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 ABOUT THE MOVIE

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
* * * 1/2 (out of four)
Stars: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov
Director: Cristian Mungiu
Distributor: IFC Films
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 1 hour, 53 minutes
Expands Friday to select cities

by means of Claudia Puig, USA TODAY The subject is a tough one, but 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is credit seeing for the light it sheds on the impact of a totalitarian society on daily life.

This film, set in Romania in 1987 at the height of the dictatorial Ceausescu regime, features impressive performances by the three main characters and powerful naturalistic cinematography.

Two Bucharest university students, who are roommates and good friends, arrange for a clandestine abortion for one of them and have a harrowing meeting with a callous doctor (brilliantly played by Vlad Ivanov). The film takes place over 24 hours, and the sense of tension felt by the lead female characters is palpable.

Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) is a pragmatic, take-charge person who assumes responsibility for the details of the abortion for her pregnant friend, the meek and irresponsible Gabita (Laura Vasiliu). Otilia absorbs her friend’s predicament and also is dealing by her own issues, as well as the paranoia engendered by the oppressive atmosphere. Marinca is terrific. There is a sense of realism and authenticity to her stoic and conflicted character, which draws viewers even more to into the saga. The film’s theme of the lengths to which one will go for friendship is fascinating.

Abortion was illegal in Romania, and deaths from botched procedures were common, so there is mortal risk viewed like well while the risk of being discovered. The women make a deal with Dr. Bebe (Ivanov), which culminates in an excruciating scene.

The film, which won the Golden Palm at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, is depressing and gut-wrenching, bound always powerful and gripping.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and civil community for verification.  Enlarge By Adi Paduretu, Mobra Films

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 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Caramel
* * * (on the outside of four)
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Elmasri, Sihame Haddad
Director: Nadine Labaki
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Rating: PG for thematic elements involving sexuality, language and some smoking
Running span: 1 twenty-fourth part of a day, 35 minutes
Opens Friday in prefer cities

By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY Caramel is a sweeter and more believable version of Steel Magnolias, Middle Eastern style.

The story revolves around five women, from their 20s to their 60s, who meet regularly in a Beirut beauty salon. A few work in that place, others are patrons. While they confide in one another, each has private moments only the audience is privy to. Foreign chick-flicks are rare animals, and this one works better than many of the more predictable American movies, largely because of its realistic characters and fascinating cultural backdrop. The secrets and obsessions of these women come off far more divinely than those of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Each of the women is in search of fulfillment, though their quests manifest themselves in a multifariousness of ways.

Cultural rites and societal expectations clash with personal desires and a nascent sense of rebellion. But, interestingly, in no degree mention is made of the violence that has ravaged the country. While the interconnected sagas of these Lebanese women are involving, some are more compelling than others, and a hardly any are not sufficiently developed.

Perhaps the most poignant story focuses on the last chance for love for a seamstress (Sihame Haddad) caught up in daily struggles by her mother, who is suffering from dementia. And the travails of the thirtysomething character (director Nadine Labaki) and the love she finds with a shy police official are filled with yearning.

The title refers to a hair elimination process that uses sugar, which, when warmed, becomes caramel. The honeyed tones of the sugar as it’s applied on the skin are an intriguing framing device.

Labaki has made a warmly appealing, bittersweet confection, and a heartfelt tribute to Beirut. Likable, funny and often poignant, Caramel is a cinematic treat.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, inflict comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification.  Enlarge Roadside Attractions

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 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds concoct
* * 1/2 (out of four)
Stars: Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Billy Ray Cyrus
Director: Bruce Hendricks
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Rating: G
Running time: 1 hour, 14 minutes
Opens Friday nationwide

By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY “I’m a lucky girl/Whose dreams came true/But underneath it all/I’m just like you.” Or so 15-year-old minstrel/actress/pop-culture phenom Miley Cyrus, in the shape of the equally popular but fictional Hannah Montana, assures her enraptured audience in Disney’s 3-D high-definition extravaganza Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.

The premise behind Both Worlds is not dissimilar from the one driving the hit Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, in what one. Cyrus stars as schoolgirl Miley Stewart and Montana, her blond-wigged, rock-star alter ego. Here, we watch Cyrus as she prepares for and performs a concert in that she appears both as herself and Montana.

But what this concert film and documentary makes limpid is that the real Miley is not just liking her predominantly pre-adolescent, female fans — no more than Britney Spears was a little less than a decade ago, when that former Mouseketeer began her meteoric rise.

In the wake of Spears’ recent troubles, in fact, there is something slightly disturbing about watching a pretty, hyper-vivacious young teen facing a roaring populace and, behind the scenes, a coterie of ambitious adult handlers. Though Both Worlds has been promoted as an opportunity “to get to know the person underneath the wig,” as Cyrus puts it in the press notes, there is little perceptible difference between the child star and the pretend star.

