After the build-up to “Watchmen”, the lack of an Event Picture this weekend seems like a bit of a let-down. But there’s still plenty of other stuff landing at the megaplex, the better to vie for your Spring Break dollars:
“Crossing Over“: Wayne Kramer, director of “The Cooler” and the Paul Walker edge-fest “Running Scared”, weighs in on American immigration by turning every facet of a complex and intractable issue into pap. Harrison Ford glowers; Ray Liotta oozes slime; Jim Sturgess murders Jewish folk songs and Australian actress and Australian actress Alice Eve is sexually exploited in the role of a sexually exploited Australian actress. (Irony alert!) Seriously, this makes “Crash” look like “Traffic”. And I liked “Crash”.
“Gomorrah“: I wasn’t as enthused about Matteo Garrone’s overstuffed Mafia drama as some of my Cannes colleagues, and I’m still not sure it’s as revolutionary or as important as Martin Scorsese and David Cronenberg would have me believe. That said, I did like it a lot more on the second go-round, and if either Messrs. Scorsese or Cronenberg wants to take a shot at persuading me over lunch or something, I’m totally open to that.
“The Last House on the Left”: Wes Craven’s grotty revenge flick — still the only grindhouse film freely adapted from an Ingmar Bergman movie, though a case could probably be made for “Angel” as a transposition of “Nights of Cabiria” — gets fed into the Michael Bay remake machine. Andrew is repelled, but not in the good way.
“Miss March”: The guys from The Whitest Kids U Know have made a movie! And it wasn’t screened until the last possible second! So we have no idea whether it’s any good, but I’m thinking “wasn’t screened until the last possible second” is not a positive sign.
“Race to Witch Mountain“: Still doubting the boundless charm and appeal of Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino? Watch them make their way effortlessly through this dopey, chaotic reimagining of the Disney chestnut without ever once condescending to the material. Actually, just take my word for it. You’ll be better off. (My NOW review should go live any minute now. UPDATE: There it is!)
“RiP: A Remix Manifesto”: Brett Gaylor’s documentary investigates copyright and intellectual property. I missed the press screenings, but Susan liked it, so I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for the bootleg DVD.
Nah, I’m kidding. I’ll download it.
(Still kidding.)
On the Last House/Bergman issue, I don’t think you’ve taken the similarities between ‘Smiles of a Summer Night’ and ‘Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo’ into account. And I’d like to thank you for that.
It is increasingly difficult to find a movie that I can take my kid to watch without the movie sucking or being too scary or nauseatingly saccharine. You have a direct line, Norm. Make ’em do something!
Per RiP! – funnily enough the download comment is appropriate as the film is now available for download through the RiP! website at a pay-what-you-want rate
RIP: A Remix Manifesto