‘Hey Bartender’
Director: Douglas Tirola
Genre: Documentary
Rating: NR
3 (out of 5) Globes

A trend isn’t a trend until it’s been made into a niche documentary that does little but acknowledge its existence. With the entertaining if thin “Hey Bartender,” the craft cocktail craze that’s been sweeping major cities — and the living rooms of “Mad Men” devotees — finally becomes official, and good for it. Booze, as the filmmakers briefly acknowledge, has had a hell of a time. Prohibition killed the country’s respect for the social lubricant. It recovered, slightly, in the ‘50s and ‘60s, only for terrible beer to dominate sales, and bars to be re-centered on DJs. Only semi-recently have people come back to respecting the bartender as an artist (or, as per the irksome term, “mixologist”), able to sling both the classics and new, tastier inventions.

“Hey Bartender” spends most of its time in Manhattan, and much of that time at Employees Only, an oaky, upscale West Village haunt where the staff, many of them fond of wax mustaches, treat the job with the seriousness of ruthless businessmen. A niche documentary needs a token lead to root for, and so we follow Steve Schneider, an ex-military type whose only career goal is to move from apprentice to head bartender. It also requires a competition, so there’s one of those as well.

Both aspects are pleasant if hardly earth-shaking, and the film fills itself out by engagingly exposing the city’s swelling cocktail scene, hanging with its pioneers and learning of its growing notoriety. It’s a big deal when the James Beard Foundation belatedly acknowledges the cocktail as an epicurean art.

What’s not acknowledged is much outside of this cloistered world. We hear talk of how bars, in the Golden Age of cocktails during the 1880s, were for the working man. But there’s no admission that today’s cocktails are for the thoughtlessly wealthy, who can spend what many blue collar types make in two hours on a single drink. This pricey scene has cropped up in a downturn economy, and yet the only ones getting the good stuff are those who don’t have to worry about the next paycheck.

As contrast, “Hey Bartender” occasionally swings by Dunville’s, a longtime bar in Westport, Conn., where the owner ekes by on regulars but dreams bigger. Not enough time is spent here, and not enough connections are made between the outrageously successful Employees Only and this scrappier joint. “America’s getting its palate back,” cries one guest. That may be so, but there’s a long way before that applies to all of America.

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‘Violet & Daisy’
Director: Geoffrey Fletcher
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Alexis Bledel
Rating: R
3 (out of 5) Globes

“Pulp Fiction” is a year shy of two decades old, so it’s possibly OK to finally rehash one of its most famous scenes. In the opening of “Violet & Daisy,” two young friends (Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan, respectively) strut through an apartment building. Dressed inexplicably as nuns and, more inexplicably, carrying a pizza box each, they idly chat about this and that. Finally they stop in front of a door, kick it open and bust out the guns they’ve been hiding in their pizzas. Had this scene occurred in the ‘90s, when it seemed like every fifth film was a Tarantino knockoff, one would have been required to cry foul. In the 2010s, it’s more like a nice homage.

The twist of “Violet & Daisy” is that its psycho killers are young women who act even younger. When they’re not gunning down marks with a gun in each hand, the two dance around in PJs, eat cookies, obsess over a pop singer and play patty cake, with each other and even with Danny Trejo, as their mysterious contact. The joke is that the only ones who would be so blasé about gunning down people en masse are those stuck in arrested development. At one point, after mowing down some baddies, they celebrate by giddily dancing atop their fresh corpses, blood popping out of their mouths and wounds with every pounce.

They’re in need of a lesson, and they get one. Their latest job brings them to the tiny apartment of Michael (James Gandolfini), a sadsack who hijacked a supply of cologne from the wrong guy. He has pancreatic cancer and unresolved issues with his estranged daughter, and welcomes a bullet to the head, which only serves to throw our anti-heroines off their game.

What starts out as a poppy and energetic (if dimly lit) bundle of dark fun, complete with scenes opening and closing with irises and chapter titles, soon turns theatrical, with our characters settling in Michael’s apartment for a series of chats. This is a very indie way to go, but director Geoffrey Fletcher — who wrote “Precious,” though don’t hold that against him — finds a way to keep it fresh and twisty. “Violet & Daisy” shouldn’t work, should be a trainwreck of crazy tones and shrunken expectations. But it just barely works, thanks in part to actors and filmmakers who keep a tightrope balance between reality and lovely artifice.

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‘Much Ado About Nothing’
Director: Joss Whedon
Stars: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof
Rating: PG-13
2 (out of 5) Globes

More than most television masters, Joss Whedon commands a cultlike following. His devotees will flock en masse to anything he does, and they’re currently going gaga over his unexpected adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing,” which is cast not with grizzled Shakespearean thespians but with vets from his shows. This crowd reportedly finds it a treat to see Whedon regulars, like Amy Acker and Fran Kranz, doing iambic pentameter, and that’s fine. Outsiders who’ve only seen a few episodes of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and casually enjoyed “Firefly” might wonder why it exists at all, much less why it’s getting select raves.

