The summer rolls on, and the movies roll out. That’s just how it goes, man.
“The Bourne Legacy“: Tony Gilroy’s fourquel expands the Bourniverse into a much more complex world, and Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz are the poor saps who have to find their way out of it. No wheels are reinvented, but it’s a pretty impressive upgrade all the same.
“The Campaign”: Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are rival politicians trying to out-pander one another. Glenn saw it, but the review’s not up yet.
“Compliance”: Craig Zobel’s psychological thriller was a buzzed title at Sundance; Kiva says it lives up to its reputation. Having only seen Dreama Walker in comedies, I’m really curious to see what she does here.
“Iron Sky”: Or as it’s more commonly known, INVASION OF THE MOON NAZIS. Why wouldn’t eOne press screen this?
“Killer Joe“: There’s something about Tracy Letts that brings out the best in William Friedkin; here, the playwright’s dark and dirty farce becomes a Southern Gothic funhouse ride with Matthew McConaughey as the scariest carnival barker you’ll ever want to meet.
“Oslo, August 31”: Joachim Trier, the director of “Reprise”, returns with another complex and emotionally engaging character study, this one starring Anders Danielsen Lie as an addict trying to stay out of his old patterns while on a day pass from rehab. Rad likes it; I do too.
“Red Lights“: Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver face down the booga-booga of Robert De Niro in Rodrigo Cortes’ increasingly less enjoyable supernatural thriller.
“Searching for Sugar Man”: Once upon a time — well, back in the ’70s, anyway — there was a musician named Rodriguez who cut a couple of albums and vanished. Malik Bendjelloul’s documentary tracks him down. Rad thinks it’s okay.
“2 Days in New York“: Julie Delpy takes a swing at the Woody Allen microgenre of neurotic New Yorker comedy, and to extend the baseball metaphor, she swings wildly, hits herself in the back of the head with the bat and spits teeth all over the umpire. Okay, maybe baseball’s not the best metaphor, but this was just awful.
And that’s everything! Well, not everything; “Craigslist Joe” is opening for a limited run at the Projection Booth, and I’ll be covering it in this week’s web column, but that’s not up yet. So that’s everything for now.
Also, Paul Williams Still Alive is at the Bloor for most of the week.
Yup! I covered that in my web column at NOW.