"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.
-------------------------------------------------------
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.
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