Bloglander

DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME
It’s China, late seventh century, and Empress Wu is set to be the first woman to ascend to the throne. But a slew of fiery deaths stirs fear in the royal jet-set. The empress (Carina Lau) frees Detective Dee (Andy Lau), a revolutionary doing hard time, to investigate the murders. Helping him is the empress’s right-hand woman, as well as an apparently albino investigator and a comrade of Dee from his dissident days. Great visuals, but the supporting characters are thin. At Magic Lantern (JO) PG-13

IN TIME
The rich can live forever. The poor die young. It's 21st century Darwinism in the new film In Time, written and directed by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca). In the future, people stop aging at 25 and must work to put more time on the mortal clock. When a young man finds himself with more time than he can imagine, he's got to run from corrupt police. Starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy, all of whom themselves never appear to age. Conspiracy? (JO) PG-13

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Gil is a Hollywood screenwriter struggling to finish his first novel when he and his fiancee Inez travel to Paris. Gil falls in love with the city, but Inez is dismissive. One night, Gil wanders the streets and finds himself mysteriously transported to the 1920s and repeats the journey each night. His encounters with historical greats the likes of Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso lead him to realize the shortcomings of his relationship with Inez and their divergent goals. At Magic Lantern (LZ) Rated PG-13

PUSS IN BOOTS
The adorable feline (voiced by Antonio Banderas) from the Shrek franchise has gotten his own feature film. Before Puss met Shrek and Donkey, he had his own sidekicks Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) and Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek). With their help, Puss sets off on a dangerous adventure to stop two murderous outlaws, Jack and Jill, who have discovered an ancient power that could destroy the world. (LZ) Rated PG

THE RUM DIARY
The Rum Diary is based on an early, semi-autobiographical novel by Hunter S. Thompson (with Johnny Depp reprising the barely disguised lead role), inspired by Thompson’s exploits in Puerto Rico in 1960 — a period during which he found his voice and invented gonzo journalism. Writer/director Bruce Robinson (How to Get Ahead in Advertising) adapts the material with an ear for piercing dialogue, an eye for crucial atmospheric details, and a sensitivity to the romanticism of the novel. The Rum Diary is a damn funny movie with a lot on its mind. It’s great fun to watch and listen to Johnny Depp play Hunter S. Thompson again. If you miss Hunter as much as I do, you don’t want to miss this movie. (CS) Rated R

THE WHISTLEBLOWER
Kathryn Bolkovac, a former police investigator from Nebraska, is working as a U.N. International Police Force monitor in the late 1990s when she uncovers a human-trafficking scandal involving a U.S. military contractor and the United Nations in post-war Bosnia. Rachel Weisz plays Bolkovac in this new thriller about her attempts to investigate and expose the corruption and cover-ups of a world of multinational diplomatic doubletalk. Based on actual events. At Magic Lantern (LZ) Rated R