In Theaters: 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,' 'Legend Of The Guardian,' 'Buried'

A variety of options for mass consumption this week at the multiplex with three films opening wide. First up is Oliver Stone's "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," which follows his last two films "W" and "World Trade Center" in his quest to forever be at the center of the zeitgeist of America. He might have a more solid hit on his hands here, given the hot stars, subject matter and recent publicity for Michael Douglas' health issues. For the kids out there comes the animated owl fantasy "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole," which is flying a little low on the radar, but maybe we'll be surprised when the box office receipts are tallied. Finally in wide is the comedy "You Again" aimed at all generations of women with a cast that includes Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Fox, Sigourney Weaver and Betty White. "Easy A" did well with teen girls last week and there's always a hunger for films like this, so don't count it out. Ryan Reynolds' buried-alive flick "Buried" gets a two week head start before opening wide next month. Also out, Woody Allen's latest comedy "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger" which once again boasts a great cast and mediocre reviews, the James Franco-led Beat picture "Howl," the education documentary "Waiting For Superman," and French filmmaker Gasper Noe's "Enter the Void."

In Wide Release: Michael Douglas steps back into his crocodile loafers as iconic disciple of greed Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." Inspired by the economic collapse of the last couple of years, director Oliver Stone thought the time was right to catch up with Gekko, recently released from prison, and see how he navigates the uncharted waters of the current financial climate. He must also come to terms with his grown daughter, played by Carey Mulligan, who wants nothing to do with her criminal father. She is engaged to be married to a driven young trader (Shia LaBeouf) who, impressed by her father's reputation, urges her to give him a chance. We're fans of the original, as cheeseball as it is these days, but were a bit concerned when Fox pushed the film from its original April release date back for several months to now. We posted our review earlier this week and found the film to be an absolute mess, but a hugely entertaining one. RT: 58% Metacritic: 63.

Based on a series of young adult fantasy novels, the animated epic "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" hits theaters nationwide today. If you live in an urban area you may have seen the billboards and bus ads popping up all over town, with battle-armored owls casting strange glances as you pass. The unsettling advertisements make a show of noting that the film comes from the makers of "Happy Feet," but neglect to mention that the film is actually the animated debut of Zack Snyder, he of "300" and "Watchmen" fame. Despite a very talented stable of voice actors including Jim Sturgess, Geoffery Rush, Helen Mirren, and Sam Neill, the film can not seem to put together a coherent mythology and feels like a relic in an age where animated films have really upped their game (check our review here). RT: 49% Metacritic: 56.

Also opening wide is the comedy "You Again" starring Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver and the ubiquitous Betty White. Bell plays a woman returning home to expose her brother's fiance (and her own high school rival) as the monster she really is. We missed out on this one, so you're on your own here. RT: 17% Metacritic: 29.

Expanding into semi-wide release is the comedy "The Virginity Hit," which opened in selected cities a couple of weeks back. RT: 31% Metacritic: 40.

In Limited Release: Opening on 10 screens nationwide before a wide release in two weeks is the high-concept thriller "Buried" from Spanish director Rodrigo Cortés. Ryan Reynolds stars as a truck driver/devoted family man who wakes up in a coffin deep in the earth with no idea why or how he ended up there. The ninety-minute film takes place entirely in the coffin, as Reynolds frantically tries to find a way out, a cell phone and a lighter his only tools for escape. We caught the movie earlier this month at TIFF and found an interesting premise and a great lead performance marred by unsatisfying political allegory and a number of ridiculous implausibilities. RT: 84% Metacritic: 64.

Woody Allen's latest, the London-set "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger" opened Wednesday in limited release. The comedy stars Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Freida Pinto as people in interlocking Allen-esque relationships and all their pratfalls and pitfalls; mostly comic but never shying from key emotional truths. After last year's lukewarm "Whatever Works," Allen sets on to more solid "Crimes and Misdemeanors"-territory, and that can't be a bad thing. We reviewed the film at TIFF, finding it familiar but never dull. RT: 47% Metacritic: 57.

James Franco stars as the poet Allen Ginsberg in "Howl," which takes its name from the legendary writer's seminal work. The film, from documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, examines the obscenity trial that clouded the public's perception of avant-guarde of the time. We reviewed the film, finding it educational, but entirely perfunctory. Given Franco's off-screen persona of late, it is hard to take him seriously with a performance that doesn't really go any deeper than mimicry. RT: 43% Metacritic: 61.

"Waiting for Superman" is the latest documentary from filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, whose past films include the award-winning "An Inconvenient Truth" and "It Might Get Loud." This time he focuses on the education system in the United States, examining the reasons why a student might end up at an exceptional public school versus a below average one. We're itching to see this one and judging from the reviews, we should be. RT: 90% Metacritic: 78.

