Movies This Week: Dinner for Cats and Charlie Restrepo
Two films stand out among the opening films this week: a documentary on the nuclear age, and a Korean war drama. This has been a really light summer for blockbusters, hasn't it?
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore -- I am not so crazy a cat lady I had to watch this. In fact, I made a point not to. But I've heard not-so-bad things about this kid film. Don saw it, want to know what he thought about it? Read his review. (wide)
Charlie St. Cloud -- Zac Efron vehicle about a young man who hangs out with his brother's ghost. OK. Well, maybe Debbie can explain it; read her review for more. (wide)
Countdown to Zero -- Doc about the history of the atomic bomb from origin to current affairs. I suspect this will be rather chilling, considering mutually assured destruction isn't so effective in the era of suicide bombers. (Arbor)
Dinner for Schmucks -- The irony is I had Francis Veber's 1998 comedy The Dinner Game in my Netflix queue, and immediately returned it back in April when I was attending a fest and had no time. Why? Because now I can't make any comparison to the remake starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell with the more revealing title than the French original. We didn't review this, so do tell us how it turned out.
Human Centipede (First Sequence) -- I swear this is the movie that just won't die, at least in this town. Is this the fourth screen it's played in Austin since it premiered at Fantastic Fest 2009? (Alamo Lake Creek)
71-Into the Fire -- Based on actual events, this Korean War drama centers on 71 student-soldiers fighting against all odds and hundreds of North Korean regulars (read: professionals). Very little is available on this film -- also known in English as Into the Fire and Into the Gunfire, other than its limited release opening day was expanded to Austin. Considering how strong contemporary Korean cinema has been, I recommend checking it out if you like war films. (Cinemark Tinseltown 17)
The Killer Inside Me -- (pictured above) Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart, 24 Hour Party People) directs an adaptation of a Jim Thompson novel about a West Texas deputy who isn't on one side of the law. Starring Casey Affleck with cast members including Bill Pullman and Elias Koteas, I'm wondering why this one didn't screen in town. Was it that it filmed in Oklahoma (at least part of it)? (Dobie)
Marayada Ramanna -- Bollywood ... something. Seriously, no descriptions up on the usual sites. (Cinemark Tinseltown 17)
Restrepo -- Cinéma vérité documentary on a year at a 15-man outpost in Afghanistan. Co-directed by Sebastian Junger (A Perfect Storm) and Tim Hetherington. (Arbor)
Sneha Geetham -- Bollywood coming-of-age story of about some young dreamers. Can you tell I'm trying to find a way to describe films with no real plot summaries online that don't screen for critics? This one isn't even on IMDb. (Cinemark Tinseltown 17)
Thillalangadi -- More Bollywood, this one featuring a love triangle among a woman, her fiance, and her thieving ex. (Cinemark Tinseltown 17)
Check out our personal picks below. Don't forget you can always alert us to special screenings, new film series, etc.
Debbie -- I'll be at Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival today and tomorrow. Seeing Charlie St. Cloud this week reminded me of other supernatural favorites The Sixth Sense and Ghost -- you can catch Ghost at the Paramount on Sunday at 3 pm. Arrive early and paint your own pottery!
Don -- While I feel no nostalgia for the 1980s, which I consider to be the Worst. Decade. Ever., the era of leg warmers and Ronald Reagan did produce some great films. And no film screams "1986" more than Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a funny and thoughtful John Hughes classic that's showing at the Paramount on Tuesday and Wednesday along with the equally classic Pretty in Pink. Anyone? Anyone?... Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
Jenn -- It's Shark Week at the Alamo, with the rain delayed and sold-out Jaws Rolling Roadshow screenings of Jaws finally happening. However, there are still plenty of tickets to the other, indoor Shark Week films and events. Too bad the outdoor Jaws screenings sold out; it brings back particularly embarrassing memories of screaming when seaweed brushed my leg when swimming off Cape Cod (yeah, I'm that old). [Piece of trivia: The scoutmaster in the boat in Jaws is Boston TV legend Rex Trailer, whom I interned for back in the day. Trailer may not be well known in his native Texas, but back in Boston, gruff grown men would revert to excited little boys in his presence because of his kids' show Boomtown (he also had a cameo as Cher's doctor in Mermaids).]
Jette -- This may be the Saturday night when I drag my husband out to Splash Party Movie Night over at Deep Eddy Pool, where his favorite film from 2009 is playing -- Star Trek. You pay the regular fees to get into the pool and then the movie itself is free. Will it be loads of fun or will we get easily annoyed by splashy rowdy kids who keep us from hearing the dialogue clearly? Hope to find out.