Opening in theaters this week... Terminator Salvation, the latest installment in the blockbuster sci-fi action franchise. The movie holds the confusing distinction of simultaneously being both a prequel and a sequel, set 34 years after the events of the first movie, but, chronologically, 11 years before Kyle Reese volunteers to be sent back in time. (If this makes no sense, that's okay.)
Moon Bloodgood, who is both beautiful and has an awesome name, is in the movie's cast as Blair Williams, a badass pilot for the human resistance against the machines. If you didn't know about Moon before this movie, you will soon. She's blowing up! Prepare to see her everywhere very soon, starting with Terminator... and this month's cover of Maxim.
In limited release, but going wide next week, The Brothers Bloom, a clever con man tale from Rian Johnson, director of Brick. I saw it a while back and enjoyed it immensely. Rinko Kikuchi, who plays a wordless, Harpo Marx-like explosives expert named Bang Bang. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a whole lot more to say here than her role in Babel, but she's so charming and funny, it's totally forgivable.
Now playing at the Film Forum in New York City, Anders Ostergaard's Burma VJ. In September 2007, when peaceful Buddhist monks led a massive uprising against Burma's military regime, foreign TV crews were banned from entering the country. This documentary tells the story through footage smuggled out by video journalists during the protest.
And finally, opening at the Quad Cinema in New York, Ghosts of the Heartland, a retro-styled indie drama about a Chinese American reporter who returns to his small hometown during the McCarthy era and runs into some red scare peril. Don't know much about this movie, but the premise is pretty intriguing. The film's cast includes Phil Moon, Rachel Lu, Marcus Ho, Rosanne Ma, James Saito and Tsen Lee. Here's a not-so-good review in the New York Times: Bigotry and Xenophobia in 1950s America.
