Every month I’m going to look at every movie on the release schedule and try to assign them a numerical value corresponding to how anxious I am to see it. The lower the number, the more I want to see it. A one means I would walk through hell and high water to see it; a four means there’s no interest whatsoever. The numbers are not arrived at scientifically but they aren’t arbitrary either.
The numbers aren’t a reflection of the artistic merit of any of these films, but merely a reflection of my willingness to go to a movie theater and see it. The top four scores will be gathered as a means of reflecting the movies I’m anticipating the most; you may use that as a guide or not.
Each entry is broken down as follows:
NAME OF FILM (Studio) Genre A brief description of the plot. Release plans: Wide = Everywhere, Limited = In selected markets. RATING A brief comment
Keep in mind that release dates are extremely subject to change, even at this late date.
FOUR TO SEE
1. IMMORTALS (1.4)
2. HUGO (1.9)
3. ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (2.0)
4. TOWER HEIST (2.1)
FOUR TO SEEK OUT (FILMS NOT IN WIDE RELEASE)
1. THE ARTIST (1.4)
2. THE DESCENDENTS (1.7)
TIE. A DANGEROUS METHOD (1.7)
4. INTO THE ABYSS (1.8)
RATING SYSTEM: 1) Must-see, 2) Should-see, 3) Perhaps-see, 4) Don’t-see
NOVEMBER 2, 2011
FIVE STAR DAY (Breaking Glass) Genre: Drama. A man who believes in astrology suffers the worst day ever on a day that was supposed to be his best; he determines to test his newfound disdain for astrology by interviewing three strangers all born on the same day and same place as he. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.8 An interesting idea but not sure Cam Gigandet is the guy to play this part.
THE OTHER F WORD (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Genre: Documentary. Former punk rockers from the 70s, 80s and 90s cope with fatherhood and try to fit in the needs of parenting with their punk rock values. Release Strategy: New York City (opening in Los Angeles November 4). RATING: 1.9 A really riveting look at how our needs change as we age – and the struggle to maintain our values as they do.
NOVEMBER 4, 2011
A VERY HAROLD AND KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (New Line) Genre: Comedy. The two buddies, estranged over a six year separation, reunite to save Christmas. Release Strategy: Wide (Standard, 3D). RATING: 3.0 Not a big fan of the Harold and Kumar movies but I have to admit this one looks rather interesting – and any movie with NPH in it is all right by me.
KILLING BONO (ARC Entertainment) Genre: Comedy. Two Irish brothers are part of the second best band in Dublin in the 80s, forced to watch as the best band – U2 – rises to world prominence while they languish in obscurity. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.0 The trailer looked pretty fun; the music sounded pretty good too.
THE LAST RITES OF JOE MAY (Tribeca) Genre: Drama. An aging hustler is forced by circumstances into a reluctant friendship with a single mother and in a most unlikely fashion finds the redemption he was long seeking. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.2 Dennis Farina has always been an actor I’ve appreciated.
THE SON OF NO ONE (Anchor Bay) Genre: Thriller. A young cop is assigned to the working class neighborhood he grew up in which leads to the unearthing of a secret that threatens to destroy his career and family. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.7 An extremely strong cast but the trailer left me a little cold.
TOWER HEIST (Universal) Genre: Caper Comedy. The staff of an exclusive New York City apartment tower plot to steal their money back from the Bernie Madoff-like financier who stole it. Release Strategy: Wide. RATING: 2.1 An all-star cast led by Ben Stiller and the return of Eddie Murphy to the kind of role that made him a star.
YOUNG GOETHE IN LOVE (Music Box) Genre: Period Romance. The man who would become one of Germany’s most revered authors falls in love with a woman promised to another. Release Strategy: New York City/Los Angeles. RATING: 2.3 This was another one I didn’t get to see at the Florida Film Festival this year – now I wish I had.
NOVEMBER 9, 2011
J. EDGAR (Warner Brothers) Genre: Biodrama. The story of one of the 20th century’s most polarizing figures, a man who would symbolize law enforcement and it’s abuses for many – J. Edgar Hoover. Release Strategy: Limited (expands Wide on November 11). RATING: 2.2 They had me at “Directed by Clint Eastwood”.