Indeed, Whedon’s “Much Ado About Nothing” — his latest project since “The Avengers,” only the third highest grossing film ever — starts off like amateur night. Whedon’s actors may be beloved among his fans, and they may have been excellent on his show. But most of them can’t do Shakespeare. Stiff performers rattle off lines as though they learned them phonetically, while Whedon shoots them in bland black-and-white, because otherwise it would look cheaper and more visually impaired than it already does.

Things settle down once the film gets into the conjured romance between headstrong Beatrice (Acker) and on-leave soldier Benedick (Alexis Denisof). There are few performers here comfortable with Shakespeare, and Denisof isn’t one of them. Acker is, as is Clark Gregg, playing moneyed patriarch Leonato. Hugely appealing, Acker almost makes the Beatrice-Benedick romance, the play’s comic and emotional centerpiece, work by sheer force of will.

Everyone else is stranded, struggling to find meaning in words they clearly don’t always understand. The scant physical comedy, particularly by Denisof, is forced and unfunny; even poor, otherwise terrific Nathan Fillion flails about as bumbling constable Dogberry. Kranz, usually a comic foil, is egregiously miscast as the moony, touchy Claudio, who’s duped into thinking his betrothed (Jillian Morgese) is not a virgin, and therefore worthy of death (such are the problems with updating an era-specific play for modern times.)

The few pleasures in Whedon’s film are strong enough to ensure it isn’t wholly worth writing off. And besides, “Much Ado About Nothing” is still “Much Ado About Nothing.” But for the most part it’s a fans-only endeavor. Those who would follow Whedon anywhere are advised to ignore these harsh words and head to the theater. The rest can take solace in knowing there’s already another “Ado” film, from 1993, that is strong enough to survive Keanu Reeves doing Shakespeare, and which features, in Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh, a Beatrice and Benedick for the ages. This is just for Whedonites.

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‘Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie’
Directors: Seth Miller, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger
Genre: Documentary
Rating: R
4 (out of 5) Globes

It was almost too good (or bad) to be true: For a comically short time (i.e., less than two years), “The Morton Downey Jr. Show” burned bright as the most controversial program on late ‘80s television. Its host, a pursed-lip gargoyle who plowed through four packs a day, brought classy guests onto his skuzzy, low-rent show. There he stirred up chaos among his audience of rowdy, emasculated Jersey boys by hurling obscenities, invective and all-too-real-seeming outrage. Through his reign he drove the normally collected Ron Paul into a tizzy, recklessly inflamed the Tawana Brawley incident and swapped flirty put-downs with Gloria Allred.

Today, he’s almost forgotten — but he shouldn’t be. “Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie” holds his work up as a predecessor to both the trash talk show detritus of the ‘90s and the easily riled hysteria of Fox News and the Tea Party. Unlike the recent Andrew Breitbart documentary, “Evocateur” is no hagiography. It’s in awe of the man’s passion if not necessarily his message, and does some digging to find the person underneath the blowhard.

Born Sean, his father was, of course, Morton Downey, known as the Irish Nightingale, one of the biggest singers of the 1930s and ‘40s. His aunt was the great Hollywood actress Joan Bennett. MDJ hated his father, but borrowed his name anyway when he tried to become a singer himself. (Happily he had enough tiny success that footage exists of him crooning a torch song in an early music film.) If the image of MDJ as a pleasant pretty boy runs hilariously up against his traditional fire-breathing sociopath image wasn’t enough, the filmmakers also drum up photos of him hanging happily with Ted Kennedy in the 1960s, a future object of his ire.

No one can stay turned-up-to-11 pissed for very long, and “Evocateur” depicts his very brief mega-fame as a kind of possession: a mid-life crisis that made him finally more famous than his father, but took him back to where he started. Lung cancer ravaged his body, and finally, this outrage machine who yelled at anyone with the tiniest bit of authority and jetted around the world while pretending to be a working class hero was reduced to pleading with people not to be a miserable nicotine addict like him. Without taking his side, “Evocateur” makes us feel genuinely terrible for him.

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The iPad and its feisty little brother the iPhone are known the world over for being fantastic gaming machines. One genre that particularly shines on their glossy, fingerprint-laden screens? Endless runners. The best of the genre, like “Temple Run” and “Jetpack Joyride,” offer an addictive experience that is perfect for bite-sized gaming sessions. Here are a few new titles vying for “best of” status.

