Movie Reviews

Walk-in Theatre will present Kingpin at dark on Friday, Oct. 12, in the parking lot behind the Bledsoe Building in West Asheville. The film is sponsored by the merchants of the Bledsoe building. Admission is free -- and once again, please leave pets and alcohol at home.

The Story: Six people form a literary group on the novels of Jane Austen and discover that the books seem to be about their own lives. The Lowdown: A remarkably pleasurable entertainment that also has much to say about the choices we make in our artistic preferences.

The Story: A shallow middle-aged man marries a ditsy woman only to discover that she's a living nightmare, so naturally on their honeymoon he falls in love with someone else. The Lowdown: A monumentally unpleasant, unfunny "romantic comedy" that confuses the merely grotesque with funny.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Importance of Being Earnest at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing…

Orpheus, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Story: An ex-military policeman tries to find out the truth about his son's murder, which occurred soon after the young man's return from a tour of duty in Iraq. The Lowdown: Despite the usual ham-fisted shortcomings and reductive simplifications of director-writer Paul Haggis, his latest film is worth seeing for strong performances and thematic…

The Media Arts Project will present The Guest Worker Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. at the Fine Arts Theatre.

The Story: A hotshot football player finds out he has a long-lost daughter, who ends up turning his life upside down. The Lowdown: Acceptable family entertainment that does nothing surprising or original.

The Story: A multi-storied film about the love lives of several characters who live in Portland, Ore. The Lowdown: Good dialogue and performances -- plus a refreshingly adult view of sex -- aren't quite enough to overcome absurd contrivances and a clockwork plot.

The Story: A couple whose romance is in trouble decides to spend a couple days in Paris. The Lowdown: A clever, insightful romantic comedy that announces Julie Delpy as a filmmaker of note.

The Story: Ace zombie fighter Alice tries to help a group of survivors escape zombie-infested regions for a supposedly zombie-free patch in Alaska. The Lowdown: A lot of standard zombie-flick action enlivened by unintended laughs.

The Milky Way, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Story: An elite FBI team travels to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terrorist attack on a housing compound at a U.S. oil company. The Lowdown: A sometimes effective actioner positioned as a more deeply political movie than it actually is.

The Story: A man with a knack for having every girl he sleeps with dumping him and then immediately finding her true love, finds the party's over when he falls in love and therefore dares not consummate the relationship. The Lowdown: Vile, tasteless, mean, trashy, smarmy, stupid and, worst of all, unfunny.

The Story: A midwife in search of the identity of a dead mother finds herself drawn into the world of a powerful family in the Russian Mafia. The Lowdown: Brutally and unflinchingly violent, yet compelling and altogether brilliant filmmaking from David Cronenberg. One of the year's best, but not for the squeamish.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show Carnegie Hall at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and park…

The Story: A modern retelling of Snow White set in college. The Lowdown: A generic, fairly inoffensive comedy that’s simply too long and too run-of-the-mill.

The Birds will be shown by Traveling Bonfires Saturday Movies at Eaties Saturday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. at Eaties Cereal Bar, 48 Commerce Street in Asheville. Info: 545-3539 or 505-0476.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Red Violin at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and…

Norma Rae will be shown by Traveling Bonfires Saturday Movies at Eaties Saturday, Sept. 22, at 6 p.m. at Eaties Cereal Bar, 48 Commerce St. in Asheville. Info: 545-3539 or 505-0476.

The Story: A young man returns to his hometown only to discover that his mother is about to marry the gym teacher who made his adolescence a nightmare. The Lowdown: A painfully obnoxious, unfunny comedy with wholly specious thematic content.