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Weisz brothers know all ‘About a Boy’

ATLANTA — You’ve heard it before, you’ll hear it again: Two heads are better than one. Brothers Chris and Paul Weisz, the directors of “About a Boy,” have done their best to prove that thought true. “We’ve always collaborated on projects,” said Paul, 36, “and I think we’re going to keep doing it for a [...]

‘About a Boy’ proves to be about so much more

“About a Boy” is, essentially, about a man — a man who, essentially, is a 38-year-old boy. And this 38-year-old boy named Will essentially does essentially nothing. Will (played perfectly by Hugh Grant) has all the luck — thanks to a song his dad wrote, he’s rich and doesn’t have to work. He dates loads [...]

‘Murder’ misses the mark

Movie Review Murder by Numbers Directed by: Barbet Schroeder Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt Playing at: Beechwood, Carmike 12 Rated: R Grade: C+ The Lowdown: A paint-by-numbers murder thriller. This one’s forgettable. It’s a strange experience, watching “Murder by Numbers.” Every time the movie jumps to a new scene, you feel [...]

Rock misses bite with ‘Scorpion’

You’d think that by now, they’d have learned to make a movie that’ll bring in the crowds and entertain them. “The Scorpion King,” an exercise in movie-as-product, is sure to bring in those box-office receipts, but it fails — sorely — at creating a fun, exciting cinematic experience. Ultimately, it’s just another noisy male power [...]

The Dismemberment Plan changes sound of pop-rock

To hear Travis Morrison tell it, there’s not much happening in rock today. But that could all change if people put down their crunchy rap-rock and bubbly teen-pop and give a listen to The Dismemberment Plan. “Popular music can be a little stale, what with all the trend-setting and simple classification,” said Morrison, the tireless [...]

Paxton slashes through theaters

Making horror movies suspenseful and intriguing can be tricky business — too often, filmmakers rely on overbearing music or cheap shocks to tell the audience, “Hey, you’re supposed to be frightened now.” “Frailty,” a deliciously Gothic film directed by and starring Bill Paxton, knows what it’s doing. It understands the difference between being scared and [...]

Morals wane in ‘Lanes’

As a methodically paced riff on modern-day morals, “Changing Lanes” works. As a believable, entertaining movie, it almost works. The setup–the initial point from which all things spiral downward–is a simple one: Two men, both on their way to important court dates, get into a car accident. The successful lawyer Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck) is [...]

When Jessica met Helen….

As far as romantic comedies go, the pleasant, adept “Kissing Jessica Stein” could do a lot worse. Altogether agreeable and well-intentioned, the film details the romantic ups and downs of Jessica (Jennifer Westfeldt), as she braves the dating world of New York twenty-somethings. After many failed attempts, Jessica answers a classified ad that catches her [...]

Polemic survives series of changes

To hear McKenna Mackie tell it, there’s nothing that can keep local band Polemic down: not lineup changes, not criticism and certainly not an overindulgence of tequila. The Red & Black recently sat down with the lead singer/guitarist and with drummer Aaron Sims and bassist Jackie Lyons to discuss the band’s history, its live performances [...]

Cop a feel for ‘Showtime’

For a formulaic movie that follows the rules of the genre it parodies, “Showtime” is entirely predictable — but that’s not wholly bad, thanks to its stars. Predictability comes in many forms. Among those forms, two stand out. One, the burdensome, sigh-inducing feeling that you’ve been through something before. Two, the feeling of putting on [...]

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