Not a whole lot to report on this Fourth of July weekend, but rest assured tickets will be sold, popcorn will be eaten and the line for the ladies room will be long as “ The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” opens in cinemas nationwide. We can’t really pretend to know exactly what’s going on in the series at this point, but you’ve probably already seen it by now if you do. Adapted from the very popular animated series “The Last Airbender” marks M. Night Shyamalan’s return since 2008’s brilliant absurdo-comedy “The Happening.” Expect the “Twilight” teens to crush the airbenders at the box office and look for one of the largest openings this year. For smaller fare, the indie “Love Ranch” starring Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci looks interesting, but the buzz is weak.
In Theaters: ‘Eclipse,’ ‘The Last Airbender,’ ‘Love Ranch’
In Wide Release: How many more films are left in the “Twilight” series? Honestly we’re all looking forward to the day when we won’t have to write about these things, or see the robotic stars gracing the covers of 75% of the magazines at our local newsstands. But this is not a franchise made for us, although we would have been slightly more excited had Gus Van Sant been in the director’s chair. This new installment “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” helmed by “Hard Candy” director David Slade is more action-packed than the previous two films, but the budget doesn’t appear to reflect the ridiculous amount of cash the series has raked in worldwide. As we noted in our review, “Eclipse” is the least painful of the films to endure so far, but with pathetic special effects, laughable acting and dialogue straight from a TV soap we can’t recommend the film at all. Author Stephanie Meyer certainly isn’t JK Rowling, so we really shouldn’t expect these films to transcend their source material but it plays to its audience very very well. RT: 50% Metacritic: 58.
It’s unpopular to root for M. Night Shyamalan. His last two films “Lady In the Water” and “The Happening” were such spectacular high-concept failures that the Philly auteur is lucky to still be getting work. That luck may change after the release of “The Last Airbender” this holiday weekend. For the first time, Shyamalan directs a film based on material adapted from the work of others, in this case the popular Nickelodeon anime coming with a deep mythology and well-conceived characters ripe for Hollywood’s picking as serious franchise material. The man behind the mega-hits “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs” needs to prove himself again and being entrusted with material like this is a huge vote of confidence from Paramount. Despite his Jupiter-sized ego, the man has some serious gifts behind the camera when not hung up on corny dialogue and ham-fisted stories. We really wanted this to work out for the guy, but it may be back to the indie drawing board for his next project. If you’re curious, check out our review from earlier this week but these scores really say it all: RT:8% Metacritic: 22.
In Limited Release: In one of recent cinema’s oddest and most intriguing pairings, Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci play a husband and wife team in charge of one of Nevada’s first legal brothels in “Love Ranch.” Based on real events, the story gets complicated when a South American heavyweight boxer comes to live at the cathouse, forming an unlikely love triangle between the married entrepreneurs. While we love Mirren and Pesci has been sorely missed on the big screen lately, “Ranch” hasn’t been stirring up much buzz. Directed by Taylor Hackford (“Ray,” “The Devil’s Advocate“) the film is getting a surprisingly low-key release on just 11 screens this weekend. RT: 15% Metacritic: 36.
