Weekend Movie Forecast: <em>The A-Team</em> Vs. <em>The Karate Kid</em>
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<p>Yet another '80s inspiration (from a 1983-1986 television show this time), <em>The A-Team</em> follows a group of ex-U.S. soldiers working as mercenaries while on the run from the military for crimes they didn't commit. Oh yeah, they're also trying to find the true culprit. As one might expect from anything involving the U.S. Army, there are plenty of huge, over-the-top explosionsâthough people are rarely seriously hurt. Critics apparently aren't fans of the <em>real</em> kind of fun, the type that involves fire and loud noises. "[It] feels like the cinematic equivalent of the BP disaster in the gulf," <a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/steven_rea/20100611_Mindless_mission___A-Team__accomplishes_it.html#axzz0qTycwDoo">writes Steven Rea</a> of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's a big-screen oil spill, a needless gushing of macho bluster and wild set pieces, and a waste of millions and millions of dollars." </p>
<p>The film industry attempts to cash in on Nostalgia From a More Innocent Time yet again! Fortunately, this remake of the beloved 1984 film <em>The Karate Kid</em> may turn out to be an improvement. For one, it promises less ka-razy and more, well, <em>karate.</em> Set in China, which is a little closer to Japan, which is karate's country of origin, than the original's setting of LA, the new <em>Karate Kid</em> features the martial arts talents of Jackie Chan (never a bad addition to a film), as well as a much younger protagonist, played by Jaden Smith. (If you're missing the ka-razy just reading this, then take note that the film's theme song is rendered by none other than pre-pubescent hero Justin Bieber). </p><p></p>Critics are alternately praising the film for its multiculturalism and criticizing it for being not multicultural enough (with the karate/kung fu and Japan/China confusion being just one of many problems). "Despite the local color," <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127535926">writes Mark Jenkins of NPR</a>, "the movie isn't especially globalized. The major characters all speak English, and the action sequences throb to the music of Lady Gaga, the Roots and Gorillaz." <p></p><a href="http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/the_karate_kid/index.html?story=/ent/movies/review/2010/06/10/karate_kid">In Salon's opinion</a>, however, the film loses itself in its setting: "At times, the movie feels less like a coming-of-age tale and more like an extended promo for the Chinese tourism bureau." It seems the filmmakers failed to follow some of the advice of the original Mr. Miyagi: culture on, culture off, make up your mind.
<p>In the documentary <em>Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work</em>, director Ricki Stern Anne Sundberg follows comedienne, TV personality and actress Joan Rivers through her 76th year of life, documenting her laughs, struggles and insecurities along the way. The film has achieved "universal acclaim" <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/joanrivers">on Metacritic</a>, with reviewers seeing it as a balanced and emotionally affecting portrait. Though her continued prominence throughout the film's compact 84 minutes has driven a few less-than-infatuated people in the critic's seat to revulsion ("She's quite something, and I'd rather appreciate her from a distance," <a href="http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/joan_rivers/index.html?story=/ent/movies/andrew_ohehir/2010/06/09/joan_rivers">writes Salon's Andrew O'Hehir</a>). Ultimately, however, this portrait is definitely no Dorian Gray: "It's one of the best documentaries ever made about show business, about what it really consists of and what it demands," <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/10/MVLV1DRQN6.DTL">writes Mick LaSalle</a> of the San Francisco Chronicle.</p>
<p>Set in post-Apartheid Johannesburg, <em>Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema</em> is described as an "unflinching look into the crime, corruption and the transgressions of those looking to survive in the most crime-infested district of the city." The story centers on Lucky Kunene, who transforms from a college-bound straight arrow with an affinity for Marx and Capone into a notorious gang leader and slumlord. </p><p></p>"Between [director Ralph] Zimanâs music-video skills and his close approximation of the kinetic style of Michael Mann (a scene from Mr. Mannâs <em>Heat </em>has a key role in the plot), itâs easy to overlook the formulas and just enjoy the ride," <a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/movies/11gangster.html?ref=movies">writes Mike Hale at the Times</a>. "It helps too that the urban setting, with the distinctively eerie Hillbrow telecommunications tower always looming in the background, is new (to American viewers) and interesting, and that Mr. Seiphemo and Jeffrey Sekele, as Luckyâs mentor in crime, are convincing."