NOVEMBER 11, 2011
11-11-11 (Rocket Releasing) Genre: Horror. An American author whose family has been taken from him tragically returns home to a dying father and a growing realization that he is being given a dire warning regarding the date November 11, 2011. Release Strategy: Wide. RATING: 2.9 Hopefully that dire warning has nothing to do with the box office for this first release from Elton John’s new distribution company.
THE CONQUEST (Music Box) Genre: Biographical Drama. The incredible rise to power of French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the price he paid for that power. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.2 Like any good story, the trailer looked both amusing and tragic.
ELITE SQUAD: THE ENEMY WITHIN (Variance) Genre: Action. A captain in Rio de Janeiro’s elite anti-gang unit is promoted to a government position and finds that the evil that pervades the favelas truly resides in the halls of power. Release Strategy: New York City (opening in Los Angeles November 18). RATING: 2.5 One of the most acclaimed international action films of the year.
THE GREENING OF WHITNEY BROWN (ARC Entertainment) Genre: Family Adventure. A preteen from the big city is forced to move to the country when her family encounters economic hard times and doesn’t like it one bit. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 3.8 Looks predictable and decidedly un-entertaining.
IMMORTALS (Relativity) Genre: Fantasy. A CGI-heavy telling of the Greek hero Theseus who battled an evil King and saved the Gods in the process. Release Strategy: Wide (Standard, 3D). RATING: 1.4 Looks good but director Tarsem Singh has a history of making movies that are spectacular images for their own sake.
INTO THE ABYSS (IFC) Genre: Documentary. A look at a convicted murderer sentenced to die in eight days, the family of his victims and those performing the execution. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 1.8 Werner Herzog has quickly become one of the best documentarians in the world.
JACK AND JILL (Columbia) Genre: Comedy. A successful commercial director’s twin sister comes to visit for Thanksgiving and proceeds to turn his life upside down. Release Strategy: Wide. RATING: 2.9 When Adam Sandler’s good, he’s wicked good; when Adam Sadler’s bad…
LONDON BOULEVARD (IFC) Genre: Crime Drama. An ex-con tries to protect a movie star and her troubled sister from a vicious mob boss. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.2 The directing debut from the writer of The Departed.
MELANCHOLIA (Magnolia) Genre: Science Fiction. As a large object hurtles through space to obliterate the Earth, the inhabitants of our planet prepare for the end in their own ways. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.3 Sounds like a fascinating subject but Lars von Trier has never been one of my favorite directors so I’m kinda wait-and-see about this one.
NOVEMBER 16, 2011
THE DESCENDANTS (Fox Searchlight) Genre: Dramedy. An indifferent father is forced to re-examine his attitudes towards parenting when his wife is gravely injured. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 1.7 This looks like another great role for George Clooney.
TOMBOY (Rocket Releasing) Genre: Drama. A young girl is mistaken for a young boy and decides not to correct the error. Release Strategy: New York City only. RATING: 2.4 Looks like a pretty insightful study on gender identification.
NOVEMBER 18, 2011
ANOTHER HAPPY DAY (Phase 4) Genre: Dramedy. A high-strung woman brings her three troubled children to the wedding of her estranged son and initiates conflict throughout her family. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.5 Ellen Barkin is a tremendous actress – it’s wonderful to see her getting more roles.
GARBO: THE SPY (First Run) Genre: Documentary. The story of a Spanish double agent who was decorated by both the Nazis and the Allies in World War II. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 3.4 Sounds like it should be a terrific documentary but trailer left me curiously uninterested.
HAPPY FEET TWO (Warner Brothers) Genre: Animated Feature. Erik, the son of Mumble the dancing penguin, has no interest in dancing. Release Strategy: Wide (Standard, 3D, IMAX 3D). RATING: 3.6 The trailer made this look way too much like “So You Think You Can Dance”.
THE HEIR APPARENT: LARGO WINCH (Music Box) Genre: Action Adventure. The heir to a billionaire’s fortune takes over his father’s multinational corporation with unexpected results. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.5 Has almost a video game feel to it.
