Weekend Forecast: 6/5/08
By Craig Kennedy - June 5th, 2008; 12:01 am
Mmmm…Dumplings
I love a Weekend Forecast in June, how ’bout you? Actually, there isn’t much to write home about this week. Undaunted, we start off with the wide releases:
- Kung Fu Panda. DreamWorks hasn’t done much in the animation department that has gotten me excited. This one’s an unlikely hero story about a tubby panda chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy. The difference here is that the trailers have consistently made me laugh. Even the early Kung Fu Panda “Turn off your cell phone” requests made me giggle. Jack Black could prove to be the secret weapon, but the rest of the voice cast including Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, David Cross and James Hong sounds good too (no pun intended…well ok, maybe a little). This one at least gets the benefit of a doubt with minimum expectations.
- You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. The scene in the trailer where he nerve pinches the toddler into unconsciousness made me laugh. Is that enough to build a movie on? The answer to that may depend on your taste for Adam Sandler. Mine has not been acquired. Here he plays an Israeli Mossad agent who fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream of styling hair in New York.
And opening in limited release:
- The Go-Getter. The road movie is getting to be about as tired of a genre as the heist film or the Tarantino knock-off…but like the other two I continue to find it semi-irresistible. This one’s a comedy drama about a straight-laced young man who sets off to find his half-brother after his mother dies. The kicker for me is that it’s got a cadre of untraditional but irresistible women in it: Zooey Deschanel, Jena Malone, Judy Greer and Maura Tierney.
- Mongol. Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov’s historical epic about a Mongolian named Temudgin who would one day be called Genghis Khan. This one started getting nerd BVDs in a bunch when it played Toronto and other assorted film festivals. It even got an Oscar nomination for best foreign film.
- Mother of Tears. More than 30 years after it began with Suspira, Italian horror director Dario Argento’s “Three Mothers” witchcraft trilogy concludes with Mother of Tears starring his daughter Asia. Also: Udo Kier. Seriously. Udo Kier! Come ON!
- The Promotion. John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott play two supermarket drones competing for a managerial slot in this indie comedy written and directed by Steve Conrad who wrote the screenplay for The Pursuit of Happyness. Received mixed to positive reviews when it played SXSW.
- When Did You Last See Your Father? Just in time for Father’s Day, Colin Firth must confront the fact that his father, Jim Broadbent, is dying. I’m guessing flashbacks to a strained relationship and a deathbed reconciliation are on tap. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It would be better if it had Udo Kier in it though.
Opening in the Big Apple
- Dreams with Sharp Teeth (opened 6/4). 27 years in the making, it’s Erik Nelson’s documentary about author Harlan Ellison. Mr. Nelson previously produced Grizzly Man.
- Operation Filmmaker (opened 6/4). In 2004, just before beginning production on Everything is Illuminated, director/actor Liev Schreiber was moved by a story about a 25-year-old Iraqi film student whose dreams of being a filmmaker were dashed by the Iraq war. In a good will gesture, Schreiber hired the young man to work on the film with him in the Czech Republic. Alas, what was supposed to be a feel good story drawn from the horror of war turns out to be…well, let’s just say no good deed goes unpunished or perhaps the road to hell is paved with good intentions - pick your saying.
- On the Rumba River. Documentary covering the ups and downs of 60 years in the life of African musician, Wendo, the first superstar of the Congolese Rumba. Call it, Wendo.
None of the above melt your butter? Give one of these a try if they’re playing in your neighborhood:
- Young@Heart
- Water Lilies
- OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
- Up the Yangtze
- Reprise
- Roman de Gare
None of them have Udo Kier, but hey, you can’t have everything.
Filed under: Upcoming
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Considering that my favorite Adam Sandler movie is Little Nicky (after Punch-Drunk Love, of course), I’m going to have to see Zohan, for better or worse.
“Mongol” is quite good but has its problems, especially near the end.
