Opening this weekend are some movies I am VERY excited about.

My suggestion to you is to watch these trailers today then watch the movie this weekend (Oct20-23).

As always, click on the movie titles to view the trailers.
Trailers courtesy of Apple

First off.



Marie Antoinette

This movie has been pissed on by the French.
That should be enough endorsement.

Not that I have anything against the French.
The previous statement wasn't meant to be "patriotic" or anything but French Cinema really isn't for me.

I actually think its boring and pretentious.
And artsy for the sake of being artsy.

What is for me is anything directed by Sophia Coppola.
Sure she is a young film maker and offspring of a film legend but so far she has not disappointed me once.

And yes being young and a relative of someone famous can be a bad thing.

Usually, I am a fan of movies with quick dialogue and witty characters.
Her films are the antithesis of that.
She tells her story visually and with long awkward pauses.

She lets the environment of her films tell the story.

Coppola has an introverted sense of story telling and I like it.



The Prestige

I am really excited about seeing this movie this weekend.
I think I am going to watch Marie Antoinette on Friday and The Prestige on Sunday.

My only problem with this movie is Scarlett Johansson.
I think she is remarkably beautiful and talented.

But frankly I think she is over used.
The role of an actress is to make the audience believe she is the character she is portraying.
She has to fool the audience into believing she is someone else.

This task is much more difficult to achieve when she is someone else every two weeks.
It seems to me as though she is in a movie every other week.
In my opinion she needs to pick her roles more carefully.

That is if she wants to be great at her craft.

If she is just in this industry to make money then she should take as many roles as she can get and continue to record her album.

Johansson is currently recording an album of Tom Waits cover songs.
If you have ever heard a Tom Waits song you know that this is going to be a disaster.

She needs to leave the media hopping to the talent less and over hyped.

After that digression, I would like to say that The Prestige looks like it could be good.
Even though most of the critics have already panned it I am still going to see it.

Ironically enough I don't really listen to what the critics have to say. Critics these days are 60 year old failed screen writers. Would you take movie advice from your Grandfather?

Seems to me as though I am all over the place today.

Bottom line.
Watch The Prestige.




Flags of our Fathers

Another war movie.

I said this to a friend the other day after seeing the trailer to this movie during The Departed this past weekend.

His answer was..." But Clint Eastwood is directing it"

So what. When did Clint Eastwood become this Acclaimed director. Sure he has had a string of hits lately but I think this could only be accredited to the fact that he has been working with great scripts from great writers.

Yes, Flags of our Fathers was written by Academy award winning Paul Haggis. I know this. I just don't see the need for another war movie during a time of war.
Going to the movies is about escaping our reality and watching beautiful people do extraordinary things.
I don't want to see twenty year olds get their heads blown off.

After saying all that.
Go watch Flags of our Fathers.
I am.
I just like to complain.

This movie is being released this week but only in select cities. It opens nationwide the following week.



Running With Scissors.

The title says it all. Its a fun movie about doing things you are not supposed to.
I am a huge fan of the book and I have read most of Augusten Burroughs other books.
From what I can gather from his memoirs is that he has had a fascinating life that I am not jealous of.

When I read his stories it makes me feel like his personal therapist. He tells you the most interesting and intimate stories about his life that leave you shocked and laughing.

It will be great to see these stories come to life with a cast of talented actors all being helmed by first time director Ryan Murphy.

His name might sound familiar if you are a fan of his hit television show Nip/Tuck.

If you have ever seen this show you know this man is corrupted.
Two great corrupted artist come together to make a film.
That alone is a selling point.


Not coming soon but still great.



Hot Fuzz

From the creators of Shaun of the Dead.
Comes Hot Fuzz.

Shaun of the Dead took the horror movie genre to a place that made me comfortable.
They made it funny.
Really funny.

The trailers made me laugh out loud.
Check it out.



Pans Labyrinth

Guillermo Del Toro is a geek.
His most successful movies are about comic book inspired Hero’s all who have had a dark past and even darker future.

My kind of director.

Pans Labyrinth looks like something Terry Gilliam could have directed and ruined.

Sorry, I still can't forgive Mr. Gilliam for the Brothers Grimm.

American Dreamz

Great concept that fell flat on its face.

Especially considering that it was from the same team that made American Pie.

There was not one thing entertaining about this movie.

According to Imdb.com Writer/director Paul Weitz claims that he wrote the original draft of the "American Dreamz" script before he had ever watched an episode of "American Idol".

I call Bullshit.


The Break up

Two over exposed celebrities fight over an apartment.

The original cut of this movie had the couple break up at the end.

It didn’t test well so they changed it.

Avoid.

After rereading the first sentence I would like to apologize to Vince Vaughn.

He is funny.

But his choice in women is questionable.

Over the hedge

Never saw it.

The Omen

I like to sleep so I avoid horror movies at all cost.

I did hear from people much braver than I am that this movie was good.

I think I might see this one day.

Maybe a Tuesday at noon with all the lights on.

Big Love

I was very excited about this show when I first read about it.

I had read an article in some entertainment magazine and it described the premise of this show.

Man has 3 hot wives.

It was on late night on HBO where there are no censors.

And the show’s title could be easily confused with a porno movie.

No one ever told me it was about God.

I was very disappointed.

Click on any of the movie titles to rent the movie from NETFLIX

I opened up the Internet Explorer this morning and found out that Hugh Jackman has just confirmed that the X-Men spin-off Wolverine is ready to go.

Wolverine is hands down my favorite X-Men and has been ever since I watched the cartoons as a kid.

Even as a kid I had a soft spot for hero’s with dark past’s.

Their constant struggle between doing the right thing and being selfish always intrigued me and made me want to learn more about the character.

Usually with Hero’s the line between good and evil is very clear.

Sometimes it’s better to ignore the line.

Hugh Jackman goes on to say in his interview with IESB that the script is ready to be shot and that they are looking for a director.

Wolverine in 2008?

He also alluded to the fact that a possible X-Men 4 might be in the works with an all new cast focusing on much younger X-Men and that he would consider doing a cameo for the movie.

Please don’t.

As I was looking for pictures of Wolverine to post I came across these.

Enjoy.

Laughing at others in moderation can be healthy.

Click on the movie title to watch the trailer.

It is no surprise to me that the Grudge 2 managed to clinch the top spot this week.

Horror movies are usually the best bets to make money.

Especially if they aren’t facing any real competition.

The new releases this week didn’t do so well.

Sure the Grudge clinched the top spot but it did make almost $20 million less than the Grudge 1. To me that means the Grudge 3 will go straight to Dvd.

Grudge 4? T.V. movie.

The Departed managed to make a hefty sum this weekend only because it kicked so much ass.

Go watch this.

Seriously.

What made me the most happy about this weekends top 10 is the fact that the WWE sponsored testosterone fest that was the Marine only managed to make it to the number 7 spot.

Which means that who ever this new wrestler that Vince Mcmahon is trying to make a star out of will now only star in infomercials and wrestling conventions.

Good.

The only wrestler that is allowed to make movies is Hulk Hogan.

And that because he is the only person who can wear a yellow bandana and a pink boa around his neck and still not get called a fag.

It really was slim pickings this past weekend and it has been like this for some time now. I can’t wait for Oscar season.

I want to watch some quality film making now.

It’s a good thing I subscribe to Netflix.