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here for the previous week's New Movies
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here for 2010 OVERVIEW!
NEW
MOVIES! FEBRUARY 9 - FEBRUARY 15, 2010
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ACT OF GOD (dir: Jennifer
Baichwal, Not Rated) – Jennifer Baichwal, who made MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES, now sets her sights on creating a
BARAKA-ish meditation on the power of nature. Expect lots of slow motion shots of lightning set to vibey new age music. |
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*BRONSON (dir: Nicolas Winding
Refn, R) – This British bio-pic tells the story of a young criminal who was initially sentenced to a few years for robbery but liked prison so much he's now spent 34 years there, 30 in solitary confinement. Versatile Tom Hardy is terrific as the deranged young man who became a notorious celebrity in Great Britain. |
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COUPLES RETREAT (dir: Peter Billingsley, PG-13) – Oh, Vince. I thought you officially stopped caring when you made FRED CLAUS, THE BREAK-UP and FOUR CHRISTMASES. Little did I know how deep your apathy toward your own career runs. |
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DANTE'S INFERNO (dir: Victor Cook / Sang-Jin Kim, etc., Not Rated) – Oh, great. Now they're making cartoons out of poetry. At least Thom will be excited. |
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DARE (dir: Adam
Salky, R) – Bart said this teenage love triangle was really good but I don't know. I hate that Emmy Rossum and her face a lot and it sounds like a THREESOME retread. |
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DAYTIME DRINKING (dir:
Young-Seok Noh, Not Rated) – In this Korean comedy, a young man with a broken heart decides one drunken afternoon to go on a trip with his friends in order to take his mind off his romantic troubles. When they bail out with wicked hangovers, he goes it alone and meets an array of strange characters on a drunken road trip to self discovery. |
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ENDGAME (dir: Pete Travis, PG-13) – William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofer and Jonny Lee Miller star in this true story of the clandestine meetings that led to the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the freeing of Nelson Mandela. |
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FAMILIAR STRANGERS (dir: Zackary Adler, PG-13) – Shawn Hatosy plays a young writer who ventures home for Thanksgiving knowing that his father is still peeved at him for not taking over the family business. Add in a bunch of quirky family members and it all adds up to a movie that you've seen before and it was probably better the first time. |
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GIVE ME YOUR HAND (dir: Pascal-Alex Vincent, Not Rated) – Two identical twins head on a road trip through southern France to go to their estranged mother's funeral in Spain. Why didn't they fly? I guess boring scenes of handsome twins brooding just works better with nice scenery in the background. |
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HURRICANE SEASON (dir: Tim Story, PG-13) – Since the New Orleans Saints just won the Super Bowl, we officially don't have to watch this sappy drama about the high school basketball champions in Louisiana the year after Katrina. |
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I HATE VALENTINE'S DAY (dir: Nia
Vardalos, PG-13) – Nia Vardalos and John Corbett. Together again. You thought they'd never rekindle that average level of romantic chemistry that inexplicably made MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING a monster hit, did you? |
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ICE CASTLES (dir: Donald
Wrye, PG) – New girl. Still blind. Still ice-skating. |
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MOSCOW, BELGIUM (dir: Christophe Van
Rompaey, Not Rated) – A depressed mother in a depressing city in Belgium has a fender bender with a young man that results in a screaming match followed by an invitation for coffee. She's been ditched by a no-good husband and isn't interested in romance but this gritty slice-of-life may have other plans for her. |
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MY FUHRER (dir: Dani Levy, Not Rated) – Hitler is depressed. The war isn't going well and he's finding it hard to get out there and give motivational speeches. Enter Prof. Adolf Israel
Grünbaum, the Jewish acting coach, who'll help him get his mojo back. This biting satire lands somewhere between THE GREAT DICTATOR and THE PRODUCERS but is mostly noteworthy for making everyone in Germany very uncomfortable. |
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MY ONE AND ONLY (dir: Richard
Loncraine, PG-13) – Renee Zellweger plays a liberated lady in the early 50s who ditches philandering hubby Kevin Bacon and sets out on a road trip with her two sons to find a wealthy new mate. Terrifyingly, this is based on George Hamilton's childhood. |
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^A SERIOUS MAN (dir: Ethan Coen / Joel
Coen, R) – In the latest from The Coen Brothers, a middle-aged physics professor at a midwestern university watches as his tidy life falls apart all around him. His wife leaves him for an obnoxious acquaintance, his daughter treats him like he doesn't exist and his loser brother has been sleeping on his couch for a long time and show no signs of leaving. But don't worry. It's a comedy. |
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SERIOUS MOONLIGHT (dir: Cheryl Hines, R) – The late, great Adrienne Shelly penned this script shortly before her death and, rather than let it go unmade, pal Cheryl Hines decided to make her directorial debut with it. Meg Ryan plays a high-powered attorney who takes matters into her own hands with her adulterous husband. |
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THE SONG OF SPARROWS (dir: Majid
Majidi, PG) – Majid Majidi, the director of THE COLOR OF PARADISE, BARAN and CHILDREN OF HEAVEN, proves once again why he's one of Iran's top filmmakers with this poignant tale of an Ostrich farmer struggling to provide for his family inn an increasingly modern and forbidding world. |
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THE STEPFATHER (dir: Nelson McCormick, Unrated) – As if I'm going to settle for just any old 80s remake. This year will see the release of new versions of CLASH OF THE TITANS, THE KARATE KID, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and RED DAWN. Sorry, THE STEPFATHER. There's just no point in watching you when there are so many excitingly unnecessary sequels right around the corner. |
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THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE (dir: Robert
Schwentke, PG-13) – This was originally going to come out in November or something but then some genius decided that they could release it the week of Valentine's Day and then no hapless male could reasonably refuse his beloved's request to watch it on date night. Gross. Calculatingly brilliant. But gross. |
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THE TRIAL BEGINS (dir: Vincenzo
Marra, Not Rated) – In this Italian film, a Tom Ripley-ish character tries to make his name in society by bedding powerful older ladies like Fanny
Ardant. Apparently, this was intended as a savage indictment of modern Italian society. |
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XIII: THE CONSPIRACY (dir: Duane Clark, R) – The first female US President has just been assassinated. Somebody get Val Kilmer. And get Stephen Dorff too. |
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= GREG's pick of the week! ^ = Bart's
pick of the week! |
