Cruise Control

Big Tom stinks up the screen again in the ridiculous Knight and Day

(July 1, 2010) Previews

As noted here last week, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, next in the teen vampire/werewolf franchise, hits multiple screens early for Fourth of July weekend and will likely dominate multiplex box offices nationwide. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality. At the Broadway, Fortuna, the Minor and Mill Creek.

Eclipse‘s primary competition is The Last Airbender, a fantasy adventure based on Nickelodeon’s anime-style marital arts epic Avatar: The Last Airbender. Like the original, the setting is a world where the elemental balance is thrown off by the Lord of the Fire Nation, who is waging war on the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes and the Air Nomads. Who can make things right? Perhaps Aang (Noah Ringer), an ass-kicking 112-year-old martial arts master with glowing eyes who looks like he’s 12. As the only one around who can control all four elements, he’s the savior everyone hopes can bring peace. Master of mysteriousness M. Night Shyamalan is writer/director/producer for three CGI-heavy live action films (upgraded to 3-D for some theatres). Rated PG for fantasy action violence. Opening in 3-D at the Fortuna; in 2-D at the Broadway, the Minor and Mill Creek (as Toy Story 3-D lingers).

Since July 1 is the first Thursday in the month, it’s First Thursday Film Night at the Graves Museum with Revolución: Five Visions, a doc about five Cuban photographers — some young, some old — and how they’ve captured the Cuban Revolution through their lenses.

It’s also Ocean Night at the Arcata Theatre Lounge Thursday, this week with the surf flick Dude Cruise (think Endless Summer meets Jackass) and, on the edutainment side, A Sea Change, in which a retired history teacher looks into the change in acidity in our oceans brought about by excess carbon dioxide dissolving in the water. And you thought rising tides and oil were all you had to worry about.

It’s a double film bennie night Thursday at the ATL: After the surfers leave, Butter Music Brazil presents the All Tribes Dance Films and Beats Gathering with electro-dance trance music and Footsteps in Africa, A Nomadic Journey, an arty ethnographic documentary about the nomadic Tuareg/Kel Tamashek tribes in the deserts of Mali.

The HumCo Library’s next “Based on the Book” series begins Tuesday, July 6, at the Eureka branch. The summer theme: heist, caper and getaway films. First up is Criss Cross, a 1949 film noir directed by Robert Siodmak, based on a novel by Don Tracy. Burt Lancaster stars as Steve Thompson, an armored-car driver entangled with his ex-wife (Yvonne De Carlo) and her mobster pal (Dan Duryea). The Journal‘s own Charlie Myers serves as host for the free screening.

— Bob Doran

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