Weekend previews.

"What an appropriate moment for indieWIRE to introduce a weekly column that surveys new films in theatrical release," write Eugene Hernandez and Brian Brooks. "This week more than a dozen indie, foreign, documentary and specialty films are vying for attention from moviegoers (some of whom will also be participating in Passover and Easter activities)." The iW guys suss out the contenders' prospects, while Gary Dretzka at Movie City News notes that "this week's new movie releases would look every bit as enticing on the marquee of a Pussycat Theater." Here, I'll collate their lists with some of the most recent reviews I haven't yet pointed to...

Kevin Crust in the Los Angeles Times: "Looking more like a bud of Jeff Spicoli's than a learned academic, Canadian anthropologist Sam Dunn conducts a first-rate tour of musical metallurgy in the documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey." More from Alexis Petridis in the Guardian and from JR Jones in the Chicago Reader.

Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times on Peter Mullan and On a Clear Day, "a conventional film for an unconventional actor. When you start out working with Ken Loach, Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom, it shows recognition of sorts, I suppose, but not necessarily progress, to qualify as the lead in a Baked Potato People movie." Related: At AICN, Capone chats with director Gaby Dellal.

Kenneth Turan in the LAT on Our Brand is Crisis, which "allows us to see exactly what it means and precisely how difficult it is to 'export democracy' to parts of the world with cultures very different from our own."

Manohla Dargis in the New York Times on The Notorious Bettie Page: "In her work with [Guinevere] Turner, in particular, who was also her screenwriting partner on American Psycho (Ms Turner also helped write the lipstick-lesbian romance Go Fish), [Mary] Harron manages to have her pleasure, visual and otherwise, and her politics, too." More from Cindy Fuchs in PopMatters, Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle, Andy Klein in the LA CityBeat and Turan in the LAT. Related: Jeffrey M Anderson meets Gretchen Mol.

Dargis on Hard Candy: "More sour than hard, this highfalutin exploitation flick starts with an unsavory premise - possible pedophile meets the jailbait of his dreams - that quickly becomes downright unpalatable." More from Kevin Crust in the LAT, Alison Willmore on the IGC Blog, Brian Orndorf at Hollywood Bitchslap, and James Rocchi at Cinematical.

Dargis: "Written and directed by Lu Chuan, whose first feature was the well-received Missing Gun, Mountain Patrol: Kekexili is as tough and unsparing as its backdrop, a blood-boiling environmental thriller with a dash of Sergio Leone."

Jeannette Catsoulis (NYT): "[W]here Madagascar was all sharp edges and blocky slabs of uniform color, The Wild is filled with softness and texture." More from Emru Townsend for fps, Michael Wilmington in the LAT, Eric D Snider at Hollywood Bitchslap, Cinematical's Robert Newton, Ebert and MaryAnne Johanson.

Catsoulis: "Bogged down by the stylistic gimmickry of bustling montages and jarring animated segments, Look Both Ways aims for existential drama but succeeds only in reminding us that misery loves company."

Catsoulis: "With its overheated narrative, lush interiors and photogenic cast, La Mujer de Mi Hermano is a big-screen telenovela in which everyone is cheating and every light is flattering." More from Ebert and, in the Ft Worth Star-Telegram, Scott Von Doviak.

Anita Gates (NYT): "Anne Fontaine's seductive film Nathalie is mostly about French star power and sex, so it's somewhat surprising that it is also subtle and intriguing." Related: Kaleem Aftab talks with Emmanuelle Béart for the Independent.

Stephen Holden (NYT): "Kinky Boots doesn't ask you to believe a single detail of what's splashed across the screen. All it wants is to divert you for about 100 minutes and leave you with the glow of vicarious comradeship, as blue-collar blokes and drag queens pull together to save the day. Foot fetishists will drool." More from Salon's Stephanie Zacharek, the IFC's Alison Willmore, Neva Chonin in the San Francisco Chronicle and Carina Chocano in the LAT.

Nathan Lee (NYT): "The fun of Scary Movie 4 is that it isn't a movie at all." More from MaryAnn Johanson, Jan Stuart in the LAT, Ben Wasserstein and Scott Weinberg and Robert Newton at Cinematical.

Laura Kern in the NYT on Herbie Hancock: Possibilities: "Even though the gifted performers occasionally borrow the spotlight, the true star always remains Mr Hancock."

Neil Genzlinger in the NYT on The Sisters: "It's not just that you quickly realize no one in this film is anyone you would want to spend two hours with; it's that you also wonder why the heck they're spending so much time with one another." More from Chocano in the LAT.

Dana Stevens in the NYT on Blackballed, "essentially an extended improvisational skit, with a troupe of comics riffing on a central joke (the elevation of paintball to a noble calling)."

Steve Erickson for Gay City News: "Caveh Zahedi has struggled to make four features in 15 years. With I Am a Sex Addict, he's inadvertently stumbled onto something trendy. This film combines the voyeurism of reality TV with the comedy of embarrassment purveyed by Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Ricky Gervais on The Office and Extras."

Andrew Pulver in the Guardian on An American Haunting: "Neither Donald Sutherland nor Sissy Spacek... can do much with this material." More from Anthony Quinn in the Independent.

Variety's Todd McCarthy: "Material that easily could have been turned into cringe-inducing TV movie sap has been handled with reasonable intelligence and authenticity in Mozart and the Whale."

David Gritten in the Telegraph on Take the Lead: "All the clichés are here, but so is an unwelcome whiff of cynicism that kills the film stone dead." More from Mark Pfeiffer.

Sam Adams in the Philadelphia City Paper: "A little too feel-good for its own good, Sisters in Law still has moments of revelation, especially for Western viewers who take legalized justice for granted."

Comment here or discuss among the Cinemarati, check the Christian angle, and if none of these strike your fancy, hold on: "17 Weeks... 50 Movies." David Poland previews the summer season.

Posted by dwhudson at April 14, 2006 1:45 PM