Snarky's Cinemachine

The action thriller flick Salt starring Angelina Jolie opens today and I plan to be there for the earliest showing possible (to avoid the crowds and I have tons of grant writing to do this weekend!) in order to vote with my dollars for the kind of movie, which while not perfect, is light years ahead of much of the other big budget releases featuring women this summer.

When questioned as to why my film criticism tends emphasize mainstream offerings, my response is usually, "Because that's where the people are." I actively consume and thoroughly appreciate obscure, art house fare where dialogue is delivered in urgent whispers; lives are complicated by eccentric passions and heartbreaking twists of fate. That said, I'm also a very pragmatic pop culture consumer, rejecting the notion that critically conscious content should be relegated to low budget art films screened far away from the masses.

Movie audiences dissatisfied with summer cinema offerings are eagerly looking towards fall releases in hopes finding a reprieve from the foul, unwatchable dreck currently polluting multiplexes. Here are two that have piqued my interest.