Pete's weekend movie roundup: Pixar's Up, Princess Bride, the Godfather, and the time I dressed up all Star Trek in public

Pete gets the first look at Pixar's stunning new film, recommends some weekend classics, and confesses to some long-ago geekery in the spirit of Star Trek weekend.

Your mom might like to see a mat of Princess Bride after brunch at the Claremont. I'm just saying.

Up: I went to an early screening of Pixar's newest, Up, last night in San Francisco, and have to say you're all in for another treat when this comes out May 29. I think I've said this every time I've seen a new Pixar movie, with the exceptions of A Bug's Life and Cars, but this is the best one yet. It's a fun and fast-paced adventure flick, jam-packed with heart and humor and stunning 3-D animation. I'll expand my review and coverage in future weeks—I'm headed over to the Pixar studios today for a press conference with voice star Ed Asner, director Pete Docter, and producer Jonas Rivera (the latter two are East Bay residents). I will say this: the folks at Fenton's Ice Cream Parlour on Piedmont are going to be pretty pleased with Up.

The Princess Bride: This faerie-tale comedy-classic from director Rob Reiner is back on the big screen this Saturday and Sunday. I haven't seen the movie in maybe twenty years, and I remember not linking it as much as Reiner's This is Spinal Tap or Stand By Me, but over the year's I've heard it mentioned as various friends' "all-time favorite movie" at least as often as Harold and Maude or The Karate Kid.  And I still quote Christopher Guest's line: "You keep saying that word—I d not think it means what you think it means," so it's had an impact. So HEAD'S UP: the Elmwood Theater's charming weekend matinee series features TPB this Saturday and Sunday at noon. See it on the big screen.

The Godfather: A couple of years ago I was having lunch with some Diablo colleagues at Pinky's Pizza (sob) and asked one of the young IT guys what he thought of the Godfather. His reply was one of my all-time favorite reviews: "Eh. It's just like The Goonies—they had both been so hyped, by the time I saw them, I didn't really care."  I coldn't disagree more with his diss on The Godfather, I just had to laugh at the idea of the mass-anuerism lumping The Goonies in the same breath with The Godfather could cause in the film geek community. Anyway, The Godfather is unquestionably one of the great epic crime sagas, and the Cerrito is showing it this Saturday and Sunday.

Wild at Heart, X-rated edition: Speaking of film geek freakouts, I had drinks with the great actress Diane Ladd recenty at the California Independent Film Festival in Livermore. Ms. Ladd told me some great stories about meeting David Lynch for the first time, after hating Blue Velvet, Lynch's provocative melodrama that starred Lynch's daughter, Laura Dern. Ladd was diplomatic in her first chat with Lynch, but he knew she hated Velvet, so when he was casting Wild at Heart, also starring Dern, he made sure there was a killer part in it for Ladd as well. She received an Oscar-nomination for her scenery-chewing brilliance. I have not seen Wild at Heart since it was in the theater, so I'm hoping to get over to the Cerrito this Thursday to listen to my pal Will The Thrill Viharo interview the story's author, Barry Gifford, on stage before a screening of the X-rated version of the film, which won the Cannes Film Festival's Golden Palm in 1990.

Star Trek: The big movie of the weekend is J.J. Abrams' big screen Star Trek reboot. I skipped the press screening in favor of saving Star Trek for its perfect setting: an 11 a.m. Saturday matinee on the massive screen at the Alameda Theater. I'll let you know what I think of the flick in next week's log. But I will share a story that I remembered when I heard a news story that more than 10% of people holding opening night tix to Star Trek were planning to attend in costume. When I was a little kid, maybe six or seven, I had some really cool Star Trek pajamas that I got from the JC Penney catalog. They looked just like Captain Kirk's uniform, with black pants and the gold shirt. I couldn't wait to change into them in the evening and watch re-runs of Trek on channel 2. Ths one time, my mom announced that we were going out to Sunvalley Mall to get something at Sears, but I had already changed into my pajamas. I asked if it was OK if I just wore them to the mall, and she said fine, so I ran around the mall in my Kirk pajamas and pretended I was on another planet. And now you know. Thanks for letting me share.

Posted at 12:19 PM in Pete's Popcorn Picks | Permalink