Also out in limited release, provocateur Gaspar Noe ("Irreversible," "I Stand Alone")'s "Enter the Void." The movie focuses on a brother and sister (Nathaniel Brown and Paz de la Huerta) wandering through the drug fueled, psychedelic Tokyo club scene. As we noted in our review from last year's Toronto International Film Festival, the film tries to break every convention in the book, but mostly succeeds in trying the patience of its audience. RT: 75% Metacritic: 64.

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Review: 'Howl' Is A Completely Perfunctory Look At An Important Work Of Art

How to react when a movie is not intended to be “just” a movie? The new film “Howl” isn’t intended to be a direct narrative as much as an introductory course. You’ll get more from watching this in an intro to poetry class than at the cineplex; better to have a pen and pad than a bucket of popcorn. “Howl” is so named for the seminal poem by Beat Generation avatar Allen Ginsberg: who isn’t played by multi-hyphenate renaissance man James Franco as much as mimicked and impersonated. As significant as the source is (the poem itself is a desperate cry for help during a period veering towards the political compromise some ignore but that we’re currently embroiled in), “Howl” the movie can only, at best, serve as a companion.

The film, from documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, interweaves three methods of telling the same story. One strand of the film utilizes what we’re told are the recorded musings of Ginsberg from an interview taken during the trial, where “Howl” publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti was prosecuted on charges of obscenity. As the poet, it’s difficult to divorce this Ginsberg manqué with the very public persona of Mr. Franco, whose profile has gained mileage less from a string of watchable movies than for erratic, unpredictable performance art comprised of off-center interviews, ersatz public appearances, and self-mocking stunts disguised as film performances. It’s quite the hurdle for any accomplished actor, never mind the Emmy winner Franco, who embodies Ginsberg’s dismissive concerns about the lasting influence of his artistic contemporaries. His casual, lying-around-the-couch physicality in these moments, shot with a handheld camera, makes it hard for the viewer to distinguish where genius/bloviater Ginsberg beings and the very public art student Franco (currently angling for multiple literary degrees) ends.

The second strand follows the obscenity trial, again based on actual court documents. During these proceedings, shot with a flat TV sheen, the prosecution, represented by an especially-actorly David Strathairn, faces off against the far sexier, more convincing defense, represented by the most lethal of weapons, Mr. Jon Hamm in a suit. The more things change, the more they stay the same: as cartoonish as the prosecutions’ arguments against the value of “Howl” may be, the government continues to struggle against labels of obscenity and arbitrary regulations of free speech. The case proposed by the prosecution is that “Howl” cannot be considered “art” or not, considering the profane language and unconventional attitude. Our government’s definition of obscenity has changed, but not the fact that the standards remain arbitrary and a slave to the whims of a few politicians and self-appointed guardians.

The third, and least-successful strand of the film involves the actual reading of the poem. In a black-and-white café, Franco-as-Ginsberg recites his work for yuppie beatniks who react as if, familiar with Ginsberg’s work, they are attending a Greatest Hits session. Franco reads the poem the way a fat person eats a sandwich: sloppy and ravenous, but not without panache. Accompanying him (because simply reading the actual poem isn’t enough) are a series of arcane illustrations and animations making a futile attempt to render Ginsberg’s work literal. It’s a crushingly ill-conceived idea for several reasons, but specifically that it tries to visualize what Ginsberg’s words already evoke, thus undermining the actual work by considering it a candidate for visual recontextualization. It’s a testament to how strong Ginsberg’s words were (and how shoddy the animation is) that you will likely be distracted from the onscreen images by the visuals the text conjures up in your own head. “Howl” is still discussed today on more than just the merits of the obscenity case.

For those unfamiliar with “Howl” the poem, the movie should assist in awakening this interest, and so credit must be given to the film that spotlights a socially-significant work of art. Where Friedman and Epstein go wrong is in almost obscuring the subject in hand with what amounts to a series of gimmicks. The courtroom sequences stack a deck that needs not be stacked, explicating how one cannot measure the merits of poetry with prose, a feat that all great poetry accomplishes on the page. The nuts-and-bolts interview segments with Franco-as-Ginsberg have that under-thought, thrown-together element always present when artists who don’t care to explain their work are thrust in front of a mic. They also commit the crime of spotlighting Ginsberg’s intellectual origins with bullet-point precision, unsure as to whether this is a film about a work of art or its cavalier creator. And of course, the animation does not work. “Howl” has merit as an introduction to a great work of art, but aside from doing the library legwork for uninformed viewers, its entirely perfunctory. [C]

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