I LOVE “When Did You Last See Your Father?” It’s a ten hankie guy weepie on the “Field of Dreams” level, just without the sports. Not a great film, but a very effective one.
Also, don’t expect any pat deathbead reconciliations out of “When Did You Last See Your Father.” It’s not always tidy in how it deals with things, and that’s what I like about it. It’s based on an autobiography, and just like real life, it doesn’t always work out exactly the way we want.
“Panda” is best viewed with minimum expectations, you are correct there.
I want to see “When Did You Last See Your Father?” as well as “Mongol.” As well as “Young@Heart,”
“Water Lilies,” “OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies,” “Up the Yangtze,” “Reprise,” and “Roman de Gare” but I guess I can’t have it at all, never mind have it all.
I am stuck with “Narnia” {which opens officially tomorrow}, “Definitely, Maybe,” “Sleepwalking” and a press screening of “Speed Racer.” And I am not in the least bit excited for anything.
I’m going to give Foot Fist a try, and maybe Bigger Stronger Faster. Panda isn’t a must see, but I’m not going to avoid it if I happen to find myself at a theater. I also might find time for Roman de Gare and The Rape of Europa in the next week.
What appeals to me about Zohan is Sandler back in SNL-like character work. I wasn’t necessarily bothered by Reign on Me or Spanglish, or even Punch-Drunk Love, but I have to admit I get a lot more excited seeing Sandler catch a bullet and flick it away like a bug than I do seeing him have a tender moment with kids. That’s just me.
Heh heh, Daniel, I’m not a big Sandler fan but he has a niche and he might be better off sticking with it.
I’ll file the majority of these under “For future reference,” but I am curious about Mongol and Operation Filmmaker, although the Mongol trailer makes it look a foreign knockoff of Braveheart crossed with Conan. Not sure what to make of it but the trailer is pretty bad.
I have not seen a single trailer for Panda or Zohan so I feel a bit ignorant here. Maybe I should check them out to see what the fuss is about, but since my likelihood of seeing either is very slim it may not be worth the trouble.
I’ve got Stuck and Roman de Gare on my weekend itinerary. Yay for me.
Nothing grabs me as a must-see this weekend. Maybe I’ll rent something with Udo Kier in it…
Oh, the Rat, you almost have to admire the man’s determination to continue to provide his many detractors with more and more ammunition. I eagerly await his PG reinterpretation of The Warriors, complete with self-justifying prepatory interviews where he justifies remake with stories of he and Hill getting blown in a spa in the Hills somewhere.
Mongol comes up here on the 13th. After seeing The Fall yesterday, I’m going to see Indy 4 again today and Roman de Gare again tomorrow. The better half wants to see Kung Fu Panda so that’s looking likely, and it does look significantly superior to the average DreamWorks animated effort.
Ahaha, Chuck, even though I suspect that was meant to be placed in the Beverly Hills Cop thread, that was funny.
You suspected correctly, Alexander. I’m an idiot.
Hahaha…good one Chuck. Also, I just threw up in my mouth a little.
Well, the family is in town again so I have no idea what movies, if any, are in store for me this week. My niece is 2-1/2 years old so if she’s going to watch our options are limited. However, I’m bringing my DVD of I’m Not There with me so I can watch it again on my computer after everybody goes to sleep at 10pm. :-)
Sounds like a sweet plan Alison! I cannot wait to get my hands on the “I’m Not There” DVD, amongst others from last year.
Family Shmamily! That’s why they invented movies, so we could get away from the relations!
Joel, if you didn’t like the “Mongol” trailer (which I did), then you probably won’t like the movie, because the trailer makes it look better than it is. It’s quite good, but fizzles out in the end.
Matthew, thanks for the advice on Mongol.
I didn’t like “the voice” narration of mainstreams trailers that they used, and the fact that the trailer conveys this Conan the Barbarian sort of storyline.
You know, “They took everything away from him…now he’s back for revenge” kind of thing. Come on.
