Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” returns to theatres today in the wake of its Oscar win, and I’m guessing it’ll make more this weekend than it did in its entire North American run. Or it’ll be ignored all over again because people just bought the DVD. Let’s see how that goes.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other distractions hitting the megaplex — let’s go through them, shall we?
“Cactus“: Two men in a car provide a feature’s worth of tension and suspense in Jasmine Yuen Carrucan’s efficient, economical thriller, which plays like a throwback to the Ozploitation movies of the 1970s. Worth a look, I reckon.
“Green Zone”: Paul Greengrass brings Matt Damon to occupied Iraq for a thriller extrapolated from Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book “Imperial Life in the Emerald City”. I couldn’t make the screening, but Andrew liked it fine.
“Our Family Wedding”: Carlos Mencia and Forest Whitaker as rival dads forced together by their kids’ wedding? Why, that’s a recipe for wackiness if ever I heard one! Andrew‘s review includes what may be my favorite sentence of the month: “The goat on Viagra is woefully underused.”
“Prodigal Sons“: Kimberly Reed brings a camera into her family home to explore the fissures within in this powerful personal documentary, which ranks with “Capturing the Friedmans” and “Must Read After My Death” for dysfunctional intensity. (That’s a good thing.)
“The Red Baron“: A starchy attempt to turn the story of the WWI flying ace into a rousing Hollywood-style biopic, or at least the sort of movie German filmmakers think Hollywood is making. On the upside, it’s shorter and considerably less silly than “Pearl Harbor”. On the downside? Joseph Fiennes is in it.
“Remember Me“: Ironically, I would give anything to forget this risible tween-targeted tearjerker. On the other hand, never forget, never forgive, right?
“She’s Out of My League“: Alice Eve is hot; Jay Baruchel is not. And while there’s not much more to the plot of this lightweight romantic comedy, somehow it comes together in a very appealing and intelligent way. And any movie that features a mastiff named Captain Pickles deserves the benefit of the doubt.
That’s everything, isn’t it? Oh, except for Maren Ade’s “Everyone Else”, which is playing just three shows this weekend at TIFF Cinematheque, and is really terrific. Go see that, too.