IN HEAVEN, UNDERGROUND (Seventh Art) Genre: Documentary. A look at the Weissensee Jewish Cemetery near Berlin, the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe and one of the few institutions to remain in Jewish hands during the Nazi regime. Release Strategy: New York City only. RATING: 2.3 More a look at what the Cemetery means to the modern Jewish community.
THE LIE (Screen Media) Genre: Drama. A young father who is trying to get a day off from work tells a whopping lie which will have far-reaching consequences. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.8 I’m not sure whether this was meant to have comedic elements or not but the trailer sure made it look that way.
RID OF ME (Phase 4) Genre: Dramedy. A young girl tries to make her marriage perfect in an unorthodox kind of way. Release Strategy: New York City only. RATING: 2.9 For whatever reason the studio has taken the trailer down so I’m not sure that bodes well for the movie.
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 (Summit) Genre: Romantic Fantasy. The wedding of Bella and Edward signals a new danger for Bella. Release Strategy: Wide. RATING: 3.4 The beginning of the end of the franchise that has polarized audiences for three years.
TYRANNOSAUR (Strand) Genre: Drama. A man with rage issues befriends a young woman with a devastating secret of her own. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.2 The trailer looked awfully mesmerizing.
NOVEMBER 23, 2011
A DANGEROUS METHOD (Sony Classics) Genre: Historical Drama. The story of Freud and Jung, and the troubled young girl who came between them. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 1.7 A solid cast and director David Cronenberg make this one to look out for.
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (Columbia) Genre: Animated Feature. The clumsy younger son of Santa must save the day when Santa’s high-tech operation goes awry. Release Strategy: Wide (Standard, 3D). RATING: 2.0 The latest from the evil geniuses at Aardman Animation.
THE ARTIST (Weinstein) Genre: Romance. The fortunes of a silent film star whose career is on the wane with the advent of talkies and an up-and-coming young starlet are entwined. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 1.4 A compelling trailer which indicates that this black and white movie was filmed without sound.
HUGO (Paramount) Genre: Family Fantasy. A young boy lives in the walls of a Paris train station means to solve the mystery of his father’s loss, a grouchy toy shop owner and a heart-shaped lock that has no key. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 1.9 Believe it or not, this is the latest from Martin Scorsese. Yes, you read that right.
THE MUPPETS (Disney) Genre: Family. The Muppets biggest fan tries to get the gang back together again in order to save their theater which is about to be razed by a greedy oilman. Release Strategy: Wide. RATING: 2.4 Call me Oscar the Grouch but I just never got into these furry little characters.
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (Weinstein) Genre: Biographical Drama. A young assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl escorts Marilyn Monroe around Britain. Release Strategy: New York City/Los Angeles. RATING: 2.1 An impressive cast with Michele Williams capturing the look and essence of Monroe down to her toes.
RAMPART (Millennium) Genre: Crime Drama. A brutal L.A. cop finds his life unraveling when he is dismissed from the force. Release Strategy: New York City/Los Angeles (expanding January 27). RATING: 2.5 Looks like a new kind of role for Woody Harrelson.
NOVEMBER 24, 2011
THE LEGEND OF PALE MALE (Balcony Releasing) Genre: Documentary. When a wild Redtail Hawk (who haven’t lived in New York City for over a century) is evicted from its perch in a posh 5th avenue co-op, the resulting protest becomes a New York media sensation. Release Strategy: Limited. RATING: 2.6 A fascinating look at something that a lot of folks outside of the Big Apple aren’t fully aware of.
NOVEMBER 30, 2011
KHODORKOVSKY (Kino Lorber) Genre: Documentary. A man once the wealthiest man in Russia becomes a political prisoner because he dared stand up to the corrupt regime. Release Strategy: New York City only. RATING: 2.2 This is an acutely Russian tale.
SCHEDULED TO BE REVIEWED HERE AS NEW RELEASES
Tower Heist, J. Edgar, Immortals, Jack and Jill, Happy Feet Two, A Dangerous Method, Arthur Christmas, Hugo, The Muppets
Cinema365 