I doubt that Bergman, who died Monday morning at age 89, would have fallen prey to any such enticements. Still, as I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last weekend, I pictured in my mind’s cinema how the celebrated Swedish director might have filmed it, a story about triumph over death. “When I was young, I was extremely scared of dying,” Bergman once said, according to The New York Times, “but now I think it a very, very wise arrangement. It’s like a light that is extinguished.”
From the triumphant to the tedious, the third installment of The Spy Who Really Can’t Remember Anything (aka The Bourne Ultimatum) crashes into theaters this week. If you’re not a fan, but your movie-going companion is, never fear — Brian Villalobos declares Ultimatum the least wearisome of the trilogy on page 24.
Also, never fear because Underdog is here. And it’s live-action. You’re smart enough to guess the rest.
I can’t say the same for any of the characters in Hot Rod. However, I’ve been assured by more than one contributor that this Andy Samberg comedy (which looks like a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and a Will Ferrell movie) is actually freakin’ hilarious … which is how one might be tempted to describe a flick based on dolls with a passion for fashion (that’d be Bratz), but hey, anything can happen. Sometimes those things don’t surprise you much, like when J. Lo monopolizes the limelight. Read all about it in John DeFore’s review of the Hector Lavoe biopic El Cantante on page 26.
Opening at the Bijou are Talk to Me, wherein Don Cheadle portrays activist and DJ Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene Jr., and Golden Door, Emanuele Crialese’s story of a poor Sicilian family’s journey to the U.S. of A.
I know, you’re paralyzed with choices. Just don’t go dying on me.
Local premiere dates for limited-release films are tentative and can change at the last minute. Please check your local theater listings to confirm showtimes.
