Please call the info line for updated showtimes.
Inglourious Basterds (R)
7:00, 10:00
Ponyo (PG)
1:00, 4:00 (Fri, Mon-Thu)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3D (PG)
1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50
Couples Retreat (PG-13)
1:20, 4:35, 7:05, 9:30
Endgame (NR)
1:15, 7:00 (Fri, Sat, Tue, Thu)
The Fourth Kind (PG-13)
1:00, 3:20, 5:30, 7:45, 9:45
Kidtoons (G)
Sat-Sun only 1:00
The Men Who Stare at Goats (R)
1:15, 3:25, 5:35, 7:45, 9:55
Michael Jackson: This Is It (PG)
1:45, 4:20, 7:00, 9:40
Saw VI (R)
1:00, 1:30, 3:15, 3:45, 5:30, 5:55, 7:45, 8:15, 10:00
The Stepfather (PG-13)
1:45 (no 1:45 show Sat-Sun), 4:25, 7:10, 9:40
Where the Wild Things Are (PG)
1:30, 4:10, 7:00, 9:35
Whip It (PG-13)
1:15 (no 1:15 show Fri, Sat, Tue, Thu), 4:30, 7:00 (no 7:00 show Fri, Sat, Tue, Thu), 9:30
Amelia (PG)
11:40, 2:05, 4:40, 7:15, 9:55 (Sofa Cinema showing)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (R)
11:55, 7:00 (Sofa Cinema showing)
The Box (PG-13)
11:55, 2:30, 5:00, 7:30, 10:20
A Christmas Carol 3-D (PG)
11:30, 2:00, 4:30, 7:10, 9:40
A Christmas Carol 2-D (PG)
12:00, 2:30, 5:00, 7:40, 10:20
Couples Retreat (PG-13)
12:05, 3:15 (no 3:15 show Sun), 7:55, 10:35 (no 7:55 or 10:35 show Sat)
It Might Get Loud (PG)
3:20, 10:10 (Sofa Cinema showing)
Law Abiding Citizen (R)
12:45, 3:30, 7:20, 9:55 (Sofa Cinema showing)
The Men Who Stare at Goats (R)
11:30, 1:50, 4:05, 7:30, 9:50
Michael Jackson: This Is It (PG)
11:50, 2:40, 5:20, 8:00, 10:40
Paranormal Activity (R)
12:05, 2:15, 4:40 (no 12:05, 2:15, 4:40 shows on Sat), 7:50, 10:00
Paris (R)
12:50, 4:10, 7:05, 10:10
Thirst (R)
12:20, 3:45, 7:10, 10:15
Where the Wild Things Are (PG)
11:45, 2:25, 5:05, 7:35, 10:05 (Sofa Cinema showing)
A Christmas Carol (PG)
11:35, 2:10, 4:35, 7:20, 9:55
Law Abiding Citizen (R)
11:00, 1:50, 4:45, 7:40, 10:15
The Men Who Stare at Goats (R)
11:20, 1:45, 4:25, 7:30, 10:00
Michael Jackson’s This Is It (PG)
11:15, 2:05, 4:50, 7:35, 10:10
Where the Wild Things Are (PG)
11:25, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:45
The Box (PG-13)
1:00, 4:00, 7:00
Amelia (PG)
2:05, 4:30, 7:05, 9:40
The Box (PG-13)
2:15, 5:00, 7:30, 10:00
A Christmas Carol 3-D (PG)
2:05, 4:25, 7:00, 9:25
A Christmas Carol 2-D (PG)
2:30, 5:05, 7:20, 9:45
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (PG-13)
4:25, 10:00
Couples Retreat (PG-13)
2:15, 4:50, 7:30, 9:55
The Fourth Kind (PG-13)
2:45, 5:15, 7:35, 10:10
Law Abiding Citizen (R)
2:35, 5:15, 8:00
The Men Who Stare at Goats (R)
2:50, 5:10, 7:25, 9:40
Michael Jackson’s This Is It (PG)
2:00, 4:30, 7:15, 9:50
Paranormal Activity (R)
2:25, 4:40, 7:00, 9:10
Saw VI (R)
4:45, 10:05
The Stepfather (PG-13)
2:25, 7:40
Where the Wild Things Are (PG)
2:10, 7:00
Amelia (PG)
1:20, 4:20, 7:20 (no 7:20 show Thu, Nov. 12), Late show Fri-Sat only 9:40
Coco Before Chanel (PG-13)
1:00, 4:00, 7:00, Late show Fri-Sat only 9:20
Bright Star (PG)
1:00 (Sat, Wed), 4:00, 7:00
The Box (PG-13)
9:45 (Sat-Sun only), 12:30, 4:30, 7:20, 10:05
A Christmas Carol 3-D (PG)
9:20 (Sat-Sun only), 11:15, 11:45, 1:40, 2:10, 4:05, 4:35, 6:30, 7:00, 8:55, 9:25
A Christmas Carol 2-D (PG)
9:50 (Sat-Sun only), 12:15, 2:40, 5:05, 7:30, 9:55
Law Abiding Citizen (R)
10:00 (Sat-Sun only), 12:45, 4:10, 7:10, 10:00
Paranormal Activity (R)
9:30 (Sat-Sun only), 11:40, 1:50, 4:00, 7:40, 10:15
Zombieland (R)
9:40 (Sat-Sun only), 11:50, 2:00, 4:20, 7:50, 10:10
Movie articles
Cranky Hanke’s Screening Room: When did you first fall in love with the movies?
