MovieStyle

A light in the Dark

BY CHRISTY LEMIRE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

It’s difficult to separate the movie from its mystique. - Friday, July 18, 2008

Mamma Mia! 80 Cast: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Stellan Skarsgard, Christine Baranski Director: Phyllida Lloyd Rating: PG-13 for sex-related comments Running time: 108 minutes As colorful as a peacock feather and just about as insubstantial, Mamma Mia! bounces along on the music of ABBA and a cast of pros who sell like there’s no tomorrow. - Friday, July 18, 2008

REVIEW : Space Chimps

BY ROGER MOORE THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

Space Chimps 80 Cast: Animated with voices of Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Patrick Warburton, Kristin Chenoweth, Jeff Daniels Director: Kirk De Micco Rating: G Running time: 81 minutes If you’re old enough to read this, you aren’t the target audience for Space Chimps, a movie about chimpanzees sent in search of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. Chimps, from the animation studio that gave us Valiant, is one more of those cartoons parents at least won’t mind sitting through while little Miss or Mister 8-and-under chuckles at the cute talking primates. - Friday, July 18, 2008

ON FILM : Dark Knight: I’ll believe it when I see it

PHILIP MARTIN

I usually don’t read other critics’ reviews of a movie until I’ve written my own — or, if I don’t plan on writing one, until after I’ve seen the film. I imagine most people who regularly review films do the same — it’s too easy to swipe (subconsciously or otherwise ) someone else’s sweet turn of phrase or penetrating insight. - Friday, July 18, 2008

Screen gems

Spilled Milk: Our Milk, Our Farmers, Our Arkansas will be screened at 7 p.m. July 25 at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain as part of Reel Stories, a documentary film and lecture series. The documentary examines how the shortage of Arkansas milk sold in the state, paired with a bureaucratic process through which farmers receive pay, has caused Arkansas dairy farms to go out of business at a rate of three or more farms a month. - Friday, July 18, 2008

Home movies

— Karen Martin

Recent DVD releases: Shutter (PG-13, 86 minutes; unrated version 89 minutes) This snoozy remake of a Thai horror film concerns New York newlyweds Ben (Joshua Jackson ) and Jane (Rachael Taylor), who, while on their honeymoon, discover that a ghostly image begins to appear in their photos after a tragic accident. Bonus features include making-of featurettes, nine deleted scenes and an alternate ending. Grade: 73 - Friday, July 18, 2008

Bale’s better-suited than ever for Batman

BY RICK BENTLEY THE FRESNO (CALIF.) BEE

The role of Batman in The Dark Knight suits Christian Bale better than when he played the comic-book hero in Batman Begins. Literally — the Batman suit fits him better. - Friday, July 18, 2008

Box office

DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE PRESS SERVICES

Hellboy II: The Golden Army caught box-office heat with a $34.5 million debut, while Eddie Murphy flopped as his comedy Meet Dave opened with just $5.3 million. - Friday, July 18, 2008