9/29/2008 1:26 PM
posted awhile ago
New Movies 10/3
The playing cards are shorthand for how good I think these films will be. No sure-thing aces this week, but we've got some face cards...
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People has a lot going for it. Director Robert B. Weide's work on Curb Your Enthusiasm has shown he's got the chops for comedy. Plus, the main actor is Simon Pegg, that talented star and co-writer of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. It'll be interesting to watch Pegg's chemistry with the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox, and Jeff Bridges.
Let's be honest, though -- this is just another film about fatuous asses at a fashion magazine. Looks like The Devil Wears Prada: Part Two. Which is fine as far as it goes, but I feel like seeing something a little more substantial this weekend.
Appaloosa -- Reviewers are saying it's "just" a good old traditional western. I don't know about you, but a western can be "just" good and still get under my skin. Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen are tough-as-leather lawmen who protect a town from gangster Jeremy Irons. Also, Harris and Mortensen are two sides of a romantic triangle with Renee Zellweger.
Why do Westerns keep getting made? I don't know, and I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. I know part of why I keep watching them: Westerns create an atmosphere where it takes courage to do what's right. To me, that atmosphere seems like a symbol of what life is always like. I need courage to stand up for someone; I need perseverance to get up and go to class.
If you're interested in a meditation on what's worth risking your life, I recommend 3:10 to Yuma.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist -- In this Michael Cera vehicle two lonely teens connect over music. Looks kind of sweet, like the younger sibling of Garden State.
Flash of Genius -- Drama based on the life of Robert Kearns, who invented something very boring but very useful: the intermittent windshield wiper. Kearns' invention was embraced by automobile manufacturers, but Kearns himself was discarded.
Kearns started a long legal battle that no one expected him to win. It appears Kearns wasn't merely self-serving, but was spurred on by the principle that people should be acknowledged for the work they accomplish.
Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert is a stand-up comedy show featuring Muslim comedians like Azhar Usman, Preacher Moss, and Mo Amer.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua -- Have you seen the clever edit of the scene from Sixth Sense?
Religulous -- Bill Maher and director Larry Charles (Borat) team up to humiliate organized religions. SpoutBlog's Karina Longworth takes a look at their dubious interviewing method.
This film might be funny in a preaching to the choir kind of way. Who doesn't agree that religious fundamentalism can be dangerous and absurd?
Any favorite flicks that satirize religion in way that actually gets people to open their eyes? I thought Talladega Nights was a pretty artful critique of health-and-wealth Christianity. (No, I'm not kidding.)
An American Carol -- Airplane! director David Zucker and a Michael Moore lookalike team up in this parody of leftist politics. The trailer for An American Carol makes the film look about as fun as an afternoon at the DMV.
LIMITED RELEASE
RocknRolla -- Guy Ritchie's third flick is being called a return to form, an equal of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. We know it'll be all style and no substance, so it'll comes down to whether you're a Ritchie fan or not.
Rachel Getting Married -- Anne Hathaway gives a great performance in this story about a prodigal daughter's return.
Ballast -- A man's suicide makes three people realize they need community. Karina was impressed when she caught it at Sundance.
The Pope's Toilet -- (limited release) It's 1988 on the Uruguay/Brazil border. The town of Melo is eagerly anticipating the visit of Pope John Paul II and 50,000 others in his wake. Melo locals such as Bob, a smuggler, are getting entrepreneurial: Bob builds a port-o-potty on his property and charges for its use. Chaos ensues.
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