Weekend of Intrigue

By Evan Kessler

Scanning through the new releases hitting box offices this weekend one word sprung to mind: Intrigue. Whereas the last few weekends were littered with the odd flick that fans of quality film might be interested in taking in, this weekend seems chock full of options that are, at the very least, intriguing and run the gamut of genres.

Two comedies have positioned themselves for big box office bucks as the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler vehicle Baby Mama will no doubt capitalize on the star duo's SNL chemistry. I'm certainly not averse to catching that one in theaters but the one sticking point for me is that Fey didn't actually pen the script; not that that's a deal breaker, but I always find that when people with such comedic writing and acting talent such as Fey end up in other people's projects it tends to disappoint due to their being at the mercy of other people's comedic whim, sort of like Matt Stone and Trey Parker in Baseketball. (Even though I still kind of like that movie.)

The other sure-fire comic smash this weekend will be Harold and Kumar go to Guantanamo Bay, the sequel to the utterly hilarious Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. Again, while I really like the chemistry between Kal Peen and John Cho, I'm a little worried about this being an exercise in joke repetition as evidenced by the presence of Neal Patrick Harris for the 2nd straight film. That said, I think this wins the weekend box office due to the potential for stoners to turn out en masse.

All laughter aside, the most intriguing scroll of film projected onto movie screens this weekend just may be a documentary. Errol Morris's Standard Operating Procedure takes a first-hand look at the Abu Ghraib prison scandal through the eyes of the people involved. Yes the infamous thumbs-up giver herself, Lynndie England, gives her accounts of the events and the photos in what probably amounts to an entirely new perspective on how things went down. All I can say is if Morris's other works are any indication of I'm just going to pre-state that this film will blow me away.

This weekend has a few other potential cash cows, though not really. The Helen Hunt directed Then She Found Me might get the NYC over 50 set desperate for a sensitive chick flick. Deal might pick up a few extra bucks from people whose friends told them to see 21 and just assumed that they meant this film. (Which is probably what the makers of Deal wanted- Ed.)

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