At the Movies With Peter Travers: ‘Machete,’ ‘The American’ and More
What new flicks should you see (or not see) this Labor Day weekend, as the summer movie season draws to a close? Peter Travers breaks it down for you in this week’s At the Movies. You first choice should be director Robert Rodriguez’s Machete, an all-star B-movie spawned from a spoof trailer in Grindhouse. Danny Trejo stars as Machete, a knife-chucking renegade at war with drug dealer Steven Seagal and the corrupt Senator McLaughlin, played by Robert DeNiro at his hammiest. Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan and Michelle Rodriguez all make appearances as Machete’s lovers. Travers calls Machete “one crazy screwed-up movie,” bloodier than Pirahna 3D, but still a great time.
For the art house crowd, there’s The American, starring George Clooney as an assassin abroad who’s in search of love and a way out of his occupation. While the film is beautiful to look at — director Anton Corbijn is a renowned photographer — Travers laments that the film moves at a glacial pace, and that the action and characters are too remote.
The one movie to absolutely avoid this weekend: The rom-com Going the Distance, starring Justin Long and Drew Barrymore as a geographically challenged couple.
Travers wants your votes for the best and worst movies of the summer. Inception is his favorite; to find out his least favorite, watch At the Movies above — and be sure to hit up @petertravers on Twitter to let him know your picks.