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Weekend Movie Forecast: Tree Of Life Vs. Hangover 2

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The most interesting, befuddling films are often the most divisive amongst audiences. Some have hailed Terrence Malickâs philosophically-inclined The Tree of Life as a genius piece of cinema, while others have called it a total bore. Booed and applauded at Cannes (though the boos got the most press), The Tree of Life stars love-âem-or-hate-âem Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, and a relative silver-screen newcomer Jessica Chastain. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone puts out a heartfelt review, saying, âHeaven and hell, brute nature and healing grace all have a place in forging the world as Malick sees it. Sure, he's overreaching. Most visionaries do. The Tree of Life dwarfs the big-budget guppies swimming at the multiplex. Drown those suckers. Shot with a poet's eye, Malick's film is a groundbreaker, a personal vision that dares to reach for the stars.â

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Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms and that other guy (Justin Bartha) are back in The Hangover 2. This time, Helms' character, dentist Stu, is marrying a young lady who is not Heather Graham (it's Jamie Chung, familiar to Real World fans) and ends up <a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/05/21/will_hangover_sequel_be_delayed_by.php">getting a face tattoo</a>. The <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/reviews/la-et-hangover2-20110526,0,3681626.story?track=rss">LA Times' Betsey Sharkey is very cynical</a> about this sequel, "Oh, what a headache-inducing, unapologetic money grab... By the time Bradley Cooper's Phil says, "You know the drill," and the guys start emptying their pockets in search of clues to the latest debacle, you'll be more inclined to groan than giggle. But then this sequel is about the ching, ching, not the comic arts. Me, I'm left with morning-after regrets. Lost is the fresh, perverse, painfully politically incorrect R-rated pleasure that came when"The Hangover" ate up the summer of 2009. Even the filmmakers signal a rehash is in the offing with the action kicked off by yet another fateful phone call bearing the â 'Oops, we did it again' â bad news." And <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2295601/">Slate's Dana Steven points out</a>, "The whole point of this franchise is to make even jaded adults laugh in shock at the outrageous behavior on display. This strategy works best in the final credit sequence, which, in another shameless lift from the original, reveals in a series of rediscovered snapshots what happened on that one wild night in Bangkok. That minute and a half of still photos packs in more dense, economical laughs than all the laborious gross-outs and chase sequences that came before."

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Po and his gang of other martial arts-fighting animals are back in Kung Fu Panda 2: Panda Boogaloo. While critics are complaining about The Hangover 2's lack of new stories, they are pleased with this beary special movie. Roger Ebert <a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110524/REVIEWS/110529984/1001/reviews">gave it 3-and-a-half stars</a>, "What's best about this sequel is that it's not a dutiful retread of the original, but an ambitious extension. Of the many new elements, not least is the solution of the mystery of how Mr. Ping, a goose, could be the biological father of Po, a panda. In the original film, as nearly as I can recall, every character represented a different species, so I thought perhaps inscrutable reproductive processes were being employed. But no, Po's parenthood is explained here, and it has a great deal to do with new developments in the kingdom."

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Making its NYC theatrical premiere at reRun Gastropub & Theater, We Are the Night has all the trappings of a promising vampire flick: it features a gaggle of gorgeous, seductive, very dangerous women who drive fast cars, wear fine jewels, and handle firearms with ease. The veteran bloodsuckers recruit a rookie who canât quite leave her humanity behind, which makes for all sorts of trouble. The German film will play at reRun for one week, and is also part of a Friday double-feature (purchase a ticket for The Wave and stay for We Are the Night for free). Jeanette Catsoulis of The New York Times writes, âNeither chilling nor romantic, We Are the Night may be set in present-day Berlin, but the heaving bosoms, same-sex snogging and ambient decadence have been around since Bram Stoker first plumbed the genreâs kinky potential...Despite brutally convincing violence and a stunningly shot opening sequence aboard a flying airplane, Jan Bergerâs story (from a screenplay by Mr. Gansel) is a clichÃ©d excuse for topless swimming and bottomless hedonism.â

