Class and cash remain at the center of Kevin Smith’s latest, the epigone of scat-chat called “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” The material sings because of his casting of his two leads, with Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as the platonic Pittsburgh roommates who hatch a quick-cash scheme to make amateur porn to get out of debt and discover the feelings they’ve been hiding. (Their giddy rapport almost makes up for the glimpses Smith provides of Jason “Jay” Mewes’ junk.) Smith starts with the idea of the ickiness of thirtysomething poverty, of a sense of not being able to get ahead in the modern workplace. Rogen’s timing is complemented by Banks’, as well as her seraphically deranged laughter at embarrassing moments and brightly pointed passages of frank japery about sex. To put it one way, Smith starts at “snowball” and snowballs from there: the cascade of everyday-vulgar verbiage in “Zack and Miri” is unmatched. And there’s something sweet about the two characters who banter, “Anybody wants to see anybody fuck”; “Who the fuck would want to watch us fuck?” And leave it to Banks: “Fuck you. I have dignity.” Advisory: “Star Wars” porn, clumsy sex and scatology ensue, as well as a joke saying the word “DreamWorks” sounds like “an underground fuck club.” “Rated R on appeal for dialogue, graphic nudity and pervasive language.” Yum.With Justin Long, Tom Savini, Traci Lords, Gerry Bednob, Jen Schwalbach, Brandon Routh. 102m. (Ray Pride)
Beanie Babies Make The Multiplex: How A24 Got the Brand Back Together A24 just turned ten; it was founded to release the kind of independent features that were cool yet commonplace at the turn of the century. The plan was to move beyond the mistakes that crashed earlier distributors they worked with. And they have made a mark in the past decade, at festivals and in theaters.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Heart of Darkness: A Review of The Batman The three-hour film noir unfolds briskly, an intensive study in the pervasive interplay of power, money and corruption in what seems like perpetual rainy night.
