Arts & Entertainment
Opening This Week —
Weekly Movie Previews
BIG BUDGET FILMS
Django Unchained (R for profanity,
nudity, ethnic slurs and graphic violence)
Jamie Foxx stars as the title character in
Quentin Tarantino’s revenge-tinged West-
ern about a slave-turned-bounty hunter’s
search for his wife and slave owners with
corporate corruption about a gas company
advance team (Matt Damon and Frances
McDormand) that downplays the ecological
risks while duping small town property
owners into leasing their drilling rights.
Support-
ing cast
includes
K AM ’ S
Hal Hol-
C APSULES
brook,
Rose-
Movie
marie
Reviews
D e Wi t t
by Kam
and John
Williams
Krasins-
ki.
INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN
FILMS
Jamie Foxx stars as Django
whom he wants to settle a score. Cast
includes Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washing-
ton, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L.
Jackson.
Les Miserables (PG-13 for violence,
mature themes and suggestive material)
Musical drama, set in Paris in the wake of
the French Revolution, revolving around a
ruthless policeman’s (Russell Crowe)
relentless pursuit of an ex-con (Hugh Jack-
man) wanted for a parole violation after
serving 19 years for the theft of a loaf of
bread. With Anne Hathaway, Amanda
Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bon-
ham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Parental Guidance (PG-13 for rude
humor) Generation-skipping comedy about
a couple of old-fashioned grandparents
(Billy Crystal and Bette Midler) who meet
their match babysitting three grandkids
(Bailee Madison, Joshua Rush and Kyle
Harrison) whose helicopter parents (Marisa
Tomei and Tom Everett Scott) are away on
business. With Tony Hawk, Gedde Watan-
abe and Steve Levy.
Allegiance (R for pervasive profanity)
Stop-loss drama about a National Guard
Lieutenant (Seth Gabel) torn between his
loyalty to the military and a member of his
unit (Bow Wow) who went to care for a son
with terminal cancer AWOL rather than
redeploy to Iraq. With Aidan Quinn, Resh-
ma Shetty and Malik Yoba.
Quartet (Unrated) Dustin Hoffman
directs this musical drama set at a home for
retired opera singers where plans for the
annual concert celebrating Verdi’s birthday
are disrupted by the arrival of a pampered
diva (Maggie Smith). Featuring Michael
Gambon, Billy Connolly and Sheridan
Smith.
Rush
continued from page 6
a restaurant. However, one hazard of the job
for her is having to fend off the sleazy over-
tures of fellow messenger, Manny (Wole’
Parks), and of their equally-flirtatious dis-
patcher, Raj (Aasif Mandvi).
Nonetheless, this picture is more about
action than romance, and the fun starts soon
after Wilee accepts an assignment to trans-
port an envelope designated “Premium
Rush” from his alma mater to Chinatown.
But before he even has a chance to leave
campus, a gentleman (Michael Shannon)
identifying himself as the Dean of Students
asks permission to take possession of the
parcel.
Wilee’s suspicion is aroused when Dean
Ackerman inexplicably goes ballistic when
denied. And that concern escalates to fear
when the guy starts frothing at the mouth
and gives chase by auto, running lights and
driving against traffic.
The plot thickens further when the pedal-
pushing protagonist stops at the police sta-
tion to report the attempted theft. There, he
discovers that he’s on his own because Ack-
erman, lo and behold, is ostensibly a
crooked police officer with a hidden agenda
and a pecuniary interest in hijacking the
package.
Like a compelling cross of Crank (2006)
and 16 Blocks (2006), Premium Rush
unfolds at a breakneck pace that doesn’t
give you a chance to pause and wonder
whether what you’re watching is even cred-
ible. But nothing else matters when such an
urgent roller coaster ride, or should I say
bike ride, manages to keep you on the edge
of your seat for its dizzying duration.
The Big Apple is the congested setting
for a Tour de Gridlock
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, ethnic slurs
and profanity.
In English and Mandarin with subtitles.
Running time: 91 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Enter-
tainment
DVD Extras: The Starting Line: Meet the
Cast; and Behinds the Wheels: Action,
Stunts and Chases.
Tabu (Unrated) Flashback flick about an
ailing octogenarian (Laura Soveral) in Lis-
bon who becomes desperate on her
deathbed to contact the ex-lover (Henrique
Espirito Santo) from Mozambique with
whom she’d shared an illicit affair many
years earlier. With Teresa Madruga, Isabel
Munoz Cardoso, Ana Moreira and Carloto
Cotta. (In Portuguese with subtitles)
West of Memphis (R for profanity and
disturbing violence) Justice-delayed docu-
mentary about a trio of Arkansas teenagers
convicted of a triple murder they didn’t
commit who spent 18 years in prison before
finally being freed recently with the help of
DNA evidence. With commentary by Henry
Rollins and Eddie Vedder.
Promised Land (R for profanity) Tale of
December 26, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 7