Friday film roundup: Another Crowded Release Schedule
Today’s film roundup from Past the Popcorn:
First, The Bourne Ultimatum wraps up the Bourne trilogy in fine fashion, preserving the best of what made the series a success while wrapping up Bourne’s journey in a satisfying (if not unpredictable) fashion. Says Mike Brunk, “there’s plenty of action on tap throughout the movie, pretty much from beginning to end.” Still, he adds, if you haven’t got on board with Bourne yet, “there is really nothing new here to change your mind.”
On the complete flip side stylistically, Becoming Jane also delivers the goods. Kathy Bledsoe calls this fictionalization of the life of Jane Austen “thoroughly believable and pleasing.” She can’t say enough about Anne Hathaway as Austen and James McAvoy as her paramour.
Greg Wright is impressed with a good deal of Steve Buscemi’s Interview, a rather “odd” remake of a Dutch film about a journalist’s attempt to interview a soap opera star. Still, he says, this R-rated satire “will wear out its welcome before either Pierre or Katya do” — and he suggests an NC-17 rating might be more appropriate.
For comedy, Mike Brunk speculates that Hot Rod just might be a sneak-attack work of genius. For the first half-hour, he says, it just might leave you scratching your head; but by the end, “I was practically rolling in the aisle, wiping tears from my eyes I was laughing so hard.” Still, it earns its PG-13 stripes.
Dacia Ray also recommends the PG-rated Vitus, a low-key dramatic coming-of-age tale. But the rest of the slate is pretty iffy. Bratz will likely only work for teen-aged girls still playing with their fashion dolls, says Jenn Wright. El Cantante is more in love with JLo than it is with Hector Lavoe, the ostensible subject of the film, according to Mike Smith. And The Ten, says Jeff Wells, should be added to the list of plagues.
