Arts & Entertainment

This Week at the Movies

'Man of Steel,' 'The Bling Ring' and 'Berberian Sound Studio' are all pretty worthwhile, but 'This is the End' is a missed opportunity.

This article was written by Nathan Duke. 

So, here’s a refreshing change of pace – Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, “Man of Steel,” is the summer’s first blockbuster worth recommending.

Yes, the picture gets bogged down in an unnecessary series of very expensive looking – and seemingly never ending - set pieces for the picture’s final quarter.

But on the whole, the film is a great looking breath of fresh air from the director’s typically over-stylized works, including “300” and the disastrous “Sucker Punch.”

“Man of Steel” opens on Krypton as Jor-El (Russell Crowe) sends his son off in a pod to Earth as his own planet comes crashing down. This does not sit well with General Zod (played by go-to villain Michael Shannon), especially after he finds out that the infant is holding the key to his race’s survival.

Find out what's happening in Park Slopewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Cut to about 20-some years later. The infant, discovered by some kindly farmers played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, has grown up to be Clark Kent (Henry Cavill, who certainly looks the part), a confused young man turned drifter who has set out to find out the origin of his species.

During his travels, he crosses paths with Lois Lane (Amy Adams, spunky as ever), who stumbles across Kent’s otherworldly story.

Find out what's happening in Park Slopewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Of course, Zod, who had been frozen in space or some such thing for years, awakens and travels to Earth in search of a key Jor-El left his son. All manner of mayhem ensues – perhaps, a bit too much for my taste.

As I’d mentioned, the picture looks great and the action sequences mostly are well shot and pretty exciting.

My problem with the film is one of the same ones I had with the recent Spider-man movie. The film’s hero can easily defy gravity as can his nemeses, which means much of the movie’s second half is spent trying to determine which character is assailing the other in mid-air. This is the film’s weakest point.

And when a character is virtually indestructible, there is less of a sense of danger. Batman, for example, is more human and, therefore, has more to lose.

However, on the whole, “Man of Steel” is an improvement over many of the big budget extravaganzas of late.

Too many cooks with little direction spoil the broth in Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s “This is the End.”

There are obviously talented people involved in this picture and the premise is promising. At the film’s beginning, Rogen and Jay Baruchel, playing themselves, attend a party hosted by James Franco and attended by Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride and other celebrities, all of whom are also portraying themselves.

Michael Cera, it should be noted, does a pretty good job playing an imaginary version of Michael Cera.

Suddenly, the apocalypse arrives and the surviving characters are holed up in Franco’s home, becoming increasingly annoying to one another.

This could have been riotous, I’m sure, and the idea of the actors involved playing heinous versions of themselves made me crack a smile.

But any notion of a witty satire is soon thrown out the window, becoming replaced with the usual bawdy and bodily type of humor associated with vulgar Hollywood comedies.

Although, I’ll admit I got a good laugh during a sequence in which Franco and McBride have a heated debate about where the latter can perform specific, um, bodily functions in the former’s home. But overall, I expected more from this one.

Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring” is not among the best in the director’s oeuvre. In fact, its characters are not nearly as well sketched out as they are in, say, “Lost in Translation” or 2010’s “Somewhere.”

But as a critique of our culture’s perverse obsession with celebrity, materialism and appearances, the film has some sharp observations.

For those not in the know, the picture is based on a recent true story about a group of Los Angeles youths who broke into the homes of several celebrities, including Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, and stole their belongings.

Emma Watson fares best as Nicki, who can loot like the best of them, but then plays innocent when the police inevitably swoop in. And there are several nearly hilarious scenes in which she and her mother, played by Leslie Mann, discuss their beliefs in a new-agey religion known as The Secret.

“The Bling Ring” is minor Coppola, but it has its pleasures.

Last but not least is Peter Strickland’s unsettling “Berberian Sound Studio,” which tells the tale of a timid British sound engineer’s unraveling while working on a brutal Italian giallo film in the 1970s.

Toby Jones is memorable as Gilderoy, who has taken time off from working on his beloved nature films to work on the sound for a grotesque horror movie known as “The Equestrian Vortex,” which we hear via the various watermelon squashings and vegetable stabbings utilized for the film’s sound effects, but never actually see.

The film has an eerie dreamlike style that reminded me of the early work of David Lynch or, perhaps, Roman Polanski. But the director jumps the shark a bit in the somewhat confusing and ultimately unsatisfying ending.

But Strickland shows promise as a filmmaker and I expect we may see better works from him down the road.

Man of Steel” and "This is the End" are both playing at The Pavilion on Prospect Park West.

“The Bling Ring” is screening at AMC Loews Village VII, while “Berberian Sound Studio” is at the IFC Center.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here