you want it all but you can't have it (denver premieres for 3/6/09)

...it's in your face but you can't grab it...


The Watchmen - Zack Snyder makes people, things, fall down, go boom: advance word from everyplace is that the book Alan Moore said was unfilmable is apparently just that. How a meta-comic that's unmoored - or, unMoored? - and detached from its ecosystem would have something to reference - and thus something to say - in this, a totally different medium, is a little beyond me. But I don't run a studio. And why this thing ended up with the "This is Sparta!" guy instead of the Brazil guy continues to puzzle; did I mention I don't run a studio? I guess as Rorschach might say, life is unfair, fucker. Maybe this weekend, plan on staying home and listening to Prince's Batman soundtrack instead (and if things just couldn't get any worse? No. Natalie. Portman.). (Dex)

Wendy and Lucy- After becoming an overnight indie-darling with her 2006 film Old Joy, director Kelly Reichardt returns with another critically lauded film titled Wendy and Lucy, starring Michelle Williams. This girl-and-her-dog story is playing over at Chez Artiste so if you're bored with seeing Slumdog Millionaire over and over again, go check it out. Here is the Landmark Theatre blurb to give you an idea of what you can expect:

"Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) gives a powerful breakout performance in this feminine variation on Into the Wild. Wendy Carroll (Williams) is driving to Alaska, hoping for a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery, and the start of a new life with her beloved dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, with far-ranging repercussions for herself and her dog. Wendy and Lucy is a poetic road drama that addresses issues of sympathy and generosity at the edges of American life, revealing the limits and depths of people's duty to each other in tough times. Co-starring Walter Dalton, Larry Fessenden and Will Patton. Directed and co-written by Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy)." (Pike)

Scott Walker: 30th Century Man- From the Walker Brothers (who in England for a time, rivaled the popularity of the Beatles) to his solo work from the late 60s to his current, more experimental works that include a musical interpretation of a Pasolini poem and an ode to Elvis' dead twin, Scott Walker's career has travelled an idiosyncratic trajectory. This documentary chronicles his entire career, paying exclusive attention to his 1969 album Scott 4 and the last two experimental outings- Tilt and The Drift. The film opens at the Starz FilmCenter and the blurb they have goes a little something like this:

"This first-ever documentary film about Scott Walker's career and music traces his evolution from jobbing bass player on L.A.'s Sunset Strip to his meteoric rise to fame during London's Swinging '60s as lead singer of The Walker Brothers and as a brooding, crooning solo artist, through to his current status as one of the most astonishing and important sound-makers of the last 30 years. Colleagues and collaborators from the '60s to the present weigh in on the evolution of Scott's song writing and often unorthodox working methods and an impressive roster of fans (including David Bowie, Sting, Brian Eno, Radiohead, Jarvis Cocker, Marc Almond) line up to speak about the enormous impact he has had on their lives and music. Four years in the making, director Stephen Kijak's film is a visually stunning and in-depth look at a man who turned his back on fame to follow a very singular and uncompromising artistic path." (Pike)