Oct 8, 2009 7:10 PM

Movies: Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau Yuk It Up in Couples Retreat

Vince Vaughn reteams with funny-actor-turned Iron Man director Jon Favreau in Couples Retreat, a yuppie comedy about dorky young married couples. Co-starring Watchmen‘s Malin Ackerman and Sex and the City‘s Kristin Davis (pictured, clockwise, with Vaughn and Favreau), the picture is the only new wide release hitting theaters Friday.

niin limited release, Goodr, w of a Sundance Special Jury Prize, features Chris Rock and other black celebs talking about their attitudes toward hair. Coming-of-age romance An Etion ispted by Highelity auNick Hornby.

sthe week: A freaky-funny-scary trio of flicks that opened last Friday. <a h*in Public</a></eming in additional cities after a limited roll-out last weekend, takes a compelling look at web pioneer Josh Harris’ experiments in 24/7 web surveillance.

kend’s box office champ <a h*nd</a></emhe funny gore flowing. And, fueled by a <a href=mpaign</a>, $10 horror film <a h*al Activity</a></eming traction among moviegoers who want to have the living crap scared out of them.

e about this week’s theatrical offerings and watch trailers below.

2

nThis Week</h2> <p

r>_Retreat</a></em_t

:</strongn</em> ten Favreau and Vince Vaughn play a couple of Midwestern guys who join their wives and two other couples at a tropical island resort. The twist: Therapy sessions are part of the program. Directed by actor <a href=llingsley</a> (<ee ed Fire), omestic comedy co-stars Malin Ackerman, Jason Bateman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love. <st strongp>

r>*r</a></emd)</strongt

:</strongock’s docu-comedy delves into African-American hair culture from the vantage point of stylists and celebs including Ice-T, Nia Long, Raven Symone, Salt-N-Pepa, Maya Angelou and the Rev. Al Sharpton. TV comedy writer <a href=lson</a> dir the Sundance Special Jury Prize winner. <st strongp>

r>*tion</a></emd)</strongt

:</strong Oxford-bound 16-year-old (played by Carey Mulligan) visits Paris with her much older suitor (Peter Saarsgard), her parents and teachers disapprove. Scripted by Nick Hornby (Abo Boy, High Fidelity) tlm co-stars Dominic Cooper, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike and Emma Thompson. <st strongp> <h2

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r>_nd</a></em_t

:</strong teen Columbus (played by Jesse Eisenberg) survives a zombie plague and teams up with fellow Twinkie-loving badass Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) on a bloody cross-country trip culminating in an amusement park showdown. Bill Murray, Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone co-star for director <a href=eischer</a> (TVem>Jimmmmel Live).<st strongp

e**</strong**=em>Zombnd‘s me Ghoul-Killing Weapons</a>

r>_ntion of Lying</a></em_t

:</strongg co-writer/co-director Ricky Gervais, the story takes place in an alternative universe that resembles normal society in every regard except that nobody lies. When a down-on-his-luck loser (Gervais) stumbles upon a way to lie, he uses his newfound ability to woo the ladies. Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K., Rob Lowe and Tina Fey co-star. <st strongp>

r>*sm: A Love Story</a></emd)</strongt

:</strong Moore (Sickm>) a in his latest critique that free-market excesses have wreaked havoc on the lives of ordinary people. Along the way, Moore tries to interview powerbrokers, D.C. politicians and Wall Street money men. <st strongp>

r>*in Public</a></emd)</strongt

:</strongr Ondi Timoner’s documentary explores themes of surveillance, web-obsession and privacy through the rise and fall of internet pioneer Josh Harris, who burned through $80 million in less than a decade. The movie opens Friday in San Francisco and Saturday in Minneapolis before expanding next week. <st stronged [#e

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r>_es</a></em_t

:</strongn Robert Venditti’s graphic novel, the sci-fi detective tale follows FBI agent Greer (played by Bruce Willis) as he investigates troublemakers threatening to ruin a perfect world administered by robots. Radha Mitchell, James Cromwell and Ving Rhames co-star for director Jonathan Mostow (Termor 3).<st strongp> <p

eiew:</strongcarries the movie adequately, in large part by allowing himself to look bedragged and paunchy for the sake of the story. Operating as an effective metaphor for modern-day social networking, Surres pis a world in which blotchy, wrinkled human recluses present a perfect facade to the outside world through the manipulation of younger, better-looking surrogates. Cromwell delivers the humanistic goods in his brief appearance as a Bill Gates-in-a wheelchair ubergeek. Mitchell, playing Willis’ robot partner, only gets to be human for about five on-screen seconds. The rest of the time, she’s understandably stiff, as are most of the other cast members. Comes with the territory when you’re making a movie about robots. — Huart<br

