The New Wave: 7/23/10

Think about how different a film Salt would've been with Tom Cruise in front of the camera. Somehow I think Jolie is more credible as an action hero than the diminutive Cruise, but that's just me. Jolie stars as a woman who is accused of being a Russian spy, and she must go on the run while attempting to clear her name. Certainly there's more to it than that, and director Philip Noyce, who worked with Jolie on The Bone Collector, knows how to highlight her skills. You can read my review of Salt here.

It only took 50 years or so, but Beverly Cleary's precocious troublemaker finally hits the big screen. Aquamarine director Elizabeth Allen pulled together an odd assortment of adult talent(Josh Duhamel? Bridget Moynahan?) to star alongside fresh faced newcomer, Joey King. The result is a charming, inoffensive family film that should keep Cleary's devoted fans very happy. My review of Ramona and Beezus can be found here.

Looking for a happy clappy film to brighten your day and remind you about all the good things the world has to offer? Then you might want to avoid Countdown to Zero, which details the rapidly increasing risk of a nuclear war. Cheery stuff, eh? This documentary has been receiving rave reviews, which makes sense since some of the people involved in it were behind Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.

Here's what I know about Agora, the latest film from Alejandro Amenabar(The Others, The Sea Inside): My good friend Brandon Fibbs couldn't stop raving about it. That's really all I need to know. The fact that it stars my personal favorite actress, Rachel Weisz as Hypatia, arguably the first great female mathematician and philosopher, is just icing on the cake.