ShareThisBy PHIL VILLARREAL
Now that the summer blockbusters have all blocked and busted, it's time for the good stuff.
As always, the end of the 2006 movie year is backloaded with the Oscar contenders. But, hey, there's also a sequel to "Jackass."
Following are the five films to watch for the rest of the year (Release dates are subject to change, and can vary from city to city.):
5. "Jackass: Number Two" (Sept. 22) _ Johnny Knoxville is the patron saint of hilarious, self-destructive idiocy. I'm telling you, someday they're gonna put the guy's face on stained-glass candles. How can he and his crew possibly top getting punched in the face in a department store by a heavyweight boxer, or dangling over a crocodile pit with raw meat hanging from their backsides? It'll be tough, but to doubt the Jackasses would be foolish, indeed.
4. "Babel" (Nov. 10) _ Festival-goers are touting this "Crash"-like tale of interrelated characters, including many who speak different languages, as one of the year's best. If so, that will mean dynamite Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Amores Perros," "21 Grams") will have as many stunning films as he does names.
3. "The Departed" (Oct. 6) _ If there were a fantasy movie league, this is a team I'd like to put together. Martin Scorsese is at the helm. The roster of actors includes Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen. Hey, look who just showed up on waivers! Jack Nicholson. A movie about these guys sitting around talking about making a movie would be awesome. Add that it's a remake of "Infernal Affairs," one of the slickest Hong Kong action flicks, like, ever, and it's almost unfair to the competition.
2. "The Science of Sleep" (opening in some cities in September) _ Michel Gondry follows up "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" with an oddball tale starring Gael Garcia Bernal as a man trapped in his own dreams. Or the dreams of others. Or drawings. Something. Everything I read about it tells a different story about the indescribable plot, and makes me want to see the mysterious film even more.
1. "Fast Food Nation" _ Every time you step into the theater to see a Richard Linklater-directed movie, you're potentially in for a life-changing experience. This is his sprawling adaptation of Eric Schlosser's book, a saber-toothed piece of journalism that uncovered ugly truths about the fast-food industry. Will it live up to the brilliance of "Waking Life," "Before Sunrise," "Before Sunset," "Tape" and "Dazed and Confused"? If the movie is at least half as good as any of those, it could be the best of '06.
(Read Phil Villarreal's blog at scrippsnews.com/philmguy and contact him at pvillarreal(at)azstarnet.com.)
