There exists an awkward correlation between climatological change and quality of released cinema. As leaves become more and more chartreuse and sweaters more and more necessary after sundown, films become better and better. I don’t know why; it just happens.
In any case, a cadre of hyped films (this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re good, but we’ll hope for the best) are on the immediate horizon. Indeed, several supposedly good films came out this week that I was not able to review for my column. (The poor quality of films screened at the Walla Walla Grand Cinemas is, actually, mostly to blame for my frequent omission of wonderful films.)
Among those supposedly good, soon-to-be-released flicks is Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story, to be released this Wednesday, September 23. Of course, anyone walking into their local arthouse to watch a Moore film knows exactly what they’re getting into, so I don’t pretend to appeal to those who staunchly disapprove of his goals or to those who, for reasons beyond me, believe him to be some sort of tutelary leftist. But, I must admit, Michael Moore has forever altered the conventions of documentary cinema in the United States, and for that reason alone (well, I guess it helps that he’s pretty entertaining), his films are worth watching regardless of whether you agree with their premise. Unfortunately, Capitalism won’t be released in Walla Walla, but I bet most of you anticipated that anyway.
Another little known movie, directed by John Krasinski (Jim Halpert from “The Office”), will be in limited release this Friday, September 25. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men takes its title and premise from a cerebral and celebrated David Foster Wallace novel. Screened to the approval of many critics at Sudance, Brief Interviews looks precise and dark – the perfect kind of film for Krasinski’s directoral debut. It will likely show up in Seattle, probably around the U-District, sometime in October, but will definitely not make its way to Walla Walla (though it may stop just short and wind up in the Tri-Cities; keep your eyes peeled).
The next potentially great movie to land in Walla Walla, save, of course, Whitman’s Fall Cinema Arts Series (to include a menu of wonderful contemporary foreign films), is Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are (released October 16). I, almost religiously, refrain from watching any cinematic remake of books that greatly impacted my childhood as to not taint my perfect, unadulterated memory of them; these include: The Polar Express and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (out now), among others. But there’s something about the trailer, and about the degree to which I wholeheartedly trust Spike Jonze’s filmmaking (he previously directed two cinematic wonders: Adaptation and Being John Malkovich), that leads me to believe that this film may indeed capture the unwavering honesty and puerile beauty of Maurice Sendak’s 1963 book. I’m going to give it a shot; I hope you do too.
Now, for a list of seemingly worthwhile upcoming (or out right now) movies:
35 Shots of Rum – released this week
Still Walking – released about a month ago
The Headless Woman – released about a month ago
Amreeka – released about three weeks ago
Disgrace – released this week
The Burning Plain – released this week
Bright Star – released last week
An Education – to be released on October 9
The Providence Effect – to be released this Friday, September 25
The Horse Boy – to be released on September 30
A Serious Man – to be released on October 2
The Invention of Lying – to be released on October 2
