Starts Wednesday

Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

With blithe disregard for science (probably not a major concern when your starting point is a woolly mammoth that talks—a lot like Ray Romano, no less), the Ice Age creatures meet up with dinosaurs. Is there still life in this franchise—not to mention interest? Well, 20th Century Fox thinks so, applying a coat of 3-D to it and betting the July Fourth weekend on it. If nothing else, this at least means we’ll stop seeing the trailer every time we sit down in a theater. (PG)

Early review samples:

• “With appreciably greater emphasis on action than its predecessors, and clever use of 3-D trickery to enhance storytelling as well as offer spectacle, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs could prove the third time really is the charm by expanding an already sizable audience for a popular toon franchise.” (Joe Leyden, Variety)
• “A sometimes beautiful piece of animation consistently ruined by unfocused directing, bizarre editing choices, phoned-in voice acting, and a script which is neither witty nor filled with momentum.” (Mark Rawden, Cinemablend)

Public Enemies

Michael Mann offers us his take on John Dillinger and G-Man Melvin Purvis—personified here by Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. At the very least it ought to be interesting. From the trailers, Depp looks to be giving another strong performance, Bale looks to be giving another Bale performance, and Mann’s choice of shooting the film on HD video looks like a mixed blessing. Some of the film looks terrific, while other parts look, well, like video. That’s hard to understand after such HD films as Knowing. Still, the story is compelling and there’s Johnny Depp for compensation. (R)

Early review samples:

• “Michael Mann ambitiously tries to forge the historical, iconographic and cultural aspects of American gangsterdom in Public Enemies, with results more admirable than electrifying.” (Todd McCarthy, Variety)
• “With its focus on men striking back at banks during economically treacherous times, and federal law enforcement’s decision—depicted as being advanced not by Hoover but Purvis—that the apprehension of ruthless criminals requires the employment of equally ruthless men and methods, the story is primed for contemporary parallels.” (Nick Schager, Slant Magazine)

Starts Friday

Every Little Step

A highly regarded (91 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes) documentary about the 2005 restaging of A Chorus Line on Broadway. The film not only traces the history of the show and the hopes and dreams of the new performers trying for a role in the play, but it apparently does much to make up for Richard Attenborough’s botched film version of the show. (PG-13)

Early review samples:

• “Watching Every Little Step, a new documentary by James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, is a bit like walking through a hall of mirrors. Life imitates art, art reflects life, and after a while the distinctions threaten, quite pleasantly, to blur altogether.” (A.O. Scott, New York Times)
• ” Every Little Step doesn’t do anything unexpected, and it doesn’t have to. A documentary that combines the history of A Chorus Line with a behind-the-scenes look at how the 2006 Broadway revival was cast, it’s a can’t-miss effort that knows how to please.” (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times)

Whatever Works

The critics are split down the middle over Woody Allen’s new movie, Whatever Works, which might be a good thing—at least for those of us who like Woody better when he’s being Woody. Allen stays off-screen again, handing the starring chore over to Larry David, who plays a curmudgeonly old guy who captures the attention of a young Southern girl (Evan Rachel Wood). Allen never intended to play the character, since the screenplay was written in the 1970s with Zero Mostel originally slated for the lead role. The trailer suggests a strong, adventurous and funny film. (PG-13)

Early review samples:

• ” Whatever Works charts a journey for Allen, one from the words of Groucho to the wisdom of Pascal, who informs us, as Allen once reminded us, that the heart has its reasons.” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times)
• “This late in his career, Allen might err in his casting, but ultimately his storytelling is sound. The man knows what works.” (Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine)