What to see this weekend: 11/30-12/02

As we bridge the gap between the month of November and December this month there stands a vast array of directions you can head if you're looking to spend some money at a movie theater this weekend. As I've indicated in previous posts, there is some good shit in theaters. Between The Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, Lincoln, Wreck-It Ralph, Flight, Argo and Life of Pi, you have a huge variety of movies you could see that are all above 75 % on the tomatometer. I'm still skeptical about Life of Pi because I haven't seen it and it looks too effects driven, but all those other films I mentioned above are well worth seeing, and are probably still playing at a local theater around you.

That goes with the season though. While the summer is mostly a hodge-podge of the big budget blockbuster bullshit, the fall has the quality films that are trying to nose their way into oscar contention. Sure Twilight still exists right now unfortunately, but at least there are some meaty dramas and action films out there that you can sink your teeth into.

The only two new films hitting the box office wide this week are Killing Them Softly and The Collection. The former is probably only the one worth seeing. 

The Andrew Dominik directed, Brad Pitt starring, Killing Them Softly, sits at a solid 80% on the tomatometer. In the film, a hit on a mob ran poker game leaves them hurting financially and scrambling to find the culprits. Brad Pitt is hired as the enforcer who is set to investigate and bring down the guys who knocked over the game. It takes a refreshingly new perspective of the mob world by turning it upside down economically. Some people don't like that it too obviously mirrors our own recession but I don't see why that's a problem.

Despite adoring solid critical praise the film hasn't really earned any awards buzz of any sort making it a missable film considering the competition there is out there and the high price of tickets these days. Brad Pitt's performance may be something to check out because some of the critics have called it the saving grace of the film. This is no surprise to me because Pitt and Dominik's last project The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (TAOJJBTCRF) was well received for it's acting. Some critics called it Brad Pitt's finest performance in his career. It makes sense then, that the two would be attracted to make another project together. The rest of the cast is pretty stellar too, with Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, and Ray Liotta in supporting roles. 

It's definitely something I'm going to go out and see, but if you're unsure about the movie then you should probably hold off. There are some really good flicks out there right now and it might be worth waiting for it to hit the premium channels. If you love Brad Pitt and mob movies though, this could be a good one to check out.

The Collection looks like a really shitty horror movie that is coming out a month too late. I recommend not seeing this because there are actual good movies out there that exist and this is not one of them. That's really it. If you didn't read my reviews for Skyfall, Silver Linings and Lincoln here are the ratings I gave each.

Skyfall - 9

Silver Linings Playbook - 8

Lincoln - 7.5

All I highly recommend and I'll let you know my official thoughts on Killing Them Softly after I see it.

Reviews: 'Skyfall', 'Silver Linings Playbook', and 'Lincoln'.

This is the first time I've officially written a review for a movie so naturally to make things more difficult I've decided to do three at once. I like to make tasks more daunting from the outset just so that after a few hours I can beat my head against a desk and hate myself. I really do feel like there are a lot of film critics tend to gear all their reviews toward movie junkies instead of the general public who actually goes out and spends money on these films. I'm going to try to appeal to both. I have the education to, and I happen to like garbage from time to time. I also find most critics to spoil too much of the story for the readers. What's the point of writing a review the Thursday before a movie comes out and revealing the ending, or key plot points not noted in the commercials. Let the audience find that shit out on their own is my motto.

With these first three reviews though I give you my insights on quality films that are in theaters right now. These are films that can very easily appeal to both sides of the spectrum so if you haven't seen them and are deciding on whether or not you should, here's my input.

Silver Linings Playbook

I went into this film with very high expectations from get-go with all the buzz surrounding it since it premiered at the Toronto film festival back in September. Of course I was interested in the film back early in the year when I read about the pedigree of actors working on the film (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, etc) and wanted to see if David O. Russell had the capabilities of pulling out another solid film (Three Kings, The Fighter, and I Heart Huckabees). Even though David O. Russell is a royal prick, he managed to put together another pretty damn good movie.

I guess I should probably actually talk about what the movie is about since it isn't necessarily clear from the few commercials you have caught on TV, and I'm writing a movie review for it and I think that's what other people do...

Synopsis

Bradley Cooper plays a nutcase.  At the beginning of the film he is released into the custody of his parents from a mental hospital after serving an 8 month stint for beating up a man he found his wife making it nasty with in the shower. The emotionally unstable Bradley Cooper refuses to take his medication because it makes him look "bloated" and he is determined to win his wife back. Unfortunately his wife has issued a restraining order and is absolutely terrified with him, which he just can't get through his bi-polar brain.

