Controlled Chaos

The past two weeks have been akin to one prolonged, unpleasant rollercoaster ride, but somewhere amidst the madness I've found time to write about a few upcoming releases (though not Nacho Libre or The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, both of which will be reviewed on this blog in the near future). Of the following, Heading South - despite the awful European poster image used for this post - is the one to keep an eye out for when it hits theaters later this summer.

Last Weekend:
Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (Slant magazine)

Tomorrow:
Wordplay (Slant magazine)
Land of the Blind (Slant magazine)

Sometime After This Weekend:
Heading South (Slant magazine)
Once in a Lifetime (Slant magazine)
Who Killed the Electric Car? (Slant magazine)
The Blood of My Brother (Slant magazine)
Jailbait (Slant magazine)

Comments

[josephgrossberg]

I can't believe your boy Chuck panned Spellbound like that.

What, did Ron Howard f*** his daughter?

[Nick]

HA! Yeah, I remember seeing Chuck right after the screening - he was angry from the moment the lights came up in the theater.

Still, I think his basic point about Spellbound's superficiality is right, if stated a little harshly.

[josephgrossberg]

OK, maybe this is a film-newbie thing to say, but so what if it was superficial?

It's not a meditation on ADD, overbearing parents or prodigal preteens. It's just a charming little film about the quirky kids who compete in the spelling bee.

[Nick]

I agree that it's a charming little film about quirky kids, but it left me wanting to know much more about the kids, their families, their upbringings - all the things that would have made their plight at the spelling bee that much more compelling. By only grazing the surface of its subjects, the film feels too lightweight to be really moving or insightful, and thus I guess I find it to be very minor.

That said, I don't hate it like Chuck, and think it has its moments. Just wish there was more substance to it.