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	Journey 2: Mysterious Island (PG) Jump-starting the Nautilus with an electric eel "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" looks like nothing so much as one of those live-action adventures that Disney used to grind out in the 1950s — and hey, here's Captain Nemo's Nautilus to prove it. Also, a tree house to humble "Swiss Family Robinson," which contains a short-wave radio that has been assembled from old spoons, I think I heard. The Vow (PG-13) I Married an Amnesiac "The Vow" is a well-behaved, tenderhearted love story about impossibly nice people. It's not even about whether they'll get married. They've been happily married for four years. The problem is, she can't remember them. She can't even remember her husband. House of Pleasures (Unrated) Sleep-walking through sexual commerce Bertrand Bonello's "House of Pleasures" is a morose elegy to the decline of a luxurious Parisian bordello, circa 1900, a closed world in which prostitutes and their clients glide like sleepwalkers through the motions of sex. Elegant and detailed production design creates L'Apollonide, a high-priced whorehouse on a respectable boulevard, where a madam and her women of commerce lead a life as cloistered as in a convent, or a prison. W.E. (R) "She possesses him. Not dominates. Possesses." There's dialogue in "W.E." that probably holds some truth about the strange attraction the then-King Edward VIII felt for Wallis Simpson, the twice-divorced American he valued more than the British throne. Quoting from memory: "She absolutely possesses him. Not dominates. Possesses." There were tales that theirs was a sadomasochistic union, but as it's seen in "W.E.," Madonna's new film, it seems based more on their mutual fascination with the awfulness of the thing they have done. Addiction Incorporated (PG) As if they weren't addictive enough The PG rating of "Addiction Incorporated" is explained in part because it "contains thematic material involving smoking and addiction." When the MPAA first adapted its code, everyone in the movies smoked except Snow White. Smoking was identified with romance and heroism, Bette Davis was applauded for lighting up on "The Tonight Show," and you could often see the smoke from Johnny's own cigarette curling up from the ashtray under his desk. These days, a character who smokes is self-destructive, a villain or a troubled high school student. "Addiction Incorporated" follows tobacco's journey downhill from respectability. After his long night's work, Santa used to relax with a Lucky on a back-cover ad in Life magazine, and Ronald Reagan liked to puff on Chesterfields. Now we learn of proposed new government health warnings that are more likely to make you spew than smoke your first cigarette. Oscar nominated short docs (Unrated) See the nominated short docs I've seen bits and pieces of this footage before, but shown as one continuous shot, it's overwhelming. A wave of unimaginable size pushes houses, trucks and cars ahead of it, as tiny desperate figures struggle to run up a hillside. It is the extended opening of Lucy Walker's "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom," one of this year's five nominees for the best documentary short subject Oscar. Chronicle (PG-13) No way I go down that hole Man, you couldn't get me down into that hole in the ground for all the beans in Boston. It's perfectly circular, in the middle of a gloomy, grassy field, and Matt and Steve talk Andrew into bringing his new video camera and filming as they disappear into its dark maw. They use the camera's light and of course the screens of their iPhones. They can't see the bottom. The Woman in Black (PG-13) A haunted house with its own sound effects Not since young Hutter arrived at Orlok's castle in "Nosferatu" has a journey to a dreaded house been more fearsome than the one in "The Woman in Black." Both films (and all versions of "Dracula") begin with the local townspeople terrified of a residence and the legends surrounding it. In this case, a green, Victorian-era attorney named Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is visiting a haunted house in the north of England, which can be reached only by a single-track road on a long, narrow causeway that lies so low in a brackish sea that the waters lap its edges. The Innkeepers (R) Certain guests never check out Truffaut once said it's not possible to enjoy a film shot in the house where you were raised, because you're always thinking about how they replaced the wallpaper. I had a little of that feeling during the ghost movie "The Innkeepers," which reminded me of the much-loved Boulderado in Boulder, Colo. The movie is shot almost entirely within the (real) Yankee Pedlar Inn in Torrington, Conn. Both hotels are said to be haunted. I know someone who knew nothing about the Boulderado and saw a ghost standing in the closet of Room 506 — and when we told the desk clerk, she said the ghost my friend saw matched the descriptions of earlier guests. Coriolanus (R) (2/1) » Windfall (Unrated) (2/1) » My Piece of the Pie (Unrated) (2/1) » A Separation (PG-13) (1/25) » The Grey (R) (1/25) » We Need to Talk about Kevin (R) (1/25) » Albert Nobbs (R) (1/25) » Tomboy (Unrated) (1/25) » Man on a Ledge (PG-13) (1/25) » Amador (Unrated) (1/25) » Haywire (R) (1/18) » Pina (PG) (1/18) » Red Tails (PG-13) (1/18) » Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (PG-13) (1/18) » Norwegian Wood (Unrated) (1/18) » Flowers of War (R) (1/18) » Mulberry Child (Unrated) (1/18) » The King of Devil's Island (Unrated) (1/18) » Wages of Fear (Unrated) (1/18) » Carnage (R) (1/11) » Contraband (R) (1/11) » The Iron Lady (PG-13) (1/11) » Joyful Noise (PG-13) (1/11) » Newlyweds (Unrated) (1/11) » Sundance shorts 2012 (Unrated) (1/11) » Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (Unrated) (1/10) » Pariah (R) (1/4) » In the Land of Blood and Honey (R) (1/4) » Outrage (R) (1/4) » The Conquest (Unrated) (1/4) » Paul Goodman Changed My Life (Unrated) (12/21) » The Artist (PG) (12/21) » War Horse (PG) (12/21) » We Bought a Zoo (PG) (12/21) » Miss Minoes (PG) (12/14) » The Adventures of Tintin (PG) (12/20) » The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (R) (12/19) » Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol (PG-13) (12/14) » Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (PG-13) (12/14) » A Dangerous Method (R) (12/14) » More Current Releases » Search Search powered by YAHOO!		