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 | Flawed, But Promising Debut Directed by Sarah Gavron, making her feature-length debut, and adapted by Laura Jones and Abi Morgan from the controversial novel by Monica Ali, [b]Brick Lane[/b] explores the experiences of a Bangladeshi woman living in London’s Brick Lane community before and after the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Gavron crafts an often poignant, if borderline predictable and occasionally unfocused, character study that benefits from a warm, sympathetic turn by the lead actress, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and a willingness to ask questions about ethnic, religious, cultural, and gender identity in a post-9-11 world.More |  | Pixar Perfect (Again) In a summer movie season dominated by superheroes redefining the blockbuster, Pixar Animation Studios’ joins the blockbuster fray with [b]WALL•E[/b], the long-in-development, eagerly anticipated computer animated family film. Co-written and directed by Andrew Stanton ([b]Finding Nemo[/b]), [b]WALL•E[/b] is a Pixar film through and through: engaging characters, a meticulously crafted world, a universally appealing storyline, a strong underlying message (in this case, an environmental one), and enough humor, heart, wonder, and awe to fill an entire summer’s worth of blockbusters.More |  | Pandariffic Fun for the Whole Family First, there was kung fu, then there was wire-fu (e.g. [b]Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon[/b], the [b]Matrix[/b] trilogy), and now there's “panda fu”. While DreamWorks Animation’s [b]Kung Fu Panda[/b] doesn’t quite reach the mountaintop, it comes surprisingly close, thanks to a joke-and-gag filled script, inspired direction by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson, and impressively detailed computer animation.More |  | Genghis Khan: The Family Man Directed and co-written by prolific Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov ([b]Nomad[/b], [b]Bear’s Kiss[/b], [b]Prisoner in the Mountains[/b]), [b]Mongol[/b] is the first film in a planned trilogy that focuses on Genghis Khan, the Mongolian conqueror who, at one point, controlled more than a fifth of the Eurasian landmass. Nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year’s Academy Awards, [b]Mongol[/b] explores Genghis Khan’s early life, from his early childhood through his triumph over his Mongolian rivals, focusing primarily on Genghis Khan’s personal relationships over military tactics.More |  | It’s Austin Powers… In a Beard Directed by Marco Schnabel and written by Mike Myers (the [b]Austin Powers[/b] franchise, [b]Shrek[/b], [b]Wayne’s World I and II[/b]) and Graham Gordy, [b]The Love Guru[/b], Myers’ latest comedy/parody, this time centered on an American-born, Indian-raised self-help guru hoping to become the next Deepak Chopra is, contrary to expectations, sporadically amusing, often gross, and an occasionally entertaining effort by Meyers and his collaborators. [b]The Love Guru[/b] also skirts uncomfortably close to using one too many stereotypes about Indian culture.More |  | A Documentary for Surfers and Non-Surfers Alike [b]Surfwise[/b], a documentary directed by Doug Pray, explores the life and times of the Paskowitz clan, the “first family of surfing". Combining talking head interviews with 85-year old Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, his wife, Janelle, and his nine children, archival footage, and photographs of Paskowitz and his family shot over the last fifty years, [b]Surfwise[/b] is nothing less than compelling filmmaking. It also doesn’t matter whether you’re a surfer or even if have a passing interest in surfing.More |  | Overbroad Satire Misses More than it Hits A personal project for writer-producer-actor John Cusack ([b]High Fidelity[/b], [b]Gross Pointe Blank[/b], [b]Say Anything[/b]), [b]War, Inc.[/b] is a political satire that’s acerbic, caustic, mordant, but hampered by a seen-that, know-that-already feeling and hit-or-miss gags that undercut its anti-war, anti-corporate, anti-corruption themes. [b]War, Inc.[/b] isn’t going to convince anyone who isn’t already on the center-left of the political divide to switch political allegiances and vote differently in the upcoming presidential election, but what the film does have is John Cusack's engaging, sympathetic performance.More |  | A Cinematic Treat for Fans of the Nouvelle Vague [b]Love Songs[/b] (“Les Chansons d'amour”), a romance/musical written by French filmmaker Christophe Honoré ([b]Dans Paris[/b], [b]Ma mere[/b]) as an homage to the [i]Nouvelle Vague[/i] (French New Wave) films of the early 60s (e.g. Truffaut, early Godard, Jacques Demy’s [b]The Umbrellas of Cherbourg[/b]) with, of course, a very contemporary, very French twist is, despite uneven pacing, a loose, meandering structure, and the usual arty pretensions found among serious, auteur-minded European filmmakers, a surprisingly engaging, convention defying, and emotionally resonant exploration of love lost and love found.More |  | Strictly for Adam Sandler Fans The ubiquitous Adam Sandler (almost twenty lead roles in just over ten years) is back with [b]You Don’t Mess with the Zohan[/b], a broad comedy about a disco-loving, Israeli Mossad agent who really just wants to be a hairdresser (and he’s straight). Tackling thorny representation issues with all the subtlety of well…an Adam Sandler comedy, [b]You Don’t Mess with the Zohan[/b] contains enough vulgar, crude jokes to keep Sandler’s fanbase engaged for its overlong 110-minute running time. And if you’re not a Sandler fan, you’ll end up thinking up ways to get your money back.More |  | Visually Impressive, but Dramatically Inert [b]The Fall[/b], music video and TV commercial director Tarsem Singh’s self-financed follow-up to his first feature-length film, [b]The Cell[/b], is both a strikingly beautiful film crammed with singularly arresting images and, sadly, a dramatically inert film that exposes Tarsem’s weaknesses as a narrative storyteller.More |
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