5-30: At the Movies
A whimsical story (“The Fall”), a spy spoof (“OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies”), a cable adaptation (“Sex and the City: The Movie”) and a grisly chiller (“The Strangers”) are the top titles arriving on this final Friday of May. For complete descriptions, critical evaluations of previewed films and explanations of the Motion Picture Association of America ratings in terms of violence, language and sexual content, please refer to the Movie Capsules.
The films (with all dates subject to change) opening at a theater near you include:
“Battle for Haditha,” with Elliot Ruiz (“Shapeshifter”) and Yasmine Hanani (“The Kingdom”) in an unrated docudrama about the four Marines who allegedly massacred two dozen people, including women and children, after their commanding officer was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2005. In addition to following the Marines, the British import, directed by Nick Broomfield (“Kurt & Courtney”), looks at the insurgents who planted the explosive device.
“The Fall,” with Tarsem Singh (“The Cell”) directing a stylish R-rated tale about a little girl whose imagination runs wild after she lands in a hospital and hears whimsical tales spun by a bedridden man.
“OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies,” with Jean Dujardin in a French satire (2006) that spoofs the James Bond pictures from the 1960s with a tale featuring a bed-hopping espionage operative facing enemies everywhere he turns. In this unrated import, the most impressive secret agent in France’s Secret Service is dispatched to Egypt to investigate the murder of a fellow spy and establish peace in the Middle East. A sequel to “OSS 117” is now in pre-production.
“Sex and the City: The Movie,” with Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall, who play Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha, respectively, returning from their sassy HBO series (1998-2004). Various creative differences delayed the R-rated film, but everyone involved realized that time was passing quickly and that the ladies from the Upper East Side of Manhattan might be forgotten by even their most loyal fans if they waited much longer to arrive on the big screen. In the story, which begins three years after the series ended, Mr. Big (Chris Noth) and Carrie (Parker) finally agree to walk down the aisle, though the couple endure numerous roadblocks along the way, and each of the other three fortysomething characters faces personal challenges, career decisions and fashion choices.
“The Strangers,” with Liv Tyler (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) and Scott Speedman (“Underworld”) in a grisly R-rated tale about a couple who decide to have a romantic evening in a remote cabin after attending a friend’s wedding ceremony. They then discover that masked invaders have staged a home invasion and plan to murder them.
At the Buck$ Office
To no one’s surprise, Indy Jones conquered the box office over the Memorial Day weekend.
Director Steven Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” grossed $101 million from Friday through Sunday. (That total doesn’t include the $25 million the PG-13 adventure with Harrison Ford grossed May 22, its opening day.)
According to the Web site Box Office Mojo, the top-10 films last weekend were:
1. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” ($101 million)
2. “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” ($23 million)
3. “Iron Man” ($20.1 million)
4. “What Happens in Vegas” ($9 million)
5. “Speed Racer” ($4 million)
6. “Made of Honor” ($3.4 million)
7. “Baby Mama” ($3.3 million)
8. “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” ($1.6 million)
9. “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” ($1 million)
10. “The Visitor” ($781,000)