What a summer for documentaries! Errol Morris’ documentary Tabloid delivers the hilarious story of Joyce McKinney, a beauty queen jailed for manacling a Mormon missionary as her sex slave. The riveting documentary Project Nim tells the story of a chimp taught human language and the humans who nurture, exploit, abuse and rescue him. Buck is another wonderful documentary about a real-life horse whisperer with a compelling human story.
The sweet, funny and thoughtful comedies Beginners and Midnight in Paris are also on my list of Best Movies of 2011 – So Far.
See the original and heartfelt teen misfit movie Terri if you can still find it. A Little Help is a funny Jenna Fischer vehicle about a sad sack mom. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are excellent in the romcom Crazy Stupid Love.
If you have kids, Pixar’s Cars 2 is an excellent choice (adults will especially enjoy the James Bond spoof thread). So is Super 8, a wonderful coming of age story embedded in a sci fi action thriller. Turkey Bowl is a delightful indie comedy available from iTunes.
In Bridesmaids, Kristen Wiig plays a woman whose insecurities keep her from seeing the good and the possible in her life; it’s funny, but not one of the year’s best. The Hangover Part 2 is just not original enough, and, consequently, not funny enough. Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life contains a good 90-minute family drama that is completely derailed by an additional hour of mind-numbingly self-important claptrap.
For trailers and other choices,see Movies to See Right Now.
I haven’t yet seen the dark Irish comedy The Guard (starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle) or the sexy French comedy The Names of Love, which opens this weekend. You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD pick is The Music Never Stopped, with excellent performances by J.K. Simmons and Lou Taylor Pucci and lots of Grateful Dead.
Movies on TV this week include the classic noir The Third Man on TCM.