Film Clips: Barney’s Version, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, I am Number Four
- Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
- Martin Lawrence (Malcom Turner) and Brandon T. Jackson (Trent) in Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
BARNEY’S VERSION 4 stars (R) Paul Giamatti plays an irascible Canadian TV producer whose life includes three marriages and a murder investigation in this rich adaptation of the book by Mordecai Richtler. Having won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in the role, Giamatti has the killer timing and sad-sack presence that make him innately sympathetic even when he’s being a jerk. The early flashbacks to Italy ring false, but otherwise the movie conveys the texture and true-life twists of a great novel. With Minnie Driver and Dustin Hoffman. — Holman
BIG MOMMAS: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (PG-13) Keeping in line with the title, this father son duo, Malcom Turner and Trent, go undercover at an all-girls performing arts school after son, Trent, witnesses a murder. Posing at Big Momma, they must find the murdered before he finds them in this kill or be killed comedy.
I AM NUMBER FOUR (PG-13) Teen angst in high gear. John Smith is on the run from enemies sent to destroy him. On the run, with his guardian Henri to help him, he changes his identity several times but can’t outrun regularities of the young adult life: his first true love and incredible friendships.
IP MAN 2 (NR) Donnie Chen plays a Hong Kong martial arts master who contends with rival teachers and English colonialists in this action-heavy period piece with fight choreography by the acclaimed Sammo Hung.
NUREMBERG (NR) Filmmakers Sandra Schulberg and Josh Waletzky present a restoration of NUREMBERG, the official, long-lost U.S. government documentary of the trial of Nazi war criminals.
UNKNOWN (R ) Liam Neeson plays a doctor visiting Berlin who, after a car accident, discovers that he cannot prove who he really is to anyone including his wife (January Jones). It sounds like a spiritual sequel to Neeson’s earlier Euro-thriller, Taken.
DULY NOTED
ATLANTA 48 GO GREEN (LIVE) (NR) Atlanta is one of eight cities worldwide participating in a 48-hour film contest to produce films with eco-friendly messages, with the Atlanta teams showing their work at this screening. Thu., Feb. 24, 7:15 p.m. $12. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.
HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT’S INFERNO (2009) (NR) This documentary profiles Henri-Georges Clouzot, nicknamed “The French Hitchcock,” and reveals how his attempt to film the psychological thriller Inferno went spectacularly wrong. French Film Yesterday and Today. Free-$7. Sat., Feb. 19, 8 p.m. Rich Theatre, High Museum, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. 404-733-5000. www.high.org.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) (NR) George Romero established a seemingly inexhaustible genre of flesh-eating zombies craving human brains with this black-and-white horror flick, where the low production values somehow make it even more disturbing. On a double bill with
Land of the Dead. Feb. 14-20. Showtimes vary. Cinefest Film Theatre, Georgia State University, 66 Courtland St., Suite 240. 404-413-1798. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft.
THE ROOM (2003) 1 star (R ) This hilariously incompetent, sub-Skinemax-level romantic triangle has become a wildly entertaining monthly viewing party, a la The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Writer-director-star Tommy Wiseau strikes a freaky presence as a long-haired, heavy-lidded, thick-accented bank employee cuckolded by his vicious fiancée (Juliette Danielle). The film’s bizarre touches, like framed photographs of spoons, and will inspire audiences to throw plastic spoons at the screen, and more. Not to be missed. Tue., Feb. 22, 9:30 p.m. $8. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.