Weekend Forecast: 5/9/08
By Craig Kennedy - May 8th, 2008; 12:01 am
Go, Speed Racer! Go!
If week #2 of Summer’s wide releases don’t thrill you, there are a handful of interesting looking limited releases to choose from. First up, here’s what’s most likely opening at a theater near you:
- Speed Racer. Box office watchers are smelling a bomb, but I really hope this movie is a splashy, kinetic thrill ride largely aimed at kids, devoid of pop cultural references and ironic distance and jam packed with eye-popping computer-generated action. Take that and tie it to even the slimmest of narratives and it could be in the running for my favorite movie of summer. My biggest worry is the 2+ hour running time. It’s not an automatic deal breaker, but a live-action film based on a cartoon from my childhood feels like it should be leaner and meaner. Emile Hirsch is Speed, Christina Ricci is Trixie, John Goodman is Pops, Susan Sarandon is Mom and Matthew Fox is Racer X.
- What Happens in Vegas. Whatever it is, I wish it had stayed in Vegas.
- Redbelt (expanding wide). David Mamet’s latest opened in NY and LA last weekend and now it jumps onto 1000 screens give or take.
Here are the limited releases. Sign me up for The Fall and OSS 117.
- The Fall. From visually inventive director Tarsem Singh (The Cell), The Fall is set in 1915 Los Angeles where an injured man (Lee Pace, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, TV’s Pushing Daisies) confined to a hospital bed spins exotic tales of exciting adventures in far off lands for a little immigrant girl in the hope of convincing her to steal a fatal dose of morphine for him.
- OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies. This deadpan French spy spoof is set in 1955 and stars Jean Dujardin as an arrogant, insensitive, chauvinistic and stupid superspy investigating the murder of a fellow agent in Cairo. Despite his shortcomings, he always seems to come out on top. I think this one is going to be great. Don’t believe me? Read what Getafilm had to say about it.
- A Previous Engagement is a romantic comedy about a wife (Juliet Stevenson) who talks her boring husband (Daniel Stern) into a trip to Malta where, 25 years earlier, she made a date with her first love (Tcheky Karyo). To her surprise, the sexy Frenchman actually shows up. It could be the rare romantic comedy that doesn’t pander to its audience, or it might not.
- The Babysitters is a comedy-drama with Katherine Waterston as a suburban high school babysitter who organizes a kind of prostitution ring. John Leguizamo and Cynthia Nixon also star. Early reviews are mixed.
- Before the Rains. The first English language film from Indian director Santosh Sivan (Asoka) takes place in southern India in the 1930s where an English spice plantation owner sets off controversy following a romantic tryst with a woman from the local village.
- Frontier(s). You know it’s going to be a bad day when you’re trying to escape race riots in Paris and you fall into the clutches of a vicious Neo-Nazi cult and some nasty subhuman cannibals. If you don’t believe me, ask the people who are in this French horror film that has been rated NC-17 for extreme sadistic graphic violence and gore.
- Surfwise. Documentary about legendary surfer Doc Paskowitz who raised his nine children dragging them back and forth between the beaches of Hawaii, Southern California, Mexico and Israel.
- Turn the River. Famke Janssen as a high-stakes poker player and pool shark who kidnaps her own son.
- Vice. Michael Madsen as a downward spiraling vice cop involved in a drug bust gone bad. When some of the drugs turn up missing, trust dissolves and bodies start piling up. Also with Daryl Hannah and Mykelti Williamson.
Making a small expansion:
- Son of Rambow. Recommended
And finally, if you live in New York you might want to consider The Tracey Fragments. Battle For Haditha is also getting some good reviews.
- Battle for Haditha (Wed. 5/7). Based on the true story of 4 U.S. Marines who allegedly shot 24 citizens of Haditha, Iraq in retaliation for the roadside bombing death of one of their own.
- The Tracey Fragments. Experimental film based on the novel by Maureen Medved starring Ellen Page (Juno) as a 15-year-old searching for her missing brother. Put together with non-chronological editing and frequently employing a fractured split-screen, it’s not an easy film, but ultimately a rewarding one. You can read my brief review here. Recommended with reservations, especially for fans of Ellen Page.
- Noise. Tim Robbins on a one-man vigilante crusade against the noise of the big city.
- Unsettled (LA 5/16). Documentary about the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the impact it has on 6 twenty-somethings. Featuring music by Matisyahu.
Filed under: Upcoming
Related Posts: - Fanboys Not The Target Audience for ‘Speed Racer’?
- LiC has the need for ‘Speed’
- Here Comes Speed Racer
- Speed Racer: The Original
- ‘Vertigo’ Turns 50
Oh, hell…
LEE PACE is in a new film? Why didn’t anyone tell me???!!!!
Unless it’s a complete piece of garbage, I’m there like a shot. But I just double checked. It won’t be opening here this weekend.
