6/18/2010

The New Wave: 6/18/10


It's been a long time since we've seen Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang. In that time Pixar has gone on to become the measuring stick by which all animated films are measured. The third leg of any trilogy is usually the weakest, so is Toy Story 3 due for a let down? Not in screenwriter Michael Arndt(Little Miss Sunshine) has anything to say about it. All I'm gonna say is those who have concerns need not worry one bit. You can read my review of Toy Story 3 here.


DC and Warner Brothers are digging pretty deep into their catalogue to pull a comic like Jonah Hex onto the big screen.Considering the cowboy anti-hero's regular series only tops out at about 10,000 readers a month why anyone would adapt it is beyond me. Adding Josh Brolin as the scarred vigilante was an inspired idea. If there were any more inspirations they all got left on the cutting room floor. You can read my review of Jonah Hex right here.

Admittedly I'm not the biggest fan of Joan Rivers or her scathing style of humor, but I'll be darned if she isn't interesting. Plus I find her ability to make fun of herself inspiring and more than a little fascinating. If you're as interested in finding out what makes Joan Rivers tick as I am, you can check this film out over at Landmark E Street.


The darling of this year's Sundance Film Festival has been receiving rave reviews from all sides, most notably for the performance of Jennifer Lawrence(The Burning Plain). She stars as a 17 year old girl living in the Ozark mountains, forced to track down her drug dealing father after he puts their house up for bail bond and runs away. Director Debra Granik previously won the best Dramatic Directing award at Sundance for 2004's Down to the Bone starring Vera Farmiga, a film well worth checking out also.


Sounds a little bit like a Japanese version of Lars and the Real Girl. Air Doll is the story of a man who lives alone with an inflatable female companion. He does...well, everything with her. Yes, that too. Little does this poor dude know that every time he leaves for work, she comes to life and explores the world on her own. The quirky premise comes from director Hirokazu Koreeda, who back in 2004 provided one of the most haunting films of the decade called Nobody Knows. If Air Doll is half as good as that we're all going to be in for a treat.