Array ( [0] => Array ( [Movie] => Array ( [id] => 11690 [src_id] => 110552 [name] => The Dictator [runtime] => 1:23 [mpaa_rating_id] => 4 [advisory] => for strong crude and sexual content, brief male nudity, language and some violent images [url] => http://www.republicofwadiya.com [release_date] => 2012-05-16 [stars] => [synopsis] => [synopsis_trib] => Sacha Baron Cohen serves up raunchy comedy, and some biting satire, in this comedy about a North African ruler stranded in New York. 84 minutes. (SPM) [rating_id] => 0 [advisory_trib] => [caption_caption] => [pg_comment_trib] => [rating_sex_trib] => 4 [rating_violence_trib] => 4 [rating_language_trib] => 4 [url_trib] => [review] => [review_trib] => You know that “The Dictator” is going to be shocking, because it’s centered around a character created by Sacha Baron Cohen, the guy who gave us the Kazakh boor Borat and the German fashionista Bruno. But what you don’t know about “The Dictator” is how it shocks — not through Baron Cohen’s scathingly raunchy humor, but through his message. Baron Cohen plays Admiral General Aladeen, not-so-benevolent dictator of the north African nation of Wadiya. Thanks to his nation’s oil riches, Aladeen lives in a swank mansion, drives a fleet of gold-plated Humvees, and gets to send anyone he wants off for execution. He’s also not too bright, as evidenced when he argues with his country’s top nuclear scientist, Natal (Jason Mantzoukas), because he thinks the missile his nation is developing should be pointy. On a trip to the United Nations, Aladeen is betrayed by his top general (Ben Kingsley) and dumped into the hands of an American torturer (John C. Reilly). Aladeen escapes, minus his trademark beard, and ends up befriended by a leftie activist, Zoey (Anna Faris), who runs an organic co-op grocery in Brooklyn. Aladeen plots with the now-exiled Natal to regain his command but is surprised to find himself falling for the idealistic, free-spirited and unshaven Zoey. Director Larry Charles, who collaborated with Baron Cohen on “Borat” and “Bruno,” gives his star free rein while constructing around him a surprisingly formulaic comic scenario — think “Coming to America” with more offensive, but often gut-bustingly funny jokes. (You know what you’re getting into in the opening frame, a title card that dedicates the film “in loving memory to Kim Jong-Il.”) The jokes themselves aren’t particularly shocking, because “Borat” and “Bruno” have conditioned audiences to expect that sort of thing from Baron Cohen. What’s shocking is the movie’s finale, in which Baron Cohen — as usual, fully committed to his character — delivers a diatribe that’s a satirical version of Charlie Chaplin’s famous speech in “The Great Dictator.” And what a speech: A pointed critique of American corporate greed, fear-mongering, racism, media monopolies and income inequality. The fact that a major American entertainment conglomerate (Viacom, parent company of Paramount) paid Baron Cohen to do it makes the irony that much richer. -- Sean P. Means [slug] => the_dictator [active] => 1 [kim_url] => [modified] => 2012-05-17 13:56:45 [kim_sex] => [kim_violence] => [kim_language] => [kim_fail] => 0 [rating_parents_guide] => [get_updates] => 0 [created] => 2011-06-26 02:44:10 [kids_rating] => 12 [sort_order_trib] => 0 [rating] => [rating_trib] => 3.0000 [now_playing] => 1 [picks] => 1 [featured] => 11 [festival] => 0 ) [0] => Array ( [MovieGenres] => comedy,comedy| [Uploads] => movies//41112695105_movies_dictator.jpg| ) [MpaaRating] => Array ( [name] => R ) ) [1] => Array ( [Movie] => Array ( [id] => 8627 [src_id] => 116926 [name] => Dark Shadows [runtime] => 1:53 [mpaa_rating_id] => 3 [advisory] => for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking [url] => http://darkshadowsmovie.warnerbros.com/ [release_date] => 2012-05-11 [stars] => [synopsis] => [synopsis_trib] => Johnny Depp sinks his teeth into the role of Barnabas Collins, in Tim Burton's disjointed comedy based on the Gothic '60s soap opera. 