The Town, The Devil, and Emma Stone

It's been a long hot dry spell, but finally some high quality films are hitting the multiplex. Big opener this weekend is The Town: Ben Affleck stars in and directs a gritty crime thriller that is getting good to excellent reviews. (If you pay attention to movies at all, you’ve heard about this one; my film buff daughter turns 22 tomorrow and all she wants to do is see The Town and then have us take her out to a cool, pricey bar for dinner. This is part of a broader scope of birthday events that do not include her parents, but, we're happy she slotted us in.) In spite of the early critical enthusiasm, the LA Times reports that Easy A, the teen caper comedy very loosely based on The Scarlett Letter, is likely to beat The Town for the weekend box office crown. Apparently teen age girls are very reliable moviegoers. But, I imagine you saying, The Town has Jon Hamm! Don't teenage girls want to see Jon Hamm? Well, maybe not. He is like, 39, or something. Easy A has gotten some good reviews, most of the critics attributing the film's quality to the performance of its star, Emma Stone. Devil, a scare fest based on an idea from M. Night Shyamalan but written and directed by somebody else, will also hit screens (lots of them) this weekend. It’s about a bunch of people stuck in an elevator with Lucifer himself, and whenever the power flickers someone gets offed. No doubt there’s a twist at the end. Hardly any critics have seen this film, the few reviews out there are middling to bad.

If you happen to live in New York or Los Angeles, you can catch Never Let Me Go, playing in a handful of locations.  Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, it's a sci-fi tale about cloned children who are raised to become organ donors.  Early reviews say it is slow moving but brilliant.  Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightly star.  Also in limited release is a French movie called Heartbreaker; it's an entertaining old school romantic comedy, more Cary Grant/Doris Day than Jennifer Aniston/whoever. Fun to watch.  And if none of these appeal to you well, there's always Resident Evil, still playing everywhere.

My choices: The Town, Never Let Me Go, Easy A.  In that order.