Crazy, Stupid, Week.

Not too many of the films I reviewed this week have more than their incidental share of merits, but it has to be said of the high-profile release Crazy, Stupid, Love. that it's far from the worst thing to hit screens this Friday. In better news, New Yorkers have the chance to take in the fine new film by Steve (Hoop Dreams) James, The Interrupters. My take on that picture will appear in the upcoming Fall issue of Cineaste Magazine.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (Slant)
The Future (Slant)
Life in a Day (Slant)
All She Can (Village Voice)
House of Boys (Village Voice)

Fuck Buddies and the Holocaust

An unlikely pairing, the above named items are the subjects of the two films I reviewed for Slant Magazine this week. What do both have in common? Their use of questionable strategies in support of conventional aims: in Friends with Benefits, a "critique" of rom-com conventions which it then proceeds to employ with abandon, in Sarah's Key, the use of the Shoah to milk easy sentiment.

Friends with Benefits (Slant)
Sarah's Key (Slant)

Errol Being Errol

While Tabloid, Mr. Morris' latest, finds the Gates of Heaven auteur exploring familiar ground, he does so with a panache, curiosity and sense of play that are most appealing. The same can't be said for the other two films I reviewed this week.

Tabloid (Slant)
The Tree (Slant)
Hood to Coast (Village Voice)

Chimps, Rhymes and L'Chayim

A trio of docs, all of interest and all reviewed by me in the (metaphorical) pages of Slant Magazine, open this week in New York. While James Marsh's Project Nim, detailing the post-celeb afterlife of mid-'70s ape sensation Nim Chimsky, disappoints and Michael Rappaport's Beats, Rhymes and Life, a portrait of legendary hip-hoppers A Tribe Called Quest, is a mixed bag (as I detail in my review reposted from this year's Tribeca Film Festival), Joseph Dorman's Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness, is comprehensive, intelligent and fully satisfying.

Project Nim (Slant)
Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness (Slant)
Fading of the Cries (Village Voice)

A Sunday Outing, Legal Injustice and Jewish Identity...

...are the subejcts of the films I consider this week, highlighted by my review of Criterion's new release of Edgar G. Ulmer/Robert Siodmak/Billy Wilder/Fred Zinneman's 1930 "before they were stars" outing People on Sunday. Also, opening this week is Cristi Puiu's challenging Aurora which I tackled last year at the New York Film Festival.

Crime After Crime (Slant)
People on Sunday (DVD) (Slant)
Between Two Worlds (Village Voice)

New Releases: Passione, A Love Affair of Sorts and The Names of Love

While John Turturro's fourth directorial effort, Passione, an ode to the music of Naples Italy, and The Names of Love, Michel Leclerc's heady romantic comedy, are not without their merits, there's little of worth to be found in A Love Affair of Sorts, the latest how-technology-affects-young-vacant-lives monstrosity.

Passione (Slant)
A Love Affair of Sorts (Slant)
The Names of Love (Slant)

Buck, etc, etc.

Not to take an anti-populist stance, but as a general rule of thumb, if a film wins an audience award at Sundance, well, chances are it's one to skip. Such is certainly the case with Cindy Meehl's Buck, a documentary profile of real-life "horse whisperer" Buck Brannaman.

Buck (Slant)
Battle for Brooklyn (Slant)
R (Village Voice)
Jig (Village Voice)