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Natalia Smirnoffâs debut feature film follows one Maria del Carmen as she discovers a talent that does not fall within the realm of her characteristic domestic deference and grace. Purely by accident, Maria finds she has an almost preternatural knack for solving puzzles, and this cracks open her life in surprising ways. Puzzle (or Rompecabezas) opens at the IFC today to positive, albeit brief, reviews. So far critics have focused on the social and political implications of the film, with The New York Times saying, âAlthough âPuzzleâ is a much smaller, less ambitious film without the ominous subtext of Ms. [Lucrecia] Martelâs masterwork [Smirnoff apprenticed under Martel] its story of a woman discovering her special gift and rejoicing in it has implications about sexual inequality in Argentinaâs middle class.â

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Combining the quirky aesthetic (more than enough neon and pastel) of Napoleon Dynamite with the angsty sensibility and comic bite of Mean Girls, writer/director J.B. Ghuman Jr. brings us the story of a young hermaphrodite aptly named Spork (played by Savannah Stehlin). With the help of her best friend Tootsie Roll, Spork works through the kind of evil, mericiless harassment that (we think) only middle school brats are capable of. The movie is apparently full of âextended school-hall dance sequencesâ, choreographed to songs from La Tigre, Yeti Beatz, JJ Fad and 2-Live Crew. The film also boasts an original score by Casey James and the Stay Puft Kid. Spork opens at Quad Cinema this weekend. Reviews have been neither here nor there. Mike Hale of The New York Times says, âAs uplifting stories of tolerance and self-discovery go, Spork has a messy appeal, but itâs no Hairspray...Mr. Ghumanâs story is not as predictable as it could have been, and his empathy for his renegade characters (along with his love of cheesy 1980s pop culture) is apparent; Spork would have had more impact, though, if he had worked to make his central character a little less of a cipher.â

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Writer and director Adam Reid presents his debut Hello, Lonesome, a movie that follows characters who are grappling with the ins-and-outs of being coupled, being alone, and being somewhere in between. Gordon (played by Nate Smith) and Debby (played by Sabrina Lloyd) are faced with life-altering circumstances in the fresh stages of their relationship; a widow finds comfort, and perhaps romance, next door; a voice-over artist examines his own failings as a father by seeking companionship in unlikely places. Critics have emphasized the charactersâ integrity more than anything else, and Alison Willmore of The A.V. Club writes, âHello Lonesomeâs minor pleasures are rooted in its sense of understatementâan underlying conviction that everybody needs somebody sometimes plays out in mundane conversations and instances of unanticipated vulnerability...Though it can occasionally seem like an indie-dramedy answer to The Grudge, structured to pack in the maximum moments of whimsical connection instead of supernatural kills, the film does find something deeper in its treatment of Smith and Lloyd...unexceptional-seeming Smith shows himself to be quietly, unshowily heroic, the development speaks to a deep faith in humanity lurking beneath the filmâs modest exterior.â Hello, Lonesome will begin its run at Cinema Village today.

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Tied to a Chair is a madcap movie about Naomi, a recently divorced woman reclaiming her life. She explores her newfound freedom at home and abroad, and begins to pursue a film project with a fledgling director who is making a movie aboutâwhat elseâa woman who is tied to a chair. Naomi buys into the concept completely and enthusiastically, only to find herself chin-deep in a mess of hoaxes, mob deals, and terrorist plots. Jeanette Catsoulis clearly shares our skepticism: Insulting several nationalities and most of the filmgoing public, Tied to a Chair lurches through acting atrocities, continuity glitches and narrative gaps with grating insouciance. The filmâs titular confinement may not be, as Naomi repeatedly claims, âevery womanâs fantasy,â but it is probably the only way anyone is going to sit through this ridiculous, cobbled-together farce.â You can catch the farce (or not) starting this weekend at Big Cinemas Manhattan.