Bradley Cooper's father, played beautifully by Robert DeNiro, is a part time bookmaker who can't bet against his precious hometown Philadelphia Eagles. He too has problems with anger but has managed to eek by without having to spend time in a looney bin. His sweet loving mother played by the ever so sweet Jacki Weaver, seems to just be a nice lady who puts up with everyone's shit.

At a dinner Bradley Cooper is seemingly set up by his friend, with the recently widowed and undeniably gorgeous Jennifer Lawrence. Bradley Cooper has no filter and continually brings up J-Law's dead husband while she has the thick skin to call him on all his shit. Two broken souls in the same place at the same time: let's see where this goes.

Jennifer Lawrence says she can try and help Bradley Cooper get back with his restraining order wife only if he competes with her in a big Philadelphia dance competition. Not passing up on the opportunity to hopefully reunite with Ms. Restraining Order, he decides it's worth the hardships of having to train with yoga pants wearing Jennifer Lawrence every day... What a tough break.... Must've been really hard for him to decide...

And that's where I'll leave it because I don't like to play spoiler and ruin the ends of movies for people especially for one like this. The film is sold as a love story, but it's also about finding yourself, coming to terms with who you are and accepting that. Both B-Coop and J-Law have had a tough go of it and they both manage to find themselves which leads you to a great climax at the end of the film.

- The Negative -

(I chose to go with the negative first because Ledyard Class Pessimist 2007 represent)

The technical aspects of the film are a bit sloppy. Once again I felt like David O. Russell either rushed the post production or hired assholes to put it together because the cinematography isn't anything special, the editing is poor, and the sound mixers and editors should find a new profession. The screen time is bit lengthy and the film gets laggy at points. They should've found a better way to transition between scenes instead of using these weird coverage shots. After the big climax at the end they want the great moment to sink in so they used these cheesy transition coverage shots where the camera zooms in on shit and it just doesn't work. They have no place being in the film and they could've easily found better transition shots. The film also has lots of cheap plot devices and cheesy lines that are meant to fuel the climax.

+ The Positive +

Even with all those negative thoughts on the film doesn't really end up mattering when it's all said and done once those last 10 minutes of the movie finally get there. All the muddled plot, and poor production aside, Silver Linings is a film with a great emotional payoff, that leaves you walking out of the theater with a smile, while feeling warm and gooey on the inside. It's an unconventional love story but you really root for them and you're satisfied to the point where all that technical stuff becomes an after thought.

What really makes that emotional payoff possible is the strong performances by the cast. It's that great ensemble performance that makes the whole story possible. David O. Russell definitely knows how to get his actors to act so I commend him on that.

All those technical issues I bitched about only really crept back into my mind because I was on such an emotional high when I exited the film that I took a left and walked all the way back to my apartment where I noticed my car was missing from my spot and realized that I drove to the theater.... So I probably got a little over analytical since I had the whole 10 minute walk back to the theater to keep thinking about the movie.

Look for some nominations from this film this awards season. Especially from DeNiro and Lawrence who don't have too stiff of competition this season. Bradley Cooper is also a contender for a best actor nomination but that field is stacked this year with already established big names who've either won or been nominated. He has a good chance of getting snubbed. If the film itself gets nominated for best picture O. Russell will probably find another best director nomination. I hope it doesn't get nominated for any other technical aspect of film because that is the only real thing holding the film back. I felt very much the same way about The Fighter in that regard.

If you can't handle heavy dramatic issues for a couple of hours that lead to a huge emotional pay off then this is not the movie for you. The movie I can most compare it to is last years 50/50, a film that I actually caught the ending of today on television oddly enough. That film is another one with heavy dramatic issues, with witty dialogue laced throughout, and a great emotional payoff. If you've seen 50/50 and liked that film then you would definitely like Silver Linings. If you like not-so-simple minded love stories that aren't written by Nicholas Sparks then this could also be a great movie for you. I myself have always really enjoyed love stories but the problem is they are rarely told in creative ways. This film definitely breaks the mold on romance but still leaves you rooting just as hard as any other love story and I think that makes it a pretty special movie.

I give it an 8 out of 10.

Lincoln

It's Spielberg and it's a movie about Abraham Lincoln... If I wrote a negative review about this movie I would be seen as a heretic and would probably get sentenced to be stoned publicly. The truth is there really anything bad to say about it. That being said there isn't anything in this film that makes it a great piece of modern cinema. It's great story telling, not grand story telling.

Synopsis

Instead of focusing on Lincoln's whole life it focuses on the time just after he was reelected to a second term and was working hard to pass the 13th Amendment which would free slaves and bring the Civil War to a close. That's really all I need to describe the film.

- Negative -

The film is kind of boring. While the subject matter is extremely interesting, we have stale, pallet-less sets, with simple stagnant shots. The camera movement is slow and subtle throughout, between the panning side to side in the courtroom, to the ever so slow zoom in on Lincoln, any time he started saying anything moderately inspirational (which was like fucking every time he spoke apparently).

Side note: I wish there was a scene in the movie where Lincoln described a bowel movement and the camera slowly zoomed in on him as everyone eagerly listened in the room. That would've been amazing.

 The film opens on a gruesome scene on the battle field of men fighting the mud and then you only see the battlefield once more in the film when Lincoln rides a horse through the battle field to talk to Ulysses S. Grant. That's pretty much it for excitement.

+ Positive +

Daniel Day Lewis is terrific as Lincoln. Despite my reservations on seeing the film because every fucking trailer ended with the cheesy line "Shall we stop this bleeding" he managed to not over-act it and put a great tone to the character. We got to see the sensitive, hard, cold, powerful and funny sides of Lincoln and Daniel Day put on another amazing performance. The rest of the cast is pretty solid as well. Between Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, and James Spader we could see another few nominations. I like James Spader a lot more in this film then I do TLJ but they will probably choose him over Spader because they are dumb.

The other big positive is that they chose a specific period of time of his life to focus on. All encompassing biopic films don't tend to work as well as the ones that focus finite periods of time. If they did a full biopic film it would be far less effective to the audience and not necessarily give you the emotional feeling you should have when leaving a movie like that. I walked out of the theater feeling proud to be an American, and even got a little teary eyed at a few moments during some of his speeches. If the film just used small tidbits of those moments it wouldn't have been nearly as effective. Also it's an interesting look into the 13th amendment and how hard they had to work to get it passed. When looking back in history class in middle school we probably barely glossed over a paragraph explaining the difficulties of getting it passed so if we aren't history buffs we probably didn't know the whole store behind it.

The film isn't perfect by any means but if you can handle a lot of bland colors for 2 and a half hours at the price of maybe learning something about our nations history, it's well worth your buck. Either way it's probably the most historically accurate film about Abraham Lincoln that hit theaters this year unless you really thought he was a Vampire Hunter.

I give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Skyfall

I remember back in the summer of 2010 when they were really pushing for this movie to be made. I was at my internship between my junior and senior year of college reading up all I could on the project instead of reading scripts like I was supposed to one day. I was pretty upset because they already attached Mendes and Bardem to the project but MGM just didn't have the money to fund it even though it was going to be a sure fire success. MGM almost killed the Hobbit films as well during this time while they were on the precipice of bankruptcy.

Luckily they found their feet, and in time to keep the big names attached to Skyfall, the 23rd film in the 50 year old film franchise. To this point it's performing the best out of any Bond films in history and for good reason.

Synopsis

Bond gets shot and people think he's dead at the beginning. Turns out he's not and he decides to come back and help M find the guy who blows up part of MI6. Blah blah blah.... It's a James Bond movie. You don't need a synopsis.

- Negative -

I read an early interview with Sam Mendes who talked about how the film is heavily influenced by The Dark Knight. Not just in the way it looks, but in the story as well. I didn't think too much into it until I saw the movie and it was literally the exact same story at points. I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing to copy The Dark Knight and I still think it's really good, but I was definitely thinking about it the whole time during the movie kind of took me out of it a little.

I guess the only other negative thing is that it's a movie that resides in the shadows of the superior Casino Royale. The hardest problem for this new Daniel Craig era of Bond movies is going to be holding up to the standard set by the first installment, Casino Royale. It's a nearly perfect film, and many people consider it to be the finest Bond film out of all the 23. I happen to agree with those people. I think it was the first film to really delve into James Bond and actually presented the first layered Bond. The old Bond was mostly portrayed as a cold, flat character with predictable emotions, the new Bond has complex emotions that lead to clearer motivations.

With a better Bond comes a better Bond girl, which is exactly what you had with Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. Another complex character who melted Bond's cold heart. Vesper may be the best Bond girl all around, and the most important one when you look at him as a character. She was the one girl he would throw it all away for and he got burned badly. While the Bond girls in this new film are good in their own way they had no way of being better than Vesper.

+ Positive +

Still, Skyfall is damn close to Casino Royale in it's execution and deserves to be in the top tier of Bond films. There's no arguing that this film has probably the most talented group of filmmakers behind the camera in the history of the franchise. You have academy award winning director in Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition), working off a script co-penned by academy award nominee John Logan (Gladiator, Hugo, Rango), with a 9 time academy award nominated cinematographer in Roger Deakins (No Country for Old Men, Shawshank Redemption). You pair Mendes and Deakins with the set and costumes designers and you have easily the best looking Bond in the franchise.

When Bond goes to Shanghai they use the light of the city to set the scenes. Bond tails a man from the airport and along the way the road they drive on is engulfed in blue light which makes it all feel natural. Bond then follows the man up a sky scraper and they have a very Kill Bill-like fight silhouetted by the lights from the city. That scene however short, was one of the prettiest on screen. The camera never goes shaky, even in scenes that would warrant it. Unlike Quantum of Solance, which looked more like a bad Bourne movie than a Bond movie. The fight scenes in Casino Royale may be a little more explosive, but the ones in Skyfall are oozing with style. 

Since this is the 50th year of Bond, the costume designers wanted to mix a little bit of the new style in with the retro Sean Connery 1960's Bond look. This made it look as well as feel like a classic Bond film.

While the technical aspects of this film alone made it enjoyable, the casting is what made it a truly good 007 film. Of course Danny Craig came back with his role of Bond, but the ever so wonderful Javier Bardem played the ever so terrifying villain. You're well past half way through the movie before you even meet his character and the first scene he's in quickly becomes the best scene in the movie. It's hard to believe that the man can reinvent his terrifying-ness this well, but he does. His performance quickly cemented his legacy in the Bond franchise as one of the best villains ever.

Dame Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Noamie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney and Bérénice Marlohe make out the rest of the cast. Ben Whishaw's turn at Q was pretty witty and whimsical. Bérénice is a very good Bond girl but she doesn't get much screen time unfortunately (more shower time please). Same goes for Naomie Harris who seems to know her way around sexual innuendos and straight razors. In all the cast is great and will continue to be great as the series moves forward from this point forward.

Still the biggest positive is where they are taking Bond in this series. In Casino Royale Bond is effectively broken, a place we rarely see him. Even though Quantum wasn't the movie it could've been had their not been a writer's strike, Bond's character is probably the darkest in the series. In Skyfall Bond must revisit his haunting past in order to defeat the bad guy. This causes us to see another side of Bond that we never knew existed, peeling another layer off of what we once saw as a flat character. Above all things, Bond is loyal to his country and MI6. We see that at the beginning when he reports back to MI6 to help find the bad guy behind a terrorist attack, after living the dream on a beach somewhere with lots of booze and lots of poon-tang. Bond has always valued country, and you see it the most in this film.

Really if you haven't seen this movie, go check it out. I had a conversation with some dumb buy who was wearing a fedora the other day and I mentioned how good Skyfall was. He said he heard good things but he doesn't really like Bond movies. It's not just a great Bond movie, it's a great movie in general. Either way though, that guy was such a fucking asshole.

9 out of 10.

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Well I regretted writing all three of these at once as I now find myself awake at 6 am. I apologize if the writing diminished a bit as you went through. At times I was really motivated, and at other times I just wanted to play "Dikembe Mutombo's 4 1/2 weeks to save the world."

Here are the final ratings for each movie I reviewed out of 10.

Silver Linings- 8

Lincoln- 7.5

Skyfall- 9

Ps. If you have the strange urge to watch a Bruce Lee movie like I did yesterday it's probably because today is his birthday. So that's a fun thing to wind down your Tuesday evening if you don't want to check out any of these three flicks that I've told you all about in detail, and highly recommended to you.

What to see this Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving.

It's a holiday that may have more tradition than even Christmas in your family. We flock home to our families in a short work/school week through the insane airports so we can get home and see some old familiar faces. 

The night before it you go out to your local bar to see all those old people from high school that you didn't hate too much, and you run into the ones you did hate as well but it's okay because everyone is drunk and it doesn't matter. 

You wake up hungover in the morning and fast until the afternoon. Then you sit around feasting and drinking champagne until you literally pass out.

It's amazing.

It's a terrific way to celebrate our heritage and the slaughtering of thousands and millions of savage Native American Indians.

We all have different traditions on our turkey days so if you're not into staying in and napping intermittently during the football games due to the massive amounts of tryptophan you consumed, and taking a trip to the local theater to catch a flick is more your thing, it's important that you make the right choice.

Thanksgiving is a big holiday here and you don't want to tarnish the memories you have when you look back at all those awkward family photos in the future that you're wearing an ugly brown sweater in, by seeing a movie that sucks royal ass cheeks.

Sometimes it's fun to see bad movies, but with Thanksgiving generally comes a great variety of quality blockbusters and oscar bait that can challenge us as viewers and leave a lasting impression. The studios know that many people have the holiday off, and that they are spending the time with their families so they typically save some of their best stuff to release the few weekends before, and the Wednesday before. If you want to enjoy your experience at the movie theater this Thanksgiving I urge you to listen to this advice. I'll break it down into five thoughts.

1. Don't go fucking see a Twilight movie.

Just don't do it. Sure Breaking Dawn Part 2 came out this past weekend and it makes you smile thinking of Robert Pattinson's pouty face, and Kristen Stewart demon babies, but do you really want to tie one of these memories of family time to a Twilight movie? The answer should be no if you are a decent, worthwhile human being. 

I feel like with this final Twilight film hitting theaters this weekend we have pretty much seen the death of the franchise. Sure it made 141 million last weekend which is a very healthy sum of money to take in at the box office, but how are they going to accrue new fans? The answer is: they wont. 

Sure, Twilight will always have a lasting impression on the current generation of teenage and post teenage girls living today, but they will probably only look back that those times as "that time they were into Twilight." The themes in the movie are something that will always resonate with young girls as well, but the fact will always remain that the films themselves aren't all that special. Filled with shoddy special effects, poor acting, and flat dialogue I doubt that these films will be anything more than a distant back-shelved memory in 25-35 year old woman in the future.

And back to the 141 million that they took in domestically this past weekend; look for that number to drop handily this upcoming week seeing as most of the "twihard" fans (diehard fans of Twilight for you common folk) who really are into the franchise have already made it to the theater to check it out. The only business they'll get this upcoming week are the fans who hate extremely full theaters, people who had a life this past weekend, or assholes that want to see it again. Look for their weekend number to drop from 141 to 40 and below.

2. See something American.

The Steven Spielberg biopic Lincoln hit theaters last weekend in wide release and has been getting rave reviews. Speilberg had two films hit theaters before Xmas last year and both weren't all that well received. While War Horse garnered critical praise, I think I only knew two people who saw it. The Adventures of Tin Tin was fun but I immediately forgot I saw it until I just wrote the title there 4 seconds ago. This year Spielberg decided to take his talents to Thanksgiving and I think it will be a much better showing for Lincoln. The cast has been gathering great reviews, especially Daniel Day but that's no surprise as it is a rock solid cast with a very intelligent director.

I have yet to see it specifically because I've been waiting to see it this week. It's a film celebrates what makes this country special and what better way to honor a holiday that celebrates the slaughtering of the savage Native American Indians than to see a movie about the ratification of the emancipation proclamation and arguably the greatest president this country ever had? If the Patriots weren't playing a football game this Thanksgiving evening, then I would say Lincoln is a slam dunk for the most Patriotic way you could spend your Thanksgiving. If for some reason you're a bad person and don't like the Patriots, then checking out Lincoln is probably a great choice if you didn't see it this past weekend.

3. See something British.

While it seems un-American to think that Bond movies are a staple during the Thanksgiving holiday but throughout my life every Bond movie has made it's way to theaters either right before or a few weekends before making it the movie that we always brought ourselves to see after the tryptophan wore off. Skyfall is no slouch in the Bond movie franchise and is pretty close damn close to as good as Casino Royale in this most recent Craig era of Bond's. 

This Bond film has probably the most talented group of filmmakers behind the camera working on it in the history of the franchise between director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, The Road to Perdition), screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator, Hugo), and cinematographer Roger Deakins (Shawshank Redemption, No Country For Old Men). Let me tell you, that they did not disappoint. They present a sharp, beautiful film that is as interesting as it is exciting.

I was amazingly excited when I heard they had signed Javier Bardem to play the villain because his performance in No Country for Old Men is one of the most haunting performances ever. I was wondering how he could reinvent himself as a villain and if he could cement himself in as one of the great Bond villains. It took his first screen appearance to establish himself as one of the greats.

The film is perfectly cast, looks sharp, and leaves the franchise in a great place moving forward. This entry is more than worth your time this Thanksgiving if you don't feel like sitting through a movie about Abraham Lincoln or watching professional team based sports.

4. See a movie with beautiful people in it.

Sure Skyfall has plenty of beautiful people in it so that also classifies as this category. I guess if you were 15 and had a vagina you could argue that the new Twilight movie also delivers on that front but hear me out. 

People's Sexiest Man Alive 2011 Bradley Cooper and the gorgeous newcomer Jennifer Lawrence have a new movie hitting wide release today, The Silver Linings Playbook. Sure the director David O Russell is an absolute asshole but he has made some great movies. Three Kings, and The Fighter are great films filled with terrific performances. He has effectively pissed off Hollywood good guy George "Cloon-Tang" Clooney to the point where he will never work with him ever again, and he also gave an extremely ridiculous tongue lashing to Lily Tomlin on the set of I Heart Huckabees. Nevertheless he continues to make solid features while attracting extremely talented actors.

Here's the David O Russell rant on Lily Tomlin.

The Silver Linings Playbook won the hearts of critics and fans at the Toronto film festival earlier this year and is gathering enough steam to grab some academy award nominees for acting, best picture and possibly directing. Jennifer Lawrence and B-Coop are said to be amazing in this dark dramedy about two characters who have been more than down on their luck lately. The subject matter is rather heavy in that Jennifer Lawrence's character has been troubled from the loss of her husband. B-Coop is troubled because he caught his wife cheating and has developed what seems to be a long line of mental disorders. Somehow these two fates intertwine and begin to work together to win a dancing competition. It sounds ridiculous but apparently they make it work.

Robert DeNiro, Chris Tucker and Julia Stiles are other notables in the cast. The critics are saying that it is a charming and heart warming film, that is not to be missed. Look for Julia Stiles to be the only thing that holds this movie back from being a classic. 

If a movie with good acting and beautiful people is your thing then this may be the thing for you to check out tomorrow on turkey day.

5. See a movie with lots of CGI in it that critics really like for some reason.

A movie that many people are saying is "highly anticipated" is Ang Lee's Life of Pi which hits theaters today and has gathered solid critical praise. I don't think this movie is "highly anticipated" but it's supposed to be a heartwarming epic tale about some Indian kid who survives a shipwreck and has to share a life boat with a lion. The film is supposed to be a beautiful use of 3D and CGI but none of it looks all that real to me and I'm not sure if I would enjoy 2 hours of some dumb kid on a boat with a Lion.

Still look for this movie to be a crowd pleaser in the sense of Slumdog Millionaire. I'm not being racist because it's about Indians, I'm just saying the movie is getting very similar reviews. Like the story is a little too romantic and westernized. That while even though a lot of the dialogue and scenes seem convenient, it's still a great story. The thing that separates the movies, is Life of Pi is a CGI driven picture and that's not enough for me to be excited for it.

Lots of blogs and websites have listed this as a sure fire best picture nomination film and I just don't see the appeal in it. If a boy on a small boat with a computer generated lion sounds cool to you, check this movie out. If you don't think that sounds cool, go see one of the three previous films I recommended.

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That's really it for this weeks entry. It's really a toss up this week if you haven't seen Lincoln, Skyfall or The Silver Linings Playbook but all of them are worth your time and if you don't get to see them this week because you're too busy, I urge you to try and get out to see them as soon as possible.

Hitchcock, the movie about the classic british filmmaker comes out on Fridays but isn't getting as much critical praise as they would like. I think the makeup on Anthony Hopkins looks absolutely ridiculous so I'm not sure if I'll be able to take the movie seriously or not. I'll see it at some point but it's not near the top of my list.

Rust and Bone, a foreign film with Marion Cotillard and Mathias Schoenaerts the guy from the academy award nominated foreign film from last year, Bullhead also comes to select cities this week. I wouldn't rush out to see this one because there is a lot of talk that these two have the chance to be nominated and like most foreign films that get nominated, it is probably really depressing.

Another movie that wasn't even worth mentioning above because it's going to tank in the box office and looks absolute awful is the remake, Red Dawn. It looks like a movie meant for 13 year old kids who don't know what good movies are yet and still play with G.I. Joes. Although I would've probably hated it at 13 and I did still play with G.I. Joes then so who knows.

In other news check out this awesome photo of Matt Damon from next summers highly anticipated film by Neill Blomkamp, Elysium. Hopefully a trailer for this one comes soon.

What to see: 11/16-18

So I've been an asshole and didn't tell you what to see last weekend or this weekend.

Last weekend Skyfall absolutely dominated the box office and with good reason. The Sam Mendes directed film, beautiful, sleek, cheeky, and suspenseful. It also offers one of the best Bond villains in the whole 50 year running franchise played by the perfect Javier Bardem. It's an unmissable fall treat that you have to see if you have yet to see it.

Another release that hit the theaters limited last weekend and moved wide this weekend is Spielberg's Lincoln. So far the film, and Daniel Day Lewis' performance has garnered tons of praise from critics and is sure to be a big player in the academy awards come this February. It's probably playing around you now, and if you're brave enough to wait in line while surrounded by Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2 fans than you should go check it out. It might be a great thing to catch with the family on Thanksgiving though. If you're like me then you'll probably see Skyfall on Thanksgiving though (even though I've already seen it twice), because it's a tradition to see Bond movies on Turkey day.

Another notable film that is playing in select theaters and moves wide next week, is The Silver Linings Playbook. The David O Russell (Asshole) film won the hearts of the people at Toronto and also seems to have lots of Oscar potential. Bradley Cooper and the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence star in this film and are Oscar candidates as we head deeper into the season. I would wait until it's widely released before I saw this one though.

Other than that there's nothing else new hitting the theaters. There's plenty of things to see out there and if you haven't seen it I highly recommend Skyfall. Tomorrow I will write an in depth review of the film to convince you neysayers who "just don't like Bond movies." Yeah I met some moron a few days ago who said that. Needless to say I didn't like their presence.

If you want to stay in and honor a living legend tonight and the rest of the weekend, throw in a Scorsese flick because the icon turned 70 today. The man may be the greatest living American director and throwing in Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York or The Departed is a great way to pay tribute to the legend.

What to see this weekend: 11/2-4

First off I apologize for my negligence to make a post last week telling you how to live your lives in a movie theater setting. My best friend came into town last Friday and was in town until early Tuesday this week. So naturally that meant I was probably legally intoxicated until early this Friday afternoon. Still that's not really a valid excuse for why I didn't post anything because if I had made a post last weekend it would've just said:

"It's the weekend before Halloween so be social and don't go to the fucking movies."

I'm pretty sure I could've mustered up the 14 seconds to write that at any given time during the weekend but still, I didn't think it was necessary.

Last Weekend

I guess to lead into this week which has a bevy of amazing movies to choose from I will give a recap of last weeks box office pitter patter. 

Argo, the Ben Affleck exfiltration flick headed all movies with 12.1 million domestic, which is very solid for a movie in it's 3rd weekend of release. If you have not seen this movie it is a very cheeky and entertaining film that keeps your pulse pounding throughout the entire second half of the film. If you haven't read any of my other posts and don't know, this film has solid potential to be an Oscar contender.

 Meanwhile the huge-budgeted, ambitious, and lengthy Cloud Atlas came in second, failing to reach the 10 million mark, with 9.6 million. The movie is rumored to have cost around a 100 million and will not come anywhere close to making back it's budget. Still it hasn't stopped certain critics from applauding the Wachowski Siblings and Tom Twyker film saying they made one of the most ambitious films ever. Roger Ebert gave it four stars and has already taken in multiple viewings because he loved it so much. Unfortunately "ambitious" doesn't always mean great, and doesn't necessarily make up for the 2 hour and 45 minutes of screen time. Tack on 15 minutes of previews and your ass will hurt from sitting so long, and you'll need to run straight to the bathroom once the movie is over.

Still I am intrigued to see the film despite the fact that it's tanking commercially. It sits at 63% on rottentomatoes and the complicated intertwined stories that weave between centuries are probably attributed to that. A lot of times people don't like story lines that really make them think a great deal so this movie isn't for those who want their mind numbed for 3 hours by senseless bullshit. The film stars several big names including Tom Hanks, Halle Barry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving and several other smaller names who all play several different characters, and various genders in different spans of time. So if you're into the possibility of seeing Tom Hanks portray a female, then this is your movie. 

Even though Cloud Atlas looks intriguing enough to spend money on, there are many other movies I'd much rather spend money on that hit the theaters this weekend.

This Weekend

This weekend provides a very wide range of options to select from to itch your movie needs from a Disney video game movie, to a Kung-Fu epic directed by RZA, to another Bob Zemeckis movie centered around a plane crash. All of them getting great reviews. All of them for different audiences. I'll break it down for you to make it simple.

Drama

Flight, the Denzel led, Zemeckis directed film about a pilot who courageously saves everyone on board a plane but fights a legal battle for having alcohol in his system, is quite simply a drama. It looks to have some heavy themes like plane crashes and alcoholism. Despite the loads of heavy themes, this film has a lot going for it to make it worthwhile to check out.

Denzel Washington has the possibility to be nominated yet again for best actor as the lead in this film, and will likely give his best performance since Training Day. Denzel is one of the most charismatic actors working in Hollywood today. He can seamlessly transition from action to drama without missing a beat. He can play the villain. He can play the hero. He can play both at the same time. In my opinion he's one of the most versatile actors right now and I love it when he takes a turn for the more serious roles. It's then that he gives his most memorable performances, and he does it as well as anyone else in the business. 

Then you have Robert Zemeckis returning to live action features for the first time since Cast Away, which should excite you. Zemeckis has had his head up his ass for the last decade turning out stupid fucking animated movies that aren't worth a nickel from your pocket or a minute of your time. Before he made his turn into the animation world he made some of the most entertaining films of the 90's and 80's. The Back to the Future franchise, Forrest Gump, and the partly animated Who Framed Roger Rabbit? were staples of my cinematic upbringing. Cast Away was not to shabby either. Zemeckis has the chance to bring out another solid piece of film this time, with what looks like a potent story, and a great lead actor. I'd check this one out if I were you. 

Family

Wreck-it Ralph looks like the film that Pixar has been missing these past two years with Cars 2 and Brave. I guess I should reserve judgement for Brave since I haven't seen it but from what I heard it was just okay. Cars 2 was even stupider than Cars.

When I saw the trailer for Ralph I was thinking to myself "hmmm, I don't remember seeing the Pixar title at the beginning of this trailer." Then the trailer ended and it never came and I was like "what? Just plain disney never comes out with movies as inventive as this. It has to be a collaboration with Pixar." But I was wrong and I guess it's a good thing that Disney can pull out a decent stand alone animated movie from time to time.

For those of you who don't know, Wreck-it Ralph is about an arcade game character who's soul purpose in life is to serve as the bad guy, wrecking buildings while the hero of the game rebuilds them. After decades of being the bad guy Ralph is fed up, and wants to be the hero so he decides to game jump, going from game to game in the arcade looking for the game where he can finally be the good guy.

The hilarious John C. Reilly voices Ralph while Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, Jack McBrayer and Ed O'Neill fill out the rest of the notable cast members. The film holds that 1980's arcade nostalgia that many had while growing up and has lots of notable characters from different arcade games that we are familiar from childhood. This makes it a great piece of fun for the whole family, adults and kids alike. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it will be well worth mine, and your money so don't be afraid to see this one. It sits at a healthy 85% on rottentomatoes.

Action/Martial Arts

The Man with the Iron Fists is the other big release to hit theaters this weekend. I'm not really sure what the RZA written and directed film is about. All I know is that it has RZA, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, and former professional wrestler Dave Batista in it. That right there is enough for me to want to see it. The trailer itself looks to be a sexy, witty, fun, and stylish piece of martial arts film and I'm very interested to see it. Quentin Tarantino also produced the picture and there is apparently a sneak peak at his new film Django Unchained before the film, so that's another reason why it may be worthwhile to see. It doesn't have many reviews right now on rottentomatoes and it sits just under 60 % which puts it in the rotten category but this movie looks very aware of what it is. A lot of critics just may not get that and that's why it's percentage will suffer.

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That's mostly it for this weeks but I'll throw up a list of all the things out there that are worth seeing if you get the chance.

1. Flight

2. Wreck-it Ralph

3. The Man With the Iron Fist

4. Argo

5. Looper

6. Seven Psychopaths

7. The Master

8. Cloud Atlas

9. Frankenweenie

10. Smashed

11. The Sessions

I suggest if there are any movies you want to see near the bottom of this list that you see them either this weekend or as soon as possible because next week is another huge week as Skyfall is going to dominate the box office, kicking a lot of films out of theaters. The film has received tons of critical acclaim, and has been killing it in the box office over seas since last weekend, setting all sorts of international records. Lincoln also hits theaters next weekend which I'm excited about, but not as excited as I am to see Daniel Craig mostly naked.

Another notable film to hit theaters this weekend in extremely limited release is A Late Quartet starring, Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman (PSH), and Catherine Keener. In the film Walken gets diagnosed with Parkinsons and wants to do one final show with his string quartet. Walken is said to have one of his finest performances in years, and the movie has received solid acclaim critically. I don't know how it will fair come awards season, but at some point it may be worth checking out if you have the chance to see it.

That's about it for this week. If none of those things seem interesting to you that I just talked about then you should probably just stop reading this because you are useless.