roger ebert's journal Outguess Ebert on the Oscars It doesn't take a crystal ball to see that this year's Academy Awards will amount to a shootout between "Hugo," with 11 nominations, and "The Artist," with 10. Fittingly, they are two movies inspired by love of movie history, the first about the inventor of the cinema, the second about the transition from silent films to talkies. Happy days are here again For me the best news produced by the Florida primary was Newt Gingrich's vow to take his fight all the way to the floor of this year's Republican convention. It has been way too long since a national political convention was more than a coronation stage-managed by public relations experts. They wuz robbed Of course, no nominee is really robbed of an Academy Award nomination. It's a gift; not a right. The balloting procedure is conducted honestly and reflects a collective opinion, which was demonstrated this year when the Academy voters had the curiosity to seek out Demian Bichir for best actor for his deeply convincing performance as a Mexican gardener in Los Angeles in "A Better Life." our foreign correspondents The great movies of my childhood • Krishna Bala Shenoi in India Of late, I've been thinking about how I got here. Here, in love with movie watching and movie making. Here, in a design school in India, and not an engineering college or a medical school like predetermined for most Indian students. Here, in correspondence with a huge role model of mine. Here, doing what I love. No exorcist can handle Possession • Michał Oleszczyk in Kraków To call it overwrought would be an understatement. Andrzej Żuławski's 1981 masterpiece, butchered upon its original American release and relegated to spurious video-nasty circulation, is now returning in all its hysterical glory, as a part of Brooklyn's BAMcinématek complete Żuławski retro, which will then move to Cinefamily in Los Angeles. Featuring what is arguably the bravest female performance ever put on film - namely, Isabelle Adjani's Cannes-winning turn of shamanistic intensity - the film dares its viewer to enter a trance-like state, in which genres blur and mate to yield a new level of cinematic expression. thumbs Two Thumbs Up® Linked here are reviews in recent months for which I wrote either 4 star or 3.5 star reviews. What does Two Thumbs Up mean in this context? It signifies that I believe these films are worth going out of your way to see, or that you might rent them, add them to your Netflix, Blockbuster or TiVo queues, or if they are telecast record them. Your Movie Sucks™ Gathered here in one convenient place are my recent reviews that awarded films Zero Stars, One-half Star, One Star, and One-and-a-half Stars. These are, generally speaking to be avoided. Sometimes I hear from readers who confess they are in the mood to watch a really bad movie on some form of video. If you are sincere, be sure to know what you're getting: A really bad movie. in theaters Addiction Incorporated House of Pleasures Journey 2: Mysterious Island Oscar nominated short docs The Vow W.E. more current releases » One-minute movie reviews still playing Addiction Incorporated The Adventures of Tintin Albert Nobbs Amador America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments Answers to Nothing The Artist Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey Carnage Chronicle The Conquest Contraband Coriolanus A Dangerous Method The Descendants Elite Squad: The Enemy Within Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Flowers of War Garbo the Spy The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo The Grey Happy Feet Two Haywire The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch House of Pleasures Hugo In the Land of Blood and Honey The Innkeepers The Iron Lady Journey 2: Mysterious Island Joyful Noise The King of Devil's Island Kinyarwanda The Last Rites of Joe May Letters from the Big Man The Lie Man on a Ledge Miss Minoes Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol Mulberry Child The Muppets My Piece of the Pie My Week with Marilyn New Year's Eve Newlyweds Norwegian Wood Oscar nominated short docs Outrage Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Pariah Passione Paul Goodman Changed My Life Pina Raiders of the Lost Ark Red Tails A Separation Shame Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Silent Souls The Sitter Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview Sundance shorts 2012 That Girl in Yellow Boots 3 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Tomboy The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 Tyrannosaur The Vow W.E. Wages of Fear War Horse We Bought a Zoo We Need to Talk about Kevin Windfall The Woman in Black The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner Young Adult Young Goethe in Love more current releases » on dvd new on dvd more new on dvd » coming on dvd more coming on dvd » great movies on dvd more great movies on dvd » ebert's dvd commentaries Buy now » Buy now » Buy now » Buy now » Buy now » Buy now »

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