Friday movie roundup – July 31
Judd Apatow has been involved as a writer or producer on about a million comedies over the last few years, enough to make us forget that he’s only actually directed two movies, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up.” “Funny People,” opening today, is the third, and it’s a more mature and ambitious film than the last two, with dramatic character arcs mixed in with the bawdy humor.
The other new releases, “Aliens in the Attic” and “The Collector,” were two of Hollywood’s Shameful Secrets®, not screened for critics before opening. I scampered out and saw them both first thing today, though, and I can report that “Aliens” is a harmless, somewhat mediocre family caper about kids defending their summer home from bumbling invading aliens, while “The Collector” is from the writers of the last few “Saw” movies and indeed feels like a rejected “Saw” rip-off. Reviews are forthcoming.
In limited release, you’ll find the pleasant “Adam” (review at Cinematical), about a man with Asperger, a mild form of autism; and “Tetro,” Francis Ford Coppola’s operatic tale of fraternal jealousy and strained family relations. It’s no “Godfather,” but then, what is? (Besides “The Godfather,” I mean.)
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July 31st, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Could you put up a video of you scampering?
August 1st, 2009 at 10:57 pm
The Collector and Aliens in the Attic were both screened for critics in major markets everywhere else.
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:40 am
The Collector and Aliens in the Attic were both screened for critics in major markets everywhere else.
Among the markets where these films were not screened: Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Orlando, San Francisco, and New York City — and those are just the areas where I happen to know critics who could verify it. (If screenings were held in those cities, only select critics were invited.) Roger Ebert didn’t review either film, which almost certainly means they didn’t screen in Chicago. I’m sure both films had the customary press junkets, but apart from that any screenings they did were rare, with only a handful of press invited.