MOVIE NEWS AND REVIEWS

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Warner Bros.Cool down, Clint! Eastwood's Walt Kowalski is less than gracious to his Asian neighbors in "Gran Torino."

REVIEW Gran Torino

Who: With Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her. Directed by Clint Eastwood.

Rated: R for foul language throughout and some violence.

Running time: 120 minutes.

When: Opens Friday.

Where: Area theaters.

Grade: B+

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The '72 Gran Torino and other fabulous Fords

"Hey, you kids, get off my lawn!" has never carried quite the resounding curmudgeon-next-door rancor as it does spewing forth from the locked-and-loaded lips of Clint Eastwood. This is one scary old dude you do not want to live near.

In the neighborhood-racist movie "Gran Torino," Eastwood, as angry white guy Walt Kowalski, boots unsavory types from his lawn at gunpoint while uttering a shortened version of that classic scold. Actually, he doesn't "say" much in this film. He grunts, he groans, he grimaces. Mostly he growls.

This is Eastwood 4.0, an elder Dirty Harry blended with the score-to-settle gunslinger from "Unforgiven," teetering just this side of caricature.

Cheech and Chong

The Cedar Lee Theatre's Cult Film Series continues in 2009 with selections such as "Purple Rain," "The Thing" and the movie considered to be the worst of all time, "Plan 9 from Outer Space."

The series offers the Cheech and Chong comedy "Up in Smoke" at 9:30 p.m. and midnight on Saturday, Jan. 10. Audience members will have a chance to win tickets to see Cheech and Chong live at Playhouse Square on Friday, Jan. 30.

For the entire schedule, go to www.clevelandcinemas.com. The Cedar Lee is located in Cleveland Heights.

Roman Polanski.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An attorney for fugitive movie director Roman Polanski is seeking to have the Los Angeles County Superior Court removed from his notorious sex case, accusing the court of bias and prejudice against Polanski.

Polanski has been a fugitive in France for 30 years after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles. His attorneys filed a request last month to dismiss the charge against him because of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct that was detailed in a television documentary.

In a motion filed Monday, attorney Chad Hummel sought removal of Polanski's case to the California Judicial Council for resolution. Hummel wants the council to appoint a judge from another county to hear the case.

He claims that statements by a court spokesman since the original motion was filed showed that the courts have prejudged at least one issue -- whether Polanski must appear in court on Jan. 21 for his request to be considered. Such an appearance might make him subject to arrest.

The Polish-born Polanski, 75, has been living in self-imposed exile since fleeing the United States in 1978 after admitting he had sex with a girl he hired as a model for a photo shoot. Polanski, who had already been incarcerated for a psychological diagnosis for 42 days, had been scheduled to be sentenced and sent back to prison. The judge issued a warrant for his arrest that is still in effect.

Israeli writer and director Ari Folman, right, arrives with an unidentified guest for the premiere of his film "Waltz With Bashir" during the Cannes International Film Festival.

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Waltz With Bashir," a groundbreaking animated documentary about Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, won the National Society of Film Critics' 2008 best picture award Saturday.

But "Happy-Go-Lucky," Mike Leigh's tale of a die-hard optimist whose worldview is put to the test, came away with four of the 10 awards for 2008 films. It won best director and best screenplay for Leigh, best actress for Sally Hawkins and best supporting actor for Eddie Marsan.

The critics' group also named Sean Penn as best actor for his performance in the biopic "Milk," about pioneering gay politician Harvey Milk.

Hanna Schygulla won best supporting actress for "The Edge of Heaven," a German-Turkish cross-cultural story of loss and forgiveness.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson and their little dog have not lost their box office bite. The family tale "Marley & Me," starring Aniston and Wilson as owners of an adorably mischievous pooch, took in $24.1 million to finish as the No. 1 movie for a second-straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The 20th Century Fox flick raised its total to $106.5 million since opening Christmas day.