‘Robot Unicorn Attack 2’
Company: Adult Swim Games
System: iPad/iPhone
Cost: Free
Rating: 5 (out of 5) Globes

The first “Robot Unicorn Attack” was a joyous, cacophonous experience that could only come from the warped minds at Adult Swim. This sequel amps up just about everything you loved in the original. There are more power-ups for your unicorn, an even better synth-based soundtrack and a fantastic mission-based structure.

There’s also a unique online mode. You are assigned a team, good or evil, and everything you do works toward your team’s total score. The course you run changes daily, so you can’t cheat and memorize every nook and cranny. This is a “freemium” game, but RUA2 manages to avoid most of the associated pitfalls. It’ll ask for money every now and again, but the prompts are easy to ignore.

‘Worm Run’
Company: Golden Ruby Games
System: iPad/iPhone
Cost: $1
Rating: 5 (out of 5) Globes

“Worm Run” is a surreal mix of endless running and survival horror. The end result of this odd mash-up? A total adrenaline-fueled and frantic rush. The game tasks you as a spaceman who is being chased by a giant worm, “Tremors”-style. You have to run, climb and jump your way to freedom. Unfortunately, that danged worm never lets up, and freedom is short-lived at best. Maybe it’s an analogy for life, or my last marriage. Ba-dum-dum.

The controls are entirely swipe-based, which works marvelously. The precision required to avoid that giant, bloodthirsty worm makes the game a better fit for the iPad’s large screen, however. Even on the iPhone, though, it is totally worth a buck.

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‘The Angels’ Share’
Director: Ken Loach
Stars: Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw
Rating: NR
3 (out of 5) globes

The British filmmaker Ken Loach (“My Name is Joe,” “The Wind That Shakes the Barley”) is a prolific and committed chronicler of the working class; his public statement on the recent passing of Margaret Thatcher was not one of the kind ones. Nevertheless, every two or three of his many films tends to be a goofy, rollicking comedy. “Looking for Eric” even rehashed “Play It Again Sam” with a postman and his imaginary friend, real-life footballer Eric Cantona (as himself). But there’s always, always a point when the fun stops dead in its tracks, with grim reality, even tragedy, abruptly stepping back in as a severe buzzkill.

“The Angels’ Share,” the most recent film by Loach (and screenwriter Paul Laverty), improbably inverts this schematic: It’s a grim, depressing drama suddenly redeemed, if you will, by an affably inane Hollywood heist plot. Another charismatic Loach find, newcomer Paul Brannigan plays a young hothead with a history of violence so deep and scary he’s barred from his own son’s birth. Finally looking to turn his life around, he discovers that he has an innately strong nose for whiskey, around the same time he learns a cask of the world’s rarest whiskey, a batch “beyond price,” is about to auctioned off. Could he and a few of his wacky community-service buds perhaps siphon some off and sell it to the highest bidder?

What starts off as intense, even for Loach — a flashback shows our coked-up hero beating a poor guy nearly to death — eventually turns into the type of film that plays The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” twice. Granted, that’s Loach’s biggest concession to the popcorn crowd. Even as this turns into a low-rent “Ocean’s Eleven,” crossed with a slobs versus snobs comedy — in which lower class Glaswegians with accents so thick they require subtitles invade the prim world of booze connoisseurs — Loach and Laverty keep one foot in downer reality. Even a hilariously offhand screw-up in their plan produces a stretch of very real and very unpleasant shouting. Other, more broad jokes play straight, as when one thirsty guy farts before downing a spit jar that’s also filled with puke. Is it a film that subverts the “Full Monty” feel-good template or succumbs to it? Either way, and as ever, it’s just good that a guy as serious as Loach has a huge sense of humor.

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The cast of “It’s a Disaster” try not to react to the end of the world (or at least Los Angeles).
Credit: Oscilloscope Laboratories

‘It’s a Disaster’
Director: Todd Berger
Stars: David Cross, Julia Stiles
Rating: R
2 (out of 5) Globes

“Kick-me titles” are rarely as hard to resist as “It’s a Disaster.” So it’s sad to report that the film that bears its name is merely only fitfully amusing, with a couple of decent ideas amidst a desert of lazy dead weight. David Cross plays, improbably, the straight man, invited into a house of grotesques for Sunday brunch. His new girlfriend (Julia Stiles) seems relatively together, apart from the fact that her friends are crazy (or maybe simply obnoxious) even before downing a few drinks. Extremely mild chaos ensues, even after it’s realized, belatedly, that dirty bombs have been set off all over the country, and that everyone is not long for a disgusting death.

“Disaster” is the second feature from the Los Angeles-based comedy troupe The Vacationers, whose shtick, evidently, is very — very, very — similar to the breed offered by “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (and to a lesser extent “The League” and “Workaholics”). It’s the apocalypse peopled by jerks, who are so wrapped up in themselves they can’t even grasp the basic notion of their eclipsing mortality. While the smartest one (America Ferrara, the other name dropped into a cast of fresh faces) turns to drink, the host couple, who were going to use the occasion to announce their pending divorce, waste time listening to satellite radio and sifting through old photos, as though the world wasn’t about to end.

This one joke — a casual apocalypse — is amusing in theory but only fitfully in practice. The Vactioners have a gift for darkly comic semi-inspiration, but they wield this power too infrequently, leaning instead on banter that more often than not reveals only that they can crack eachother up, if not those watching them. Most of “Disaster” feels first-draft, as though the cast recorded an improv bout that seemed gangbusters at the time. That it regulates the most talented stars to a mere comedy sound board (Cross) and a drunk (Ferrara) is not a good sign, and it’s telling that, once Cross is belatedly allowed to break out, he scores a decent yuk with a “Saul of Tarsus” one-liner. There’s no budget to revel in end times hysteria — as there apparently is for “This is the End,” the extremely similar forthcoming Apatow fest — but being stuck in a single house is no excuse for only rewarding its characters with three or four things of mild amusement to do.

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‘Evil Dead’
Director: Fede Alvarez
Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez
Rating: R
3 (out of 5) Globes

Because the sequels took a goofier stance, it’s easy to forget that Sam Raimi’s first, scrappily no-budget 1981 film “The Evil Dead” is a serious, harrowing experience that only masochists would consider a fun time. The new sorta-remake of Raimi’s breakthrough, unexpectedly co-produced by him — one could say inexplicably, considering the Diablo Cody screenplay credit — retains the intense, genuinely nightmarish tone of the original. Here, as there, being forced to perform self-amputation doesn’t, a la “Evil Dead II,” result in an amusing Ernest Hemingway joke.

As with the original, a quintet of collegiates visit a creaky cabin, where one of them finds — and very foolishly reads aloud from — a mysterious book made of human skin and written in dried blood. Inevitably, a demon latches onto the one (Jane Levy) who’s supposed to go cold turkey from a smack habit, who promptly goes from sickly to a super-carnivore prone to “Exorcist”-y obscenities.

“Cabin in the Woods” was supposed to end audiences’ preoccupation with the titular horror cliche, and this new “Evil Dead” gets major brownie points for playing it completely straight anyway. It also, alas, subscribes to the notion that characters ought to behave idiotically, none moreso than Levy’s dedicated brother (Shiloh Fernandez), whose insistence that his sister’s merely in the grips of withdrawal extends well past being monstrously delusional.

Director Fede Alvarez powers through the inanities and inconsistencies, cranking up the dread with a pukey color palette and an army of fog machines. There’s few bodies to rip through, so the final survivors are kept inhumanly spry. It’s safe to say few screen characters have sustained this much physical damage and (almost) lived, with one taking hits from a kitchen knife, a syringe (to the eye!), a nailgun and a crowbar.

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I have a deep love for Latin food, which might come as a surprise to anyone reading Food Truck Lovin’ since I have yet to review a food truck that has one of my favorite foods. That’s why this week I knew what I had to do. I had to head to the Taco Bite truck immediately.

As I approached the bright blue truck with the fun lettering, I was intrigued by the huge menu and the amount of possible combinations. I’m not great at math so I honestly couldn’t tell you, but I know there’s a ton.

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  Taco Bites food truck

Their menu consists of three basic items: tacos (soft corn tortilla or crunchy shell), burrito (filled with rice, beans, cheese and sauce in a flour tortilla) or a quesadilla (flour tortilla with shredded Monterrey Jack and cheddar cheese). But then things get a little complicated. You can choose from many different insides (chicken, steak, ground beef, carnitas, spicy pork, chorizo and more) and five different sauces (picante rojo, salsa verde, pineapple BBQ, chipotle mayo or avocado delight). If you want, you can even have “mango bite” (a spicy sauce) or sour cream. The best part, though, is the Mexican soda, Jarritos.

The combinations are truly endless.

As I pondered on my very important lunch decision, I settled on a hard shell grilled chicken taco with pineapple BBQ (topped off with onions and cilantro) and a nopales taco with the “avocado delight” sauce (topped with lettuce and cheese).

If you’ve never had nopales (also known as cactus, yes really!), then you’re in for a treat. I was very surprised to find that they are watery, squishy and very salty. I’ve actually never had cactus before and I find it surprisingly pleasant, though I think next time I will have it with a sweeter sauce. The tacos, though, were truly divine–my only regret is that I haven’t had the chance to try the burrito or quesadilla yet. But if the tacos are any indication, we’re all in for a REAL treat.

If you’re craving a taco in countless variations (and, seriously, why wouldn’t you be?), then check out tacobite.com, see what they’re up to on Facebook or follow them on Twitter for their latest delicious locations. And yes, you definitely should because unbelievable tacos are absolutely always worth it. Yum!

The post Taco Bite: More variation than you’ll know what to do with! appeared first on Metro.us.

