Metro Pulse Online: Movies, Past &Amp; Future

Armed only with his mysterious mental connection to the feral minds of studio executives, the Movie Guru reveals just how good or bad this week's new releases will be:

Connie & Carla (PG-13)
After accidentally witnessing a mafia hit, Midwestern gal pals Connie (Nia Vardalos) and Carla (Toni Collette) run away to Los Angeles, where they disguise themselves as drag queens. They realize their lifelong dream of fame in a nightclub where their favorite Broadway tunes are always a hit. But their undercover plan hits a snag when Connie falls for neighbor Jeff (David Duchovny), for whom she’d really like to come out of the closet.
Prediction: I remember when Toni Collette was an under-appreciated actress in Muriel’s Wedding, singing ABBA songs and using her comedic skills to their fullest potential. Welcome back, Toni. You may recognize her co-star Vardalos as the star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding for which she wrote the screenplay. She wrote this one too, which promises to share that hit film’s sweetness and goofy fun.

Good Bye, Lenin! (NR)
In October 1989, on the eve of the collapse of communism in East Germany, Alex’s socialist mother has a heart attack and falls into a coma. When she awakens eight months later, the world is a very different place, and her dutiful son—with doctor’s orders to protect her weak heart from excitement—decides to hide from her all signs of capitalism’s triumph. With the help of his sister and their neighbors, Alex creates for his mother a world in which Lenin still rules—with hilarious results.
Prediction: It’s hard to believe this film is a comedy, but advance reviews indicate that the mix of political satire and family drama works more often than not.

Intermission (R)
Eleven stories of relationships and violence—and the intervening elements of trust, commitment and the like—weave together in this Irish ensemble film by director John Crowley. Starring Colin Farrell, Colm Meaney and Shirley Henderson.
Prediction: Dark and forceful, Intermission won’t fit everyone’s ideal love story. But reviews state it has a good heart underneath the prickly exterior.

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (R)
In the conclusion to its grandiose slash-fest predecessor, the Bride (Uma Thurman) finally closes in on Bill (David Carradine), the man who shot her and the guests at her wedding. However, before she has the chance to fight him, she must face his minions, the California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah) and Sidewinder (Michael Madsen).
Prediction: Vol. 2 promises more of the trademark Quentin Tarantino dialogue and less of the hack-and-slash action that defined Vol. 1. Plus, we get that conclusion that was inadvertently left out the first one.

The Punisher (R)
Undercover FBI agent Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) trades in his risky beat for a cozy desk job, much to his wife and son’s relief. But when his family winds up on the receiving end of a mafia hit, Castle promises to get revenge. His tools: a crapload of weapons and a black outfit worthy of a superhero.
Prediction: Based on an established, yet mediocre comic book, The Punisher looks like to be the next Daredevil—another lame adaptation banking on the success of Spider Man to rake in a little of the box-office green.

Harsh Reality

What keeps me from getting caught up in reality TV is the inherent discomfort in watching people get hurt, embarrassed or otherwise abused in front of a very large audience. Call me hypersensitive, but I get squeamish when watching the trainwreck of human emotion. But even I was transfixed by Love & Diane, airing April 21, 9 p.m. on the PBS program P.O.V.

First-time filmmaker Jennifer Dworkin tells the complex story of Diane Hazzard, who, in the depths of crack addiction in the ‘80s, lost custody of her children for six years. The documentary tracks the tentative rebuilding of her relationship with her four daughters and one son, plus her guilt over the death of her eldest son at 16. “Charles went to his grave hating me,” she says in an early glimpse of the emotional burden she carries.

As Diane uses her faith in God to try to hold her family together, her 18-year-old daughter, Love, continues the rocky cycle of teen motherhood. Love, who is HIV-positive, gives birth to Donyaeh, a happy and healthy baby boy who seems to symbolize a fresh start for Diane as a drug-free grandmother and Love’s chance not to repeat her mother’s mistakes. But the Hazzard family—weighed down by a family history of alcoholism and depression—seems destined to never fully escape the cycle of poverty and the child-welfare system.

Love doesn’t take to her maternal responsibilities, seeming to watch, disinterested, as Diane takes care of the infant. So it’s not a surprise when one of Love’s violent tantrums causes the social worker to be alerted and Donyaeh to be taken from her.

Even as the viewer is drawn in and speculates on why this family is so troubled, or what could ultimately cure its problems, filmmaker Dworkin lets the mother/daughter tension evolve and speak for itself. Sometimes we look to documentarians to tell us how to feel, show us what to think about the issue they present. But Dworkin, who met members of the Hazzard family when she was working with children in a New York City shelter, only leads us through the complicated twists and turns of this family’s drama, letting us feel every frustration and draw our own conclusions about the ultimately uplifting outcome.

—Paige M. Travis