Film Clips, September 2
In The Future, who will pay The Debt incurred by A Good Old-Fashioned Orgy on Shark Night?
- Relativity Media
- MAYBE SHARK NIGHT ISN’T THE BEST TIME TO GO SWIMMING.
OPENING FRIDAY
APOLLO 18 (PG-13) This “found-footage” style thriller reveals that the final, officially-canceled 1974 lunar mission in fact made it to the moon, where two astronauts were stalked by something sinister. And you thought Apollo 13 had a problem.
THE DEBT 3 stars (R) Oscar-winner Helen Mirren and the suddenly-ubiquitous Jessica Chastain effectively play the same role, separated by decades, in this espionage drama about three Israeli intelligence agents who share a secret about a 1966 mission in East Berlin. Shakespeare in Love director John Madden makes a comeback with this twisty espionage drama co-starring Tom Wilkinson and Ciarin Hinds (with Martin Csokas and Avatar’s Sam Worthington as their younger selves). (This actually opened Wednesday.) — Holman
THE FUTURE (R) A self-absorbed artsy couple (Miranda July and Hamish Linklater) attempt to get their lives together before making the big step of adopting a kitten. Director Miranda July also provides the voice of the narrator, Paw-Paw the kitten.
A GOOD OLD FASHIONED ORGY 2 stars (R) This year’s latest raunchy comedy depicts a group of friends, all nearing 30 years old, who contemplate plan a Labor Day sex party before the loose their party house in the Hamptons. As conceived by writer/directors Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, self-absorption and aggressively annoying tics define the friends (who include Jason Sudeikis, Tyler Labine and a bunch of women who look like models). The film’s last act reveals a surprisingly open mind about sexual experimentation for a mainstream comedy without matching the insights of an indie film like Humpday. — Holman
MAGIC TRIP (R ) Prolific documentary director Alex Gibney shifts from current-event issues like Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Taxi to the Dark Side to flashback to the peace-and-love 1960s with this retrospective of the acid-dropping Merry Pranksters, including novelist Ken Kesey and beat muse Neal Cassidy.
SEVEN DAYS IN UTOPIA (G) An ambitious young golfer (Lucas Black) finds himself stranded in Utopia, Texas, in this Christian drama starring Robert Duval, Melissa Leo and Kathy Baker. The premise sounds a little like Pixar’s first Cars.
SHARK NIGHT 3D (PG-13) A group of college friends find their leisure time on a salt-water Louisiana lake disrupted by some ravenous party-crashers with conspicuous teeth and dorsal fins. Fans of violent horror films should take the PG-13 rating as a red flag.
DULY NOTED
DRIVE INVASION (NR) The Starlight Six Drive-In’s annual festival of hot rods, rockabilly and cult films celebrates manly cinema with Burt Reynolds’ Smokey and the Bandit, Warren Oates’ The Cockfighter and Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine’s Emperor of the North. Sun., Sep. 4, at dusk. Starlight Six Drive-In, 2000 Moreland Ave. starlightdrivein.com
PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE (1985) 4 stars (PG) Eccentric man-child Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) hits the road to track down his stolen bicycle in Tim Burton’s first feature film as a director. “Tell ’em Large Marge sent you!” 9:30 p.m. Tue., Sep. 6, and 3 p.m. Sat., Sep. 10. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce De Leon Ave., $7-$12. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com