Going “Up,” “Offshore” and Down to “Hell”

This week there's a movie for every direction in theaters.

“Owl and the Sparrow”
Having moved through the crew ranks from gaffer to cinematographer to writer/director, the versatile Stephane Gauger took the Audience Award at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival for this unashamedly sentimental debut about the spirited exploits of a matchmaking Vietnamese orphan. Gauger’s warm tale sees rose-seller Thuy (Nguyen Hau) act as cupid to Lan, a lonely airhostess (Cat Ly), and Hai (The Lu Le), a kindly zookeeper. In Vietnamese with subtitles.
Opens in New York.

“Pressure Cooker”
While she might not exhibit the bleep-machine melting megalomania of the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Philadelphia culinary instructor Wilma Stephenson cares every bit as much about culinary excellence, and even more about the students that come through her classroom. Co-directed by Mark Becker and Jennifer Grausman, “Pressure Cooker” is a no-frills peek into the public school system that follows Stephenson as she carefully guides a trio of promising young chefs through a turbulent year as they compete for a coveted culinary school scholarship.
Opens in New York, followed by Los Angeles on June 5th and Philadelphia on June 12th.

“Pontypool”
The zombie is one of cinema’s most versatile performers, ably serving to slight everything from consumerism (“Dawn of the Dead”) to the politics of occupation (“28 Weeks Later”). In cult Canadian helmer Bruce McDonald’s slow-burning, single-location undead thriller, it’s talk radio and the alarming level of obedience exhibited by its listeners. Stephen McHattie stars as Grant Mazzy, a big-city shock jock banished to the sticks after one outburst too many, where he finds himself and his colleagues marooned in a radio station after language itself becomes a virus seemingly capable of transforming ordinary folk into crazed killers.
Opens in limited release.

“Up”
This typically whimsical Pixar tale of an elderly curmudgeon and his pudgy, eight-year-old Wilderness Explorer sidekick arrives in theaters after serving as the first animated film to open Cannes. Ed Asner voices the pensioner protagonist Karl Fredricksen, who sets off in his all-too-literal homemade airship for the wilds of South America, only to discover he has an overly talkative stowaway (newcomer Jordan Nagai) for company.
Opens wide and in Disney Digital 3D.

“What Goes Up”
Despite supporting roles in several comedy blockbusters (“Tropic Thunder”, “Night at the Museum”), Steve Coogan is still searching for that breakout leading role in a U.S. film. Sadly, this borderline tasteless high school drama set in the days leading up to the Challenger disaster is unlikely to advance his cause. The debut from writer/director/producer Jonathan Glatzer finds the Brit comic playing a journalist sent to cover the human interest story of the first teacher in space, only to wind up bonding with a group of listless teen misfits (including Hilary Duff and Olivia Thirlby) who are reeling from their instructor’s death.
Opens in limited release.

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