Burnt

“Burnt” is a cinematic grease fire, a food movie that starts sour and quickly turns rancid.

Samba, The Outrageous Sophie Tucker

Samba

The Outrageous Sophie Tucker



Two selections from the arthouse make it five consecutive 2.5-star ratings this weekend:

The Intouchables

If the French box-office hit “The Intouchables” (another terrible title), about a paralyzed jillionaire who hires a black street tough as his caretaker, is supposed to be the feelgood movie of the summer, why did it make me so queasy? Oh, yeah – because it’s a minstrel show. Omar Sy plays Driss, the Senegalese small-timer whom François Cluzet’s Philippe picks for the job because of his ostensible indifference to it (he only shows up to his appointment to qualify for unemployment benefits) and the “lack of pity” his stuffy brother warns him is endemic to Driss’s type. Sy won a César for his performance, and I’m happy for him, but you may blanch when the filmmakers have Driss shuck and jive to Earth, Wind & Fire after taking childish potshots at Philippe’s beloved classical music.