On stage and off, Cyrus and Montana exude the cruel cheerfulness and rote professionalism of a junior loveliness pageant contestant. Stage dad Billy Ray Cyrus, a ’90s country star whose own career has been rejuvenated by his daughter’s ascent, pops up continually, and at one point tells us how “real” the younger Cyrus’ songs — actually written or co-written by a team of older pros — are.

But excluding for I Miss You, a ballad inspired by Cyrus’ late grandfather, the performances in Both Worlds— including a set by fellow tween sensations the Jonas Brothers — are hard on flash and fantasy.

Bouncy tunes such as Nobody’s Perfect and Girls’ Night lacking are delivered with a glib flirtatiousness that offsets their generically sensitive and empowering messages.

None of this detracts from Cyrus’ proficiency as an entertainer, or the fun that her young admirers will have watching their deity and her supporting musicians, enhanced by state-of-the-art extraordinary movables, reach right out to them.

One only hopes that by the time those fans grow up, Cyrus herself will have been able to develop into a healthy, “real” young woman.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification.  Enlarge Disney

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 TOP RENTED MOVIES

1. The Game Plan
2. Saw IV
3. Good Luck Chuck
4.  3:10 to Yuma
5. Mr. Woodcock

Source: Home Video Essentials, Rentrak Corp.

By Mike Clark, USA TODAY El Cid is big on DVD wish lists. Val Lewton brings the fimmaker out from the shadows. And $28 (in quarters?) will get you The King of Kong, as in Donkey Kong.

El Cid (* * * out of four, 1961, Weinstein/Genius, unrated, $25 and $40)

Beyond Charlton Heston as Spain’s national hero, you get Sophia Loren, bank-breaking producer Samuel Bronston, ace outdoor director Anthony Mann, resplendent composer Miklos Rozsa — plus the launch of Bob and Harvey Weinstein’s “Miriam Collection” (named after Mom) of deluxe DVDs.

Back story: The three-hour dramatics are occasionally grandiloquent, but here’s the real non-CGI deal. And El Cid ranks with The African Queen and Song of the South on consumers’ DVD direct lists.

Extras, extras: Classiness merits an extra *. The print is super-crisp; commentary/documentaries feature bona fide experts or production veterans. The $40 box adds miniature lobby cards, the Dell comic book and the souvenir program sold at reserved-seat engagements.

Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows (* * * *, 2008, Warner, unrated, none extras, $20)

Already an illustrious entry on the list of best filmmaker documentaries.

Back story: Just as writer/director Preston Sturges did with his classic Paramount comedies, RKO producer Lewton perfectly caught the mood of World War II moviegoers by fashioning Hollywood’s most intelligent (low-budget or transcendental, though these were low) horror movies ever. Co-produced, “presented” and narrated in an effectively restrained vocal tempo by Martin Scorsese, this latter Turner Classic Movies picture offers an array of superbly illustrative clips (from Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie, The Seventh Victim and the like). But it also delves into Lewton’s insular life and his lesser known Mademoiselle Fifi and Youth Runs Wild at RKO, then three films at Paramount, MGM and Universal-International (a Western) after his bubble burst.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (* * * 1/2, 2007, New Line, PG-13, $28)

Well, I suppose playing Donkey Kong isn’t that much weirder than watching movies all the span.

Back story: Billy Mitchell, a successful hot-sauce guru in his other life, is almost as hard to root for as the late chess punk Bobby Fischer. He balks when nice-guy family man Steve Wiebe threatens to break his world record in Donkey Kong video-game annals. This jaw-dropping documentary deals with their rivalry, Mitchell’s ensuing head games and a poor contest judge who, to be on top of everything besides, must view VHS crates of champion hopefuls just playing Donkey Kong.

Extras, extras: Lots, including an update on all that happened (you’ll suffer whiplash absorbing it) afterward the theatrical version opened. in addition gaming primers and more to make you think, “Man, wives do bear a cross.”

ALSO forward DVD

The Invasion (* * 1/2, 2007, Warner, PG-13, $29; Blu-ray and HD DVD, $36)

The ending fizzles, diminishing a movie with in greater numbers narrative tension than critics and the box office gave it credit for. At times, the most recent movie based on novelist Jack Finney’s ’50s perennial Invasion of the Body Snatchers is besides fun than some 2007 releases that were better (and better received). The famous pods are gone, replaced by bacteria-spreading alien spores, which turn victims into those familiar Snatchers schlumps bereft of emotions. Nicole Kidman is convincingly harried trying to stay awake, but her underused co-star, Daniel Craig, just seems to be killing time between Bond workouts.

Pioneers of Television (* * *, 2008, PBS/Paramount, unrated, $25)

The universal rap on this four-hour distillation of an unwieldy subject is that it was reverently gooey when sassiness was needed, which is true. But writing copy snippets around a zillion clips isn’t easy, even when the clips and interviews are good and with the right people. In rough order of preference, the show is divided into late death, game shows, variety and sitcoms, with everyone from Jonathan Winters to Betty White to Dotto legion Jack Narz to the late Merv Griffin reminiscing. Depth is sacrificed for diversion, but the running time speeds by. It’s also good to see deceased workhorse game-show host Bill Cullen getting major due from peers.

