The New Wave: 6/4/10

Talk about a loaded week! Not all of it looks very good, but if you're so inclined there's plenty to keep you occupied at the theaters.

Of all the characters in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the one I wanted to see again the least was Aldous Snow. Russell Brand's hard drinkin', hard rockin' was the most annoying aspect of the film until a pretty sincere face turn in the final act. Now all that appears to have been jettisoned in favor of making him a douchebag again. This one's from that increasingly large stable of Judd Apatow produced flicks, so you already know it's got his style of humor, more than a few recycled gags, and frankly I'm surprised Leslie Mann isn't in here somewhere.

If it wasn't for the honest turns by Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody I expect that a lot of people would've walked out of this film after a certain point. Not that it's bad. I think it's absolutely brilliant. But you can only take so much human/hybrid hanky panky before funny little words like "bestiality" start getting thrown around, and people tend to get turned off. That said, you can see producer Guillermo Del Toro's hands all over this thing, particularly in the creation of Dren, the mutant chick created by Polley/Brody's hotshot geneticists. It's a crazy, often disturbing bit of sci-fi wackiness that had me shaking my head and cheering at the same time. You can read my review here. 

Transplanting the nervous charm of Zombieland's Jesse Eisenberg into a movie about drug trafficking sounds like a misguided idea. However director Kevin Asch's tightly wound story, based on real events, is the perfect chance for us to see Eisenberg do something a little different for once. While he's good, the real scene stealer is Ari Graynor(Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist), as a potential love interest with a ton of baggage. You can check out my review here.

Other than how hot Katherine Heigl looks on that poster, Killers looks like some warmed over weak sauce. She plays a woman, named Jennifer Kornfeldt for pete's sake, who realizes too late that the man she married is a spy. As a believable spy, Ashton Kutcher ranks somewhere between Leslie Nielsen and Sasha Obama.

Not on your friggin' life, son....

Y'know, I can understand perennial supporting players Judy Greer and Lee Pace handling the main human roles in this terrible looking adaptation of the Brad Anderson comic strip. But what in the hey is Keifer Sutherland doing anywhere near this drek? And you, Owen Wilson? I thought you were tryin' to make a comeback? Instead you can find yourself firmly established right back in the movie doghouse.