Pete's weekend movie roundup: rom coms, family flicks, and more noir

Want to see a great family film on the East Bay's biggest screen? How does $2 per ticket sound?

Chick Flick Alert: I went to an early screening this week of The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. I always find watching a super-formulaic romantic comedy to be something of a surreal experience, best appreciated while running on a treadmill on the gym. The Proposal is incredibly forced and corny....Sandra Bullock is a Devil Wears Prada-esque book editor and Ryan Reynolds is her faithful assistant who hates her guts because she doesn't allow him to have a life. But then, due to a screenplay complication, they have to get married! So they fly from Manhattan to Alaska (it was filmed in Massachusetts, but whatever) where they meet Ryan's wacky family and, wouldn't you know it, fall the hell in love for no reason other than that the movie hits the 90-minute mark. Believe it or not, I did not hate The Proposal. It was contrived and cheesy, but gets a lot of mileage out of its likeable leads. I've liked Reynolds since he was on a TV show called Fifteen, and there are few laughs along the way. It's fluffy, sugar-sticky rom-com stuff that works as counterprogramming to Terminators and Transfomers as escapist popcorn.

The Hangover is still raging: Have you seen The Hangover yet? It's fairly hilarious, wildly raunchy, and a massive box office hit. Very likable cast and good use of Sin City as location. The blackout-in-Vegas black comedy kind of reminded me of Rashomon—but in reverse—crossed with Tom Hanks' 1984 masterpiece, Bachelor Party. It's really too bad Hanks started out so strong, but later lowered himself to making schlock. Look for a Hanks-related piece in the July issue of Diablo!

More Noir! Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive continues its monthlong celebration of the 1950s crime movies of Phil Karlson with a double feature of 5 Against The House (1950s Kim Novak! Does it get better?) and The Phenix City Story. That's not a spelling error. Phenix. I'm there.

See Coraline for free in Livermore: One of 2009's best films so far is the brilliant animated fantasy Coraline, by Bay Area director Henry Selick. In fact, it is more impressive as a 3-D experience than Pixar's Up (which is unabashadly wonderful). The Vine Cinema in Livermore is showing Coraline at noon every day this week. Here comes the best part: It's free!

Family Movies at the Alameda—10 movies for $10: The spectacular Alameda Theatre is running a neat (for the most part) series of family films this summer. I've still never seen The Black Stallion or The Muppets Take Manhattan, so I might need to check that one out.

Posted at 11:24 AM in Pete's Popcorn Picks | Permalink