(Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson in Clerks II)

If someone woke up from a coma and looked at a listing of movies opening this week, they’d likely know right away that it’s Summer. We’ve got the effects-laden Ivan Reitman film with current hot actors playing broad comedy: My Super Ex-Girlfriend. We’ve got the computer animated family film hoping to hit it big with all ages: Monster House. And, of course, we’ve got a picture by a director who rarely releases anything during any other season: M. Night Shyamalan with Lady in The Water.

We even have a sequel to a wildly popular movie that anyone laying down odds would have thought was a bad idea to make. So who would have thought that Clerks II would end up being the movie with perhaps the best hype going into the weekend? It’s been receiving much better than expected reviews and word of mouth since making a bit of a splash at Cannes, so we’re quite surprised to find this being the best bet for the weekend.

Also Opening:
Puerto Rican Squirrels
Mad Cowgirl
Shadowboxer
The Amateurs
Been Rich All My Life

Official Websites:
My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Monster House
Lady In The Water
Clerks II
Mad Cowgirl
Shadowboxer

(Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale in The Prestige)

Why should you be interesting in The Prestige? Well, it can boast the wonderful fact of being “from the director of Batman Begins and Memento, Christopher Nolan. And it stars Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, and Scarlett Johansson. It’s even got David Bowie. And it’s about magicians. Why shouldn’t you be interested? Answer us that.

In the meantime, check out the trailer.

The film is currently set to open on October 27th

(Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Nora Zehetner in Brick)

A list of new and recently released films playing in New York as of Friday that we suggest for your viewing pleasure:

Art School Confidential
Brick
Changing Times
Edmond
Kill Your Idols
An Inconvenient Truth
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man
Lower City
Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos
Peaceful Warrior
A Prairie Home Companion
The Proposition
The Road To Guantanamo
Russian Dolls
A Scanner Darkly
Strangers With Candy
Superman Returns
Time To Leave
Water
Who Killed The Electric Car?
Wordplay

The Essential Wilder series continues this weekend at Film Forum with one of the director’s best — and a great NY Movie to boot — The Apartment, all day Sunday, as well as Ace In The Hole all day Friday and Saturday.

Over at the IFC Center, the Kurosawa hits keep on coming as their Weekend Classics series continues with Kurosawa Weekends At Noon, this week featuring 1949′s Stray Dog.

And Symphony Space offers a powerful triple feature on Saturday and Sunday with their Hollywood Musical Marathon featuring The Wizard Of Oz, Singin’ In The Rain, and An American In Paris. Best of all, a $10 ticket ($6 for members) buys admission to all three.

Now, here’s a look at more movies from yesteryear playing in the city this weekend:

Friday, July 14th

71 Fragments Of A Chronology Of Chance @ Anthology Film Archives
[ 7pm only ]

The 7th Continent @ Anthology Film Archives
[ 9:15pm only ]

Ace In The Hole @ Film Forum

Army Of Shadows @ Quad Cinema

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde @ BAM Rose Cinemas

Federal Operator 99 @ Museum Of The Moving Image

Female Trouble @ Clearview Chelsea
[ 12:15am only ]

Hedwig And The Angry Inch @ IFC Center
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

Lan Yu @ MoMA
[ 6pm only ]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show @ Clearview Chelsea
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

Stray Dog @ IFC Center
[ NOON only ]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? @ Landmark Sunshine Cinema
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

Saturday, July 15th

71 Fragments Of A Chronology Of Chance @ Anthology Film Archives
[ 7pm only ]

Ace In The Hole @ Film Forum

An American In Paris @ Symphony Space
[ 8pm only ]

Army Of Shadows @ Quad Cinema

Benny’s Video @ Anthology Film Archives
[ 4:45pm only ]

Black Orpheus @ MoMA
[ 4:30pm only ]

Female Trouble @ Clearview Chelsea
[ 12:15am only ]

Funny Games @ Anthology Film Archives
[ 9:15pm only ]

Hedwig And The Angry Inch @ IFC Center
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

History Is Made At Night @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 6:30pm only ]

Lemora: A Child’s Tale Of The Supernatual @ Two Boots Pioneer Theater
[ 11pm only ]

Lucky Star @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 2pm only ]

Moonrise @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 4:30pm only ]

Psycho @ BAM Rose Cinemas

The Rocky Horror Picture Show @ Clearview Chelsea
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

Singin’ In The Rain @ Symphony Space
[ 6pm only ]

Stray Dog @ IFC Center
[ NOON only ]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? @ Landmark Sunshine Cinema
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

The Wizard Of Oz @ Symphony Space
[ 4pm only ]

