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Click on the title for details. |
OCTOBER 10 - OCTOBER 16, 2006
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OCTOBER 10 - OCTOBER 16, 2006 |
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ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (dir: Terry Zwigoff, R) – While not in the same league as masterwork GHOST WORLD, Terry Zwigoff and comics writer Daniel Clowes continue to mine the fertile territory of the American classroom for ironic gold. In their latest, young Jerome heads off to a prestigious art school only to find that pretentious classmates and self-involved professors abound. Plus, a serial strangler is stalking the campus and Jerome is quickly becoming the chief suspect. |
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THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT 2 (dir: John R. Leonetti, R) – Ashton Kutcher was apparently too busy making out with his bride/substitute-mom Demi Moore to find time to star in this monumentally unneeded sequel to the time-traveling suck-a-thon. | |||
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CLICK (dir: Frank Coraci, PG-13) – Adam Sandler has a magic remote control or something. |
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EDMOND (dir: Stuart Gordon, R) – David Mamet is a busy, busy man, what with all the plays and movies and TV shows he’s always writing and producing. Most are pretty good (THE SPANISH PRISONER) and some really stink (HEIST), but you always know who’s gonna be in it (William H. Macy, Rebecca Pigeon) and how the characters are gonna talk (like Twenties gangsters with potty mouths). | |||
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FIXING FRANK (dir: Michael Selditch, Not Rated) – A gay reporter is sent undercover to expose a shady doctor who claims to be able to “cure” people of homosexuality. Posing as a patient, he begins treatment but finds himself falling under the doctor’s spell. |
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GARFIELD: A TAIL OF TWO KITTIES (dir: Tim Hill, PG) – Although this second film involving everyone’s favorite morbidly obese feline cribs its title from Chuck Dickens, it snags the plot of The Prince & The Pauper. That sound you hear isn’t Mark Twain rolling in his grave, it’s him rustling around in his thesaurus for words like audacious, impavid and intrepid. | |||
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GHOST OF MAE NAK (dir: Mark Duffield, Not Rated) – The only people on Earth who might love nonsensical supernatural movies more than the Japanese are the Thai. When a newlywed couple move into an old abandoned house, they quickly become aware of the specter that resides there. At first, the presence looks after them, protecting them dangerous visitors. But then things turn sour when they refuse to release it from its spiritual prison. |
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JU-ON 2 (dir: Shimizu Takashi, R) – Prep yourself for the American sequel being released theatrically later this month with the original Japanese sequel now. Whatever that means. | |||
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*THE KING (dir: James Marsh, R) – Mexican sensation Gael Garcia Bernal shines once again as a troubled young man who travels to Corpus Christi, Texas in search of his birth father, who may or may not be a pastor played by William Hurt. |
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LAND OF PLENTY (dir: Wim Wenders, Not Rated) – German director Wim Wenders once again casts his lens on outcasts of American society, this time using the tensions of the post-9/11 era as a backdrop. A semi-deranged Vietnam vet, driven to paranoia by the terrorist attacks, patrols the streets of Los Angeles hunting for terrorists. When his Christian niece returns from missionary work in Palestine, she tries to look after him. A shocking death leads, inevitably, to a soul searching trek through the desert. | |||
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THE MOSTLY UNFABULOUS SOCIAL LIFE OF ETHAN GREEN (dir: George Bamber, R) – Based on a long running comic strip in alternative newspapers, ETHAN GREEN is a loveable loser with a lousy track record when it comes to members of the same sex. |
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^A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION (dir: Robert Altman, PG-13) – Everybody loves Robert Altman’s adaptation of Garrison Keillor’s folksy radio program. And the biggest kudos of all seem to be for Meryl Streep and her largely unknown singing capabilities. | |||
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PUSH (dir: Dave Rodriguez, R) – When a trio of friends luck upon a large quantity of Ecstasy, they do the logical thing and start distributing it - regardless of which ruthless drug lord’s territory they’re encroaching on. Do you see where this is going? |
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SAVE THE LAST DANCE 2 (dir: David Petrarca, PG-13) – If you thought sequels to THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, GARFIELD and THE GRUDGE were irrelevant, just wait ‘til this straight-to-video abomination assaults your senses! | |||
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12 AND HOLDING (dir: Michael Cuesta, R) – After his twin bother dies in a tragic treehouse fire (seriously) a young boy tries to cope as his parents take their grief out on each other and his friends are preoccupied with their own lives. The second feature from L.I.E. director Michael Cuesta again takes an unfiltered look at the lives of young people and was described by The Village Voice as a "poisoned pen valentine to suburban adolescence." |
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UNCUT (dir: Gionata Zarantonello, Unrated) – In a filmic stunt not seen since Andy Warhol was convincing art snobs that a five hour movie of someone sleeping was cinematically important, we get UNCUT, a feature length film from Italy of a man’s crotch. Honestly, it’s an hour and a half of a camera pointed at some dude’s junkyard. | |||
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WAIST DEEP (dir: Vondie Curtis Hall, R) – R&B singer/actor Tyrese Gibson plays an ex-con trying to go straight. But since this is a movie, a nefarious drug lord (as opposed to the other kind) kidnaps his son and demands he pull off a series of heists. |
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THE WAIT (dir: Aldo Garay, Not Rated) – This simple, elegiac story from Uruguay looks at the lives of a mother and daughter and their neighbor. Just think how cool you’ll seem for exploring the emerging cinema of South America and at 65 minutes, it’s shorter than DUMBO! | |||
| * = Greg's pick of the week ^ = Bart's pick of the week | ||||||