Friday, October 03, 2008

Is there anything worth watching in the year's busiest frame?

The surprising answer is yes, I think there are actually three movies in wide release that I want to see this week. And, well, there's also a movie about talking chihuahuas, but I guess you can't win them all, right?

For as long as my three-day weekend lasts (which may not be much longer, though I did manage to survive my newspaper's latest round of layoff/buyouts fairly intact), I'll probably go see three movies if I can find three I think are worthy of a matinee. Here's a look at what's available in a week that has, rather amazingly, seven new movies opening in wide release, in the order that I want to see them (and not including Bill Maher's "Religulous" for two reasons: It's not playing here and I wouldn't bother to see it anyway because that's simply not my cup of bile.)

1. "Blindness"
I'm willing to make one exception to my new rule that I will no longer watch the world end (yet again!), but only because this comes from the great Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, who created the simply perfect flick "City of God." (By the way, I recently watched the sequel of sorts, "City of Men" [pictured here], on DVD, and while it' a different kind of flick it is - in its own way - a compelling tale of coming of age on the rough streets of Rio.) Reviews have been surprisingly abysmal for this flick starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Diego Luna, but I'll find out for myself anyway, probably Saturday.

2. "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"
Roger Moore threw down the gauntlet of hyperbole by calling this flick "this generation's 'Say Anything'," but as comparisons go, here's hoping he's accurate. Extremely funny man Michael Cera and Kat Dennings star in a tale of two teens who find love and hopefully a lot of funny high jinks during a wild night in NYC.

3. "Appaloosa"
I'm really glad that 1. someone in Hollywood (in this case Ed Harris) loves old Westerns as much as I do and 2. this movie is actually playing in theaters near me, unlike the sublime "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," for which I had to settle for DVD. Here, Harris and Viggo Mortensen star as hired guns brought in to restore order to a town under the control of strongman Jeremy Irons. Renee Zelweger is unfortunately in here somehow too, but hopefully she won't have too much to do.

4. "Flash of Genius"
As silly and sappy as it is, there are just very few movies I love more than Francis Ford Coppola's "Tucker," so I've always had a soft spot for movies about the little guy and cars. Unfortunately, reviews so far have painted this flick starring Greg Kinnear as intermittent windshield wipers inventor Bob Kearns (and Gilmore Girl Lauren Graham as his wife, huzzah!) as too heavy on the courtroom and too light on inspiration. I'll wait a week, but if you see this one and I'm wrong, please let me know.

5. "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People"
I guess I shouldn't be surprised given the title of this one that Simon Pegg just looks extremely annoying in the trailer. I'll see it eventually, because I like movies about journalists and see just about anything with Jeff Bridges in it, but not this week.

6. "An American Carol"
With Michael Moore reduced to releasing his latest "movie," "Slacker Uprising," on the Internet for free, doesn't this flick just seem like a really mean-spirited case of kicking the man when he's already way down? I guess it's nice that Hollywood's Republicans get to have a little fun, but I'll wait until at least DVD to see this one.

7. "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"
I have to assume that this one will win the weekend, but I really have nothing to say about that.

Instead, check your multiplexes Saturday night for a possible sneak preview of "The Express," starring Rob Brown as Ernie Davis, the first black dude to win the Heisman trophy. "Glory Road" was just a crapfest of epicly bad proportions, but I have high hopes that this flick will be much better. Peace out.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Michael Moore deserves every kicking he's ever gotten.

geovani said...

The Studio just sent us a three new exclusive clips for "Glory Road". This one is titled "Cafeteria Game". You find the other clips at the links below the video. The movie opens today, so head to cinemas and check it out. "Glory Road" tells the inspiring true story of the underdog Texas Western basketball team, with history's first all African American starting lineup of players, who took the country by storm, surprisingly winning the 1966 NCAA tournament title.
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Buzz Marketing

Terence Towles Canote said...

Am I the only one who finds Kat Denning unbearably cute?

As to Beverly Hills Chihuahua, I think any movie about dogs that look more like rodents than canines can't be good....

Reel Fanatic said...

I can tell from the commercials that I'm going to agree with that assessment, Mercurie, but I'll find out for sure in about an hour or so

Fletch said...

Yeah, Moore really is an ass, huh? Always pissing people off while trying to help the world around him. What a dick! To think, he wants everyone to have affordable health care, not get laid off and not kill each other. The nerve of some people.

I haven't researched it or anything, but I'm pretty sure "his latest" is more or less a concert tour film form years back; hence the non-theatrical release.

As for me, already saw Religulous last night. Tops on my list for the weekend...

Reel Fanatic said...

I should give it a chance if it ever does open near me, Fletch, but Bill Maher is one of the few comedians who most of the world finds very funny but I just can't stand ... He's so arrogant and rude, and even though he doesn't offend me (because almost nothing does), he rarely entertains me either

Shorty said...

Pretty disappointed in the Blindness flick, although in fairness it's one of the gr8est books I've ever read so I knew going in that it wasn't going to be as good as the Jose Saramago novel...

Reel Fanatic said...

I put off seeing it a week because of the bad reviews, so I'm worried I'm gonna be just as disappointed as you were, but like you I'll see it anyway out of love for the book