UP

Plus: Drag Me To Hell, Geln Beck's Common Sense Tour and more

By Volcano Staff on May 28, 2009

DRAG ME TO HELL: The mortgage crisis claims another victim.  When a young loan officer (Alison Lohman) shames an old woman and causes her to lose her house the spurned woman puts a deadly curse on her young foe. (PG-13) – BW


GOODBYE SOLO: Two actors. One from Africa. The other who was a bodyguard for Elvis. Who but Ramin Bahrani would find these men and pair them in a story of heartbreaking depth and power? Bahrani is the new great American director. He never steps wrong. In Goodbye Solo, he begins with a situation that might unfold in a dozen different ways and makes of it something original and profound. It is about the desire to help and the desire to not be helped. Not rated. Four stars — Roger Ebert


GLEN BECK’S COMMON SENSE TOUR  LIVE: From the Midland Theatre in Kansas City and select theaters nationwide. (NR) – BW


THE HANGOVER: Early opening. (R)


LAND OF THE LOST: Early opening. (PG-13)


SUGAR: Intensely human story of a young baseball player from the Dominican Republic who is recruited to an Iowa farm team and finds himself alone and very, very far from home.  Not a sports movie but a tender character-driven drama, as his poor family nourishes his dreams.  Even a farm league salary is wealth to them all.  Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson), starring Algenis Perez Soto in a persuasive, natural performance. (R) Three and a half stars – RE


UP: A wonderful film, with characters who are as believable as any characters can be who spend much of their time floating above the rain forests of Venezuela.  Two cranky old men and a plucky kid, a house tied to balloons and a giant airship, a goofy bird and another animated masterpiece from Pixar’s Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.).  With the voices of Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer and Jordan Nagai. (PG) Four stars – RE