As I walked up to the bright yellow truck, I had to know: What was the most popular mac & cheese? The guy at the window immediately pointed me to the buffalo chicken version and recommended that I top it with toasted breadcrumbs and, surprisingly, the spicy mayo.

“Not ranch?” I asked.

“No, spicy mayo. Trust me.”

And I have to tell you: I’m really glad I did! The macaroni and cheese had the perfect amount of spice for me which, honestly, isn’t too much. The surprise of the little bit of spicy mayo on top of my breadcrumbs was the perfect little touch.

The complete, delicious meal cost me just $8 and for an extra $2 I could have gotten the large size. Some of their other options that looked great included the applewood bacon, cheeseburger and pulled pork. The buffalo chicken, though, was absolutely irresistible. Oh yes, trust me on that one.

If you’re craving a little mac & cheese, then go sample one of these great meals from the truck that’s only been open since the summer — but definitely worth every penny. To find their full menu (did I even MENTION the amazing fried mac bites?!), check out MacTruckNYC.com or find their location updates on Facebook or Twitter. Happy comfort food eating!

(Images via Irina Gonzalez)

The post Mac Truck: A Surprising Combination That’s Hard to Resist appeared first on Metro.us.

That’s exactly what I found when I visited Gorilla Cheese, a grilled cheese sandwich based food truck. As I made my way to their typical Tuesday lunchtime location on 47th Street, between Park and Madison Avenue, I couldn’t wait to try one of their delicious classics.

The menu was very varied: they had a delicious special sandwich of the day, specialty sandwiches and make-your-own classics where you can pick the cheese (American, Cheddar, Gruyere, Smoked Mozzarella, Muenster or Swiss) along with some additions (BBQ Pulled Pork, Prosciutto Di Parma, Killer Crumbled Bacon, Smoked Turkey, Caramelized Onions, Sliced Tomato, Sauteed Jalapenos, or Parmesan Sesame Herb Crust). But as I walked up to the truck, all I wanted to know was their most sought-after sandwich.

When I asked the three nice men working at the truck, they turned me onto their Specialty Sandwich #5, made out of smoked Gouda cheese, BBQ pulled pork and onion on wheat bread. I ordered it immediately, along with the highly recommended mac and cheese bites.

The first thing I did was trying those mini bites (there were four in my order) and they were downright divine. I mean, it’s pretty hard to go wrong with fried macaroni and cheese but they really excelled in their dish. Then it was on to the actual grilled cheese sandwich, which I found had the perfect combination of tangy sweetness from the BBQ pulled pork and the surprise of the onions was just perfect.

Not surprisingly, the Gorilla Cheese NYC truck is all about “taking comfort food and home cooking to a new level.” They serve up fresh local bread and tasty diverse cheeses made with lots of love every day. Plus, their daily specials (like the “Brooklyn Special” made with fresh asiago cheese, prosciutto de parma inside of a panini with aioli) make me drool. Finding a way to find the best kind of comfort food is easy, if you just follow them on twitter or Facebook. I mean, I’m definitely planning to indulge a couple more times after having their amazing sandwich!

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I have to admit: this is one I’ve been to before. This delicious truck is parked outside of the Time & Life building on 50th Street and 6th Avenue at least once a week, and this is an area I frequent during my lunch visits. This time, though, I was on a mission. The mission of trying new dumplings.

My typical order is their vegetarian edamame dumpling, which comes with a lemon sansho dip. It’s a good order and there’s a reason I stick by it (yes, it’s delicious) but this time I decided to try the 6 pieces of 2 kinds of dumplings set, along with a side of chilled edamame for $11.

Immediately I asked for the pork and Chinese chive dumpling (which comes with a soy sesame dip) and the chicken and Thai basil dumpling (accompanied by a creamy peanut sate dip).

The minute I bit into the peanut dip-soaked chicken dumpling, I knew that this was going to be my new favorite. Something about that tangy peanut sauce just completely warmed my insides. Was it slightly spicy? Yes. With that chicken, though, it was pure perfection.

Unfortunately, trying the pork dumpling after falling in love with this one was a little bit of a disappointment. It was good, just not as good. I wasn’t impressed by the soy sauce, but I did really enjoy being able to get two different types of dumplings. However, I found it a bit odd that they charged an extra dollar to get the two different kinds. Why is that?

In the end, the trip to the dumpling truck was absolutely delicious. The added bonus of this food truck, though, is that if you can’t find the food truck (though it should be easy since they frequently update their location on Twitter, there are also three Rickshaw Dumpling Bar locations in Manhattan. Luckily, though, if you can’t make it to a storefront location, the truck is pretty active — and ALWAYS a great treat.

The post Rickshaw Dumpling Truck: Chicken dumplings that will warm your insides appeared first on Metro.us.