Sunday, July 16th

71 Fragments Of A Chronology Of Chance @ Anthology Film Archives
[ 7pm only ]

An American In Paris @ Symphony Space
[ 8pm only ]

The Apartment @ Film Forum

Army Of Shadows @ Quad Cinema

Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales Of Several Journeys @ Anthology Film Archives
[ 4:30pm only ]

Legendary Weapons Of China @ Walter Reade Theatre
[ 2:30pm only ]

Man’s Castle @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 2:30pm only ]

Moonrise @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 6:30pm only ]

The Mortal Storm @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 4:30pm only ]

The Piano Teacher @ Anthology Film Archives
[ 9:15pm only ]

Rebecca @ BAM Rose Cinemas

Singin’ In The Rain @ Symphony Space
[ 6pm only ]

Stray Dog @ IFC Center
[ NOON only ]

The Wizard Of Oz @ Symphony Space
[ 4pm only ]

(William H. Macy in Edmond)

We’re becoming convinced that the Wayans brothers have invented some contraption that connects their toilet directly to projectors all over the world. How else do you explain crap like Little Man showing up on screens everywhere this week?

Unfortunately, though, there’s not a whole lot else to look forward to. Of course, nothing else will likely be as offensively bad and lame-brained as Little Man, but there’s a lot of questionable fare nonetheless.

There’s the sex farce of Mini’s First Time, about a girl who becomes a prostitute, taking her stepfather as a client.

There’s the additional sex farce of The OH In Ohio, which at least has an interesting cast, headed up by Parker Posey and Paul Rudd.

There’s the Owen Wilson summer comedy of You, Me And Dupree, that looks a bit too formulaic to offer more than fleeting entertainment.

There’s The Groomsmen, an Edward Burns retread of a previous Edward Burns retread of a previous Edward Burns film which was probably a retread of a Woody Allen film.

If you’re looking for better odds of satisfaction this week, however, there are a couple of films that warrant interest…

It’s usually a safe bet that François Ozon will deliver, so Time To Leave — the story of a photographer suffering from terminal cancer who is having trouble dealing with his loved ones — is of particular interest.

And we’re always a sucker for anything written by David Mamet. Add in William H. Macy and Edmond looks quite promising.

Also Opening:
Changing Times
Excellent Cadavers
Gabrielle
Peaceful Warrior

Official Websites:
Little Man
Mini’s First Time
The OH In Ohio
You, Me And Dupree
The Groomsmen
Time To Leave
Edmond
Peaceful Warrior

(Nicolas Cage in World Trade Center)

Jeffrey Wells gives the heads-up on two differing opinions on the upcoming World Trade Center. First, he has the link to Roger Friedman‘s acclamation for the version he saw:

An elegant, powerful, moving and genuinely personal document about the horrors that happened inside and outside of the World Trade Center… because of its scope, [it's] grander than United 93 and perhaps has some loftier cinematic aspirations. And as much as it’s all about the real men and women whose acts of courage nearly got them killed that day, World Trade Center is nonetheless an Oliver Stone film through and through.

Then a more critical view from a colleague:

It’s easily the most traditionally-shot film Stone has made in some time…no insane jump-cut editing, no bleached film stock… But it’s dull. The basic problem is that the two protagonists — Port Authority policemen trapped in the rubble of the fallen towers — are immobile for most of the film, which isn’t exactly cinematic…

The film is sincerely made, well acted, and there’s definitely some emotional catharsis at the end, but Greengrass’ United 93 is far, far better, for, I think, two reasons: the semi-doc style makes it very immediate; and most of United 93 is about how a variety of people and agencies reacted to the day’s events. This macro view seems to checkmate World Trade Center‘s micro viewpoint at every turn.

So, it seems one of the first hurdles for World Trade Center may be to live up to United 93. And after that, the hurdles may keep on coming.

(Sylvester Stallone in Rocky Balboa)

Self-Diagnosis: Morbid Curiosity

Self-Medication: The trailer for the upcoming Rocky Balboa, in which Sylvester Stallone returns to the title role, currently set for a December 22nd release.