I realize that this is a presumptuous question that supposes that the reader did fall in love with the movies in the first place. Still, I’m assuming for argument’s sake that such a condition probably has something to do with the reason you’re reading this column in the first place. The question in my mind is whether this was a cumulative thing for people or if there’s some outstanding defining moment that brought this about.
Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler: Nov. 4-10: Vampires, goats and three spirits
A more than usually interesting array of movies comes our way this week—including another challenge to local moviegoers to get out and support the kind of non-mainstream film I’m always being asked about. In this case, I specifically refer to Park Chan-wook’s take on the vampire film, Thirst, which opens this Friday at the Carolina Asheville.
Cranky Hanke’s Screening Room: Favorite horror movie deaths for Halloween
It’s become a tradition that Justin Souther and I undertake some kind of Halloween treat for this column. Well, it’s a treat for us, no matter what anyone else thinks about it. This year we opted to go to perhaps the very core of the horror film—death.
Pick of the Week:
Thirst (R)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Genre: Horror
Directed by: Park Chan-wook (Old Boy)
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-vin, Kim Hae-sook, Shin Ha-kyun, Park In-hwan
The Story: A Catholic priest recieves a blood transfusion that turns him into a vampire.
The Lowdown: A long, unusual, thoughtful, bloody and frequently very funny horror film from Park Chan-wook that rethinks—or at least reshuffles—the vampire movie.
Reviews:
Coco Before Chanel (PG-13)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | 6 Comment(s)
Genre: Biographical Drama
Directed by: Anne Fontaine
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain, Emmanuelle Devos
The Story: The early life of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, charting her rise from poverty to the very edge of being the name in fashion.
The Lowdown: A nicely drawn, beautifully produced biopic that benefits from a clear idea of what it wants and a wonderful performance from its star, Audrey Tautou.
Michael Jackson’s This Is It (PG)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Genre: Music Documentary
Directed by: Kenny Ortega (High School Musical 3)
Starring: Michael Jackson, Kenny Ortega
The Story: A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Michael Jackson’s This Is It show that was nearly ready to be performed at the time of Jackson’s death.
The Lowdown: While your taste for this will depend almost entirely on your fondness or lack thereof for Michael Jackson, the film itself is an intriguing look at his creative process.
Paris (R)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Genre: Drama
Directed by: Cédric Klapisch (L'Auberge Espagnole)
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Albert Dupontel, François Cluzet, Mélanie Laurent
The Story: A multi-storied film about the lives of a number of people in Paris.
The Lowdown: An often brilliant drama—or series of dramas—that focuses more on characters than plot, resulting in a satisfying, if not quite great, work.
Play the Game (PG-13)
Justin Souther | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Genre: Romance/Sex Comedy
Directed by: Marc Fienberg
Starring: Paul Campbell, Andy Griffith, Doris Roberts, Marla Sokoloff, Liz Sheridan
The Story: A twentysomething attempts to teach his elderly grandfather how to “play the game of love” while also trying to woo his own dream girl.
The Lowdown: Dull, formulaic, uninspired, stylistically inert tripe that’s better suited as lower-tier film-festival fodder or maybe as an insomnia aid.
Special Showings
Breaking In (R)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | 1 Comment(s)
Genre: Comedy/Action
Directed by: Bill Forsyth (Local Hero)
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Casey Siemaszko, Sheila Kelley, Lorraine Toussaint
The Hendersonville Film Society will show Breaking In at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.
The H-Man (NR)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Genre: Crime/Sci-Fi/Horror
Directed by: Ishirô Honda (Godzilla)
Starring: Yumi Shirakawa, Kenji Sahara, Akihiko Hirata, Koreya Senda
Classic Cinema From Around the World will show The H-Man at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St., downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.
