Here are trailers for the latest openings: "The Dictator," "Battleship," and "What to Expect When You Are Expecting" (all opening May 18 throughout San Diego.
There was no official press screening for Sacha Baron Cohen's latest satirical escapade, "The Dictator." As a performer, he is a chameleon with an amazing ability to disappear inside a character. His outings have left me hot and cold. I loved "Bruno" and thought it displayed an adroit comedic sensibility and a penchant for risk-taking. "Borat," on the other hand, felt like poking fun at sitting ducks and didn't seem to require much skill or cleverness. Which is not to say that it didn't have a few moments of hilarity. But for the most part I could do without it. From what I've seen of Baron Cohen as his Dictator character outside of the film (he appeared in character on the red carpet at the Oscars and on talk shows), he appears to be leaning more toward "Bruno" territory by picking on exactly the type of people that need to be mocked and brought down with satire. I hope to catch up with it this weekend. Here's the trailer. Once again he teams with "Curb Your Enthusiasm" director Larry Charles (they collaborated on both "Borat" and "Bruno").
"Battleship." Really. "Battleship." I keep wanting to use the term from "Harold and Kumar" when the two British chicks went into the bathroom to play "Battleshits." Yes. I am prejudging this film. The trailer looked like "Transformers at Sea" and so long as "The Avengers" is still in theaters I don't see any reason to check out this board game adapted to the big screen. It may have some effects eye candy but "The Avengers" proves that you can have script, story, character, AND effects eye candy so why settle for less. Here's the trailer. If you think the trailer rocks then by all means knock yourself out and go see this. We also have "Candyland," "Ouija," "Risk," and more board games to come on the big screen. I fear it will quickly become bored games if it hasn't already.
I have to be honest. There was nothing that could have made me go see "What to Expect When You're Expecting." I tend to hate chick flicks, I don't find babies adorable just because they are babies, and the idea of a bunch of pregnant women and their significant others rehashing cliches for nearly two hours sounded like more torture than Jigsaw dished out in the 8 "Saw" films. I know I should go in with an open mind but I just have to draw the line sometimes and this is one of those times. The film stars Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendricks, and, for the other side, Chris Rock, Dennis Quaid, Thomas Lennon and more. Watch the trailer and trust me, you have seen the movie. I know there's an audience out there for this but I am just the wrong demographic.