Coma (* * * 1/2, 2007, HBO, unrated, $25)

HBO’s documentary unit has another winner with this unnerving portrait of by what mode much time, therapy and familial exhaustion it takes to elicit recovery from a coma. (The story also explores the trauma when a invalid fails to respond to treatment.) Filmed at the Center for Head Injuries at Florida’s JFK Medical Center, the somber reporting contrasts patients in permanent vegetative state with those regaining varying levels of consciousness. The filmmaker is Liz Garbus, co-director of 1998’s Oscar-nominated documentary The Farm: Life Inside Angola Prison. The DVD’s bonus part features a chronicle greater degree hopeful than the preceding stories.

He Was a Quiet Man (* * 1/2, 2007, Anchor Bay, unrated, $30)

The title paraphrases screen sentiments about John Wayne in 1952, but this is a long way from that anecdote. Getting one assist from bad glasses, a caterpillar mustache and orange hair not from God’s palette, Christian Slater is impressively persuasive as an office dweeb who intends to squall his co-workers with packed heat but instead becomes a hero after a colleague beats him to it. Black and sometimes amusingly twisted, aside from the performances, this shoots blanks. Co-stars are Elisha Cuthbert, who is good as a shooting victim, and William H. Macy, who can play an insincere boss with the best.

DUE TUESDAY

• Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe.
•The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

•
Funny 2 Days in Paris.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and glory for verification.  Enlarge Warner Bros

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 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Over Her Dead Body
* * (out of four)
Stars: Eva Longoria Parker, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Jason Biggs
Director: Jeff Lowell
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Rating: PG-13 for sexual content and language
Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Opens Friday nationwide

By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY Supposedly one of the titles bandied around before the filmmakers came up with Over Her Dead Body was Ghost Bitch. The switch might reflect the shift in focus from Eva Longoria Parker’s gratingly one-note character to the awkward but rather endearing love story between Paul Rudd and Lake Bell.

Kate (Longoria Parker) is the ghostly character in question. A massively controlling bride-to-be, Kate dies on her wedding daytime, a few hours in the van of she was scheduled to tie the knot, in a freak ice sculpture accident. The scenario sounds vaguely funny, but instead it’s crushingly leaden. Things pick up and laughs begin to kick in when the play switches to her moping fiancé, Henry (Rudd).

Rudd has an easy charm and sharp comic timing that play best in so ribald comedies as Knocked Up and Anchorman. While Dead is a much more straight-ahead romantic comedy and is neither as offbeat nor as funny as either of those previous films, his appealing but slightly off-kilter presence improves this film considerably.

And his chemistry with co-star Bell, who plays a psychic named Ashley, enlivens what might have been a dully predictable tale of a vengeful scheming ex.

Though he’s a confirmed skeptic, Henry agrees to see a psychic at the importunity of his well-meaning nevertheless meddlesome sister, Chloe (Lindsay Sloane). A year has passed since the accident, but Henry, a veterinarian, has grown increasingly reclusive. Chloe figures if he makes contact with his dead fiancée and she tells him it’s time to induce on, he might emerge from his slump and cheer up.

in the same proportion that it turns out, Henry does perk up, but not so much because of a message from beyond. He and the kooky Ashley hit it off, and a romance blossoms.

There’s a strained complication involving the dead woman’s diary and a jot of silly subterfuge, but most of the comedy centers on Kate coming rear to Earth to haunt Ashley in creative ways. Kate may not be able to have Henry for herself, unless she doesn’t default anyone besides to.

Though this total sounds fairly familiar and formulaic, there are a few bona fide laughs, some of which occur with the of the soul Kate in the same room with the amorous Ashley and Henry. Jason Biggs has a few humorous deadpan moments as Ashley’s buddy and business partner.

Certainly, there are worse movies being released this time of year. This is clearly intended as a date movie, and at least there is genuine mood mixed in with the predictable story.

Though the tale may fall short on imagination, the principal actors make Over Her Dead Body livelier than one would expect.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification.  Enlarge New Line Cinema

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Download Instantly:
List quite available downloads and previews.

Plot Summary:
Molly Gunn (Murphy), the freewheeling daughter of a deceased rock legend, is forced to get a job while her manager steals her money. As nanny for over-forward Ray (Fanning), the oft ignored daughter of a symphony executive (Locklear) she learns what it means to be an adult though teaching Ray for what reason to be a child.

Starring:
Brittany Murphy | Donald Faison | Austin Pendleton | Dakota Fanning | Marley Shelton | Heather Locklear |

Directed By:
Boaz Yakin |

Stills gallery for this movie is here.