Admit it. You’re lured into the movie house not by the big show, but by some of its parts. I know I am. Sometimes it’s the promise of action. Or a star. Or the director. ( I’ll see “A Scanner Darkly” when it opens in July because I don’t miss Richard Linklater films.)
Some pleasures are always worth the price of the ticket. Here are a few I know won’t fail me.
Meryl Streep sings! Then dances on the grave of her employees, metaphorically speaking. As one half of the Johnson sister act, she croons in “A Prairie Home Companion” (June 9), Robert Altman’s movie about the fictional final hours of Garrison Keillor’s long-running, much-adored radio program. Then Streep dons designer duds to play the rag-mag editor Miranda Priestly. Although Lauren Weisberger’s roman à clef “The Devil Wears Prada” (June 30) allegedly modeled her editrix on Vogue’s Anna Wintour, Streep decided to sew her own way and plays Anne Hathaway’s boss with a hush. Talk about killing one softly.
Better than a pick up game at the Y, the rousing documentary “The Heart of the Game” (July 7) continues the girl-power vibe begun with “Stick It.” Chris “Ludacris” Bridges narrates Ward Serrill’s doc about Seattle’s Roosevelt High Roughriders, their coach – and tax professor – Bill Resler, and star Danellia Russell. For fans of women’s sports, the revelation that some girls just wanna have fun kicking another team’s hiney won’t surprise. But the myriad relationships are American sociology made riveting.
As the locksmith and young dad in “Crash,” Michael Pena’s was the only character not tarnished by bigotry. His tender work was rewarded with the role of William Jimeno in the baldly titled “World Trade Center.” (Aug. 9) His and Nicolas Cage’s Port Authority policemen were the 18th and 19th people – out of 20 – to be rescued from the rubble. Director Oliver Stone can be provocatively astounding, though it’s been awhile. Screenwriter Andrea Berloff is an unknown. So it’s Cage, but especially Pena’s presence as Jimeno that calls out from what could be a disastrous foray into more 9/11 material.
Take note of these two names: DeVotchKa and Abigail Breslin. A little Denver band about to sprout and a littler girl radiate in the dysfunctional family romp “Little Miss Sunshine” (July 28). Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Alan Arkin play the R-rated adults who decide to take 7-year-old Olive to a kid’s beauty pageant. Breslin, who made an indelible impression propping up another wounded adult in “Keane,” has a spirit that beams sweet, twisted optimism. And DeVotchKa knows just how to score that mood.
OutKast makes it worth tuning in for when impresarios André Benjamin (André 3000) and Antwan Andre Patton (Big Boi) take over “Idlewild,” (Aug. 25.) The musical’s set in the South in the ’30s and directed by video collaborator Bryan Barber. Adding to the “Hey Ya!” factor: Macy Gray, Patti LaBelle, Ving Rhames and, oh baby, Terrence Howard.
