It's sequel and adaptation week at the 'plexes in Victoria, yet all I'm thinking about is how well represented French cinema is in town right now. Both in live action short form and animated from the good folks at Pixar (for one night only!). Yet I get the sinking feeling the majority of Victoria filmgoers will ignore my pleas to watch these and instead settle on another noisy, joyless sequel like...
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Odeon, Silvercity, University 4, Caprice) -- I flat out HATED the first Fantastic Four film -- four drab superheroes and not one of them are the least bit interesting -- and yet I'll probably see this anyways as a "job" screening to kill a Saturday afternoon (at least it is mercifully short at 92 minutes). What is also bizarre is that the first film made money yet was detested by most, and suddenly people who I have talked to "like" the first one since there's a sequel coming out and it has a money-shot trailer. What is going on here?
Nancy Drew (Silvercity, Capitol) -- Emma Roberts is adorable and she looks primed to be a movie star one day, although I didn't grow up reading the adventures of the female sleuth detective (Hardy Boys, bitches!) so I have no idea if it will be a faithful representation of the source material or a teeny-bopper comedy with a Hot New Soundtrack (I'm assuming the latter). Since Warner doesn't screen movies in advance in Canada now, I was unable to see this last week with my local press friends and heckle the film with them.
Black Book (The Vic Theater) -- Paul Verhoeven goes back to his roots with this WWII film from the Netherlands, a surprise since he has been a staple of pushing the envelope with splatter studio pictures for over the last decade. A hit in its Vancouver release a month ago, it should find some curious souls down at that wee little Vic theater downtown that seriously needs to book better films (and faster!).
Also:
Ratatouille sneaks at Silvercity this weekend, which is a surprise as I can't recall the last time Disney screened an animated film two weeks ago, let alone a film from Pixar! Not only am I excited to see this "rat becomes chef in Paris" story which is also Brad Bird's followup from the awesome The Incredibles, but I'll get to take a peek at it two weeks ahead of the game.
And a quick aside: Disney is on a freakin' ROLL this year. With the outstanding Bridge To Terabithia earlier this year and the delightful Meet The Robinsons (which I just saw recently), this has been a solid year of cinema from the Mouse House. Now they just have to add vintage shorts to all their films and they'll be on my A-list.
If you haven't seen it yet, go see Paris Je T'aime at the Odeon, now in its second successful week. This short film ode to the City of Love is so joyous, so life-affirming that your heart will leap while you watch it. I was blown away by local critic Michael D. Reid for giving this a lousy 2.5/5 rating. This is one of the best films of 2007 and I urge you to see it.
Also playing in town is another one of the very best films of 2007, the Oscar-winner The Lives of Others, which plays at Cinecenta Friday and Saturday night. If you have missed this masterful look at a love story amidst fierce German politics and law in the 80's, here is your chance to go out and take a look.
If you're around Cinecenta on Sunday night, check out a screening of either The Painted Veil or The Host at Cinecenta. The former is a beautifully filmed love story set in 1940's China during the second world war with Edward Norton and the intoxicatingly beautiful Naomi Watts, while the latter is a creature feature box office smash from South Korea that is a lot of fun. Both are great in their own ways.
Ocean's Thirteen is also a delightfully funny film and might very well be the best in the series. It may not contain Soderbergh's best cinematography (that belongs to Part Twelve), yet it is his most breezy, most entertaining Ocean's film yet. (It's playing at Silvercity, Capitol, University 4, Star Cinema and Caprice.)
Waitress and Away From Her also rage on at the Odeon (the latter is also getting a run at the Star Cinema in Sidney this weekend), Knocked Up is still laughing up screens all over town, and the funny animated penguin comedy Surf's Up is recommended for the family.
This is one busy weekend! Stay away from the ogres, the pirates and Eli Roth. There are so many better movies that you can be seeing right now. For showtimes, click yourself to tribute.ca.
Jason
efilmcritic.com
No comments:
Post a Comment