken. This is the harshly fascinating documentary portrait of a crack-addicted woman who fell from a comfortable and successful life into addiction and prostitution. Addiction author Gabor Maté will be along to facilitate a discussion. 6:30pm at Eric Martin Pavillion, 2326 Trent. By donation. 595-FLIC. moviemonday.ca

CINECENTA

Man On Wire - (Wed.-Thurs., Nov. 19-20: 7:00, 9:00) Reviews have been through the roof for this documentary about a French wirewalker who, in 1974, spent an hour cavorting on a wire strung between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. This was one of the man’s many illegal such capers, and his exuberant personality shines through in this acclaimed portrait.

** Mamma Mia! - (Fri.-Sun., Nov. 21-23: 2:30, 7:00, 9:15) Everyone’s favourite ABBA-based musical comes to the screen, starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan. Weirdly edited and cheesier than feta pie, this is the year’s funnest bad movie. Note: this is the sing-along version.

Meet Dave - (Sat.-Sun., Nov. 22-23: 12:30 matinee) Eddie Murphy has a double role in this truly peculiar sci-fi-flavoured comedy about a crew of tiny space aliens whose ship—cleverly disguised as a human being—becomes romantically attracted to a pert earthling. If that makes any sense, you may actually find this funny.

I.O.U.S.A. - (Mon.-Thurs., Nov. 24-27: 7:10, 9:00) This acclaimed documentary offers a truly scary look at the failing American economy. After years of living beyond its means and allowing a greedy and unregulated financial sector to run amok, the U.S. has precipitated a financial crisis of literally global proportions. Here’s a chance to find out the bad news—explained in a comprehensible fashion. A Victoria premiere.