Arts & Entertainment
Opening This Week — August 17
BIG BUDGET FILMS
The Expendables 2 (R
for pervasive graphic vio-
lence) Bombastic beefcake
sequel features a reunion of
the crack team of mercenar-
ies for a death-defying
adventure to avenge the
murder of one of their own
at the hands of a blood-
thirsty rival (Jean-Claude
Van Damme). Matinee idol
ensemble includes Sylvester
Stallone, Arnold Schwarze -
negger, Bruce Willis, Jason
Statham, Chuck Norris, Jet
Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry
Crews, Liam Hemsworth
and Yu Nan.
The Odd Life of Timo-
thy Green (PG for mature
themes and mild epithets)
Fanciful fairytale about a
young boy (CJ Adams) who
miraculously sprouts out of
the ground in the garden of
a childless couple (Joel
Edgerton and Jennifer Gar-
ner) desperate for a baby.
With Rosemarie DeWitt,
Odeya Rush, Dianne Wiest,
David Morse, Ron Liv-
ingston and Common.
ParaNorman (PG for
scary action, mature themes,
rude humor and mild epi-
K AM ’ S
C APSULES
Movie
Reviews
by Kam
Williams
INDEPENDENT &
FOREIGN FILMS
The Awakening (R for
violence, nudity and sexual-
ity) Haunted house horror
flick set in the wake of
World War I at a British
boarding school where a
professional skeptic (Re -
becca Hall) summoned to
debunk recent ghost sight-
ings as a hoax instead gets
the surprise of her life when
she encounters real super-
natural phenomena for the
first time. With Dominic
West, Imelda Staunton and
John Shrapnel.
Beloved
(Unrated)
Romance drama about a
pretty Parisian hooker
(Ludivine Sagnier) who
falls head over six-inch
stilettos for a dashing doctor
images) Maudlin, charac-
ter-driven drama, set in
Teheran in the Fifties, about
an inconsolable violinist
(Mathieu Amalric) who
loses the will to live after
his wife (Golshifteh Fara-
hani) destroys his beloved
instrument during a heated
argument. Cast includes
Edouard Baer, Maria de
Medeiros and Eric Carava-
ca. (In French and English
with subtitles)
Codependent Lesbian
Space Alien Seeks Same
(Unrated) Sci-fi comedy
about the cross-species
romance between a shy,
greeting card store clerk
(Lisa Haas) and a woman
she has no idea might be
from another planet (Susan
Ziegler). With Jackie Mona-
han, Cynthia Kaplan and
Dennis Davis.
Compliance (R for pro-
fanity, sexuality and nudity)
Fact-based drama about a
prank caller (Pat Healy) pre-
tending to be a police offi-
cer who tricks the manager
(Ann Dowd) of a fast food
restaurant into conducting a
strip search of a cashier
(Dreama Walker) unfairly
‘Sparkle’
‘Why Stop Now?’
‘The Expendables 2’
thets) Animated adventure
about a misunderstood
ghoul whisperer (Kodi
Smit-McPhee) whose abili-
ty to communicate with the
dead comes in handy when
witches, ghost and zombies
descend on his quiet home-
town. Featuring voice work
by Anna Kendrick, Casey
Affleck, John Goodman,
Tempestt Bledsoe and Jeff
Garlin.
Sparkle (PG-13 for vio-
lence, profanity, drug use,
smoking, mature themes
and domestic abuse) The
late Whitney Houston
makes her final screen per-
formance in this remake of
the musical drama, set in the
Sixties, about three sisters
(Jordin
Sparks,
Tika
Sumpter
and
Carmen
Ejogo) whose singing group
becomes Motown’s latest
sensation only to have sud-
den fame tear their close-
knit family apart. With
Mike Epps, Derek Luke,
Cee-Lo Green and Omari
Hardwick.
(Radivoje Bukvic) only to
learn that he has a wife back
in Czechoslovakia. With
Milos Forman, Catherine
Deneuve and Paul Schnei-
der. (In French, English and
Czech with subtitles)
Brother, Can You Spare
a Dollar? (Unrated) Unsen-
timental retrospective cele-
brates the guts and glory of
the Depression Generation
while speculating about the
prospects of America’s
post-industrial economy.
Why Stop Now? (Unrat-
ed) Road comedy about an
aspiring piano prodigy
(Jesse Eisenberg) who finds
his car commandeered by
his mother’s (Melissa Leo)
miffed drug dealer (Tracy
Morgan) on the day of his
big audition. With Isiah
Whitlock, Jr., Sarah Ramos
and Tanya Wright.
Chicken with Plums
(PG-13 for drugs, smoking,
sensuality and violent
accused of stealing. With
Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger
and James McCaffrey.
Cosmopolis (R for vio-
lence, profanity, graphic
sexuality and frontal nudity)
David Cronenberg directed
this adaptation of the Don
Delillo novel of the same
name chronicling a very
eventful day in the life of a
miserably-married, self-
destructive
billionaire
(Robert Pattinson) With
Paul Giamatti, Juliette
Binoche, Samantha Morton
and K’naan.
Robot & Frank (PG-13
for profanity) Unlikely-
buddy comedy about a
retired cat burglar (Frank
Langella) who comes out of
retirement to pull one last
heist with the help of the
cyborg (Peter Sarsgaard)
purchased by his children
(James Marsden and Liv
Tyler) to look after him.
Support cast includes Susan
Sarandon, Jeremy Strong
and Bonnie Bentley.
August 15, 2012
The Seattle Skanner Page 5