What Are You Seeing This Weekend? The ‘Star Trek’ Franchise Faces Off Against Indies ‘Frances Ha’ & ‘Erased’

We haven’t hit Memorial Day Weekend yet, but it’s official: Summer Blockbuster Season is underway. Between comic books, Michael Bay‘s latest flick, a Tom Cruise vehicle, and summer dalliances in the Hamptons, the second installment of the rebooted “Star Trek” franchise almost seems superfluous. Almost. Still, there’s plenty of other delightful fare at the cinemas: another “Taken” imitation, a New-York-set coming-of-late-20s-ager,
a B-horror movie set in Maine, a Korean thriller that may or may not
feature Oedipal urges, and plenty of engaging documentaries. So enjoy the early onset of summer, faithful readers! And tell us what you want to see to celebrate it in the comments below!

“Star Trek Into Darkness” opened Thursday. Directed by J.J. Abrams. Starring Chris Pine, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Anton Yelchin. Our review: “For the first hour or so, it’s just as enjoyable as the original, but by
the time the credits roll, there’s a sense that you’re undernourished
and unsatisfied; you’ve been on a decent ride, but not one that really
adds up to anything by the time you’re done. ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’
is a long, long way from a disaster, but it’s hard not to feel that
Abrams’ mystery box turned out to be a bit empty this time out.” Metacritic: 73 Rotten Tomatoes: 87% The Playlist: C+

“Erased.” Directed by Philipp Stolzl. Starring Aaron Eckhart, Liana Liberato, and Olga Kurylenko. Our review: “Zealots may deem Eckhart damn near un-American for starring in a film
that is so openly critical of American intervention. But maybe that’s us
reading way too much into what turns out in the end to be a solid VOD
release, with Eckhart lifting his leading role out of anonymity and
claiming it with a driven if not outstanding performance.” MC: 35 RT: 19% PL: B-

“Black Rock.” Directed by and starring Katie Aselton. Also starring Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell, Will Bouvier, Jay Paulson, and Anselm Richardson. Our review: “Some more strident and narrow-minded horror fanatics — not fans, but
fanatics — will possibly find ‘Black Rock’ too talky, or not violent
enough…but if you like your scares smart, and like them to
happen to people you actually care about, then Aselton’s island of
friendship and fury is a nice place to visit.” MC: 46 RT: 39% PL: B-

“Pieta.” Directed by Kim Ki-Duk. Starring Lee Jung-jin and Cho Min-soo. Our review: “The film contains some memorable moments, and a pair of fine
performances, but it’s hard not to feel that it would have proved more
successful if it had stayed on the path it was heading down for the
first forty minutes or so.” MC: 68 RT: 73% PL: C+

“Augustine.” Directed by Alice Winocour. Starring Vincent Lindon, Soko, Chiara Mastroianni, and Olivier Rabourdin. A contemporary perspective infuses this evocatively acted drama about a Victorian Era psychoanalyst and his female patient. MC: 79 RT: 87%

“State 194.” Directed by Dan Setton.
The facts about Palestine’s struggle for statehood are presented
clearly enough, employing a more local framework than any previous
coverage. However, the doc suffers from numerous digressions that don’t
contribute enough to the central message. MC: 61 RT: no score
yet