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here for the previous week's New Movies
click
here for 2008 OVERVIEW!
NEW
MOVIES! NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 2, 2008
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BEAUTIFUL
OHIO (dir: Chad Lowe, Not Rated) – William Hurt should have
known better than to get involved with this half-baked dysfunctional
family drama set in the 70s. I guess the temptation to work with Rob
Lowe’s brother, Chad, on his directorial debut was just too great. |
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THE
BUSINESS (dir: Nick Love, R) – This British gangster thriller
set in Spain has many things going for it, including “more
swearing than SCARFACE.” |
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THE
CLIQUE (dir: Michael Lembeck, PG) – If you were worried your
pre-adolescent daughter wasn’t getting a proper indoctrination
into our vapid consumer culture, here’s 87 minutes of pure
brainwashing - all dressed up with a nice message about being true
to yourself tacked on insincerely. Actually, don’t even rent this.
Buy a few copies. Send them to Haiti. Those kids suck at shopping.
When’s the apocalypse again? |
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EL
LOBO (dir: Miguel Courtois, Not Rated) – A Spanish government
mole gets in way too deep in this fact-based thriller set in 1970s
Madrid. After the terrorist gang he’s infiltrated assassinates the
prime minister, he’s on his own. |
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FRED
CLAUS (dir: David Dobkin, PG) – I’m not sure why we need a
cast including Miranda Richardson, Paul Giamatti, Rachel Weisz,
Kathy Bates and Kevin Spacey for this Vince Vaughn flick. That’s a
whole lot of Oscars for a movie that will be perennially occupying a
TBS mid-afternoon slot on Christmas Eve in the near future. If
it’s lucky. |
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^THE
GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (dir: Mamoru Hosoda, Not Rated) –
Makoto is an average high school girl in many regards. But her
ability to time travel gives her an advantage when it comes to
homework, sports and bothering her little sister. This charming
anime is based on a classic Japanese sci-fi novel and isn’t even
very confusing. |
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HANCOCK
(dir: Peter Berg, Unrated) – Will Smith is probably pretty bummed
he won’t get to be America’s first black president. He still
gets to be our biggest movie star, though. He adds to his endless
string of blockbusters with this reluctant superhero spectacle. |
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THE
MARK OF CAIN (dir: Marc Munden, R) – Given the current
interest in movies about the Iraq war, which is zilch, the British
thought they might as well have one of their own. A cooler title
might have been LOTS OF SWEARING IN THE DESERT. |
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MEET
DAVE (dir: Brian Robbins, PG) – Eddie Murphy is less insane
than Michael Jackson, but more insane than Axl Rose. He probably
doesn’t hear a lot about the outside world, you know? But still,
one of his gurus or healers or somebody should have warned him that
an inadvertent sequel to THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH was probably
not in his best interest. |
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MILAREPA
(dir: Neten Chokling, Not Rated) – Did you know tobacco products
are absolutely illegal in Bhutan? Did you know the national sport of
Bhutan is archery? Well, neither of those fascinating facts has much
to do with this beautiful fable about an ancient Buddhist saint, but
it does make me think that it would be an interesting place to spend
a long weekend sometime. |
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NARUTO
THE MOVIE: GUARDIANS OF THE CRESCENT MOON KINGDOM (dir:
Toshiyuki Tsuru, Not Rated) – I can’t think of anything to say
about this zillionth Naruto movie so here are some more interesting
tidbits about Bhutan: Bhutan has been rated the happiest nation in
Asia and the 8th happiest nation in the world. Bhutan has a
population roughly half that of Maine. And in Bhutan, the first day
of monsoon season is a national holiday! |
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OF
LOVE AND EGGS (dir: Garin Nugroho, Not Rated) – Is this our
first Indonesian movie at B&G’s? That’s tight! The good
folks at Global Lens dug up this whimsical comedy about family
matters seen through the eyes of three children. |
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OVER THE G.W. (dir: Nick
Gaglia, Not Rated) – Vulnerable teenagers in New Jersey get abused, brainwashed and
imprisoned… in drug rehab. |
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*PLANET B-BOY (dir: Benson Lee, Not Rated) – This is without a doubt the awesomest documentary
you could imagine about breakdancing and its fascinating history and influence.
And “awesomest” isn’t a word, dummy. |
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POULTRYGEIST: NIGHT OF THE CHICKEN DEAD (dir: Lloyd Kaufman,
Unrated) – If you thought Troma would never top THE TOXIC AVENGER or CLASS OF NUKE ‘EM HIGH, you’re a very cynical and very sad little person. Even Entertainment Weekly said this ruled. |
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RIVER QUEEN (dir: Vincent Ward, R) – This romantic adventure with Keifer Sutherland and Samantha Morton set in
1800s New Zealand has had a real struggle getting a release. It was
made in 2004 but, despite positive notices, got caught up in some legal mumbo-jumbo and has been collecting dust ever since. |
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SMASHING PUMPKINS: IF ALL GOES WRONG (dir: Jack
Gulick, Not Rated) – Our dumb friend Dup made us get this documentary about the Smashing Pumpkins reformation and
consequent series of concerts in Asheville, North Carolina because he was there for all eleven nights. Happy now, Dup? |
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SPACE CHIMPS (dir: Kirk De
Micco, G) – The animation looks like it was created
on an 80s-era PC. The voice talent consists of Andy Samberg and Patrick
Warburton. We're sure not talking Pixar here - not by a longshot. |
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UNDER THE BOMBS (dir: Philippe
Aractingi, Not Rated) – After Israel bombs the heck out of Lebanon in 2006, a young woman convinces a taxi driver to help her search for her sister and son. As always, we’re grateful to the people at Film Movement for putting out these “difficult” movies. But it has been a while since they’ve had a quirky comedy from Uzbekistan or similar.
Geesh. Lighten up, dudes. |
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A WONDERFUL NIGHT IN SPLIT (dir: Arsen A.
Ostojic, Not Rated) – In the lovely coastal town of Split, Croatia, three stories involving drugs, depressed prostitutes and randy teenagers unfold over the course of one particular New Year’s Eve. |
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= GREG's
pick of the week! ^ =
Bart's pick of the week! |