113 minutes. (SPM) [rating_id] => 0 [advisory_trib] => [caption_caption] => [pg_comment_trib] => Sexual content, comic violence; for 13 and up [rating_sex_trib] => 3 [rating_violence_trib] => 3 [rating_language_trib] => 3 [url_trib] => [review] => [review_trib] => Are we past the point of hoping for better from a Tim Burton movie? Once upon a time, when “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” and “Beetlejuice” were fresh and new, we could imagine that Burton was going to be the idiosyncratic filmmaker of our dreams — a mad man-child who created strange and audacious dream­scapes like a psychotic Dr. Seuss. We even thought Burton could do cool things with blockbusters, as he did by casting Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader in “Batman” and “Batman Returns,” two arresting, if not altogether cohesive, movies. And we saw a glorious collaboration with actor-muse Johnny Depp blossom in “Edward Scissorhands.” In the past decade or so, though, Burton has been stuck in the land of retreads. He sent up ’50s monster movies in “Mars Attacks!”, created a tepid “Planet of the Apes” and teamed up with Depp to make interesting but unnecessary revisions of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Alice in Wonderland” and now “Dark Shadows,” a semi-goofy riff on the Gothic soap opera that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. Depp plays Barnabas Collins, the scion of an 18th-century Maine fishing magnate who is cursed by a spurned lover, Angelique (Eva Green), who’s also a witch. Angelique compels Barnabas’ doe-eyed love, Josette (Bella Heathcote), to jump off a cliff, then turns Barnabas into a vampire and leads the townsfolk to lock him in an iron coffin. Two hundred years later, Barnabas resurfaces in 1972. He finds the family estate, Collinwood, in dilapidated form —and populated by matriarch Elizabeth Collins (Michelle Pfeiffer), her sullen teen daughter Carolyn (Chloë Grace Moretz), Elizabeth’s loutish brother Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), Roger’s haunted son David (Gully McGrath), the creepy groundskeeper Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley) and David’s live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (played by Mrs. Burton, Helena Bonham Carter). He also meets David’s new governess, Victoria Winters (also played by Heathcote), who’s a dead ringer for Josette, whom she sees haunting Collinwood. Barnabas also finds Angelique, now Angie, has become the leading citizen of the nearby town, Collins—port — and she’s as witchy as ever. But the shock of seeing Angelique again is nothing compared to the culture shock of landing in the era of lava lamps and leisure suits — a situation Burton plays for quick laughs. Those are about the only laughs in Burton’s “Dark Shadows,” as screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith (who wrote the novels Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies) veers from cultural satire to an oddly straightforward haunted-house thriller. With Burton at the helm, the result is predictably schizophrenic, with the first half set-up more entertaining than the overly busy and effects-heavy payoff. Depp again is working as if another, and far more trippy, movie is playing in his head. Barnabas’ overriding emotion, in Depp’s portrayal, is towering indignation at his cursed existence and his family’s lowly status. But one wonders if Depp should save some of that indignation for Burton, to spur his director friend into getting out of his remake rut. -- Sean P. Means [slug] => dark_shadows [active] => 1 [kim_url] => [modified] => 2012-05-14 14:35:01 [kim_sex] => [kim_violence] => [kim_language] => [kim_fail] => 0 [rating_parents_guide] => [get_updates] => 0 [created] => 2011-06-26 02:26:40 [kids_rating] => 9 [sort_order_trib] => 0 [rating] => [rating_trib] => 2.0000 [now_playing] => 1 [picks] => 0 [featured] => 10 [festival] => 0 ) [0] => Array ( [MovieGenres] => comedy,comedy|,drama,drama|,horror,horror| [Uploads] => movies//34534502310_movies_darkshadows.jpg|,movies//34534502310_movies_darkshadows.jpg|,movies//34534502310_movies_darkshadows.jpg| ) [MpaaRating] => Array ( [name] => PG-13 ) ) [2] => Array ( [Movie] => Array ( [id] => 13274 [src_id] => 117300 [name] => The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [runtime] => 1:58 [mpaa_rating_id] => 3 [advisory] => for sexual content and language [url] => http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thebestexoticmarigoldhotel/ [release_date] => 2012-05-04 [stars] => [synopsis] => [synopsis_trib] => English retirees find adventure and romance in Jaipur, India, in a charming ensemble comedy starring Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson and Maggie Smith. 