<p>The title of Jan Kounen's Sony Pictures Classics release <em>Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinksy</em> is pretty much self-explanatory. As the Village Voice's Karina Longworth <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-06-08/film/coco-chanel-amp-igor-stravinsky-gets-it-on/">puts it</a>: "Coco Chanel. Igor Stravinsky. Two iconoclasts whose contributions to their respective artistic fields left an indelible mark on the 20th century. Did you know they used to bone?... She invites him, his sickly wife, and offspring to move in to her country estate, and soon the two artists are furiously humping on the piano. 'Your music has more passion,' sneers Mrs. Stravinsky, willing to accept the dalliance if it's good for the canonâup to a point.' </p><p></p>"Lit like a David Fincher music video and shot with a gliding camera approximating a wandering eye, Stravinsky strains to convince that its lascivious pleasures have historical import. In the film's 1:1 correlation between erotic indulgence and creative innovation, hot, home-wrecking sex is justifiable only if it directly leads to the invention of Chanel No. 5."
<p>Despite minor, needling criticisms that director Debra Granik needs to get out of the "bone" pattern in her movie titles already, <em>Winter's Bone</em> seems to prove to be everything it wants to beâa taut, naturalistic thriller set in the Ozark mountains. The plot follows 17-year-old Ree Dolly as she searches for her father in the local criminal underworld. Though it has drawn a few pans for being a little grim and voyeuristic, as do many films where characters are poorâ<a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/hick_flees_so_daughter_hunts_for_d7ewOkVqZsyTd1B7yRAkEN">Kyle Smith of the New York Post</a> called it "a bit of poverty porno"âmost reviewers were taken aback by its subtlety and its lack of noir pretensions, as well as its inspiring heroine, who ultimately overcomes the bleak environs. "For all the horror, itâs the drive toward life, not the decay, that lingers in the mind," writes New York Magazine's David Edelstein of the film. "As a modern heroine, Ree Dolly has no peer, and Winterâs Bone is the yearâs most stirring film."</p>
<p>The new documentary <em>The Lottery</em> follows the families of four children from Harlem and the Bronx who are competing for a slot in the Harlem Success Academy, a charter school. Out of thousands of hopefuls, only a small minority win admission. The Times's Jeannette Catsoulis finds the film too one dimensional, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/movies/11lottery.html?ref=movies">writing</a>, "With a little tweaking <em>The Lottery </em>would fit nicely into the marketing materials for the Harlem Success Academy, a public charter school founded by Eva Moskowitz, a former New York City councilwoman. On one level, this heart-tugging documentary recounts the experiences of four children competing in the academyâs annual intake lottery. On another, itâs a passionate positioning of charter schools as the saviors of public education." </p>
<p>Darren Aronofsky's gut-wrenching heroin flick <a href="http://www.requiemforadream.com/"><em>Requiem for a Dream</em></a>, starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Connelly, <a href="http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Films/films_frameset.asp?id=25668">screens at the Sunshine</a> this weekend at midnight. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org">Brooklyn International Film Festival</a> wraps up this weekend with screenings at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema and the cool new <a href="http://gothamist.com/2010/05/28/williamsburg_gets_indie_theater.php">Indie Screen space</a> on Kent Street in Williamsburg. There's still a lot of promising stuff <a href="http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/2010/">to choose from here</a>, but two films caught our eye on Saturday night. Klara Egei's short documentary <em><a href="http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/detail.asp?fid=1103">The Queen of Williamsburg</a> </em>follows the day in the life of Leonora Russo, a widower who has been living in the same rent controlled Williamsburg apartment for the past 60 years. Join her as she walks down Bedford Avenue, past the funky boutiques and expensive cafes, and talks about where the neighborhood's been and where it's going. </p><p></p>That short doc is followed by the full-length documentary <em><a href="http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/detail.asp?fid=1048">Being in the World</a></em>, from Italian-American filmmaker Tao Ruspoli. The doc is described as "a celebration of human beings and our ability, through the mastery of physical, intellectual and creative skills, to find meaning in the world around us. Some of our most renowned philosophers, from Harvard to Berkeley, take us on a gripping journey to meet modern day mastersâpeople who not only have learned to respond in a sensitive way to the requirements of their craft, but have also gathered their communities in ways that our technological age threatens to make obsolete."