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also showing Avatar (M) JAMES Cameron’s Golden Globe winner for best drama features Sam Worthington as Jake, a paraplegic war veteran sent to the mineral-rich planet Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na’vi. Bran Nue Dae (PG) RACHEL Perkins’ Aussiewood musical based on Jimmy Chi’s indigenous stage hit is a fun-filled road trip with captivating performers such as Geoffrey Rush, Ernie Dingo and Deborah Mailman. Daybreakers (MA 15+) DIRECTED by those Brisbane horror hounds the Spierig brothers, Daybreakers explores some clever ideas about life in an all-vampire world. Stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Claudia Karvan. Edge of Darkness (MA 15+) MEL Gibson’s return to leading-man duties after eight years off the job is a wonky police thriller, well beneath an actor of his standing. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Based on the novel by Rick Riordan. Logan Lerman, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener. The Wolfman (MA15+) A Londoner returns to the family estate after the disappearance of his brother and discovers a horrifying fate awaits him. Stars Benecio del Toro, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving. PUB: NT NEWS DATE: AS LONG AS THERE’S A PULSE: Playing a drunk country singer, Jeff Bridges drags himself up off the floor for Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart 19-FEB-2010 Has-been’s PAGE: 42 love story COLOR: not so Bad C M Movie Review the biggest star in the business. Y By LEIGH PAATSCH Tommy often asked Bad to crawl out K Crazy Heart (M) of his bourbon bottle and write him a ★★★ few songs. The royalties alone would Director: Scott Cooper have set him up for life. Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie However, Bad Blake, a man with so Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Tom Bower, much not to be proud of, had too much James Keane pride to accept the offer. Yes, Bad Blake blew it all, and then THE beat on which Crazy Heart begins some. But as is often the case at the is slowed by quite a heavy movies — especially ones that start murmur. And muffled by the on such a downbeat note — what unmistakable sound of a man having blows around has a funny way of a power-puke. coming around. Slowly, the subject of the film makes his presence slightly more And in the particular case of Crazy conventionally known. Looking right at Heart, Bad can feel the faint first home on a bar stool sits a washed-up, breezes of a strong second wind beaten-down, out-of-luck singer. heading in his direction, thanks to the Take one look at the guy and you’d big ol’ love of a lil’ woman named Jean be forgiven for wondering if he is still (Maggie Gyllenhaal). capable of taking to the stage at all. The storyline navigated by Crazy But I should also add he is a country Heart is fairly straight and amiably and western singer. As long as a pulse predictable for the most part. What can be detected, the show will go on. keeps the film just the right side of And so, in a near-empty bowling average is a brilliantly measured alley in downtown Nowhereville, the performance by Bridges. one and only Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) The veteran actor has obviously rough-houses away at his repertoire of known a few Bad Blakes in his time: tell-me-why-she-left-me ballads and hardcore has-beens who have let let-me-tell-you-somethin’ toe-tappers. everything but their talent fall Life has not been good to Bad. 4 into disrepair. Sure, there were a couple of hits back 4050 in the day. There is no easy fix for people such er3 National tours. TV appearances. All as this. Bridges’ main job here is to never let us forget that, just as Bad that. But any small fortunes made by er340507 Bad came and went as quickly as his himself is known to sing, ‘‘falling feels three wives. like flying, for a little while’’. Just to cap it off, his former protege, Crazy Heart is now showing at BCC Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), is now Darwin City Cinemas 42 — Northern Territory News, Friday, February 19, 2010 www.ntnews.com.au.

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