Weekend Movie Picks: 6.1

What's good, what's fun, what's intriguing, what's a must... now playing in Manhattan theaters.


What I'd like to see:

Gracie
This Saturday night Bo, Co and I are definitely going to see this tale of a high-school girl who talks her way onto the boys soccer team after her beloved older brother (and star player) dies. Set in the '70s, based on the early life of Elizabeth Shue, who also stars in the movie, along with brother Andrew.

Knocked Up
Getting reviews that are probably too good to be true. I hope to lower my expectations, and laugh my butt off.

Crazy Love
The documentary about the improbable, seriously twisted, decades-long relationship between Bronxites Burt Pugach and Linda Riss... improbable because, in 1959, in a jealous rage, he hired someone to throw lye in her face, then asked her to marry him went he got out prison 30 years later, and she said yes!

Golden Door A supposedly beautifully-shot, richly-detailed drama of Italian immigrants coming to America in the early 20th-century.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Bo and Co saw it last weekend, and gave it a thumbs-sideways. Kind of confusing and long, was the consensus. I'll still see it sometime this week, if only to be a completist. Playing everywhere.

Brooklyn Rules
Mixed reviews have me hesitant, but the list of movies that I've enjoyed about neighborhood best friends/thugs coming of age is a long one. This is set in the mid-'80s, in Bay Ridge, with Alec Baldwin as the crime lord.

What I've seen, and liked:

Once
The sweetest movie playing today: affecting, romantic and filled with great music.

Shrek the Third
Keep your expectations low, and you should be pleasantly entertained, occasionally amused. Your kids will definitely laugh.

Spiderman 3
Bloated and corny, sure, but Bo, Co and I had a blast.

Waitress
Clever, cute, funny, with terrific performances all around. Looks great, feels great. My favorite movie I saw this Spring. UPDATE: Debbie and her kids saw it tonight and LOVED it.

Away From Her
An almost great love story—husband and wife, married 44 years, she gets Alzheimer's—undermined by a somewhat dishonest script.

28 Weeks Later
The coolest looking movie of the year. Plus: tremendously tense and frightening. Too bad the script's so stupid.

The Lives of Others
A smart, well-crafted tale of suspense and betrayal, set in dreary 1980s East Berlin.