Things looking ‘Up’ this week

Four films join the summer movie parade in Spokane/Coeur d’Alene this week:

“Up”: This Disney/Pixar release may not, at first glance, tend to attract a wide audience. After all, a cranky old man holds hardly the same attraction as lovable monsters and/or robots. But Pixar does have an enviable record. And if the trailers are any indication, always a valid question, then this story about an elderly guy’s attempts to fly away with his house under a cloud of gas-filled balloons should prove to be one of the more entertaining views of the year. (1:36; rated PG for peril action)

“Drag Me to Hell”: Two words are relevant here: Sam Raimi. In other hands, this film about a young women (Alison Lohman) being cursed might be just one more half-baked study in horror. But Raimi is the man who gave us the “Evil Dead” series, the three “Spider-Man” films and other assorted other efforts from “Dark Man” to “The Gift.” It should provide at least a couple of chills, just the thing for 80-degree weather. (1:39; rated PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images, language)

“Beauty in Trouble”: Speaking of AMC Select, which I make sure to do on occasion, this little Czech entry is a perfect example of a film that likely will play to a half dozen viewers before departing after its first week. Which is too bad. It tells the story of a woman, mother of two, who stumbles into a relationship with an older rich guy and their slow move toward intimacy. Roger Ebert is high on it, calling it the kind of film “that achieves one simple but difficult thing: It pleases you.” What else does one need? (1:50; not rated)

“Sugar”: This is one for baseball fans, centered as it is on the story of a talented 19-year-old Dominican pitcher (Algenes Perez Soto) who is recruited to play in the U.S. He ends up in Iowa, struggling to deal with culture clash and injury. This might seem the perfect setup for a standard Hollywood film. But the film’s co-directors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, made “Half Nelson,” the offbeat film that won Ryan Gosling a 2007 Best Actor Oscar nomination. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calls the film “raw and riveting.” Sounds interesting. (2:00; rated R for language, sexuality, drug use)

Below: The trailer for “Beauty in Trouble.”