Confessions of a Pop Fan

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

FLY LIKE PAPER, GET HIGH LIKE PLANES

THIS WEEK IN THEATRES...

* Pineapple Express, a sprawling comedy reuniting Seth Rogen and James Franco under the tutelage of director David Gordon Green. It's a real departure for the director from his serious indie fare, and he drops all restraints.

And on the David Gordon Green front...

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...

This week's reviews written specifically for the site are:

* George Washington, David Gordon Green's debut feature about coming of age amidst tragedy and poverty in the American South.

* Ratcatcher, Lynne Ramsay's debut feature about coming of age amidst tragedy and poverty in Scotland.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Avatar the Last Airbender - Book 3: Fire, vol. 4, the exciting conclusion to the animated series.

* Brand Upon the Brain! - Criterion Collection, Guy Maddin's delirious autobiographical silent movie pastiche. A pleasant surprise. (Also at Criterion Confessions.)

* Dirty Money (Un Flic), the final film by Jean-Pierre Melville is a superior heist picture starring Catherine Deneuve and Alain Delon.

* Eagle Shooting Heroes, a Wong Kar-Wai produced spoof of wuxia martial arts films that falls a little flat. Based on the same Louis Cha source material as Kar-Wai's Ashes of Time.

* Girl on the Bridge, a unique French romance gets a bad DVD release.

* Inglorious Bastards, the 1978 Italian war movie soon to be remade by Quentin Tarantino.

* Johnny Hallyday: Live at Montreux 1986, in which the gravelly French crooner shows what he's made of.

* The Small Back Room - Criterion Collection, an uncharacteristic psychological drama with surreal touches by Powell & Pressburger. (Also at Criterion Confessions.)

* A Throw of Dice, 1929 German-English-Indian co-production of a silent film telling one of India's classic stories.