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
K AM ’ S
C APSULES
Movie
Reviews
by Kam
Williams
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-
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.
INDEPENDENT &
FOREIGN FILMS
‘The Expendables 2’
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
(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.
Chicken with Plums
(PG-13 for drugs, smoking,
sensuality and violent
images) Maudlin, character-
driven drama, set in Teheran
in the Fifties, about an
inconsolable
violinist
(Mathieu Amalric) who
loses the will to live after
Page 6 The Portland Skanner August 15, 2012
‘Sparkle’
wife (Golshifteh Farahani)
destroys his beloved instru-
ment during a heated argu-
ment.
Cast
includes
Edouard Baer, Maria de
Medeiros and Eric Carava-
ca. (In French and English
with subtitles)
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.
Codependent Lesbian
Space Alien Seeks Same
(Unrated) Sci-fi comedy
about the cross-species
romance between a shy,
See MOVIES on page 7
‘Why Stop Now?’