Saturday, January 26 2013, 01:48 AM MST
Box Office: Recommended Films January 25 - 31
Recommended films showing in Salt Lake City for the week of January 25 January 31, 2013
Mainstream
1. Zero Dark Thirty (R)
2. Lincoln (PG-13)
3. Silver Linings Playbook (R)
4. Les Miserables (PG-13)
5. The Impossible (PG-13)
Family
1. Frankenweenie (PG)
2. Life of Pi (PG)
3. Rise of the Guardians (PG)
4. Wreck-It Ralph (PG)
5. ParaNorman (PG)
Art House
1. Argo (R)
2. The Impossible (PG-13)
3. The Sessions (R)
4. The Central Park Five (NR)
5. Hitchcock (PG-13)
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
3 out of 5 Stars
Director Tommy Wirkola
Starring Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton and Famke Janssen
Rated R
Recommended to Those looking for a darker and more violent trip through the enchanted forest.
After decades of softening the Brothers Grimms various fairy tales Hollywood has now taken to the idea of letting a bit of the darkness back in. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is a blood action film that casts Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) as a brother and sister who were abandoned in the woods as children. After an encounter with a witch the pair became well known for their ability to exterminate witches. So when a handful of children from a small village go missing the locals turn to Hansel and Gretel to track and save them from whoever is lurking in the woods.
Director/writer Tommy Wirkola turned some heads with his Nazi zombie film Dead Snow. I liked the central ideas behind Dead Snow, but found the script to be thin on plot and high on concept. With Hansel & Gretel Wirkola again has some great ideas, but the script feels like it is one or two revisions away from being the film that it could be. The dialogue, which features its share of four-lettered expletives, isnt nearly as clever as it needs to be. Renner and Arterton, both proven actors, offer up stiff performances that find them posing for the camera rather than performing in front of it. There is an ample amount of over-the-top violence to please gorehounds (although a lot of it appears to be CGI which isnt always convincingly executed). Its far better than Van Helsing, but with a little more care it could have been the start of an enjoyable franchise.
Quartet
3.5 out of 5 Stars
Director Dustin Hoffman
Starring Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon and Billy Connolly
Rated PG-13
Recommended to Fans of Downton Abbey or The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Established as a retirement home for classical musicians Beecham House is where music legends go to die. Every year they celebrate Giuseppe Verdis birthday with a concert, but this years performance is in jeopardy of being canceled because the performers cant seem to get along.
Ronald Harwood adapts his stage play with Dustin Hoffman making his directorial debut. The cast features a variety of vintage British talent including Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins. Quartet is an amusing, if not predictable, experience with nice performances that will appeal to those who enjoyed The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or Downton Abbey.
(Copyright 2013 Sinclair Broadcasting Group.)
Mainstream
1. Zero Dark Thirty (R)
2. Lincoln (PG-13)
3. Silver Linings Playbook (R)
4. Les Miserables (PG-13)
5. The Impossible (PG-13)
Family
1. Frankenweenie (PG)
2. Life of Pi (PG)
3. Rise of the Guardians (PG)
4. Wreck-It Ralph (PG)
5. ParaNorman (PG)
Art House
1. Argo (R)
2. The Impossible (PG-13)
3. The Sessions (R)
4. The Central Park Five (NR)
5. Hitchcock (PG-13)
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
3 out of 5 Stars
Director Tommy Wirkola
Starring Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton and Famke Janssen
Rated R
Recommended to Those looking for a darker and more violent trip through the enchanted forest.
After decades of softening the Brothers Grimms various fairy tales Hollywood has now taken to the idea of letting a bit of the darkness back in. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is a blood action film that casts Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) as a brother and sister who were abandoned in the woods as children. After an encounter with a witch the pair became well known for their ability to exterminate witches. So when a handful of children from a small village go missing the locals turn to Hansel and Gretel to track and save them from whoever is lurking in the woods.
Director/writer Tommy Wirkola turned some heads with his Nazi zombie film Dead Snow. I liked the central ideas behind Dead Snow, but found the script to be thin on plot and high on concept. With Hansel & Gretel Wirkola again has some great ideas, but the script feels like it is one or two revisions away from being the film that it could be. The dialogue, which features its share of four-lettered expletives, isnt nearly as clever as it needs to be. Renner and Arterton, both proven actors, offer up stiff performances that find them posing for the camera rather than performing in front of it. There is an ample amount of over-the-top violence to please gorehounds (although a lot of it appears to be CGI which isnt always convincingly executed). Its far better than Van Helsing, but with a little more care it could have been the start of an enjoyable franchise.
Quartet
3.5 out of 5 Stars
Director Dustin Hoffman
Starring Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon and Billy Connolly
Rated PG-13
Recommended to Fans of Downton Abbey or The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Established as a retirement home for classical musicians Beecham House is where music legends go to die. Every year they celebrate Giuseppe Verdis birthday with a concert, but this years performance is in jeopardy of being canceled because the performers cant seem to get along.
Ronald Harwood adapts his stage play with Dustin Hoffman making his directorial debut. The cast features a variety of vintage British talent including Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins. Quartet is an amusing, if not predictable, experience with nice performances that will appeal to those who enjoyed The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or Downton Abbey.
(Copyright 2013 Sinclair Broadcasting Group.)
