Weekend Movie Forecast: Sucker Punch Vs. Mildred Pierce

Say what you will about Zack Snyder, but that nerdy ass-clown has actually made a name for himself. Now, we're pretty sure that when Truffaut wrote about auteur theory in Cahiers du Cinema all those years ago, he was thinking of directors like Hitchcock or Kurosawa while building his hypothesis. Since then, the notion of the auteur has, more or less, become an acceptable term in film theory. What they fail to mention in film textbooks, however, is that auteurs are not limited to good films. In fact, you can be an auteur of bad films, as long as you leave some indelible mark signaling the fact that you made it. How about an extreme, dramatic, slow-mo shot that looks like it came out of a video game as an indelible mark?! Check. We don't know if anyone has said it before, but we'll be the first: Zack Snyder is an auteur... albeit one who specializes in hyper-commercialized, frigidly digital, emotionally vacuous, mass consumed, effects-driven shit shows. This might sound harsh, but the only way Zack Snyder would ever have been seen as a "good" director would have been if he died immediately after filming the opening scene in Dawn of the Dead ("What potential!"). Nevertheless, people are big fans of his work (which is specifically what he intended, so we guess he's smarter than we think). Today, his newest film Sucker Punch comes out. It follows a girl named Babydoll, who, after being institutionalized, begins possibly fantasizing, or not, about escaping this evil prison with the help of three equally hot ladies with equally ridiculous names. We're not sure what to make of this thing. It looks like it's attempting to be a kinda sorta female empowerment fantasy, yet one dreamed up by a 12-year-old boy. Who knows? Could be fun.Reviews have been terrible, but we're pretty sure that some of you already have your tickets and could care less what the critics think. For the rest of you, we point you to A.O. Scott at The TImes who says: "You could go to see Sucker Punch this weekend â a lot of people probably will, and a few may even admit as much back at the office on Monday â or you could try to make it yourself, which might be more fun, though not necessarily cheaper. Hereâs what you will need: a bunch of video-game platforms; DVDs of Shutter Island, Kill Bill, Burlesque and Shrek; some back issues of Maxim; a large bag of crystal meth; and around $100 million. Your imagination will take care of the rest. But there is nothing here to enjoy, beyond the tiny satisfaction in noting that the movie lives up to its name." — Gothamist

Robert Horan

Published Mar 25, 2011

Modified Mar 25, 2011

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Click on the film stills for more details and reviews of this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include: Sucker Punch, Mildred Pierce, Potiche, Attenburg, Peep World, Miral, White Irish Drinkers, Tyrannosaur, Curling, and Irreversible.