As I walked up to the red truck signaling Indian food, there was a bit of a wait as my fellow patrons and I looked at the extensive menu. It’s simple enough to make a decision, though.

You start by picking one of five curries (tikka masala, curry sauce, palak/saag, mughlai or vindaloo, all served with basmati rice) and then pick your style (mixed sauted vegetables, boneless chicken, boiled mashed potatoes, Indian cottage cheese or boiled baby corn). As I ordered the classic dish I was craving, the sweet man serving me asked if I wanted to upgrade to the curry rush and I just couldn’t turn him down.

For just $9, I received a huge plate of chicken tikka masala, basmati rice, a little side salad, a side of chapati (flatbread rolled up) and a water or soda. Despite the rain that continued to drizzle on me, I dug into my dish almost immediately. The dish, which I got as a “medium-light spicy”, was the perfect blend of just enough kick without overwhelming my sensitive palate. It was exactly what I needed on a day that started and ended with cold and rain.

The Curry N Bites food truck, born out of restaurant Masaum Indian Cuisine Bar Banquet in New Jersey, also features small bites like samosas, kati rolls and includes a full vegan menu with four full options. Plus, if you’re craving a sweet way to end your meal, they also serve up a delectable mango lassi drink. For the full Masaum menu, check out the Curry N Bites mobile site and follow them on Facebook and Twitter for daily location updates.

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In “Big Miracle,” John Krasinski stars as Adam Carlson, the TV news reporter who breaks the story that the whales are trapped, which prompts outlets across the globe to come to Barrow, Ala., to get in on the scoop.

His ex-girlfriend, Rachel Kramer (Barrymore), is a Greenpeace volunteer who attaches herself to the cause by doing whatever possible to free the whales, even diving into to the frigid Arctic to get a close-up view of how they’re doing.
  
You’ll get frustrated as the characters run into obstacles while trying to save the massive mammals, and you’ll feel as triumphant as they do when solutions are found.
  
Because the film’s based on a true story, one of the most fun parts is the epilogue — when the photos of the real-life heroes involved in the story flash across the screen. (As this is Hollywood, the actors are considerably more beautiful than their real-life counterparts.) The end also boasts a cameo from a certain former Alaskan governor — if you can count superimposed footage as a cameo — which serves as a funny wink to all the grown-ups in the crowd.

The post ‘Miracle’ rescue gets big-screen treatment appeared first on Metro.us.

But even before the powers manifest, Trank deals with the first-person shooting in a much more elegant way than other filmmakers have before him. The story, as well, is a refreshing take on old territory: what happens when everyday people develop superpowers. Here, there are no Spandex suits or a sense of community service — apparently, with great power really comes great mischief and petty retribution. It’s a much more believable depiction of teenagers lives’ turning into comic books, and much more enjoyable.

The post ‘Chronicle’: Found-footage filmmaking done right appeared first on Metro.us.

Unlike his darker work in films like “Contagion” and “Traffic,” Soderbergh seems to be able to turn a switch on his directing style when it comes to these “lighter” movies. The set up may be the same, but the outcome is never what you’d expect. When you’ve reached the end, you’re surprised you’re there, rather than feeling the movie should’ve ended 20 minutes earlier.

But half the reason this film isn’t just more of the same old wronged-assassin-on-a-mission movie is that mixed-martial arts master Gina Carano is its star. That a lady killer is still such a novelty may be a bit of an eye-roller, but Carano’s legitimate skills as a fighter bring a visceral punch to every bone-crunching action sequence. She’s not all there as an actor yet — sometimes issuing lines with such wooden machismo, she makes Jason Statham look like Laurence Olivier. But Soderbergh has surrounded her with a cast more than able to fill the voids of her own acting experience.

Synopsis

Contract killer Mallory (Carano) takes on one last assignment from her ex-lover (Ewan McGregor) to rescue a kidnapped journalist with the help of another contractor (Channing Tatum).

When one unexpected “babysitting” job comes up shortly after, Mallory realizes that she may be one who will be disposed of.

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While the story (based on the book by Jonathan Safran Froer) is smartly constructed, many have accused the movie of pulling a bit too hard on the heartstrings. Any movie that makes 9/11 a centerpiece of the plot runs the risk of being labeled as exploitative. But for some, it’s that cathartic  mourning that makes a film like this seem brave.

Some films are very easy to judge (see our “Red Tails” review) but with this one, it’s the viewer’s own personal experience of 9/11 that will color how they feel about the film. But everyone, and we mean everyone, will still cry at the end.