124 minutes. (SPM) [rating_id] => 99 [advisory_trib] => [caption_caption] => [pg_comment_trib] => Sexual content, language; for 13 and up [rating_sex_trib] => 3 [rating_violence_trib] => 1 [rating_language_trib] => 3 [url_trib] => [review] => For a desparate group of English pensioners, retirement takes an unconventional turn when they abandon their homeland, enticed by advertisements for THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, a seemingly luxurious sanctuary for "the elderly and beautiful" in Jaipur, India. On arrival, they discover that the hotel falls somewhat short of the romantic idyll promised in the brochure, but they are gradually won over by the ever-optimistic young manager Sonny, and tentatively embark on a new adventure, finding that life can begin again when you let go of the past. [review_trib] => Nothing happens in “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” that you don’t expect — but there are plenty of charms in watching a cast of veteran British actors going through their paces in a story of life’s second acts. This adaptation of Deborah Moggach’s novel introduces us to several English characters facing the prospect of retirement. Evelyn (Judi Dench) is a widow whose husband’s debts force her to sell the home they shared for 40 years. Graham (Tom Wilkinson) is a judge who decides to chuck it all. Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) are discovering just how far his civil-service pension will go. Madge (Celia Imrie) seeks a rich husband, and Norman (Ronald Pickup) is eternally in search of new sexual conquests. And then there’s Muriel (Maggie Smith), a racist curmudgeon in need of a hip replacement. All of them soon realize their most affordable retirement option is in Jaipur, India. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful, however, is not the paradise the website photos have them believe. The confident young owner-manager of the hotel, Sonny Kapoor (“Slumdog Millionaire” star Dev Patel), talks fast to reassure his new clients, employing old Indian philosophy: “Everything will be all right in the end. If everything is not all right, it is not the end.” Each of the new arrivals, rejecting the notion that their lives are over, reacts differently to the bustle of India. Evelyn, for one, lands herself a job teaching call-center workers how to talk like human beings. Graham, forced to hide his homosexuality for decades, searches for a lost love he knew as a teen. Muriel discovers an affinity for the “untouchable” caste members who tend to the hotel as her attitudes about brown-skinned people soften. And so on. Meanwhile, Sonny must contend with his modern girlfriend, Sunaina (Tena Desae), and his disapproving mother (Lillete Dubey). Everything in Ol Parker’s screenplay plays out in gently predictable fashion. It’s up to the delightful cast, and to the light touch of director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love”), to bring life and warmth. There are great moments for all the principals, with particularly good turns by Dench, Wilkinson and the pairing of Nighy and Wilton (who played a married couple previously in “Shaun of the Dead”). The movie is also a delightful travelogue, capturing all the color and movement of modern India in a way that makes retiring there — or, at least, spending a couple hours there — seem quite appealing. -- Sean P. Means [slug] => The_Best_Exotic_Marigold_Hotel [active] => 1 [kim_url] => [modified] => 2012-05-11 15:24:40 [kim_sex] => [kim_violence] => [kim_language] => [kim_fail] => 0 [rating_parents_guide] => [get_updates] => 0 [created] => 2011-08-31 00:00:24 [kids_rating] => 0 [sort_order_trib] => 0 [rating] => [rating_trib] => 3.0000 [now_playing] => 1 [picks] => 1 [featured] => 10 [festival] => 0 ) [0] => Array ( [MovieGenres] => comedy,comedy|,drama,drama| [Uploads] => movies//8758245249_movies_bestexotic.jpg|,movies//8758245249_movies_bestexotic.jpg| ) [MpaaRating] => Array ( [name] => PG-13 ) ) [3] => Array ( [Movie] => Array ( [id] => 13147 [src_id] => 119486 [name] => Undefeated [runtime] => 1:50 [mpaa_rating_id] => 3 [advisory] => for some language [url] => http://www.undefeatedmovie.com/ [release_date] => 2012-05-11 [stars] => [synopsis] => [synopsis_trib] => The travails of the Manassas Tigers, an inner-city high-school football team, are chronicled in this rousing documentary. 