/strongc</strong=es‘ S Crime Drama Stays True to Comic’s Roots</a>

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r>_</a></em_t

:</strongthriller stars Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster as a pair of spaceship commanders 500 million miles from Earth who wake up to find that 60,000 passengers have gone missing. In their place, something new is lurking aboard the ship. From the producers of the Resi Evil fithe space adventure is directed by German-born Christian Alvart (Anties).<st strongp>

r>*terviews With Hideous Men</a></emd)</strongt

:</strongasinski (TV’s The ce) w and directs this dark comic examination of the male psyche, based on a collection of stories by the late David Foster Wallace. Julianne Nicholson stars as an anthropology grad student who interviews a cross-section of warped men about relationship dysfunction. Krasinski, Ben Shenkman, Timothy Hutton, Michael Cerveris, Lou Taylor Pucci and Will Arnett co-star. <st strong

r>_hey Serve Beer in Hell</a></em_t

:</strongn the adventures of Tucker Max, who co-wrote and produced the film, Hell> fes the escapades of Tucker (played by <a href=chry</a>), hbout-to-be-married pal Dan (Geoff Stults) and the woman-hating Drew (Jesse Bradford). <st strongp

eiew:</stronghis feature-film debut, Czuchry turns what might otherwise be a repellent egomaniac into a compelling presence. Yes, he lies to his best friend; yes, he degrades women; yes, he’s self-satisfied. And yet lead character Max Tucker, as played by Czuchry, comes across as a likeable, drunken womanizer. Warning: A full-bore diarrhea sequence midway into the film is not< fo faint-hearted. — Huart<br

/strongc

r>_</em_t

:</strongrectorial debut by Britney Spears choreographer <a href=ncharoen</a> upd the 1980 movie about singers, actors and artists at New York City High School of Performing Arts. Joining the cast of young unknowns are Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mulalley, Charles S. Dutton and Bebe Neuwirth. <st strong

r>_’s Body</a></em_t

:</strongox plays a cheerleader who becomes demon-possessed and begins feasting on lustful guys in her small town. Directed by <a href=sama</a> (<erlt), ark horror-comedy co-stars <a href=eyfried</a> (<ema!, Tem>Big ). t is by Oscar-winner <a href=ody</a> ( J United States of Tara). <st strongp

eiew:</stronghere be a better bitchy-hot boy-killer than Megan Fox? The Transformers babe uses sex as a weapon, smart-bombing unwitting males with her best attributes even before she turns into a succubus in Jennifer’s Body. After her possession, she seduces and eats infatuated teens, then barfs up black liquid before returning to snark duty in the classroom. The horror-comedy hybrid bounces between bloody killings, scenes of wailing mourners and <a href=</a> -sthigh school hi-jinks in a way that proves jarring and ultimately unfulfilling, as every scary scene is quickly defanged by a joke. The ever-clever dialogue churned out by Cody is so hip it’s distracting, and doesn’t do much to settle the ride: You’ll either love the zippy lipping or you’ll hate it. — Lewis Wallace <st

/strongc

r>_rmant!</a></em_t

:</strongmon stars in the true-story comic take on whistle-blower Marc Whitacre, a high-ranking exec who goes undercover to gather evidence of price-fixing and chemical contamination at Fortune 500 food giant Archers Daniels Midland. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Ocea11, Che).<st strongp>

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r>_ith a Chance of Meatballs</a></em_t

:</strongcientist out to solve world hunger sees his experiment go awry when food that’s programmed into his latest invention starts falling from the sky. The animated 3-D comedy, based on Judi and Ron Barrett’s best-selling novel, is directed by Phil Lord (TV’s Clongh) aimation artist Chris Miller (Shrem>, <daar) woice work by Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Andy Samberg and Mr. T. <st strongp> <h3

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