This Week’s Movies in L.A., 8/3/07-8/9/07

Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

(This is a weekly one-stop resource for movies screening in L.A., with Rotten Tomatoes/Metacritic averages, showtimes and more. Almost all of these movies are also either currently screening outside of L.A. or will be in the near future.)

Instead of the what-it’s-like-on-the-ground approach taken by the many Iraq documentaries thus far, No End in Sight attempts a more historical, and even bipartisan, overview of the whole bloody affair, and has received perhaps the best critical reception of any Iraq doc yet released (with the possible exception of last year’s Iraq in Fragments). It is said to be a painfully thorough indictment of the Bush administration’s mishandling of the war, regardless of whether one supports the idea behind it or not. After hitting New York first, it opens this week in L.A. Also opening this week to great reviews are skinhead drama This is England and, of course, The Bourne Ultimatum.

And opening to unsurprisingly terrible reviews is El Cantante, starring Marc Anthony in the biopic about the life of legendary salsa singer Hector Lavoe. The always unbearable J-Lo co-stars. At least the musical performances, as A. O. Scott writes, should be noteworthy.

Hector Lavoe – “El Cantante”: mp3

HIGHEST RATED FILMS SCREENING (8/3-8/9)

Note: RT and MC scores frequently change. Click on the movie titles for showtimes.

Avg. – RT – MC
96.0 – 96 – 96 – Ratatouille
92.5 – 97 – 88 – Once
92.0 – 95 – 89 – The Lives of Others
88.5 – 92 – 85 – No End in Sight
88.5 – 93 – 84 – The Bourne Ultimatum
88.0 – 91 – 85 – Knocked Up
87.0 – 93 – 81 – Hairspray
87.0 – 91 – 83 – This is England
84.5 – 89 – 80 – The Simpsons Movie
83.5 – 89 – 78 – Rescue Dawn
83.0 – 92 – 74 – Sicko
81.5 – 89 – 74 – Waitress
79.5 – 82 – 77 – Grindhouse
78.0 – 75 – 81 – Lady Chatterley

This week’s openings, music-related films, and special screening picks after the jump. [Continue reading…]

OPENING

Avg – RT – MC
88.5 – 92 – 85 – No End in Sight — LAT ‘relentless’ – LAW ‘Go’ – CB ‘infuriating’
88.5 – 93 – 84 – The Bourne Ultimatum — LAT ‘frenzied’ – LAW ‘Go’ – CB ‘thrilling’
87.0 – 91 – 83 – This is England — LAT ‘stirring’ – LAW ‘Go’ – CB ‘not enough’
59.5 – 57 – 62 – The Ten — LAT ‘dreadful’ – LAW ‘half-baked’ – CB ‘stale’
59.0 – 61 – 57 – Becoming Jane — LAT ‘over-fictionalized’ – LAW ‘pleasurable’ – CB ‘superficial’
57.0 – 55 – 59 – Laura Smiles — LAT ‘forced’ – LAW ‘Go’
37.5 – 28 – 47 – El Cantante — LAT ‘surface’ – LAW ‘turgid’ – CB ‘charming’
37.5 – 32 – 43 – Hot Rod — LAT ‘funny’ – LAW ‘interminable’ – CB ‘phony’
16.0 – 05 – 27 – Bratz — LAT ‘depravity’ – LAW ‘offensive’ – CB ‘fun’
xx.x – xx – xx – Gandhi, My Father — LAT ‘artificial’ – LAW ‘weak-kneed performance’
xx.x – xx – xx – Underdog
(LAT = L.A. Times; LAW = L.A. Weekly; CB = L.A. CityBeat)

LAST WEEK’S OPENINGS, STILL SCREENING

Avg – RT – MC
84.5 – 89 – 80 – The Simpsons Movie — LAT ‘safer’ – LAW ‘Go’ – CB ‘hilarious’
73.0 – 80 – 66 – Moliere — LAT ‘pushy’ – LAW ‘Go’ – CB ‘trifle’
65.0 – 64 – 66 – Arctic Tale — LAT ‘schmaltzy’ – LAW ‘Go’
46.0 – 42 – 50 – No Reservations — LAT ‘one-dimensional’ – LAW ‘Go’ – CB ‘unsteady’
14.0 – 10 – 18 – Who’s Your Caddy? — LAT ‘smart’ – LAW ‘terrible’
11.0 – 06 – 16 – I Know Who Killed Me — LAT ‘tawdry’ – LAW ‘Go’

SPECIAL SCREENINGS:

Saturday, Eisenstein’s watershed silent epic, Battleship Potemkin, plays at both the Billy Wilder at the Hammer and at the Steve Allen Theater, with both screenings accompanied by live music. Also, Coen Brothers comedy double bill of The Big Lebowski and The Hudsucker Proxy at the New Beverly on Friday and Saturday. And I must say I’m intrigued by Julie Delpy’s upcoming feature directorial debut, 2 Days in Paris, which advance screens at the Arclight on Tuesday, August 7, with both Delpy and co-star Adam Goldberg participating in a Q&A.

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