May 30 2008
Movies Opening May 30
Nationwide Releases
Sex and the City: The Movie
Directed: Michael Patrick King
Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Jennifer Hudson
Trailer
Synopsis: Four years after the series ended, the movie picks up four years later with Carrie engaged to Big, Samantha still in love with Smith, Charlotte finally pregnant and Miranda still living in Brooklyn with Steve.
My Take: I loved the show so I’ll want to see the movie eventually. Maybe in the beer theater.
RT Score: 55%
RT Consensus: Sex and the City loses steam in the transition to the big screen, but will still thrill fans of the show.
The Strangers
Directed: Bryan Bertino
Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks, Laura Margolis
Trailer
Synopsis: People with masks and bags over their heads terrorize a couple staying in a cabin in the woods.
My Take: Supposed to be inspired by true events, yet no one can find any real events that are even close to this movie.
RT Score: 42%
RT Consensus: The Strangers provides a few scares, but offers little else to distinguish itself from other slasher films.
Limited Releases
The Foot Fist Way
Directed: Jody Hill
Starring: Danny R. McBride, Ben Best, Mary Jane Bostic
Trailer
Synopsis: A Tae Kwon Do instructor falls apart after his wife leaves him and thinks what he is doing teaching in a strip mall is an important and noble profession.
My Take: It was an audience favorite at Sundance. It looks pretty goofy and silly. More of a Netflix movie.
RT Score: 63%
RT Consensus: The rough edges and biting humor of this marital arts comedy will keep audiences laughing and cringing in turns.
Savage Grace
Directed: Tom Kalin
Starring: Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, Eddie Redmayne, Hugh Dancy, Elena Anaya
Trailer
Synopsis: A middle-class woman marries into a very high-class family and struggles to fit in. After giving birth, she struggles even more, especially as their son disappoints her husband and gets closer to his lonely mother.
My Take: I love Julianne Moore, but the kid with the big lips disturbs me.
RT Score: 45%
RT Consensus: Though visually compelling, the lamentable characters in Savage Grace make for difficult viewing.
The Unknown Woman
Directed: Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring: Xenia Rappoport, Michele Placido, Claudia Gerini, Margherita Buy, Pierfrancesco Favino
Trailer
Synopsis: A Russian woman runs from her past, but infiltrates an Italian family as their maid and nanny for not innocent purposes.
My Take: Hard to tell what is going on in the trailer, but still looked intriguing.
RT Score: 62%
RT Consensus: If it’s occasionally manipulative, this Italian melodrama mixes thriller conventions with a poignant love story and keeps the tension rolling from start to finish.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
Directed: Christopher Bell
Starring: Carl Lewis, Barry Bonds
Trailer
Synopsis: Documentary about steroid use in sports and how our culture encourages people to perform the way only those on steroids can.
My Take: Could be interesting, but not interesting enough to go out of my way to see it.
RT Score: 100%
RT Consensus: Bigger, Stronger, Faster* is a fascinating, informative, entertaining and especially introspective account of the American ‘enhancement’ culture.
Stuck
Directed: Stuart Gordon
Starring: Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Russell Hornsby, Rukiya Bernard, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Wayne Robson, R.D. Reid
Trailer
Synopsis: A girl hits a man crossing the street. He gets stuck in her windshield, yet is still alive. She drives him back home and hides him and the car inside the garage for days, while he is still alive.
My Take: Wasn’t this a real story? I remember a lady doing it a few years ago. Messed up.
RT Score: 82%
RT Consensus: Steeped in gallows humor, Stuck is a taut, tense examination of a tragic accident.