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A psychosexual drama that includes kidnapping, pedophilia, and death threats? In a movie that seems to have pulled its plot straight from the headlines, The Abduction of Zack Butterfield delves into the disturbingly salacious desire of a young female Iraq war veteran who desires an even younger man. After being kidnapped, Zack is trapped inside a suburban home by an explosive beaded hemp necklace (!), and forced to endure psychological, sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. Quad Cinemas sees the movie's release this weekend, and Eric Monder of Film Journal has this to say about it: â...Director and co-writer Rick Lancaster takes a âLaw & Order: SVUâ-type plot and tries to turn it into a meaningful drama. The results are a laughable mess but a sometimes entertaining one...Whether it was meant to be funny or not, The Abduction of Zack Butterfield provides enjoyment in all the wrong ways.â

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In the Romanian film Tuesday, After Christmas, we find our protagonist ten years into his marriage and eight years into fatherhood, and (of course) in the midst of a heated affair with a dentist a decade younger than him. Director Radu Muntean sets up a rather formulaic wife-mistress foil: Raluca the girlfriend is playful, charming, and sexually adept, while Adriana the wife is mild-mannered, loyal and (we are led to believe) sexually benign. Paul finds himself in marital/extramarital crosshairs when he decides to take his daughter to see Raluca (for a routine check-up) during the holiday season. Tuesday opened on the 25th at Film Forum to somewhat disappointed reviews, such as the following from Nick Pinkerton of The Village Voice: "Every possible turnoff into melodrama is passedâinto humor and sentiment, tooâuntil Muntean achieves the dubious perfection of never violating his defined parameters of peepshow realism."

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This weekend the IFC sees the stateside release of United Red Army, directed by former radical leftist Koji Wakamatsu. The film revolves around revolutionary Japanese youths mired in the international political upheavals (and uprisings) of the 1960s and â70s. The United Red Army was made up of students seeking to translate theory into practice, and wedded two separate movements: the Red Army Faction (led by Tsuneo Mori) and the Maoist Revolutionary Left Wing of the Japanese Community Party (led by Hiroko Nagata). Wakamatsuâs 190-minute film illustrates the extremely violent, psychologically complex life of the Army, and the U.S. release comes on the heels of Nagataâs death on February 5th, 2011. Slant magazineâs Andrew Schenker writes, âEvery bit as brutal and authoritarian as the militant right the director would expose in his 2010 film Caterpillar, the radical left may have begun with finer, even downright noble, intentions, but they fell happily into the same cycles of unproductive violence. Through his inconsistent, but fascinating film, Wakamatsu's achievement is to show us how that violence can turn as easily inward as it does out, destroying its own members as surely as any imperialist oppressor.â

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Relive 1982 special effects with the original MTron, which is playing as the midnight movie <a href="http://www.google.com/movies?hl=en&near=New+York&sort=1&ei=seTfTc7yL8fogQevqYTRCg&mid=be01dc9ff9643667">at the Landmark Sunshine this weekend</a>.

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"I looked the wrong way and I lost my hand. He could make you look the wrong way and you could lose your whole head!" Cher as a dowdy accountant, Nicolas Cage as a one-handed baker (and her fiance's brother), and New York City as itselfâMoonstruck is <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/moonstruck">playing Saturday</a> at the Film Society of Lincoln Center as part of <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/films/series/norman-jewison-relentless-renegade">its Norman Jewison series</a> (Jesus Christ Superstar is also playing!).

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"Brave Clarice. You will let me know when those lambs stop screaming, won't you?" Yes, Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling meet cute in The Silence of the Lambs, at the <a href="http://www.ifccenter.com/films/the-silence-of-the-lambs/">IFC Center this weekend</a>.

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Weekend Movie Forecast: <em>Tree Of Life</em> Vs. <em>Hangover 2</em>