In Theaters This Weekend

This... this rocks my socks.

Five years ago, Zack Snyder exploded with 300. But, before that, he gave us a chilling vision of an undead invasion with the remake of Dawn of the Dead. To date, Dead remains his best, brightest, and most important film. In a career full of masterpieces, with the grave exception of Legends of the Guardian, he's cemented his place as one of the most visually apt directors around. And with Sucker Punch, debuting to immense hype this weekend, he's set to only further that cement. 

Greeting Sucker Punch in theaters half way is Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Roderick Rules. 

But no one cares about that one.

More after the cut --

Battle: Los Angeles

Flight of the Valkyries wants its iconic images back.

I'm a film nerd from way back. I've been posting on IMDb's Oscar Buzz forum since 2004, and because of that, I've come to do an annual awards show every year, early on, at some point after the Oscars. (note - 2010's show is up and coming) In those awards, I have a category designated for the worst films of the year. I called it "The Flaming Bag of Sh*t". I thought it couldn't get any worse than Sanctum so early in the season, but... well, it did. And just as I have a couple of Best Picture contenders in The Company Men and The Adjustment Bureau, I have a flaming bag of sh*t in Battle: Los Angeles - certainly the loudest movie of the year so far, and no doubt quite possibly the worst of its kind. 

I sat closer to the edge of my seat during Martian Child. 

More after the cut --

The Tourist, Skyline, and Others on DVD This Week

Man, oh *beep* man. These are the weeks I dread - the weeks when everything popping out onto DVD shelves is crap. We have, unfortunately, received The Tourist, Skyline, Yogi Bear, and How Do You Know? as our choices for the next few days. At least until Sucker Punch comes out on Friday. Then everything is forgiven. But, for now, as always, let's take a look at each of these releases and see which will be worth the money you're forking over for them.

Personally, having seen them, I'll let you in on this early on - each of these is going to get a negative write-up. Forgive me if I go overboard, but... I swear, I really hated The Tourist. I'll post a review up of that soon. I have to edit it down from the four-letter word riffing session that I did for an IMDb message board. I want something a bit classier for this site, and others.

*sigh*

More after the cut--

The Adjustment Bureau

John Slattery smells Matt Damon's fear. 

Perhaps the most impressive thing about The Adjustment Bureau is that it marks the beginning of George Nolfi's feature film career. A hopefully long and fulfilling one. And if his later films prove to be anywhere near as affirming and thoughtful as this one, we're all in for one treat after another. Internally, however, the most impressive thing about this film is how few special effects are needed to make this thriller effective. Inception, while a brilliant and beautiful film, is riddled with computer generated imagery. As is The Matrix, just as brilliant and beautiful. What makes this film brilliant and beautiful, on the same level as the aforementioned ones, is that its thrills come from within. There are heavy religious overtones, there are believable relationships amongst the characters, and the most carefully realized hypothesis the film makes isn't whether or not we live in a computer program, or whether or not we can infiltrate dreams to commit crimes, but whether or not we can control our destiny. And whether or not we're wearing the proper hat to do so.

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In Theaters Over the Weekend, and a Blind Buy Conversation

Sorry for the late posting on this. I'm working on a way to schedule my time a bit better so I can get things up when I want them/need them to be up.


But, for the time being - I had an interesting conversation at a Walgreen's with a man who, by his own admission, rarely buys DVDs that he's seen before. He's an avid blind buyer, and he only does it four or five bucks at a time. I, too, blind buy with a vengeance, but I also collect. So, if I know something is worth more than it's selling for, I'll pick it up. And I'm constantly trolling eBay for the same deals. There, though, at a Walgreen's, the selection isn't as extensive as say... eBay. Or even Craigslist. It usually winds up being ten or twelve movies, and then about five or six rows of those ten or twelve movies. It's aggravating, but... I mean, I found a copy of Julien Donkey-Boy for six bucks. I think I win. I'm not sure, but I think I do. The other man walked away with a couple of direct to DVD pieces, sure to enjoy his night and revel in the savings.

Bee Season's cinematographer wants his settlement, please.

Given the quality of releases we were given over the weekend, it's no surprise that this man opted to rifle through the DVD shelves of local mini-marts rather than take the walk of shame and publicly admit to seeing something like Just Go With It. Which, for some reason, too many people have just gone with.

Over the weekend - Limitless, a thriller born from Phenomenon about a man who reaches his full potential, Paul, a comedy with Seth Rogen as an alien with a foul mouth and a really big heart, and The Lincoln Lawyer, Matthew McConaughey's latest (and second) legal thriller. Which did you see? Which will I see? I'll be seeing Limitless and The Lincoln Lawyer for sure. Already saw Paul.

For a full review of Paul, click here.

Let's take a close look at the L squared releases, shall we?

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