It’s the sound of movies being dumped into theaters as studios start shifting their marketing strategies for their Very Serious fall pictures.
It’s the sound of the first Toronto film festival press-screening notifications landing in the inboxes of dozens of terrified journalists. (I knew I should have caught that Mike Leigh movie when I was in London.)
It’s the sound of an impending milestone birthday looming ever closer.
It’s the sound of … August.
Fortunately, if one wants to distract oneself from all the noise, one needs only to scurry inside the safety of a movie theater. The air conditioning is very nice, too.
Opening today, assuming you’ve already seen “WALL-E”:
“American Teen”: Nanette Burstein’s fly-on-the-wall documentary peeps in on a year in the lives of five high-school students in Warsaw, Indiana, and discovers that kids today have all sorts of stuff going on. I kind of wish she’d set up in Brooklyn, though; embryonic hipsters are totally adorable. (Adam breaks it down.)
“The Last Continent”: Jean Lemire’s high-def study of a research voyage to the Antarctic — screening digitally in Toronto at the AMC Yonge and Dundas — is notable for its calm tone and the disappointing lack of alien entities bent on impersonating the crew. Or … is it? (Nah, it is.) Barrett is polite enough not to mention the alien angle.
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”: Hey, they made another one! In China! And just in time for the Olympics! (Wait, what?) But Kieran enjoyed it, with the appropriate reservations, and I’m kind of curious, so I’ll probably end up seeing it.
“Swing Vote“: Imagine a “Simpsons” movie that finds Homer holding the fate of the U.S. Presidency in his hand after a ballot error boils the election down to a one-man revote. Pretty awesome, right? Well, now imagine it with Kevin Costner. It becomes considerably less awesome, though you still get Sideshow Bob as the Republican incumbent. UPDATE: Review online!
“The World According to Monsanto”: In which French documentarian Marie-Monique Robin explains that genetically modified food is not good for people and other living things. I’ve eaten French food, and I see no reason to splice anything into it, so he probably has a point. Glenn explains.
Oh, and apparently someone’s dumped Richard Attenborough’s 2007 TIFF gala “Closing the Ring” into the Cumberland today, but this is the first I’ve heard of it.
Granted, Swing Vote isn’t any of that typical summer escapist fare, but at least it’s about something important that every American should consider in this election year. I haven’t seen it, but Roger Ebert and Manhola Dargis gave it very good reviews, and it’s an excellent cast.
Movies being dumped, hmmm? Oh, okay. You can all go back to your super heros, caped crusaders, and moronic step-brothers now.
“Swing Vote” is about politics like “The Dark Knight” is about 9/11.
‘My’ super heroes, caped crusaders and moronic step-brothers? If that’s truly the case, I want profit sharing. Gross, not net.