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Finally the director decided to ante up and pay for the film himself. It’s a worthy subject, but all of those years the script spent marinating in rejection caused some damage. It’s rumored that seven screenwriters attempted to tell the story of “Red Tails” and, as a result, the film is an outstanding example of too many cooks in the kitchen. It’s been reduced to a boilerplate story, feigning all the moves of a typical Hollywood adventure film and thereby sacrificing the chance to portray fully drawn characters. Each character represents an action movie stereotype:?The devil-may-care rogue who always breaks the rules, the uptight team leader who’s about to self-destruct, the innocent who’s doomed to die — they’re all there. Director Anthony Hemingway didn’t want this to be a movie purely about race, but in trying to tell a great story about these heroic men, he lost the heart that would propel this movie to greatness.

Synopsis
   
Based on the true story of the Tuskegee Airmen, “Red Tails” follows a crew of African-American pilots doing flight missions in Europe during World War II. Relegated to providing only minimal assistance in key maneuvers, the Red Tails push the U.S. military to allow them to test their metal in direct air combat with the Germans.

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 Known for her stringent economic austerity measures and tough stance against trade unions in the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher has just as many fans as detractors today. But what Streep and director Phyllida Lloyd present is a woman whose admirable determination transcends her own somewhat mixed political legacy.

The story is framed by three days in the life of Thatcher during her retirement years, as she slowly drifts into dementia. She’s tasked with disposing of her deceased husband’s clothes. And in those moments, she’s reminded — very neatly and chronologically, of course — of pivotal moments in her life. True, they’re not exactly reinventing the wheel here, but such a format allows the emphasis to be placed on Thatcher’s humanity — her love of her husband and unflappability in the face of a government entirely dominated by men — rather than becoming a dry, procedural biography.

As you would expect, Streep gets Margaret Thatcher’s high-pitched trill just right. Even if Margaret Thatcher isn’t perfect, we at least know that Meryl Streep is.

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It’s funny to see what the Muppets have been up to since we last saw them: Fozzie Bear now plays in a Muppet tribute band in Reno, The Moopets, Gonzo owns his own sanitation factory and Miss Piggy is the plus-size editor of Vogue Paris.

With all Muppets in tow, the group plans a telethon to raise the money, with skits like a chicken group number to Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You” (maybe they should have renamed it “Cluck You” for the occasion?).

Hilariously self-referential and filled with star cameos, “The Muppets” doesn’t disappoint. Adults will likely laugh as hard, if not harder, than the kids do.

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In “The Descendants,” George Clooney plays a Hawaiian land baron coping with a wife on life support and two young girls he’s never really had to help raise. As he tries to keep the family functioning, he finds out some harsh truths about the secret life his wife had been living. Also, he’s in the midst of a heated family debate about selling virgin property to a rich hotel developer.

It’s great to see Clooney in a schlubby dad role and, as usual, he brings on the charm. But the supporting young actresses who play his daughters, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller, sometimes outshine him in  comedic moments, which is great to see.

Funny and touching, but occasionally plodding and aimless, this film’s treasures often outweigh its troubles. Just don’t expect to be on the edge of your seat.

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And so it’s fitting that “Breaking Dawn – Part 1” is fully loaded with as many cheap special effects and unintentionally hilarious melodramatic moments as the very first film and the other two that followed it. It’s like director Bill Condon wants to guarantee us crappy quality, just to keep it consistent.

And for that, the fans will be grateful. There’s a whole spectrum of Twihards — from those who relish the camp factor to others who are sincerely dying for that headboard-breaking scene (forbidden vampire sex!). There’s no reason to believe they won’t all embrace this one for its awe-inspiring strangeness.

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is again in peril when after her wedding to vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), she finds herself almost instantly pregnant. Since this baby is a special vampire-human hybrid, it’s destroying her from the inside so that eventually, she begins to resemble the Crypt Keeper. Then there’s wolf-shifter Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) who must fend off the rest of his pack, who believe the hybrid baby is a threat to them. Same stuff, different multimillion dollar-earning movie.

There are elements to this story which are too ridiculous to comprehend. There’s a teen-baby love connection, there’s wolves fighting each other in their brains, there’s the fact that these crazy kids have to get married at 18 to begin with. Bella moves out of her dad’s house so that she can move in with her new husband in his family’s house? At least Stephenie Meyer was well ahead of “recession-chic” there.

Lowlights

So-awful-it’s-amazing moments in “Breaking Dawn – Part 1”:

The CGI wolfpack   mind-argue over Bella’s weird baby.
 
Edward’s heartfelt, near-tears description of the night he first has sex with Bella being “the best night of my existence.” Don’t worry, he doesn’t actually call it sex. This is “Twilight,” you remember.
 
When Jasper solemnly utters the word “probably” — just trust us. At our screening the entire theater was cracking up.
 
A violent bloody birth scene, the end of which results in one lone streak of blood across a hospital johnny.

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The shock and horror these employees feel gives way to the sort of revenge fantasy that we’ve been primed for ever since 2008. Building manager Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) assembles a motley crew of fellow victims, and his neighbor, a professional thief (Eddie Murphy) to attempt stealing the money back.

