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Weekend Movie Forecast: <em>The Conspirator</em> Vs. <em>Armadillo</em>

Bobby Redford is back! That blond juggernaut who made your mother swoon all those years ago is depriving her of his good-looks and charming smile by going behind the camera with his newest movie The Conspirator. The film follows one old-timey man Frederick Aiken (great- great-great-grandfather of Clay) who is defending the only woman accused of conspiring to kill Abe Lincoln, one salty lass known as Mary Surratt. Things escalate to the point of screaming in court (giving lawyers the excuse to say "I object!" but not to say "Badgering the witness!") and explosions going off in a period setting. We're sure it'll get your cummerbund in a twist!Reviews have been mixed, but your grandparents will love it! A particularly negative review comes from Nick Pinkerton at The Voice who says: "Showing a government system as it responds to an attack, The Conspirator is Robert Redfordâs first film since the awfulâand similarly themedâLions for Lambs (2007). Redford, never the subtlest of dialectic filmmakers, has now become the browbeating professor he played in Lions, dotting rhetorical iâs for the audience in every scene ('In times of war, the law falls silent')."The Conspirator, though, fails to blow dust off its period. The historically obscure figure of Aiken is hardly vivified. Courtroom scenes are stagey, with cued-up gasps and canned laughter. Redford shows some flair with assassinations and executions, but the most done to enliven the dialogue is having Aiken and Johnson talk while the latter is using the bathroom." — Gothamist

Published Apr 15, 2011

Modified Apr 15, 2011

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Click on the film stills for more details and reviews on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include The Conspirator, Armadillo, Free Radicals: Serge Bozon and the New French Cinema, The Princess of Montpensier, Rio, Scream 4, A Screaming Man, The Imperalists Are Still Alive!and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?