One Crazy Ride / Riding Solo to the Top of the World (NR)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Genre: Travel Documentary
Directed by: Gaurav Jani
Starring: Gaurav Jani
One Crazy Ride will be shown at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, and Riding Solo at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, both at the Carolina Asheville Cinema 14. Riding Solo will also be screened at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at Firestorm Cafe & Books. All screenings are free admission.
Still Showing:
Amelia (PG)
Ken Hanke | 10/28/2009 | 1 Comment(s)
Astro Boy (PG)
Justin Souther | 10/28/2009 | 6 Comment(s)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (R)
Ken Hanke | 10/28/2009 | 2 Comment(s)
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (PG-13)
Justin Souther | 10/28/2009 | 4 Comment(s)
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (PG)
Justin Souther | 09/23/2009 | Comment here
Coco Before Chanel (PG-13)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | 6 Comment(s)
Couples Retreat (PG-13)
Justin Souther | 10/14/2009 | 3 Comment(s)
The Invention of Lying (PG-13)
Ken Hanke | 10/07/2009 | Comment here
It Might Get Loud (PG)
Ken Hanke | 10/21/2009 | 15 Comment(s)
Justin Souther | 10/21/2009 | Comment here
Michael Jackson’s This Is It (PG)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Ken Hanke | 10/28/2009 | 12 Comment(s)
Paris (R)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Play the Game (PG-13)
Justin Souther | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Saw VI (R)
Ken Hanke | 10/28/2009 | 4 Comment(s)
The Stepfather (PG-13)
Ken Hanke | 10/21/2009 | 9 Comment(s)
Thirst (R)
Ken Hanke | 11/04/2009 | Comment here
Where the Wild Things Are (PG)
Ken Hanke | 10/21/2009 | 13 Comment(s)
Whip It (PG-13)
Ken Hanke | 10/07/2009 | Comment here
Zombieland (R)
Ken Hanke | 10/07/2009 | Comment here
Upcomers
Starts Friday
The Box
The new film from Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly promises to be more accessible than his Southland Tales, but perhaps not so much so that his voice will be lost. Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella star in this story about a mysterious stranger (Langella) who shows up to offer a young couple (Diaz and Marsden) $1 million in exchange for pressing the button on the box of the title. The catch is that when the button is pushed someone they don’t know will die. The early reviews—mostly from Australia—are pretty much evenly divided. (PG-13)
Early review samples:
• “It may fall short of Donnie Darko‘s clever storytelling, but for his third feature film, Kelly plays confidently with suspense and lays down the right hooks at the right time to keep you drawn into his creepy world.” (Patrick Kolan, IGN Movies AU)
• “Expanding a Richard Matheson story into a ‘70s-set thriller in which a couple is besieged by space-age conspiracies, nose-bleeding zombies and quotations from Jean-Paul Sartre, the pic reveals the hazards of taking Twilight Zone material too far and too seriously.” (Jordan Mintzer, Variety)
A Christmas Carol
Robert Zemeckis teams with Jim Carrey and creepy motion-capture animation to bring an effects-driven version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to the screen—and in 3-D. Poor old Chuck. The trailer is loud, obnoxious and crammed with more whiz-bangery than Dickens could ever have imagined—lacking the benefit of a CGI-fueled imagination. For whatever reason, it’s been withheld from critical eyes so far. (PG)
The Fourth Kind
The trailer for Olatunde Osunsanmi’s The Fourth Kind is less annoying than the one for A Christmas Carol, but it looks no smarter, especially with Milla Jovovich (“Hi, I’m Milla Jovovich and I’m an actress”) attempting to make this alien abduction flick look like a serious documentary. But then, after all, it supposedly mixes “real” footage with recreations, and all of it is based on fact. Uh-huh. No prizes are offered for guessing that it’s not been screened for critics. (PG-13)
The Men Who Stare At Goats
OK, here’s a movie with George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, goats and a perfectly screwy fact-based story about training men with paranormal powers for a new kind of telepathic warfare. What’s not to love? The bulk of the early reviews seem to be of a similar opinion—and goodness knows it’s far and away the most promising-looking mainstream release of the week. (R)
Early review samples:
• “A serendipitous marriage of talent in which all hearts seem to beat as one, The Men Who Stare at Goats takes Jon Ronson’s book about ‘the apparent madness at the heart of U.S. military intelligence’ and fashions a superbly written loony-tunes satire, played by a Tony cast at the top of its game.” (Derek Elley, Variety)
• “A light-hearted and highly entertaining antidote to pompous large scale movies about Iraq or Afghanistan and ironically maybe the biggest hit of them all.” (Mike Goodrich, Screen International)
Paris
See review in “Cranky Hanke.”
Thirst
See review in “Cranky Hanke.”
