Summer has officially begun with “Iron Man 2” hitting theaters just a couple short years after the original shocked the box office and many critics as well. Some experts are expecting the first weekend grosses to approach those of the current record holder, “The Dark Knight,” however with Thursday midnight screenings only bringing in $7.5 million versus $18.5 million by “TDK,” it seems that results might be lower than predicted. With “Babies” 543 screen opening no match for the record-breaking 4,380 screens for Marvel’s main moneymaker, options at the megaplex are limited this weekend so if superheroes aren’t your thing, you may want to check out your local arthouse instead.
In Wide Release: The inevitable sequel to the surprisingly fun 2007 film, “Iron Man 2” returns Robert Downey Jr. to the role that not only brought him back from a drug-induced cinematic wasteland, but transformed him into an unexpected A-list star. As expected, director Jon Favreau tries to reconcile bigger with better, adding Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell to the equation, and also sees Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard. We reviewed the film earlier in the week, finding it to be weaker than the original, but still probably one of the more entertaining blockbusters to hit theaters this summer. Critics are much more ambivalent this time around with Rotten Tomatoes reporting a 71% rating, while Metacritic is a bit lower with a score of 57. After you’ve watched it, see if you agree with our assessment of the film.
In Limited Release: “Babies” is the story of four infants from four different places around the globe — Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and California — during their first precious months of life. Filmmaker Thomas Balmes doesn’t use narration or subtitles to add dramatic arc to his film, he just places the camera on the children and allows them to reveal the cultural similarities that tie us all together as homosapiens. Or maybe it is just an excruciating hour and half of home video style footage that would make even Anne Geddes wince. RT: 70%, Metacritic: 62.
Prolific documentarian Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”) returns to the world of greed with “Casino Jack and the United States of Money.” In lobbyist and convicted criminal Jack Abramoff, Gibney has the perfect target for a country so divided politically; a villain everyone can agree on. We got a chance to see the film and posted our review yesterday, finding it, like most of Gibney’s work, educational and entertaining if a little disjointed. Definitely worth a look if it is playing near you, unless you want to hold out for the Hollywood version starring Kevin Spacey, out later this year. RT: 89%, Metacritic: 67%.
Weaving together the stories of three women, all of who’s lives have been affected by adoption is writer-director Roberto Garcia’s “Mother and Child.” Produced by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the film has a much more intimate scale than those of the “Babel” director’s, while giving the viewer complex characters and richly human moments. The fantastic ensemble cast includes Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. We posted our favorable review yesterday, happy to discover a film genuinely heartwarming and heartbreaking, with uniformly great performances from the leads. RT: 86%, Metacritic: 84.
Harmony Korine returns to his very lo-fi roots after his most expensive project, “Mister Lonely,” with the very literally titled “Trash Humpers.” With only four months from the start of production to world premiere, the film has a quick-and-dirty analog aesthetic that perfectly matches Korine’s raw and subversive style. We saw the movie last year and loved every deranged second of it. We highly recommend you seek it out if it comes to your town because it really is best experienced with an audience.
Also out this week in limited: “Multiple Sarcasms” starring Timothy Hutton as a man trying to work out his lifetime of women trouble by writing a play. The film also stars Mira Sorvino, Dana Delany and Stockard Channing. RT: 8%, Metacritic: 33. “The Oath” is a documentary that plays like a thriller, shot on location in Yemen. It follows two very different men as their lives intersect with Al-Qaeda, and the U.S. political machine. We’re hoping to get a look at this one very soon. RT:67%, Metacritic: 70.
–Written by Hunter McClamrock