Cherry Blossoms

Plus: Dance Flick, Drag Me To Hell and more

By Volcano Staff on May 21, 2009

CHERRY BLOSSOMS: A dying man is devastated when his wife suddenly dies while visiting family in Berlin.  After her death, Rudi discovers he had no idea the level of sacrifice Trudi had made to be with him and dedicates his remaining time to fulfilling Trudi’s unfulfilled dreams by traveling to Tokyo to celebrate her life during the beautiful cherry blossom festival. (NR) – Bill White


DANCE FLICK: The mother of all dance battles is brought to you by two generations of the Wayans family. (PG-13) – BW


DRAG ME TO HELL: Early opening. (PG-13)


NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN: Larry the so-called maintenance man (Ben Stiller) returns to the museum to comfort his buddies from the 2006 movie who are being retired and shipped off in packing crates to an eternity of confinement in the National Archives. Oh, did I dislike this film. It made me squirmy.  Its premise is lame, its plot relentlessly predictable, its characters with personalities that would distinguish picture books, its cost incalculable (well, $150 million).  Watching historical figures enact the clichés identified with the most simplistic versions of their images, I found myself yet once again echoing the frequent cry of Gene Siskel: Why not just give us a documentary of the same actors having lunch?  With Robin Williams, Amy Adams, Christopher Guest, many more. (PG) One and a half stars – Roger Ebert


TERMINATOR SALVATION: The action scenes, which is to say, 90 percent of the movie, involve Armageddon between men and machines 10 years in the future.  The most cheerful element of the film is that they’ve perfected Artificial Intelligence so quickly.  Yes, Skynet is self-aware and determines to wipe out humankind for reasons it doesn’t explain.  A last-ditch resistance is being led by John Connor, or “J.C.” for you Faulkner fans. 

 (PG-13) Two stars— RE


UP: Early opening. (PG)