(Karen Allen and Natalie Portman)

Head on over to Cinematical for a description of comments Karen Allen made after the Friday night screening of Raiders Of The Lost Ark at the Paris Theatre in NYC. We were at the Saturday night screening where someone asked a similar question about whether Allen would be involved with the supposedly upcoming fourth installment and found her answer and comment about the possibility of Natalie Portman being cast as Indiana Jones’ daughter to be much less committal. She said she’d heard many of the rumors going around, including the ones that both she and Kate Capshaw might be asked to appear. She continued, saying that she had not been approached by anyone about it, but that she’d also recently heard a rumor that Natalie Portman was being considered to play a possible daughter character. She then said that the previous night’s screening had been her first occasion in quite some time to watch the film and she’d made an observation about the scene on the freight ship before the Nazis recapture the duo along with the ark:

Her character is seen waking up in bed as Harrison Ford is getting dressed and she appears to be without clothing beneath the blankets as she pulls her slip from behind the bed to dress herself, a smile across her face. According to Allen, she’d either forgotten or had just realized that this scene might infer that the couple had “had a wild night.” She then speculated that, if the rumors about Portman were true, it might make sense that this could be seen as the possible moment of conception for the character.

To be clear, Allen framed all her comments as rumors and her own speculation. Who, knows, though? Maybe she knows more than she could let on and felt she’d been too forward the previous evening and had made the decision to soften her comments at the second Q&A. Maybe not, but either way, she was a wonderful and gracious speaker and we’d love to see her play Marion Ravenwood again. And, we have to say, casting Portman as her daughter would seem to be a rather sound decision.

(Harrison Ford and Karen Allen in Raiders Of The Lost Ark)

for the last quarter century, Raiders Of The Lost Ark has pretty much been the standard to which adventure films have strived to match. And no matter how many times you’ve seen it on television or DVD, it’s one of those films that demands to be seen on the big screen whenever possible. Well, it’s possible this weekend at The Paris Theatre. Both Friday and Saturday nights at 10pm, the film will show and will be followed by Q&A sessions with star Karen Allen. The Paris is a great theater, Raiders is a great film, and Karen Allen is a great actress, so we suggest you attend. The Paris Theatre is located at 4 West 58th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues and it will soon have a full website launched.

(Still from Once In A Lifetime)

Head over to Coming Soon for an interview with John Battsek, producer of Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos. It opens tomorrow.

(Gael García Bernal in The Science Of Sleep)

The North American trailer for Michel Gondry’s upcoming The Science Of Sleep is finally online and we suggest taking a look.

The film is set to open September 15th.

(Adrien Brody in Hollywoodland)

Hollywoodland stars Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins and Ben Affleck in a story about the investigation into the mysterious death of George Reeves, the actor best known for starring in the title role of the 1950s TV series Adventures Of Superman. The film’s trailer is now available at Yahoo! Movies.

The film is currently set to open on September 8th.

(Two NYC Documentaries)

Pirates, pirates, pirates. We never really bought into the first one as the cultural phenomenon it was supposed to be, so we can’t claim to have very high expectations for — or even much interest in — Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Johnny Depp is likely entertaining as usual, but, sorry, we like a little more story in our stories. Who needs black pearls or dead mens’ chests when a Michael Curtiz/Errol Flynn collaboration on DVD is so much more enjoyable. Next…

Ah, but A Scanner Darkly on the other hand… First off, it’s based on Philip K. Dick, so at least it springs from a quality source. Second, it’s nice to see director Richard Linklater’s rotoscope animation applied to material that it would seem to compliment naturally. We are admirers of his previous effort of the type, Waking Life, but where that film’s technique seemed to motivate the story, this one’s story seems to motivate the technique.

We’re also especially excited for a pair of New York-centric documentaries…

As previously stated we were privy to an early rough cut of Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos that we found to be extremely entertaining and informative. We recommend it highly.

Then there’s Kill Your Idols, an exploration of the New York post-punk and alternative music scene springing from the city’s Seventies heyday. Seeing as we’re a spin-off of a music site dealing with current New York post-punk and alternative — or “indie” as the kids say these days — artists, it’s safe to say this doc is of particular interest.

Also Opening:
Beowulf & Grendel
Heading South

Official Websites:
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
A Scanner Darkly
Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos
Kill Your Idols (MySpace)
Beowulf & Grendel

(Keanu Reeves in A Scanner Darkly)

Coming Soon has an interview with A Scanner Darkly director Richard Linklater and stars Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder.

