Yes, I am bringing this feature back. I rather like having a single place listing possible releases outside of aggregating critic review sites like Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic.
Wide Release:
For the record, I split the post to post the trailers. Typepad has been fighting me since 6:00AM over formatting, so the trailers were not added. It also won't allow me to delete the break without deleting the content, so the jumpremains.
Daybreakers: 61% Rotten Tomatoes, 60 Metacritic, 8.5/10 IMDB: For a first cinema weekend in January horror release, Daybreakers is getting some decent reviews. I'm still skeptical about how long this narrative can last. It feels like a film that was told almost in its entirety in the original trailer. How much further beyond the badass vampire resistance can this film go? The reviews seem to indicate its a pretty mindless action/horror combo flick with gore, so if that's your thing, have at it.
Leap Year: 16% Rotten Tomatoes, 30 Metacritic, IMDB: Oh, Amy Adams, why even go there? Leap Year apparently follows every romantic comedy cliche without really adding anything new. Also, reviews seem to suggest that it's not even funny. It seems like a film that should be avoided.
Youth In Revolt: 69% Rotten Tomatoes, 63 Metacritic, 7.0/10 IMDB: This is the new wide film I have the most interest in this weekend. The reviews seem to suggest a slight polarizing force in the film, but the positive reviews seem to come from those who accepted the conceit of the film and didn't immediately write it off because Michael Cera is the lead. I think it's a fun concept and the least of three evils opening in the graveyard of American cinema, the first week after awards eligibility.
Limited Release: Catch them while (if?) you can...
Bitch Slap: 33% Rotten Tomatoes, 19 Metacritic, 4.8/10 IMDB: Aims to be a loving tribute to B-Movies. From IMDB:
- Three bad girls travel to a remote desert hideaway to steal $200 million in diamonds from a ruthless underworld kingpin.
Crazy on the Outside: Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, 7.3/10 IMDB: A Tim Allen comedy released the first week on January. You be the judge. It wasn't screened for critics and it's hard to find a simple summary for it.
Flooding with Love for the Kid: Rotten Tomatoes, No IMDB or Metacritic: This is a new adaptation of Rambo source novel First Blood by David Morrell. Sounds interesting for a very, very low budget action film.
Garbage Dreams: 100% Rotten Tomatoes, 68 Metacritic, 8.7/10 IMDB: This film has been doing very well on the festival circuit. It's an acclaimed Egyptian film that was not submitted by Egypt for the Academy Awards - they didn't submit this year. Simple description from IMDB:
- A look at the lives of Egyptian trash collectors.
Mine: Rotten Tomatoes, 8.1/10 IMDB: It's an acclaimed documentary about the bond between humans and animals in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. That's your own call. I couldn't bring myself to watch The Cove because it dealt with dolphins dying; I don't know what I'd do in a theater watching a film about animals after a hurricane.
Sweetgrass: 93% Rotten Tomatoes, 71 Metacritic, : This documentary sounds utterly fascinating to me. IMDB Summary:
- In the summer of 2003, a group of shepherds took a herd of sheep one final time through the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, in the extreme northwest of the United States. It was a journey of almost 300 kilometers through expansive green valleys, by fields of snow, and across hazardous, narrow ridges - a journey brimming with challenges. The aging shepherds do their very best to keep the hundreds of sheep together; the panoramic high mountains are teeming with hungry wolves and grizzly bears.
Waiting for Armageddon: 83% Rotten Tomatoes, 67 Metacritic, 6.3/10 IMDB: I really don't have a read on this film at all. From IMDB:
- America's 50-million strong Evangelical community is convinced that the world's future is foretold in Biblical prophecy - from the Rapture to the Battle of Armageddon. This astonishing documentary explores their world - in their homes, at conferences, and on a wide-ranging tour of Israel. By interweaving Christian, Zionist, Jewish and critical perspectives along with telling archival materials, the filmmakers probe the politically powerful - and potentially explosive - alliance between Evangelical Christians and Israel...an alliance that may set the stage for what one prominent Evangelical leader calls "World War III."
Wonderful World: 25% Rotten Tomatoes, 44 Metacritic, 6.4/10 IMDB: It's a polarizing little bittersweet indie comedy. It also appears to be another film that an "it's ok" review was translated to "horrible," thereby bringing the RT and Meta scores down. From IMDB:
- Ben Singer (Broderick) has his cynical worldview darkened by his roommate Ibu's sudden medical situation, though the arrival of Ibu's sister, Khadi (Lathan), might remedy both men's ills.
Years Ago in Winter: Rotten Tomatoes, 7.2/10 IMDB: This is a German film based on an American novel, The Aftermath by Scott Campbell, in a very, very limited release. It's only playing at the NY MOMA for one week as of right now. It looks interesting and well made. From IMDB:
- A renowned artist must uncover a young dancer's secrets in order to truly capture her likeness for a commissioned work.
Have a great weekend, everybody