Each week, Past the Popcorn offers a thorough look at the latest round of films opening on big screens.

Look no further than Ted Haggard or Jeremiah Wright. Evidence abounds that wearing the name of Christ exempts no one from fits of inexplicable behavior.

So it should come as no great surprise that one of the major releases this Holy weekend features a Christian who behaves very poorly—not because he’s a Christian, but because his basic character flaws are so profound that his weak grasp on Christianity isn’t enough to save him. David Gordon Green’s Snow Angels is “a drama that pulls no punches,” says Michael Brunk. “There are moments of levity, but overall the tone is fairly bleak… Personally, I found it riveting.”

Jennie Spohr gives Gus Van Sant’s latest, Paranoid Park, a mixed review. She expects that many teens will “will see it and feel as though someone is speaking their language, taking them seriously enough to talk directly to them via film.” Still, she says, Van Sant’s cast “drags the film down and makes it unbelievable.”

Other releases don’t get such kind treatment from PtP’s reviewers this week. Brunk calls Drillbit Taylor, the latest Owen Wilson vehicle, “a mostly unsatisfying experience,” while Greg Wright finds the Texas real estate development scandal documentary The Unforeseen neither “new or helpful when it comes to solutions for the delicate balance between caring for our planet and the perceived needs and rights of its human residents.”

Also new this week: Shutter.

By: Andy. This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 11:59 am and is filed under Film, Film roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.