The first big sex symbol of the summer gets it Up (See Opening)

Weekly Film Listings May 28-June 3

not all film updates were available at press time. Please call theatres to confirm titles and times.

OPENING

Up -(Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice/Star) There is huge buzz surrounding this animated feature about a crusty old geezer who, when faced with the prospect of being forced into a care home, literally floats off into a series of wacky adventures. This looks great! Starts Fri.

Drag Me to Hell -(Odeon/SilverCity) Before Spider-Man, writer-director Sam Raimi was an auteur of horror flicks and he returns to his roots with this ghastly (but sometimes comedic) tale of a process server who gets hammered with a supernatural curse by a witchy old woman who resents getting evicted. Starts Fri.

CONTINUING

★★½ Angels & Demons -(Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice/Star) Combining apocalyptic antimatter and a vengeful secret sect known as the Illuminati, this sequel to the wildly lucrative Da Vinci Code is fast paced but repetitive as Tom Hanks once again penetrates religious secrets to unearth all-too-human (and nasty) truths.

★ Dance Flick -(Capitol) Those wackily vulgar spoofmeisters the Wayans Brothers are back, this time doing a truly lousy job of trashing teen dance movies like Step Up. See review.

★½ Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - (Odeon) The increasingly shallow Matthew McConaughey is well cast as a Lothario who is visited by Christmas Carol-style ghosts who torment him with visions of his childhood sweetheart’s marriage. This is malignant sludge, alternately vulgar and sentimental. Costarring Jennifer Garner and Michael Douglas.

★★ Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian -(Odeon/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice/Star) Ben Stiller reprises his role as a hapless yet brave security guard, in a noisy and less-than-charming comedy sequel co-starring Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, Amy Adams and Eugene Levy.

★★★¼ The Soloist - (Capitol) This true story features an L.A. journalist (Robert Downey Jr., predictably witty and brilliant) who loses all his objectivity when he begins to profile a mentally ill street person (Jamie Foxx) who used to be a brilliant cellist from Juilliard. Far from the predictable “uplifting” story you’d expect from Hollywood, and directed with elegance (albeit sometimes too studied and poetical) by Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice).

★★★★ Star Trek -(Odeon/SilverCity/Uni 4) Another “origins” flick, this one showing us younger versions of James Kirk, Spock, and all the other inter-galactic icons who call the USS Enterprise home. Directed by J.J. Abrams (Lost) with humour, pace and a rollicking sense of style: it’s the Magic Flute of space operas!

★★★ State of Play - (Odeon) Based on an acclaimed BBC miniseries, this political thriller follows a pair of reporters competing with the police to discover who murdered a congressman’s mistress—and why. The great cast includes Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren and Ben Affleck.

★★½ Terminator: Salvation - (Capitol/SilverCity) It might be time terminate this reboot of the increasingly tired series about killer cyborgs and an imminent global apocalypse. See review.

★★★ X-Men Origins: Wolverine - (Odeon/SilverCity) The great Hugh Jackman gets a lot of screen time in which to slash with his claws and do other anti-social stuff with a host of other mean-minded mutants.

LEAVING THURSDAY

★★★¼ Monsters vs. Aliens - (SilverCity)

★★★ The Pool - (Odeon)

★★¾ Earth - (Roxy, 7:15 daily) NOTE: The Roxy will be closed for renovations this week.

IMAX

Cosmic Voyage - (10am, 4:00) Let IMAX take you on an inter-galactic voyage to the farthest reaches of our mysterious, beautiful universe.

★★ Extreme- (1:00 Fri. & Wed. only, 8pm Fri. only) The latest on the ultimate big screen features radical athletes who like to risk death by surfing 45-foot waves, skiing down near-vertical slopes, and climbing frozen waterfalls.

Journey to Mecca -(11am, 2:00, 5:00, 7:00) Both historical and present-day Muslim are depicted undertaking the Hajj, an annual pilgrimmage to Mecca that is the largest religious ritual of its kind in the world.

★★★½ Ocean Oasis - (noon, 3:00, 6:00) This film takes you swimming with dolphins and manta rays in Mexico’s Sea of Cortes, then goes soaring above the nearby tropical desert of the Baja. This is a lyrical immersion into a special part of the natural world.

Wired to win - (1:00 Sat.-Tues. only, 8pm Sat.-Thurs. only) It takes more than leg power to win the Tour de France, as you'll find out on this journey into the inner and outer worlds of international athletes.

SCREENINGS

Movie Monday - screens Bolt. This animated family comedy features a dog, the star of a TV show, who thinks he really has super powers. When he escapes from the set and tries to be superdog, much comedic chaos ensues. Showtimes are 6:30 pm MONDAYS. 2326 Trent. By donation. 595-FLIC. moviemonday.ca

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO - Join the Council of Canadians coffee night for this screening and discussion, 7:00-9:00 TUESDAY at the BCGEU building, 2994 Douglas (free parking at Lifestyles Plaza next door). Free, but donations accepted. 250-483-1277.

MEMORY OF THE CACTUS - This short film reveals the true story behind Israel's “Canada Park,” a story of destruction and Palestinian dispossession. Discussion to follow. 7pm WEDNESDAY at Camas Books, 2590 Quadra. By donation.

CINECENTA

Cinecenta at UVic screens its films in the Student Union Building. Tickets are available 40 minutes prior to showtime. Info: 721-8365. cinecenta.com

★★★¼ Che, Part 2 - (Wed.-Thurs., May 26-28: 7:00, 9:30) Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro continue the saga of iconic revolutionary Che Guevara. After helping win the Cuban Revoltion in Part One, Che eventually runs out of luck while trying to foment rebellion in Bolivia.

★★★¼ Watchmen -(Fri.-Sat., May 29-30: 6:45, 9:45) Director Zack Snyder (300) has done an impressive job of adapting the seminal, multi-layered graphic novel that deconstructs the sci-fi/fantasy world it is set in. Trippy, ambitious and visually clever but also a bit bloated and ultimately stuck in the candy-coloured world of comic-book thought.

★★ La Strada -(Sun.-Mon., May 31-June 1: 7:00 only) This early (1954) film by Federico Fellini, about the dark relationship between a circus strongman (Anthony Quinn) and his meek wife (Giulietta Masina), is a touching masterpiece that won Italy’s most famous director the first of four Oscars.

★★★ Stone of Destiny -(Tues., June 2: 7:00, 9:00) Actor-director Charles Martin Smith wrote and directed this quaintly charming and very funny, true-life tale about a quartet of proud young Scots who snuck down to Westminster Abbey in 1950 to steal a historic artifact that gallingly represented England’s ongoing dominion over Scotland. This won the “audience favourite award” at the recent Victoria Film Festival.

★★★★ Hunger -(Wed.-Thurs., June 3-4: 7:00, 9:10) The fatal hunger strike of IRA martyr Bobby Sands is the subject of this harrowing, intense, philosophical and even-handed look at the state of the Irish “troubles” in the early 1980s.