*sigh*
Hopefully I’m gonna do a triple and check SPEED RACER, REDBELT and catch up to THE VISITOR this weekend.
Well, I plan on going to the IMAX tomorrow morning to see Speed Racer. I’m quite excited about it.
A local theater gets Young@Heart, so I might get to see that now. Also, Boston starts showing Mister Lonely, Son Of Rambow, and something called Jellyfish (which I know nothing about. Feel free to enlighten me). I hope that catch at least two of those before they leave.
I got to see Iron Man and Forgetting Sarah Marshall this week. Iron Man was the better of the two, but nothing special. Worth seeing, yes, but otherwise unremarkable.
And I forgot to mention that What Happens In Vegas will be required viewing for me tonight for my theater. I’ll be sure to let you all know that you should stay away from it.
So Iron Man was nothing special for anyone but me? Too bad.
Once again, you get an awesome line-up and I get shite. This weekend I am SO busy will school and my social life I will have no time for movies, so next weekend I will have to catch up majorly.
I think I can make it to the press screening of “Married Life” on Monday - so that would be my only film for the week.
Speed Racer sounds so great, as does Tracey Fragments, and “The Fall.”
Speaking of Speed Racer, which I have already said opens in SA on 20 June, Forgetting Sarah Marshall opens the same day, and I have been told why they open so late - it is to accommodate us school goers, because 20 June is the day school breaks for Winter break. Bang.
Well, I guess that makes sense from a financial point of view, but it sucks for anyone who’s not in school and wants to see movies. That’s pretty lame.
I’m with you on The Fall, Craig, although it looks like the style threatens to overtake the substance (much like his last film). I think I somehow convince myself that visual eye-poppers like Speed Racer and The Fall don’t need much of a story for me to enjoy them, but I’m pretty sure I’m lying to myself. A pretty picture, if it’s hung on a rotting wall, is only pretty for so long before you notice all the nastiness surrounding it.
So I’m looking forward to both, but I’m setting my expectations sufficiently low for each.
The Babysitters sounds like a wish-fulfillment movie for middle-aged middle-class suburbanite men. I’m sure it will do well on Showtime.
This is actually a pretty good line-up of options. I’m hoping to see Redbelt and Blueberry Nights this weekend, although Turn the River, OSS117, and The Fall all sound interesting too.
The Tracey Fragments definitely interests me, especially after reading your short review of it, Craig. Ellen Page is indeed a gifted actress who has already made some bold choices in roles.
No wonder Roger Ebert wants to give her a big hug. :-)
Ellen Page is my queen, and I have been downloading The Tracey Fragments today, cannot wait to see it.
Yeah, I’m bad, so what, I’ll probably see it when it opens in theatres as well. I such a good bad boy.
And Justin, it does suck, it really, really sucks.
What What Happens in Vegas? No comment.
Really like Speed Racer, though.
Nick, I consider Iron Man “special” in the sense that it’s rather special these days to go to a big studio tentpole in summer and actually find the experience totally agreeable and often fun. It’s not a film I’ll think of when I think of the year 2008 in eight months or so, but it was a perfectly pleasant experience.
That’s funny, Joel, regarding The Babysitters.
OSS 117 looks like a lot of fun. The trailer before My Brother is an Only Child last week had the small arthouse crowd laughing.
I haven’t said this in a while, Craig, but I’m continually amazed at how you seem to catch all of the new releases in this huge net known as the Weekend Forecast. It really displays the breadth of the new releases every week. For instance, how else was I going to learn about a Michael Madsen movie called Vice? I’ll have to see how well reviewed that one is.
Alison, it does appear that Ellen Page will have Ebert on her side in whatever she does.
Speed Racer has a few pacing issues at over two hours. Mostly in the middle. Maybe a bit too long. Nothing major, though.
But the last hour - holy cow. It’s on fire.
I’m really looking forward to your opinion on it. Good or bad, at least you’ll review it for what it is. I really can’t believe the film critic reviews for it. But that’s what you get these days when you have an extreme vision.
Holy crap, Ari. After reading your comment I headed over to Metacritic to check out the reviews on Speed Racer. Jeez. Tons of fanboy hate, too.
Daniel Stern is still acting?!?!
Like that analogy about the picture, Evan. I’ll see The Fall when it arrives with no expectations from the story.
My plans include Rambow, Redbelt, Speed Racer, Chop Shop, Blindsight and possibly The Custodian (from Argentina - anybody know if it?), in no particular order over the next week.
I saw Harold and Kumar and Sarah Marshall in a double feature last night. Not much to report, everything you would expect. There’s one sequence with President Bush in HK that was one of the funniest scenes of the year, but it didn’t nearly make up for the idiocy of the rest of it.
