Award Contenders

   The big release this week actually came out Wednesday, September 1st.  I am talking about The American, starring George Clooney, of course.

   The early word seems very mixed on this one.  Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars, whereas other reviews I have read gave it a shocking 1 star rating.  There doesn’t seem to be a lot of in between with The American.  It seems you will either love it or hate it.  From most reports, it seems if you can be patient, and enjoy the stillness of the film, then you will most likely lean more towards the Ebert end of the spectrum.

   I, for one, have it circled as the must see this week.

   If highbrow, espionage films starring one of the best actors working today is not your thing, then no need to worry.  There are several other interesting choices that may fit your preferences out this weekend.

   See the rest of the movies out this weekend after the jump…
Read the rest of this entry »

   Not much to see this weekend, so if the re-release of Avatar (including a little over 8 minutes of new footage) is playing near you, then I might suggest returning to Pandora one more time to put even more money in James Cameron’s pockets.  Seriously though, if you are one of the 6 people in the world who missed this film the first time it was in theatres, then you should definitely take advantage of this second chance to see it.  It may just blow your mind.

   Also out this weekend is The Last Exorcism (and let’s hope it holds true to its word, cause God knows we do not need anymore films on Exorcism’s;  for the real deal, rent William Friedkin’s original classic, The Exorcist).  I don’t think we are going to see anything here that we haven’t seen several times before.

   Another option is Takers, but I don’t see bad movies with bad casts (Chris Brown and Hayden Christensen star).

   Centurion (Michael Fassbender) is out in limited release and looks like a pretty decent swords and sandals epic.  Fassbender is a Roman soldier who leads a raid to rescue an imprisoned general.  The trailer looks dark and gritty and is my recommendation for the week if playing near you.

   This is the perfect weekend to catch up on a good book, or your spring cleaning, or to see Inception again! 

   Your choices this week for On Video and In Theatres are at all time lows.  But if a cheesy, campy, over-the-top remake where prehistoric fish make mince meat out of swimmers is your thing, then I have just the film for you!

   Piranha 3-D stars Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell, and Richard Dreyfuss (say what??).  Not sure how a terrible film can be remade into another terrible film, but I have a feeling Piranha 3-D will show us just how it’s done.

   Also out this weekend is Emma Thompson’s sequel to a movie I never saw, Nanny McPhee Returns.  I’m sure the first take was charming enough, as Emma Thompson films almost always are.  If you need a movie to take the kids to see, I’d be willing to bet that you could do much worse than this film.  That cast alone could give you hope.  Along with Thompson are Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ryhs Ifans, Maggie Smith, and Ewan McGregor.

   For those of you who love the Spoof genre, Vampires Suck may end up your selection for the week.  Mainly poking fun at the Twilight series, the movie centers around a girl who has to choose between two “boys”, and endures endless drama along the way.

   Lottery Ticket (Bow-Wow, Ice Cube and Brandon T. Jackson) and The Switch (Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman and Jeff Goldblum) are also in theatres. 

   As for me, Get Low (Robert Duvall and Bill Murray) expands wider to my city this week, so I plan on seeing that.  What will you be seeing?

   There are a lot of movies out this weekend, so let’s start with one for the ladies…

   Julia Roberts is back in Ryan Murphy’s (Running With Scissors) new romantic dramedy Eat Pray Love, which centers around a woman fed up with her mundane life.  After a painful divorce, she seeks to change everything around her by escaping on a journey that will take her all over the world.  Billy Crudup, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, James Franco and Javier Bardem also star in this film that Oprah has been backing for the last few weeks.

   Now one for the guys.  And I mean the Man’s Men of guys.  Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables comes to theatres this week, and for those of you who loved the action packed films of the 80′s (think Commando or Rambo First Blood: Part 2) this is the film you have been waiting your whole life for!  The star-studded cast includes Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Eric Roberts and Dolph Lundgren.  I know you didn’t even finish that sentence… you either ran out the door to get tickets or skipped ahead to the next paragraph.  I’d tell you what this film is about, but I’m doubting the film even knows that.  Expect a lot of buildings blowing up and people running faster than the bullets that are being shot at them by hundreds of bad guys.