With no new wide releases, the weekend shaped up largely like the previous one, with Disney's Adam Sandler comedy "Bedtime Stories" in second place with $20.3 million.

Rounding out the top five again were Paramount's Brad Pitt romantic drama "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with $18.4 million, MGM's Tom Cruise World War II saga "Valkyrie" with $14 million and the Warner Bros. Jim Carrey comedy "Yes Man" with $13.9 million.

Pineapple Express
James Franco
Sony

Seth Rogen and James Franco take the high road as potheads on the lam in this action-comedy hit. Rogen plays a stoner who witnesses a murder and winds up running from a gang that targets him and his clueless marijuana dealer (Franco). The movie is available in single-disc and two-disc DVD releases and on Blu-ray, with extended and alternate footage and commentary with producer Judd Apatow and Rogen, who also co-wrote the screenplay.

Lionsgate Films"The Spirit," in theaters now, uses special effects from a Crestline, Ohio, company, Precinct 13.

CRESTLINE -- Superman's got his cape, Batman rocks a cowl and the Spirit protects his secret identity with a mask. "The Spirit" director Frank Miller turned to an Ohio special-effects company, Precinct 13, to design the trademark mask for his film adaptation of the Will Eisner comic.

"Frank had very specific ideas about what he wanted," said makeup-effects supervisor Al Tuskes, who lives in Lakewood. The mask had to hold its shape and mold exactly to actor Gabriel Macht's face, and it had to look like something that the Spirit made himself.

(AP Photo/Warner Bros. Clay Enos) Jeffrey Dean Morgan stars as The Comedian in a scene from the film, "Watchmen."

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An attorney for 20th Century Fox says the studio will continue to seek an order delaying the release of 'Watchmen.' U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess last week agreed with Fox that Warner Bros. had infringed its copyright by developing and shooting the superhero flick, scheduled for release March 6.

Feess said Monday he plans to hold a trial Jan. 20 to decide remaining issues.

Fox claims it never fully relinquished story rights from its deal made in the late 1980s, and sued Warner Bros. in February. Warner Bros. contended Fox isn't entitled to distribution.

Warner Bros.' attorney said Monday he didn't know if an appeal was coming, but thinks a trial is necessary and a settlement unlikely.

Heath Ledger as the Joker in "Batman: The Dark Night." The movie was 2008's biggest hit, with box-office revenues of $531 million.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hollywood loves breaking box-office records, yet studio executives aren't griping that their 2008 lineup will fall a bit shy of the all-time high set a year earlier. With the overall economy in the pits, movie moguls are just glad to have weathered the year with faithful audiences that continued to crowd into theaters.

"Last year was the record of all time. The economy's tough. Things are bad out there, and I think if we can have another record-breaking year or close to it, I figure we'll all be happy," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released the year's biggest hit with "The Dark Knight" ($531 million).

Through New Year's Eve, 2008 domestic revenues are expected to come in just shy of 2007's record of $9.7 billion, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers. Factoring in higher admission prices, the actual number of tickets sold in 2008 is running 5 percent behind last year's, when admissions totaled 1.4 billion.

Hollywood historically survives recessions better than many businesses because movies remain relatively cheap compared with sporting events, live theater and other forms of entertainment.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston in "Marley & Me."

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hollywood had a happy holiday with a huge Christmas weekend as movies from Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett and Adam Sandler all opened strongly. Even Tom Cruise scored solidly in an eye patch and a German World War II uniform.

Aniston and Wilson's dog tale "Marley & Me" debuted at No. 1 with $37 million in weekend ticket sales and a total of $51.7 million since opening Christmas Day, according to estimates Sunday from distributor 20th Century Fox.

Disney's Sandler comedy "Bedtime Stories" came in second for the weekend with $28.1 million and $38.6 million since it debuted on Christmas.

Paramount's "Benjamin Button," a romantic fantasy with Pitt and Blanchett, ran a close third with $27 million for the weekend. The film has grossed $39 million since premiering Christmas Day.