Entertainment

Remake pays subtle homage to the past

Footloose’

Starring: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough

Director: Craig Brewer

Rated: PG-13

Forget the leg warmers and mall bangs — the ’80s have left the building and taken Kevin Bacon with them. The creators of this refreshed hit would probably admit there was no need to remake “Footloose,” but then is there ever a solid justification for remaking a movie, except to cash in with a new audience?

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Monstrous Success

Reanimating humans is a rather ambitious task. Consider all that could go askew. But then consider the brilliancy of success. What if?

Re-imagining horror and making it comical seems a bit risky, too. But regard the theatrical inventiveness of Mel Brooks.

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Clooney’s double duty too much this time

Based on the Beau Willimon play “Farragut North,” a political thriller set on the eve of the Democratic primary in Ohio, this feature starts out with promise but eventually fails to live up to it in the end.

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Halloween in Southeast Texas

As cooler temperatures and falling leaves take over the balmy South, so does the spirit of Halloween. Decoration and costume shops are reanimating dead strip centers. Homes and offices are sporting cobwebs and ghosts — both fixtures normally frowned upon in most places, but openly encouraged as the holiday nears.

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Gosling oozes cool as The Driver

The funky hot pink opening credits in the retro font Mistral signal this is not your ordinary car chase caper. Thanks to Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, working from a Hossein Amini adaptation of the James Sallis novel, this is a highly stylized, ultra violent movie with a title that belies its true nature.

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Dead Island: Enticing to kids but not for kids

Don’t trust my opinion about Techland’s Dead Island, released just weeks ago on Sept. 9. Instead take the advice of a 9-year-old gaming guru who proclaims this video game just ain’t for kids.

Actually, Master M we’ll call him for reference purposes and not to disclose the identity of a minor, said, “Grownups should be the only ones playing Dead Island unless they let their kids see gore and dismemberment.”

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Don’t touch anything in the theater

A gripping drama that addresses the “what if” of an unidentified flu pandemic with no known vaccine, “Contagion” boasts an impressive cast in a variety of roles that give perspective to every facet of such an event. Written by Scott Z.

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Age of Empires: You rule for free

Conquer the world, free and online. In August, Microsoft Studios and Gas Powered Games launched a new free-to-play format of the historical Age of Empires (originally released in 1997) utilizing Games for Windows Live.

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Mossad agents see that debt is paid

An average thriller elevated by casting choices, this is actually a remake of a 2007 Israeli movie “Ha-Hov, meaning “the debt.” Putting the pieces together differently might have made for a more interesting movie, but director John Madden tells a solid story with the same basic elements, although the younger counterparts have the better story than their older selves.

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