Past the Popcorn film roundup—The Lull Between Summer Storms
Each week, Past the Popcorn offers a thorough look at the latest round of films opening on big screens.
What do you do between Hancock and The Dark Knight? Check out the raft of smaller films that are making their way to the multiplexes this week… and it’s really a pretty decent batch.
Leading the pack in a family way is Journey to the Center of the Earth, the first in a pair of Brendan Fraser summer vehicles this year. This one is decidedly more kid-friendly than the Mummy series, though. Says Jennie Spohr, “the movie is fairly wholesome, with a positive family-friendly message that people are more important than things… a fun adventure story that parents will be able to take their pre-tweens to without worrying about too much violence, sex, or other such blockbuster fodder.”
Kathy Bledsoe fairly raves about a pair of arthouse films. First is the French thriller Tell No One, based on the novel by American author Harlan Coben. Calling this R-content film “a real treat,” Bledsoe says that “Canet and his editor have done a fine job of presenting a movie that is taut, thrilling, suspenseful, and romantic while maintaining cohesiveness and movement.”
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson also draws high praise from Bledsoe. Also R-rated, the documentary “is a good start into figuring out” who this “hard living, hard drinking, and hard drug-taking” journalist was… and why figuring that out might matter.
Greg Wright also finds that the basketball documentary Gunnin’ For That #1 Slot offers “just the right mix of personal drama, business realities, history, and education… all while delivering spectacular doses of on-court talent.” He adds: “It’s hard to say too much about the film itself; it’s probably enough just to simply observe that it’s a worthy addition to the Hoop Dreams legacy.”
In more mainstream fare, Jeff Walls finds Hellboy II to be that rarest of sequels: one that builds on the successes of its predecessor (and improving upon them) without jumping into the deep end. “I don’t expect Hellboy II to shatter any boxoffice records or become an instant classic,” says Walls; “but for those who get a thrill from special effects and screwball action, this is just the right fit for you.”
Walls wasn’t at all keen on Garden Party, though. “It’s hard to recommend a film whose best feature is its poster,” he observes.
Jennie Spohr tried hard to like Encounters at the End of the World, too. But she found Werner Herzog’s condescending narration just a bit too much. Still, she says, “no manner of bad narration and impolite observations can take away from the beauty of the sea, the ice, and the non-human animals who inhabit it.”
Greg Wright didn’t have so much luck with The Wackness, though, as much as might have liked such R-rated fare at one time. New York tales such as this, says Wright, strike him as “just too in love with New Yorkers and not in love enough with people (or the world) in general.”
Also released this week: Meet Dave.