With an obvious connection to “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Heist” is a bit less clever on the logistical details of the caper than the former film and its two sequels. “Heist” pushes itself well beyond the point of believability with its ludicrous climax, but we did say specify that it’s a fantasy, not high drama.

The performances are a mixed bag, if only for Ben Stiller’s on-again, off-again Queens accent and Gabourey Sidibe’s equally confused Jamaican accent. But it’s nice to see Eddie Murphy work with something other than a fat suit to get the laughs.

The film does its best not to insult the intelligence of the audience, while still serving up a cathartic moment in which we get to watch the victims of corporate greed get repaid for their losses. In a world where that kind of justice seems impossible, sometimes, it’s nice to be on the receiving end of some pandering.

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On film, though, it’s all presented with a
bland “this happened, then this happened” sobriety, the script reducing
interesting people, like Childers (Gerard Butler) and his wife, Lynn,
(Michelle Monaghan) to movie-of-the-week proportions.

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Anna Faris stars in yet another one of those charming loser roles as a recently fired woman shocked to realize she’s had sex with a grand total of 19 men, nearly twice the national average. When a friend reveals that women who have slept with 20 or more men have trouble finding husbands, Faris enlists the help of her caddish neighbor (Chris Evans) to track down each ex to see if any of them were actually “the one.”

There are moments when “What’s Your Number” truly wants to be a bawdy 2011 sex comedy, with its boys and its girls both effing up a storm and everybody going home convinced that worrying about sexual purity is a pointless waste of time. At the same time, though, director Mark Mylod and writers Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittendon can’t seem to stop humiliating Faris for being such a nasty slut, mocking her taste in men and making a running joke about the horrible hand jobs she gives. (To underline the double standard, Evans’ character is revealed to have slept with 300 women — but this isn’t a serious problem; he “just hasn’t met the right girl yet.”)

All this might not be such a big deal if the film were funny, but the exes rarely go beyond one-joke parodies and too many scenes confuse curses for punch lines. Faris has easy chemistry with both Evans and Ari Graynor as her sister, and the scenes of them just hanging out are much funnier than any of Faris’ madcap adventures. This isn’t a good movie, but it could make a fine midseason replacement sitcom.

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The story of “Straw Dogs” itself is clever enough to make up for marginal acting. James Marsden and Kate Bosworth play sinewy Hollywood expats renovating a house in the wife’s hometown of Blackwater, Miss. As the couple’s very un-Southern ways grate on the locals, something sinister begins to encroach on their marriage.

Moving the story from a British village to the Deep South was the best direction to take an Americanized version of the story. As James Marsden’s character explains, the term straw dogs comes from an ancient Chinese practice of using ceremonial dogs made out of straw, which are treated with great reverence when used as offerings to the gods, but are thrown away once their purpose has been fulfilled. The analogy fits seamlessly in the setting of good old boys, who once the pride of the town as high school football stars, are left in their later years to lead unremarkable lives.       

The first third of the film is a forcefully applied testament of the couple’s love for each other, complete with a chess game that involves a pawn placed somewhere in Bosworth’s underfed ladyparts. They seem so boldly stupid, but then James Woods comes in, as the old local football coach-slash-drunk and he so ravenously chews the scenery that the lovely couple you first met become likable by comparison.

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Director Nicolas Winding Refn got a lot of attention for 2008’s embellished bio-pic “Bronson” (and less so for his follow-up, the Viking epic “Valhalla Rising”). With “The Notebook” darling Ryan Gosling starring in “Drive,” he’s finally created the perfect cocktail for a monster hit.

Given only the name of Driver, Gosling plays a stunt motorist who moonlights as a getaway car driver for criminals willing to pay a commission. It’s only when Driver becomes enamored with his attractive, single-mom neighbor, played by Carey Mulligan, that he’s pulled deeper into the criminal underworld.

Slow and deliberate when it needs to be, grotesque when you’ve been lulled by the beauty of some perfectly composed shots, this movie fails on no level. It’ll give you chills.

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Judging by the quality of this movie, maybe.

Director Seth Gordon has the best actors you could ask for in place. The three demeaned laborers — Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman and Charlie Day — do work well with what they’ve got. They gel as a group, even if the jokes themselves aren’t that funny.

The biggest problem here lies in the implausibility of what they’re doing. Would anyone really decide to kill a gorgeous boss (Jennifer Aniston) who is coming on to her subordinate (Day)? You can sense the screenwriters wrote and re-wrote the script to try to make sense of the plot, to make it seem like murder was the only answer. Along the way there are a few great laughs — especially with the presence of Jamie Foxx as Motherf—er Jones, a con artist who becomes the trio’s counselor in all things homicidal. But in the end, the premise still feels dead on arrival.

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