Sunday, August 1, 2010

SIDELINE: MORE REVIEWS FOR 7/10



IN THEATRES...

* Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, another biopic of the French designer, this time with the gorgeous Anna Mouglalis as Chanel.

* The Complete Metropolis, the restored version of Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece. Opens this week at Cinema 21 in Portland.

* Dinner for Schmucks, a good comedy that could have been great had it not played it so safe. Great performances by Steve Carrel and Paul Rudd, though.

* The Girl Who Played with Fire, the disappointing second part of the Millennium Trilogy. Still worth it for Noomi Rapace, though.

* Inception, Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated mind bender really, really delivers.

* The Kids Are All Right, the funny and touching new family drama with Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. Yup, the moms are all right, too.

* The Killer Inside of Me, Michael Winterbottom's strange adaptation of Jim Thompson maybe plays it too straight, but Casey Affleck is riveting.

* Predators, the fun but flawed third installment in the sci-fi adventure franchise.

* Salt was the movie, I was the snail. Angelina Jolie is highly watchable, but the movie slips off a rung on its evolutionary ladder and falls down fast.

* South of the Border, Oliver Stone's documentary about South American leaders...and Oliver Stone.

* Wild Grass, the latest from master director Alain Resnais is pretty goddamn terrible. As I say in my review, it's like a parody of foreign films by someone whose never seen a foreign film.



ON DVD...

* Chicago: The Original 1927 Film Restored, the original adaptation of the story of Roxie Hart, with Cecil B. DeMille in charge.

* The City of Your Final Destination, the latest from Merchant Ivory never quite takes off.

* Date Night: Extended Edition: Steve Carrel is two for two this week for being in movies that he's better than. He and Tina Fey prove they can make even a mediocre production entertaining.

* Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 5, the Warner Bros. series returns, but with its weakest entry. A few good choices out of the eight movies here, but mostly middling.

* Vincere, Marco Bellocchio's bizarre love story of Mussolini and his mistress, with a knock-out performance from Giovanna Mezzogiorno. Mama mia, she's gorgeous!

* The Wind Journeys, a folkloric Colombian movie about accordion masters, including their wicked insult battles.

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