I missed Craig’s review before I skipped Tracey a couple of weeks ago - hope I don’t regret it…
Ulp, pressure’s on for OSS 117! It’s not much smarter than Austin Powers, but have fun with it and enjoy the beautiful production design.
Since you’ve graciously opened a door for me to further pimp myself out here, Craig, I’d like to cordially invited anyone who’s reading this to join the Getafilm Box Office Moguls League. I’m not a box-office analyst/freak/tracker and I don’t aspire to be one, but this is a fun way to guess what little movies will make it and which big ones won’t. This is the first time I’ve done it, and nobody’s an expert! It’s free and all are welcome. We’re closing registration on May 20th (right before Indy), and this season runs through July 28th. An as yet undetermined prize will be awarded to the champ. Oh, and the password for the league is “hoon”.
OK, sorry about that…
yeah, Alison. Everyone decided Speed Racer is the movie to hate this summer. Whatever. After this I’m starting to agree with David Mamet. “If I had one wish….it would be that all critics die”.
:)
Thanks for taking one for the team on Vegas, Justin. Though I must say I’ve heard a few unverified positive murmurings here and there. Frankly, if it’s funny, all other sins will be forgiven. That’s a big IF, I’m just saying.
Nick, I’d definitely recommend you check out Married Life. Not a 5-star movie or anything, but one that seems to have kind of slipped under the radar which is too bad.
Evan, I agree about the eye candy, but my hope is that there will just enough to pin it to in both cases to make them satisfying. They don’t have to be super meaty, hell, I liked Blueberry Nights, but give me something to chew on and don’t piss me off. Hopes are high, expectations are low, if that makes any sense.
Joel. “The Babysitters sounds like a wish-fulfillment movie for middle-aged middle-class suburbanite men. I’m sure it will do well on Showtime.” hahahah. Yeah. That’s why I didn’t admit that I might catch it this weekend…you know….if I happen to be in the neighborhood.
Alison, if you have the patience for Tracey, you might find it rewarding. After one viewing, I’m not 100% convinced the experiment works, but it worked well enough so that I’ll see it again when it comes out here.
So Ari, K, Poland, Moriarty and Rocchi are lining up in the Speed Good column. I haven’t even looked at Rotten Tomatoes though I hear it’s below 40%. I will begin finding out in 12 hours. I haven’t read any complete reviews but even some of the snippets of negative things I’ve heard encourage me. I know that doesn’t make sense, but there it is.
Alexander. Thank you, though all this information is readily available all over the Internets. The only trouble is trying to be thorough (no one source ever seems to cover everything and I’m always missing things), putting it into my own words and, in a perfect world, actually having an opinion on it.
Daniel, don’t worry. I won’t rake you over the coals if OSS 117 stiffs. Everyone was very polite to me over Blueberry Nights so it’s the least I can do. :) Also, I hope you get a kick out of Rambow.
“no one source ever seems to cover everything…”
That’s exactly why I think this is such an invaluable service, Craig. You really try to get these titles out there, no matter how obscure. It shows just how much product is really out there all throughout the year. Now, seeing it… That’s the really hard part. A signifcant number of these never get beyond New York, LA and Chicago, it seems.
Daniel, I’ve heard about The Custodian, and that it’s from Argentina but I really don’t know what its “buzz,” if it has any, is.
If I can do anything to help keep the little ones from getting buried, even if only a few extra people check them out, then the blog is doing its job.
Bravo.
Well, that’s the theory. I didn’t say it was working
Thanks, Alexander. It’s a couple years old but this description seems enough for me: http://calendar.walkerart.org/event.wac?id=4427
I second the others, Craig, and I also appreciate that you’re comfortable going against the grain on some movies, like MBN and Speed Racer (maybe). And that you help along the little guys like Rambow.
By the way, re: Speed Racer…do they actually race through a frickin’ foam party???
Jeff. No.
i loved the babysitters(and yes i’m loser thanj you). i know everyone would rather drool over iron man or whatever…
instead of people maiking fun of the babysitters..how about making fun of iron man…whatever…
i just love that babysitters is getting torn apart by critics. but these same critics won’t shut up with the praise/over praising pretty much any big action movie ever. ha ha…
No one is drooling over Iron Man - except me, mainly because nothing else is opening because Iron Man is hogging all the screens. I have no choice.
Well, I’m happy Iron Man is so successful. As one blogger put it: “Welcome back to the A-List, Robert Downey, Jr.!”
I can’t make fun of The Babysitters Glimmer because I haven’t seen it. I can’t make fun of Iron Man because I liked it.
You’re hardly alone Nick. I’d say more people than not loved Iron Man.
craig babysitters deserves better than this…
check the record/check the current track record…
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/babysitters?q=babysitters
Believe it or not, it’s not playing in a theater near me. I could’ve seen it yesterday when I was in Santa Monica, but I already had other plans.