   See what I would recommend seeing this weekend after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

   After being disappointed by Dinner For Schmucks last weekend, I am more than a little hesitant about the new Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg buddy comedy, The Other Guys, which appears to be the big release this weekend.

   Directed by Adam McKay (who teamed up to direct Ferrell previously in Talladega Nights and Anchorman), The Other Guys is about two less than average cops who are struggling to make a name for themselves, when they stumble across a chance to take down one of New York City’s biggest criminals.  To see the trailer click here, and keep your fingers crossed that this will not be something you regret seeing.  The Other Guys also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

   Also out this weekend that may be worth seeing is Middle Men, the movie about a few business men in the mid 1990′s and their pursuit to bring adult entertainment to the internet.  Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, and Gabriel Macht star.

   In limited release this weekend is Rob Reiner’s Flipped, the 1950′s based childhood love story.  For those who love nostalgia, this may be the movie for you. 

   Also out this week is Step Up 3-D (cause we really needed a dance movie in 3-D), and Twelve (starring 50 Cent, Chace Crawford and Emma Roberts).

   There’s a lot out this weekend!  Let’s begin with the films that will be in wide release.

   Jay Roach’s comedy,  Dinner for Schmucks, is my defaulted choice for this weekend (see my preferred choice in the limited release section after the jump).  Roach previously brought us Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers, as well as the Austin Powers movies, so the pedigree for something wildly hilarious is there.  Throw in Paul Rudd (who is among the best straight-men in comedic roles), Steve Carell (The Office) and Zack Galifianakis (The Hangover) and you have a cast worth shelling out a few bucks to see.

   Rudd’s character is a young man rising quickly in an executive workplace, who finds himself invited to a special kind of dinner.  His task is to bring the biggest schmuck he can find (Carell) in order to gain special advantages at work.  If this is anywhere near as funny as the trailer indicates, Dinner for Schmucks will be well worth seeing.

   Also out in wide release this weekend are Charlie St. Cloud (sounds dreamy, doesn’t it?  …gag me) which stars Zac Efron (oh… now I get the overly cute titular name) as a boy who loses his brother in a car accident, only to discover that he can still communicate with his spirit; and Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore in which dogs and cats work together to trump an evil spy cat.  I am so not looking forward to when my kids are the age where they want to see this kind of movie.  God help me.  Hopefully they prefer the Descpicable Me’s and Toy Story 3′s when their time comes!

   See more new releases after the jump…
Read the rest of this entry »

     Quite a bit to see this weekend, depending on where you live.  But before seeing anything that is new, may I suggest seeing Inception if you have not yet already?   You won’t be disappointed!

   For some, The Kids Are All Right gets a wider release this weekend.  If the family dramedy starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo is in your city then move it to the top of your list of films to see.  The film looks exceptional, and could end up a contender in several categories come Oscar time.  I am going to do everything I can to see this one this weekend.

   Salt, the spy-thriller starring the queen of action herself, Angelina Jolie, is another film I plan on catching sometime this weekend or next week.  Salt has the looks of what a true popcorn flick should be, something we have greatly missed out on this summer.  Here’s hoping!

   Check out the films in more limited release after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

   IT IS FINALLY HERE!!!

   Excuse my over anticipation just a little, but this has been one of the weakest movie summer’s in recent memory.  But with hope, my dear readers, the light at the end of the tunnel may have finally just arrived.

   Director Christopher Nolan’s (The Dark Knight) Inception is the absolute must see of the weekend and/or summer.  In fact, if it is as good as I expect it to be, this will probably be one to see a second time before you see anything else.  Now, I don’t want to kill it with over-hype (too late), so I will balance my extreme optimism out by saying that there have been a few mixed reviews from the critics.  But word from most (especially the ones I trust, think Roger Ebert) have given the film glowing reviews.

   Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, a thief whose specialty is to steal secrets from his targets minds while they are unconscious.  Along with Leo, the film stars Michael Caine, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Tom Hardy, and Ken Watanabe. 

   Also out this weekend is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, starring Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina and the screen goddess herself, Monica Bellucci.  Based on the trailer alone, I don’t feel any desire to ever see this movie.  However, if you liked The Prince of Persia (or films like it), this may be for you. 

   Be sure to check back later this weekend to see my review and thoughts on Inception!  There will probably need to be spoiler alerts, so be sure to see it first!