I saw a review the other day that raved about the movie, so I am more curious about seeing it.
Who was the rave from Joel? My sense is that this movie has gotten Nerd-kind in a tizzy, and actually that works against the movie in my opinion. I think this crowd WOULD like another Conan the Barbarian.
I’ve never seen “Conan” but from what I know of it “Mongol” doesn’t share a lot with it. It’s more like “Alexander” if “Alexander” were a good movie.
I wouldn’t really call it a nerd movie, but it’s definitely a modern epic in the “Gladiator”/”Braveheart” vein, and it’s definitely better than the current “300″ fanboy wet dream style.
Just to be contrary, I think Alexander is a good movie.
This is my birthday weekend, and I like to see a movie on my birthday weekend, but nothing is grabbing me. I may see Kung Fu Panda I suppose, just because it could be on the Oscar animated shortlist. But even though I’m a panda fan–not to mention having killer martial arts skills myself–I can’t get excited about it.
By the way, next week, 11-17th, I’ll be in Boston, a bona fide city. Have a lot of other things to do, but I’m really hoping to find a good arthouse theater to see a couple of smart films and pretend I live on a coast instead of Arkansas. If anyone has any recommendations from the area, speak up!
Happy Birthday, Jennybee!!!
Craig, I read the LAT review/preview of Mongol, which was fairly positive. I actually lost interest in the film when I saw that the Roman chorus at AICN was chanting their love for it last Winter, but I’ve seen some good reviews since then (all 6 on Metacritic are pretty positive).
It looks more big and dumb than I would like to see out of a movie like this, but if it can do a good job with the action scenes that it might be worth a visit to a theater. It won’t be opening here for a while though, so I’m in no hurry.
Happy B-Day, Jennybee. I can speak up on some Boston theaters from my time at BU. Options depend on where you’re actually going to be: the “area”, or downtown, or Cambridge. I don’t know much about the “area”, but I think Justin does, if he stops by here in the meantime.
For the big blockbuster movies go to the Loews Boston Common or the AMC Fenway, both of which are new since 2000. But since you wanted arthouse - there is the Landmark chain, of course, and I spent a lot of time at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge. Nice little theater with a lot of the new indies. Maybe too corporate for some people.
In that case, absolutely check out the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline (http://www.coolidge.org/), which is just a straight shot up on the T (Green line); and/or the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge (http://www.brattlefilm.org/brattlefilm/index.html), also easily accessible by the T. Everything is, actually, which is nice. Both of those theaters have their schedules up already for next week. I’d love to blather on about that great city, but I’ll stop before I get too excited. Have fun!
Have a memorably gorgeous birthday, jennybee.
Now I understand the source for all of that sparkling wit and intelligence…
Thanks y’all! You’re too kind to an old dame like me. Daniel, great suggestions. I knew about the Brattle, but the others are new to me. We’re staying in Brighton, just off a T stop, but I know we’re planning at least a day in Cambridge. There really is way too much fun stuff up there to try to fit into a few days. But my sister in Boston will be having a baby around the peak of Oscar season, so I’ve got a built-in excuse to go back there and catch some more limited release films at the turn of the year.
Well if you’re in Brighton you’ll be pretty close to Coolidge Corner (it’s on the C line instead of the B line). That would be my suggestion. It’s a nice little area to boot.
And if you’re in Cambridge and you like pizza head to Pinocchio’s in Harvard Square. Best. Sicilian slices. Ever. Sigh, I’m sickeningly jealous but I’ll be there for a late fall weekend, I hope.
Happy ‘Bee’ Day!
Happy Birthday, Jennybee.
Boston is a great city to visit. Going there five years ago was one of the best vacations I ever took. So much history!
Happy Birth Time, Jenny. Hey I’m in Portland this week, so i have to talk that way.
I’m going to PARANOID PARK tonite. Can’t think of a better place to see it.
Yeah, have a great bday weekend jennybee!