A scene from 'Despicable Me'. Courtesy Universal Studios.
Despicable Me (pictured) is one of the biggest surprises of the summer. From the trailers and clips I watched online I was expecting something along the lines of last year’s extremely dumb Planet 51 and instead got something closer to the great Pixar film The Incredibles. Although there are a few scary scenes for kids it is one of the better films the entire family can enjoy and is downright hilarious. Steve Carell, Will Arnett, Julie Andrews, and Kristen Wiig all lend their voices.
The other big release this week is the Robert Rodriguez produced Predators (which is not a remake like some think but a sequel to Predator and Predator 2). I found it to be a decent B-grade action sci-fi flick that does a better job with the Predator character than the previous four films. Adrien Brody was decent as the lead and Alice Braga, as the only female in the film, is officially on my radar as an actress to watch.
The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second film based on Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium” book trilogy, is a very grounded dramatic-thriller. Having read the book it didn’t wow me as much as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (my DVD pick this week) but it still captivated me and proved to me once again that Noomi Rapace is one of the finest actresses working today.
Also opening is the indie drama The Kids Are All Right (starring Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, and Mark Ruffalo), the Nelofer Pazira directed, politically charged Act of Dishonour, the romantic adventure Wild Grass, and the documentary A Place Called Los Pereyra (which looks at a northern Argentina village during the week they allow outsiders to visit).
What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments below.
