It’s not only the day for great 2008 Summer Olympics opening in Beijing, some new summer flicks are also opening this Friday. A film to everybody’s taste, that’s what I think of this Friday’s movie premieres.
Elegy starring Ben Kingsley (Wackness) and Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) is an adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winner Philip Roth’s short novel The Dying Animal. The movie also stars Dennis Hopper, Patricia Clarkson, and Peter Sarsgaard.
Elegy is a story about a celebrated college professor (Kingsley) who finds his life in upheaval after he begins a romance with a young beautiful woman (Cruz). With humanistic warmth, wry wit and erotic intensity, Elegy explores the power of beauty to blind, to reveal and to transform.
As critics say, Elegy is a “gorgeous looking film with a wry and clever script.” Cruz’s “ability to appear as if she’s actually thinking and responding organically to each situation” is highly praised. As for Ben Kingsley, he’s “the most formidable and convincing of all the good actors who have adorned the middle-aged-professor films.” Generally, the film is described as one “thoughtful filmgoers can’t afford to miss.”
Well, in case you’re more into sports films on Friday night, you can watch true-story-based The Perfect Game, the story of a team of poor boys from Monterrey, Mexico, who became the first non-U.S. team to win the Little League World Series in 1957. It was a perfect game, the only one in championship history.
And one more true-story based premiere. This time it’s not about sports but wine. Bottle Shock is the story of the early days of California wine making featuring the now infamous, blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known as “Judgment of Paris.” In this film Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman, 29 Palms) is struggling to create the perfect chardonnay at his vineyard.
The film reveals America’s initiation into and contribution to vinification, along with the brave and enterprising people who love nothing more than to bottle it.
Beer for my horses is a comedy about two best friends who work together as deputies in a small town. When girlfriend (Claire Forlani, Meet Joe Black) of one of them got kidnapped by a drug lord, they decided to defy their boss, Sheriff Landry, and chase the kidnappers down. They head off on an outrageous road trip to save the girl.
And here’s also something for big grindhouse fans. Quentin Tarantino produced Hell Ride reminds of the days of spaghetti westerns and tells the story of two biker gangs. Writer/director Larry Bishop stars as Pistolero, head of the Victors, a group of badass bikers who are out to avenge murder of one of their members by the rival gang, 666ers.
According to some reviews, the pulpy dialogue preceding the violent eruptions bears the mark of Tarantino. Well, we’ll see. Larry Bishop made a twisting, multilayered tale of revenge, loyalty, and brotherhood that is brought to life by a superb ensemble cast of Dennis Hopper, Vinnie Jones, Michael Madsen, and David Carradine. In the words of Comanche, one of the heroes, “The road to hell is paved with anything but good intentions.”
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