The Cinema For 9/17/10: A Rare Great Weekend

"The Town" certainly cements Ben Affleck as a quality director with more goodness in store for the future

It is certainly a very satisfying edition of The Cinema this week with two movies certainly wrote even the absurd rate the movies cost now (unless you watch them through other means of course).

Both "The Town" and "Easy A" make it one of the strongest weekends of quality debuts all year, and it is a shame that one of them won't be able to occupy the top spot when the final numbers come in on Sunday.

"The Town" is without a doubt one of the finest movies of 2010, and shows how Ben Affleck won't be returning to those days where he didn't mind being in some really sucky movies.

And he also won't have anyone questioning his director credentials, as he adds another deft performance behind the camera to go along with his outstanding first effort, "Gone Baby Gone" three years ago.

It is a truly enjoyable thriller to take in, where the action and dialogue are intelligently crafted.

The Detroit News' Tom Long:

Affleck handles all the neighborhood tough talk and shoot-out mayhem skillfully, borrowing much from Kathryn Bigelow's "Point Break," which is well worth borrowing from, while mixing in his own Boston-style Scorsese tones.

It's effective and often exciting, and those looking for hot bang-bang action will likely be pleased. Those looking for something more, though, won't find it.

And the Canadian Press' Christy Lemire emphasizes how Affleck is a like a quality coach getting the best out of his players:

Affleck also has a way with his actors — unsurprising, having been one himself for so long and not always getting the credit he deserves — and he's once again attracted some tremendous talent: Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm and Chris Cooper, who leaves his mark in just one powerful scene. Even Blake Lively is surprisingly good, playing against type as a damaged single mom.

Good for Affleck indeed, and certainly good for your viewing is this "town."

Towards the second quality movie this weekend, and it is the fun "Easy A." Emma Stone has a great performance with this one, as it certainly follows the same formulas of successful teens movies from the past, but finds its own nice identity in the end.

Amy Biancolli of the Houston Chronicle :

If you're thinking The Scarlet Letter just got the Clueless treatment, you're right. High school can make a fine setting for a sassy literary rehash, especially if the script (by Bert V. Royal) is filled with brainy, canny dialogue and the cast includes Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as the heroine's adorably screwball parents. Gluck directs on hyper-drive, rattling through scenes with machine-gun timing and a razor-sharp humor flecked with kitsch. (She: "C'est la vie." He: "La vie." Ba-dum-bum.)
ect love interest.

After a while, the Hester Prynne analogy and its attendant social travails begin to drag down the script, which has a discomfiting premise to begin with: This is sticky business, watching a girl sell her reputation (if not her body) for OfficeMax payola.

And Lisa Kennedy of the Denver Post certainly turns on the praise :

Looking for a little youthful nostalgia — John Hughes-style — to go with a fine dose of the now? You might try "Easy A."

A gem of a turn by Emma Stone as high school student Olive Penderghast makes this tale of a girl, gossip and independence a smart and self-aware hoot in the tradition of the teen flicks of the 1980s.

Director Will Gluck infuses Olive's story with rousing teen spirit suitable for "Glee" fans, as well as lovers of "Juno," arguably the best teen-themed film of the last decade.

This weekend also has another decent effort (though a tier and a half below the other two) with the Philip Seymour Hoffman directed "Jack Goes Boating."

Of course, there had to be one picture ruining the weekend, with "Alpha and Omega" adding some of the ugliest cartoon graphics in a while, with a poor script to boot.

But other than that, it is a weekend heavy with quality selections at the theaters. Thank goodness for that.

For The Cinema for this week, FIN.

Emma Stone is a rock in the hilariously pleasant "Easy A"