Movies This Week: Ennui and Keepers

in

Food, Inc. moooooo

It's been a dramatic week, with three entertainment icons passing away. The Alamo team put together a post-midnight tribute edition of their signature Michael Jackson sing-alongs that sold out quickly. Another MJ Tribute sing-along is scheduled for tonight at the Ritz. Hopefully it will be a quieter weekend.

This week we're focusing on new releases, since it seems to be a light special-event week. Next week's edition of Movies This Week will be early -- on Wednesday -- for the holiday weekend, including Public Enemies.

You've already seen my review of Transformers: Rise of the Fallen included in a rant about mob mentality. Massawyrm has an eloquent, detailed review as a fan of Michael Bay and the first Transformers film at Ain't it Cool News. I demurred on the objectifying rant, but Kim Voynar over at MCN didn't.

Food, Inc. finally opens in Austin this week. Magnolia Pictures has chosen a staggered release strategy for the documentary, allowing word of mouth to help drive the release. Last month Food, Inc had a sold-out special screening locally, and now it's playing at Alamo Ritz with a film-themed dish on the menu. If you have any curiosity about the food you eat, and the food industry, this is a must-see film. Over at Austin360, Matthew Odam has interviewed director Robert Kenner.

Cheri has a beautiful, talented cast, resplendent settings, gorgeous costumes, and an empty feeling worthy of the ennui felt by the titular character. Cheri (Rupert Friend, Pride and Prejudice) is a indolent, spoiled young man born to a courtesan in Paris (Kathy Bates). Madame Peloux (Bates) schemes a rival, still active courtesan, Lea de Lonval (Michelle Pfeiffer), take Cheri off her hands and give him some seasoning that his own carousing hasn't done. It works too well, as Cheri and Lea fall in love, but Madame Peloux has other plans for Cheri. Director Stephen Frears has made some provocative films, including The Queen, Dirty Pretty Things, and High Fidelity, which explore subtleties in human relationships. Unfortunately, the subject matter of Cheri ultimately focuses on two dysfunctional, superficial people who work well in their own little world but can't function outside of it, which simply doesn't make for a compelling story.

My Sister's Keeper sounds like a two-hanky film, but I haven't seen it yet. The plot is simple: an 11-year-old girl (Abigail Breslin) demands medical emancipation because her parents are using her to help save their cancer-stricken eldest daughter (Sofia Vassilieva from Medium). Director Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook, Alpha Dog) knows how to get emotional responses.

Jette interrupts: I've seen My Sister's Keeper, a movie that would have been twice as good if they'd eliminated the horribly heavy-handed voiceover narration. I realize the different voiceovers are meant to mimic the book, but they seems false and redundant in the movie. The performances are good (I can't resist Alec Baldwin), but the lawsuit plot keeps getting ignored in favor of extended flashbacks that are more interesting than the storyline. It's all a little too weepy for me. Kimberley Jones explains it better than I'm doing in her review for the Austin Chronicle. Okay, back to Jenn.

SXSW selection Burma VJ is playing at the Arbor. This documentary using smuggled footage from Burma reveals the 2007 protests by thousands of monks. Burma VJ had some seriously good buzz at SXSW, so do check it out.

Other Screenings

Jette's taking over here again to mention a few interesting films around town this week:

Funny Books, a locally made feature about comic-book fanboys, is playing tonight (Friday) at the Millenium Youth Entertainment Complex. You can get tickets through the Twitchy Dolphin, the production company's website.

The Paramount is showing one of my favorite movies ever ever ever this weekend, Some Like It Hot, and if you haven't seen this movie in a theater with an audience, you're missing out. It's on a double-bill with Bus Stop on Sunday and Monday. Other movies at the Paramount this week include a tribute to Horton Foote with a double-feature of Tender Mercies and To Kill a Mockingbird (next Thursday and Friday), and Frank Capra-directed films You Can't Take it With You and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (next Tuesday and Wednesday).

Austin Film Festival's New Directions Film Series at the Blanton continues on Sunday with Silent Light, the 2007 film from Mexico. We went to the Blanton last week for Gretchen and it's a nice theater, although we found out the hard way that you can't have drinks in there (right after Chip bought a coffee from the museum cafe).

I first heard about Afghan Star when its producer was interviewed on The Daily Show a few weeks ago. The documentary is about an American Idol-style show in Afghanistan. You can see it on Wednesday at Alamo Ritz as part of the AFS Doc Tour -- get tickets in advance as I suspect it'll sell out.

Check out the Austin Chronicle Special Screenings page if you want to see all the non-first-run films playing this week, including the free kids' movies in theaters around town.