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12 SHOWBIZ The Edmonton Sunn Friday, May 25, 2012

OutGoing The weekend guideMOVIES

the avengersTe Avengers has the Marvel

superheroes team up to deeatthe evil Loki (om Hiddles-ton) and his alien army. Cap-tain America (Chris Evans),Iron Man (Robert DowneyJr.), Tor (Chris Hemsworth),the Hulk (Mark Rualo), Black

Widow (Scarl ett Johansso n)and Hawkeye (Jeremy Ren-ner) are brought together byNick Fury (Samuel L. Jack-son) to battle a threat to Earth.Teres plenty o action in TeAve ng er s, but director JossWhedon handles it well, mix-ing it with a sparkling scriptand humour. ****

battleship

Aliens attempt to take overEarth in Battleship. Alex (ay-lor Kitsch), a screw-up who

joins the Navy, inds himselcaught in the middle o analien invasion. What ollows

are alien attacks and battle-ship retaliation. he writingis such that you dont careabout any o the characters,even though some o themare portrayed by Rihanna,Liam Neeson, and people

who appear to be real-lie oldsalts and Navy vets. Battle-ship has plenty o action andexplosions, but somehow it allunolds without energy. **

the best exotic

marigold hotel

Based on a novel, he BestExotic Marigold Hotelcon-cerns a handul o retiredEnglishmen and women whodecide to seek greener pas-tures in India. hey are: a

wid ow (Ju di Den ch) det er-mined to make her own way;an unhappy couple with nomoney or retirement (BillNighy and Penelope Wilton);

a cougar (Celia Imrie); a HighCourt judge searching orhis past (om Wilkinson), anaging roue (Ronald Pickup);and a terrible old bigot whoneeds to outsource her healthcare (Maggie Smith). Te BestExotic Marigold Hotelis some-

what hampered by sitcom-ishwriting, but t his is a cast t hat

can turn such dross into gold.***

chernobyl diaries

Opens today.

darK shadoWsim Burtons big screen

update o the overwroughtgothic soap opera Dark Shad-ows that stars Johnny Depp asBanrabas who runs aoul o a

witch (Eva Green ) and indshimsel turned into a vam-pire and buried alive. Flashorward to the 1970s and hesunearthed by construction

workers. He ind s his amilyreduced to a dysunctionalew, including an imperiousmatriarch (Michelle Peier),her no-good brother (JonnyLee Miller), his ghost-con-scious son (Gully McGrath)and her surly hippie daugh-ter (Chloe Grace Moretz). Teresult is more old-school sh-out-o-water than blazinglyoriginal. But it retains thatsoap opera acting style that isun to watch. ***

the deep blue sea

he Deep Blue Sea is allabout post- war Englandas seen through the lens oa tragic love aair. Hester(Rachel Weisz) has thrownaway her husband (SimonRussell Beale) and her middle-

class lie or a passionate loveaair with a louche, dashing,Battle o Britain pilot, Freddie(om Hiddleston). he DeepBlue Sea is an intense journeyinvolving breathtaking cine-matography, but it may be tooslow or some. ***

the dictatorIn Te DictatorSacha Baron

Cohen takes on the charactero Admiral General Aladeeno the North Arican Repub-lic o Wadiya. Aladeen headsto New York, accompaniedby his scheming aide amir(Ben Kingsley) to address the

UN. Ater a botched assas-sination attempt, Aladeen ison the streets o Manhattan,beardless, and taken under

wing by Z oey, the mana gero a eminist organic grocery(Anna Faris). Te result is thathe Dictatorisnt as outra-geous or screamingly unnyas Borat. here are laughter-ree stretches. And yet, thecharacter o Admiral General

Aladeen o the North AricanRepublic o Wadiya, begins to

grow on us. ***

edWin boyd

Edwin Boydis a biopic oCanadas amous criminal thatstars Scott Speedman as Boydand Kelly Reilly as his beloved

wie, Doreen . Boy d is homeater serving in the Second

World War and now driving abus in oronto. Bored, Eddiequits his job in disgust andconusion and begins rob-

bing banks to provide or hisamily. Edwin Boydis a asci-nating lm about the robbersalternative route to public rec-ognition. ***.

the hunger games

Based on the popular book,he Hunger Games stars Jen-nifer Lawrence as KatnissEverdeen who lives in anAmerican dystopia, where therich, decadent Capitol rules

brutally over 12 districts. TeHunger Games are a ritual,wherein each district choosesa boy and girl to take part in amass fight to the death. Kat-niss steps in to replace herfragile kid sister, and is joinedby the local baker Peeta Mel-lark (Josh Hutcherson).Teyre joined by a couple ofdubious mentors, includingetiquette advisor Effie rin-ket (Elizabeth Banks), ward-robe advisor Cinna (Lenny

Kravitz), and the drunk andcynical Haymitch Abernathy(Woody Harrelson). Te Hun-ger Ga mes is undeniably arich fantasy adventure. ****

men in blacK 3

Opens today.

the pirates!

band of misfits

Te animated Pirates! Bandof Misfits involves a mild-mannered Pirate Captain(Hugh Grant) and his questto win the Pirate O he Year

Award. rouble is, the Pirateo he Year is chosen or hisplunder and his bloodthirsty

ways, and the Pirate Captainis somewhat inept at villainyand at robbery on the highseas. But hes willing to try.Pirates! Band of Misfits will

also be o interest to anyonekeen on laughing outloud at acharming comedy. ***

thinK liKe a man

hink Like A Man is abased on an advice manualor women about how menthink. Jerry Ferrara as heNon Committer, and GaryOwen as he Happily Mar-ried Guy team up with heMamas Boy (errence J), Te

Player (Romany Malco), heDreamer (Michael Ealy) andhe Happily Divorced Guy(Kevin Hart) to talk about the

women in t heir live s. hinkLike A Man is a light, some-times-sharply-written, credi-bly-acted comedy that quicklyloses its favour. **

What to expect

When youre

expecting

What o Expect WhenYoure Expect ing, V E R Y loosely based on the preg-nancy bible, features a hostof characters. heres fit-ness guru Jules (CameronD i a z ) w h o s e p r e g n a n c y announces itself on live tel-evision with her boyfriend(Matthew Morrison). Wendy(Elizabeth Banks) is a preg-

nancy expert , while herfather-in-law (Dennis Quad)has also knocked up his tro-phy wife Skyler (BrooklynDecker). Rounding out thezygote squad is food-truckoperator Rosie (Anna Kend-rick) who gets pregnant froma one-night stand with hercompetitor Marco (ChaceCrawford), and Holly (Jen-nifer Lopez), who has dis-covered she is infertile andwa nt s to ad op t. What o

Expect When Youre Expect-inghas no laughs and feelslonger than nine months.*

Ratings out o fve

Reviews by Liz Braun, BruceKirkland, Jim Slotek, Kevin

Williamson and Steve Tilley

I dont know what game you played as a kid, but my Battleship game didnt eature invading aliens or Rihanna. It did inspire plenty o fst fghts, however.

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