Labor day weekend is typically one of the worst movie-going periods of the year, and this weekend’s crop is no exception, christ. While everyone else is contemplating going back to school or trying to squeeze in one last dip in the ocean, it might be a good idea to give some legs to the late summer art-house quality from previous weeks. As for today…
In Wide Release: Mike Judge tries to replicate his “Office Space” success with another parable for the working class in “Extract.” Jason Bateman plays a dryly funny square trying to sell his business only to be challenged by unexpected circumstances. We thought it was pretty decent, and certainly a step up from “Idiocracy” which barely got a theatrical release a few years back, but it’s not fantastic either. It’s marginally amusing, but a mild effort overall. Kinda like chewing gum, sweet for a second and gone and forgotten the next. The quite interesting cast also includes Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, Clifton Collins Jr., and a mangy Ben Affleck. If you have to see one new film at your local multiplex this weekend, let it be this. Though you’ve been warned and the critics pretty much agree, chiming in with a mediocre 56% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes.
After the inexplicable box-office success of “The Proposal” earlier this summer, Sandra Bullock returns with “All About Steve.” This probably tells you all you need to know, but for those of you who really need to hear all the dirty plot details, Bullock plays a crossword puzzle writer who falls for a handsome TV news cameraman (Bradley Cooper) after one blind date. Put off by her kookiness, he doesn’t return her affections and she finds a way to embarrass herself in one wacky situation after another. The cast finds Thomas Haden Church looking for a decent paycheck as well. This one should find an audience whether you like it or not, so the critics don’t really matter much, but the reviews are scathingly bad and the film is currently at a 0.o% rating on RT (seriously there’s like 16 reviews too and they rip the film apart like feral dogs).
Accused dog-slapper Gerard Butler finds another outlet for his very talented biceps in “Gamer.” The ridiculous looking B-picture proposes a future world where massive multiplayer games have evolved to such a degree that humans now control other humans (i.e. convicts) as ultraviolent first person shooters. Think “Death Race” meets “The Wizard.” It looks noisy and dumb, but possibly a fun distraction, at the very least. Your “Gears of War” addicted little brother will want to see it. The picture is the latest from “Crank” auteurs Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. TV’s “Dexter”, Michael C. Hall along with Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Kyra Sedgwick and John Leguizamo (new agent anyone?) join the fun. You also know poor Alison Lohman’s career is struggling when she’s bottom-feeding in dreck like this. It’s a shame, she’s great. We’re guessing its not being screened for critics at all, because there is not a single review up at RT. When you know it wasn’t even screened for the easy lays at Chud, Hitflix, AICN and those kind of constituents then you know its worse than usual.
In Limited Release: Slim pickins at the art-house this week as well, with only one new indie release enticing us at all. Writer-director Cherien Dabis’ feature debut “Amreeka” gives us a portrait of a family of Iraqi immigrants and first-generation teenagers living in rural Illinois. It appears to be an engaging and satisfyingly minor key drama, in the vein of something like Thomas McCarthy’s “The Visitor” from last year. While we missed the film at Cannes, “Amreeka” screened at the Directors’ Fortnight this year. We are looking forward to checking this one out and the consensus is good at 86% fresh.
Yet another entry in the Immigrant Displacement subgenre this week, “Unmade Beds” from director Alexis Dos Santos arrives in theaters after making the festival rounds. The film follows Fernando Tielve (“The Devil’s Backbone”) and Deborah Francois, Spanish and French hipsters respectively, as they cross paths as expats in London. While the minimalist drama looks a little twee and too-cool-for-school, the cinematography has been lauded and the soundtrack includes great music by Daniel Johnston and Tindersticks. Not many reviews in yet, but most are positive as the film is 83% fresh on RT (though we do have to note, that one photo, makes us cringe and its reminiscent of “Napoleon Dynamite” or worse, “Eagle vs Shark,” but apparently — and thankfully — that’s not the case).
Also arriving in limited release with absolutely no buzz, “Carriers,” a horror film about a group of friends fleeing a viral pandemic only to realize that they are, you guessed it, carriers. It stars Star Trek’s Chris Pine (surely hoping this one sinks fast) Lou Taylor Pucci and Piper Perabo. No reviews yet for the PG-13 rated fright fest. Also dumped into a few theaters this weekend, “My One and Only” starring Renee Zellweger, Kevin Bacon and Chris Noth. Anything getting this little press and a small market release means the studio has no faith in the quality of the picture. It looks pretty terrible, but RT has a decent score up at 69% fresh.
Proceed with extreme caution this weekend and if you’re smart, you’ll probably go see something in limited release that you missed earlier this year. May we recommend — if it is indeed available in your town — “The Hurt Locker,” “Moon,” “Still Walking,” “Big Fan,” “500 Days Of Summer,” etc. Some of them (not all of them) might be genius, but compared to the crop above, they’re fucking works of art. Or go to a rep theater — New York always kicks ass for this — or rent something you missed. “The Limits of Control” and “Summer Hours” probably aren’t on DVD yet, right? Shame…