External Movies

It’s the second week of this little experiment in Thursday evening/Friday morning film quarterbacking. And there’s no time to be wasted….Or maybe there is. That’s because, whatever else may be true, with the possible exception of one exciting experiment in larger than life rock and roll and an art-house experiment with children’s attention spans, this weekend does not look to be anything for the history books.

*Generally speaking, “Leatherheads” is the kind of mainstream flick I root for. A romantic comedy hearkening to the thirties and forties screwball era when, weird as it might sound to younger folks, examples of the genre were quite frequently watchable or better, because they bothered to employ devices like characters and stories. These days we expect that sort of thing only from Judd Apatow and sometimes Jane Austen. In this case, of course, you add a little football history for some male appeal and a top-draw cast featuring A-listers George Clooney (who also directs) and Renee Zellweger, A-list farm team draft pick John Krasinski of “The Office”, outstanding character actors Jonathan Pryce and Stephen Root (who, when he dies, will no doubt see his grave adorned with a certain crimsom office product) and you might think you could wind up with some superior entertainment, if not necessarily box-office gold.

On the other hand, Clooney’s attempt at true screwball has received mediocre reviews – surprising considering that the third-time director is something of a critical darling, given his last film was “Good Night and Good Luck,” but then neither that film nor Clooney’s directing debut, “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” showed anything like a light touch, and he’s playing in a field where giants like Howard Hawks, Ernst Lubitsch, Preston Sturges, and lots of other dead guys you’ve never heard of once roamed. Still, given the star power and the simple date-movie compromise premise, this one seems destined to do reasonable to good business. Variety thinks it’ll be #1. Not proof, of course, but to quote history’s most famous sportswriter, Damon Runyon: “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.”

*Still, it’s just a gut-call that “Nim’s Island“, not exactly beloved by our own David Medsker, won’t win this weekend and, if nothing else, it has the most screens. A lame-sounding premise about a “magical island ruled by a young girl’s imagination” doesn’t bode well, nor does the low-key promotion (of course, I’m not a parent and I have a DVR — any Nickelodeon-prisoners out there tired of commercials for this one?). What’s weird is that this one is headlined by Jodie Foster, Gerard “300” Butler, and “Little Miss Sunshine” herself, Abigail Breslin — I mean how’s that for uniting three disparate audience groupings? And, of course, it’s a family film and as such should never be discounted if adults can pleasurably sit through it. An open question (well, not to Dave!) and all I’ve got to go with otherwise is a 49% Tomatometer rating, but I’m going to guess “not so much” is the answer.

* And, who knows, it’s in more theaters than “Leatherheads” and this week’s entry in the unscreened for critics horror sweeptakes, “The Ruins” could pull an upset…but I doubt it. It feels as if I’ve been suffering through the trailers since the Carter Administration. And my hunch is this film from nature photographer-turned-first-time-director Carter Smith and author/screenwriter Scott B. Smith (the Smith Brothers?) didn’t look anything other than oddly disgusting — yet also sort of dull. The often easy-to-please Box Office Mojo readers seem none too excited about this one and the vibe is getting is that it’s probably too soft for today’s masochistic young fans of extreme horror, while, at least as per its promotion, it’s too harsh and uninviting for everyone else. The one interesting wrinkle — Scott Smith is the ultra-lauded writer of both the screenplay and original novel behind 1998’s outstanding “A Simple Plan.” Maybe it’s not quite as bad as looks, but maybe it’s worse.

*That’s pretty much it for the week’s major release — unless you count the 273 largely IMAX screen release “Shine a Light,” Martin Scorsese’s first concert film since 1978’s near-perfect “The Last Waltz,” starring none other The Rolling Stones, still freaky — actually freakier — after all these years. The critics dig it. Bill Clinton apparently digs it, and shows up onscreen, and Hillary has praised the Stones recently, but no word yet on whether she remembers nearly being stabbed by Hell’s Angels at Altamont. But seriously, this is the release I’m most looking forward to checking out this week, even if the answer to the big question asked in a million dorm rooms is, of course, “The Beatles.”


Meanwhile, in Indiewood…. The big news in the Cinephile crowd this week is the appearance of two Asian princes of contemplative cinema, aka “boring art films,” working in the west. The more promising of two is also an interesting stretch, unpronounceable cineaste fave Hou Hsiao-hsien takes a stab at a Parisian child’s classic with “The Flight of the Red Balloon” and has the gang at Greencine chattering away. And how’s this for a quote:

“A remarkably rich, rewarding, and restful experience, Hou’s latest is a film like no other - in the simplicity of its lines, colors, and framing, and in the complexity of how those elements compound and contextualize its emotional subject matter, The Flight of the Red Balloon can, in my mind, be compared to the works of Matisse.”

Bring the kids! Bring sedatives! But seriously folks, I’ve missed Hsia-hsien’s other films, but this one appears to be a pretty intriguing take on the classic 1956 French short, “The Red Balloon,” that was frequently trotted out on 16mm at my elementary school. Also it’s got Juliette Binoche — and you never know what’s going to grab the little ones. If you want real contemplative cinema for kids, try watching an old episode of “Thunderbird” sometime.

And Sophia Coppola’s favorite Hong Kong slow-mo romantic, Wong Kar Wai, makes his American debut and gets a mixed response with “My Blueberry Nights.” Personally, I haven’t been a big fan of even for the HK maverick’s most lauded films, “In the Mood for Love” or “Chungking Express” but he does know how to craft some truly stunning imagery, and with cast that includes Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman, and, making her film debut in the lead role, singing/piano playing sensation Norah Jones, there’s be plenty to look at, with Jude Law on hand for the ladies and David Strathairn challenging the Kar Wai aesthetic with his good-acting nonbeauty.

Also opening this week in limited release is a highly praised Israeli film anthology film, “Jellyfish” and the poorly received, and poorly titled black comedy from Daniel Waters (”Heathers”) “Sex and Death 101“. The film stars Winona Ryder, who I always appreciate (really), and Simon Baker — who I’m glad as on hand because his presence, and the release of the Scorsese-directed “Shine a Light” gives me the excuse to close with this mini-classic, which made the rounds last fall…The greatest ever Alfred Hithcock tribute that’s also a mockumentary, and a sparkling wine commercial. Directed by M. Scorsese and starring Marty and Baker.