113 minutes. (SPM) [rating_id] => 99 [advisory_trib] => [caption_caption] => [pg_comment_trib] => Some language; for 13 and upu [rating_sex_trib] => 1 [rating_violence_trib] => 2 [rating_language_trib] => 3 [url_trib] => [review] => In recent decades Manassas had gone so far as to sell their home games to the highest bidder, but that all changed in the spring of 2004 when Bill Courtney, a former high school football coach turned lumber salesman, volunteered to lend a hand. When he arrived, the team consisted of 17 players, some timeworn equipment and a patch of grass masquerading as a practice field. Focusing more on winning young men than football games, the football program nevertheless began resurrecting itself and, in 2009, features the most talented team Manassas has ever fielded; a team that seems poised to end the playoff jinx that has plagued the school since time immemorial. [review_trib] => If a fictional film carried the story line of “Undefeated” — a white coach leads an underdog inner-city high-school football team to victory, teaching lessons in character to the African-American players along the way — it would be decried as a cliche-ridden retread of “The White Shadow,” “Dangerous Minds” and a thousand other Hollywood stories. This story is true, though: The coach, Bill Courtney, works to inspire the players of the Manassas Tigers, near Memphis, Tenn., once a perennial 0-10 doormat and, in the 2009 season chronicled in this Oscar-winning documentary, poised to win. Directors Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin delve into the issues of 21st-century sports and highlight several players, including a college prospect trying to improve his grades and a smart student discouraged by a knee injury. But the power of those cliches is irresistible, and Lindsay and Martin ultimately deliver the heart-tugging sports drama that’s expected of them. -- Sean P. Means [slug] => undefeated [active] => 1 [kim_url] => [modified] => 2012-05-11 15:22:42 [kim_sex] => [kim_violence] => [kim_language] => [kim_fail] => 0 [rating_parents_guide] => [get_updates] => 0 [created] => 2011-08-02 00:01:01 [kids_rating] => 0 [sort_order_trib] => 0 [rating] => [rating_trib] => 3.0000 [now_playing] => 1 [picks] => 1 [featured] => 9 [festival] => 0 ) [0] => Array ( [MovieGenres] => documentary,documentary|,drama,drama| [Uploads] => movies//80062200002_movies_undefeated.jpg|,movies//80062200002_movies_undefeated.jpg| ) [MpaaRating] => Array ( [name] => PG-13 ) ) [4] => Array ( [Movie] => Array ( [id] => 234591 [src_id] => 115142 [name] => We Have a Pope (Habemus Papam) [runtime] => 1:40 [mpaa_rating_id] => 5 [advisory] => [url] => http://www.habemuspapam.it/ [release_date] => 2012-05-11 [stars] => [synopsis] => [synopsis_trib] => A new Pontiff (Michel Piccoli) has a panic attack, and the Vatican calls in a shrink (Nanni Moretti, who wrote and directed) in this uneven satire. Subtitled; 102 minutes. (SPM) [rating_id] => 99 [advisory_trib] => [caption_caption] => [pg_comment_trib] => Language, sexual content; for 13 and up [rating_sex_trib] => 3 [rating_violence_trib] => 1 [rating_language_trib] => 3 [url_trib] => [review] => [review_trib] => Italian writer-director Nanni Moretti tries to create satirical laughs and thoughtful drama in “We Have a Pope,” but neither mood feels authentic. The film’s title is translated from the Latin phrase “Habemus Papam,” which is declared when the College of Cardinals emerges from its conclave to announce a new pope. In this fictional telling, the newly elected Pontiff, Cardinal Melville (Michel Piccoli), gets cold feet before the announcement and flees. The Vatican’s PR boss (Jerzy Stuhr), trying to fend off a media circus, brings in a psychoanalyst (played by Moretti) to try to talk to Cardinal Melville — and soon the doc is confined with the bored cardinals, unable to leave the Vatican until this leadership crisis is solved. Moretti’s comedy and his skewering of Catholic foibles is a bit ham-fisted, but he does hit a few choice targets. The movie’s main charms are in seeing Piccoli, the great French actor (“Belle du Jour,” “La Belle Noiseuse”), find some humanity and passion in the usually remote figure of a pope. -- Sean P. Means [slug] => we_have_a_pope_habemus_papam [active] => 1 [kim_url] => [modified] => 2012-05-11 15:16:11 [kim_sex] => [kim_violence] => [kim_language] => [kim_fail] => 0 [rating_parents_guide] => [get_updates] => 0 [created] => 2012-01-21 00:01:33 [kids_rating] => 0 [sort_order_trib] => 0 [rating] => [rating_trib] => 2.5000 [now_playing] => 1 [picks] => 0 [featured] => 8 [festival] => 0 ) [0] => Array ( [MovieGenres] => drama,drama| [Uploads] => movies//34631561395_movies_havepope.jpg| ) [MpaaRating] => Array ( [name] => NR ) ) )