filmland / By Charlie Myers

Triumph of the Costner

Plus: Israel’s Jellyfish is a rare treat — a film for adults

(Aug. 7, 2008) Previews

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Just in time to wipe away those August blues, Pineapple Express, which opens Wednesday, Aug. 6, is a stoner comedy from the very busy Judd Apatow factory. In a bit of a twist, the film is directed by David Gordon Green, better known in indie circles (most recently for Snow Angels) now trying his hand at the mainstream. Stoner Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) inadvertently witnesses a murder while making a buy from dealer Saul Silver (James Franco) and both must flee to avoid a similar fate. The fate of potential viewers is up in the air. Huey Lewis and the News is among the groups featured on the soundtrack. Rated R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence. 111 m. At the Broadway, Fortuna Mill Creek and Minor.

Also opening Wednesday is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, the sequel to the 2005 film and featuring the same core cast of America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel and Blake Lively. The story is apparently based primarily on the fourth novel in Ann Brashares’ series about four girls growing up, Forever in Blue. Set three years after the first film, the quartet find themselves in their first year of college, and while going their own separate ways, they manage to stay in touch. Presumably, the challenges they face are more complex now that they have matured somewhat. TV director Sanaa Hamri is at the helm. Rated PG-13 for mature material and sensuality. 117 m. At the Broadway, Fortuna and Mill Creek.

Reviews

SWING VOTE: The American political film has a long history. Of course, Capra’s 1939 classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington comes to mind, as well as the more recent Charlie Wilson’s War and countless films in between. Swing Vote is an amiable if unexceptional addition to the genre, inspired according to reports by another 1939 film, The Great Man Votes, wherein John Barrymore plays a drunk who has to cast a deciding vote.

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