A look at the movies from yesteryear playing in the city this weekend:

(Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity)

Friday, June 30th

Afropunk @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 4:30pm only ]

Army Of Shadows @ Quad Cinema

Car Wash @ IFC Center
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

Dancehall Queen @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 9:30pm only ]

Double Indemnity @ Film Forum

In Calabria @ MoMA
[ 8:30pm only ]

Marianne @ Walter Reade Theatre

Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 2pm only ]

Paris Is Burning @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 4:30pm only ]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show @ Clearview Chelsea
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

The School Of Flesh @ Walter Reade Theatre

Showgirls @ Two Boots Pioneer Theatre
[ 11pm only ]

Waking Life @ Landmark Sunshine Cinema
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

Yojimbo @ IFC Center
[ NOON ]

(Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange)

Saturday, July 1st

Afropunk @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 9:30pm only ]

Army Of Shadows @ Quad Cinema

The Band Wagon @ MoMA
[ 5:30pm only ]

Barry Lyndon @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 4pm only ]

Car Wash @ IFC Center
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

A Clockwork Orange @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 1:30pm only ]

Delicious @ MoMA
[ 3:30pm only ]

Double Indemnity @ Film Forum

Goodfellas @ Symphony Space
[ 5pm only ]

My Neighbors The Yamadas @ MoMA
[ 4:30pm only ]

Paris Is Burning @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 9:30pm only ]

Pressure @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 2pm only ]

Punk: Attitude @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 6:50pm only ]

Real Women Have Curves @ MoMA
[ 8:15pm only ]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show @ Clearview Chelsea
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

Sanjuro @ @ IFC Center
[ NOON ]

Scarface @ Symphony Space
[ 2pm only ]

Seventh Heaven @ MoMA
[ 6pm only ]

The Straight Story @ MoMA
[ 3pm only ]

Street Angel @ MoMA
[ 8:15pm only ]

Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans @ MoMA
[ 4pm only ]

Tess Of The Storm Country @ MoMA
[ 5:30pm only ]

Waking Life @ Landmark Sunshine Cinema
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

Yankee Doodle Dandy @ New York Public Library Donnell Center
[ 2:30pm only ]

(Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot)

Sunday, July 2nd

Army Of Shadows @ Quad Cinema

Barry Lyndon @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 4pm only ]

Black Panthers @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 9:30pm only ]

Car Wash @ IFC Center
[ MIDNIGHT MOVIE ]

A Clockwork Orange @ Museum Of The Moving Image
[ 1:30pm only ]

Dancehall Queen @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 6:50pm only ]

Goodfellas @ Symphony Space
[ 5pm only ]

The Lucky Star @ MoMA
[ 1:30pm only ]

Monsters, Inc. @ MoMA
[ 2pm only ]

Portait Of Jason @ BAM Rose Cinemas
[ 4:30pm only ]

Scarface @ Symphony Space
[ 2pm only ]

Some Like It Hot @ Film Forum

Yojimbo @ IFC Center
[ NOON ]

(Still from Superman Returns)

A list of new and recently released films playing in New York as of Friday that we suggest for your viewing pleasure:

Art School Confidential
Brick
Cars
Down In The Valley
The Heart Of The Game
The Hidden Blade
An Inconvenient Truth
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man
Lower City
Over The Hedge
A Prairie Home Companion
The Proposition
Rank
The Road To Guantanamo
Russian Dolls
Strangers With Candy
Superman Returns
United 93
Water
Who Killed The Electric Car?
Wordplay

(Still from Once In A Lifetime)

We were lucky enough to see a very early cut of Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Rise Of The New York Cosmos quite some time ago. We enjoyed it quite a lot and look forward to seeing the final version. For those unfamiliar, the Cosmos was New York’s wildly successful professional soccer team in the 1970s. Jeffrey Wells has a desciprtion by Lewis Beale that sums it up nicely:

The World Cup probably isn’t even on your radar, but on July 7th, two days before the final, Miramax is opening Once In A Lifetime , an incredibly entertaining documentary about the astonishing rise and fall of the New York Cosmos soccer team in the 1970s and ’80s. Founded on a whim by Time-Warner chairman Steve Ross and the Ertegun brothers, the Cosmos, for a too-brief period, boasted the talents of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto, three of the biggest stars in the world. And they were selling out games at 77,000 seat Giants Stadium. And stars like Mick Jagger visited the locker room. And the team members were welcomed as VIPs at Studio 54. And by 1985, only eight years after Pele retired, the team was defunct. And now two Brit documentarians, Paul Crowder and John Dower, have turned this story into a very hip film on power, excess, stardom and the wild and crazy ’70s in New York. Once in a Lifetime has a great soundtrack filled with soul and disco music of the time, and plenty of tasty interviews with the parties involved. What makes it so great is also the fact that you don’t have to know anything about soccer or the Cosmos to enjoy it — it’s just flat-out entertaining and informative. A real winner.

For more on the movie, including the trailer, visit the official website. It opens on July 7th.

(Still from Spider-Man 3)

The teaser for Spider-Man 3 is finally online and, while the black costume doesn’t really look like the one in the comics, we think it still looks pretty cool. Head on over to the Apple Movie Trailers site to take a look and get your adrenaline pumping.