Weekend Forecast: 11/20/08
By Craig Kennedy - November 20th, 2008; 12:01 am
Another strange weekend for new releases is upon us as Hollywood seems to be taking a little pause before the Thanksgiving holiday. If you’re above a certain age, you’re forgiven for not really knowing or caring much about the two big wide releases. However, if you’re in the target audience, this is one of the bigger weekends of the year. Me? I’ll be seeking out Slumdog Millionare from last weekend.
Opening wide:
- Twilight. Catherine Hardwick (Thirteen) brings the first of Stephenie Meyer’s supernaturally popular series of teen vampire novels to the big screen. As a man of a certain age, I suppose the cool thing would be to dump all over this one. The thing is, I like a good vampire story as much as the next person and if nothing else, I’m curious to see what all the fuss is about.
- Bolt. Disney continues to corner the talking dog market. This time it’s a 3-D animated tale about a TV super-dog who thinks he’s a hero in real life. When he’s accidentally hauled off to New York City, he recruits the help of a housecat and a hamster to help him get back to Hollywood. John Travolta provides the voice for Bolt while Miley Cyrus voices his human costar, Penny.
Opening in limited release:
- Lake City. Sissy Spacek stars in this drama about a young man on the lam from drug dealers who hides out at his mom’s house.
Opening in New York:
- Special. Michael Rapapport plays a sad sack parking enforcement officer who develops special powers after enrolling in a drug study for a new anti-depressant…or maybe he doesn’t. This is the 2nd of Magnet’s 6-shooter Film Series (the first was Let the Right One In) and I kind of liked it. It was a little rough around the edges, but it was funny (and sad) and I warmed up to it. It opens next week in Los Angeles, but the strange thing is that it’s already been shown overseas and it’s available On Demand.
- The Betrayal (Nerakhoon). The first many heard of this documentary about a family traveling from war-torn Laos to New York City was when it recently made the Oscar short list.
Coming to Los Angeles:
- Eden. The Irish marriage drama that opened in New York last weekend, hits the West Coast on Friday. I liked it. You should have a look.
Filed under: Weekend Forecast
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- Trailer: Special
The name ‘Catherine Hardwicke’ attached to any movie screams ’stay away’ but I might decide to fit Twilight in as the second half of a double feature, shall we say, to see what the fuss is about.
“a sad sack parking enforcement officer who develops special powers after enrolling in a drug study for a new anti-depressant”
Really? Why on Earth am I not a credited screenwriter? Here’s a movie: a lonely cab driver gets hit by a meteor and gains psychic powers. Want another one? A flatulent window-washer is hit by a car and gains the ability to smell emotions. I got a million of them.
I’ve seen Twilight, and well, I’m officially under embargo but I guess a comment on a blog can’t be that bad, right? Plus, Jeff Wells already wrote a whole page
Anyway, it’s surprisingly decent, and I can understand Wells’ reaction. It’s a teenage firl’s fantasy, sure, but it’s pretty well acted, moody, and while there are some groaners, I thought the action was well done (you can see that Hardwicke used what she learned doing Lords of Dogtown), and most importantly: it doesn’t talk down to its audience, much less than the books (which I read after seeing the film) in any case. It’s not silly or stupid, and that’s pretty unusual for entertainment made for teenage girls nowadays. Sure, I went in with very, VERY low expectations, and that might color my jugdment, but it’s really not half-bad.
After “Thirteen,” the name ‘Catherine Hardwicke’ always makes me hope for the best. And seeing as I have been looking forward to Twilight since I read (and really enjoyed) the book, I’m guessing I will probably love it. Of course, I’ll have to see it a little later, when I am done with exams, but it’ll be soon enough.
Thanks for the comments Hedwig. I’ve seen some “reader” reviews elsewhere that were equally positive but I wasn’t sure how reliable they were. I guess we can expect Twilight to be huge box office for the holidays. After seeing Let the Right One In, I doubt Twilight will hold up in comparison so I’ll be putting it on the back, back burner.
Kind of want to see Bolt, if only to see what Disney animation does under the leadership of John Lassetter. I don’t expect much though, since anything teaming John Travolta and Miley Cyrus sets off my skepticism alarms.
Looks like this weekend will be Synecdoche, New York and I might team that up with JCVD. Someone here has to see it, right? Correct me if anyone has and I forgot.
That gay Shakespeare musical film I spoke about a while back called Were The World Mine opens in three regions in the US this weekend, including New York. Just saying.
I’d see Bolt. Why not? The only animateds I’ve seen this year have been WALL-E and KFP, so my luck has been great.
No interest in Twilight whatsoever, especially not when Let the Right One In is opening here today. I think I can only take one vampire movie per season.
I also get Slumdog and I’ve Loved You So Long. I might still see Striped Pajamas but Sam and Nick have cooled me on that one.
The Betrayal was the best doc I saw at MSPIFF last spring, next to Up the Yangtze. It actually won the “Emerging Director” award for Ellen Kuras. In my capsule review I called it “unlike almost any documentary you’ve seen before”. I’m thrilled it made the Oscar short list - and not surprised. It’s going to be on PBS as part of the P.O.V. doc series next summer as well, if it never makes it to your area.
Dan, don’t let Nick or I steer you away from STRIPED PAJAMAS, you may have an altogether different reaction.
There isn’t much for me to see this week, as it is as Craig contends, a very ’strange’ weekend. I already saw SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE as have been relentlessly touting this five-star effort as one of the year’s best films. I await the verdict from all my good friends here on it with fingers-crossed. Anyway, I have some theatre and art museum engagements of high enticipation, including that Van Gogh exhibit at MOMA.
I saw EDEN on Tuesday night and liked it, but there were a few issues there.
This is not Sam Juliano, but Sam’s alter-ego.
I urge Sam to stop polluting these threads with announcements of what are the “best” films of the year, and to stop MAKING LISTS!!!!!
Like all normal people Sam, wait until the end of December! There are a number of films that have yet to release that may negate everything you have said so far.
Be patient, and get a life.
Hah hah Sam. You’re losing it. Too many movies maybe??
I’ll be curious to hear your issues with Eden. I didn’t have any. Liked it.
Nick, we are way apart here. I thought Thirteen was one of the absolute worst movies of whatever year it came out.
Here I caught up with some films I wanted to see in the S.F. Bay Area in the last couple of days, seeing Synecdoche, New York two evenings ago and Slumdog Millionaire and Let the Right One In last night, and there isn’t much coming out this weekend that makes me very interested. Bolt, Lake City and Eden are possibilities in the future.
Hey Craig, wanted to let you know that the trailer for the Wrestler is out: http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/the-wrestler/trailer
I am so looking forward to this… I’d be shocked if it opens in here before like 2011, though.
Great trailer!
Reminds me even more of that short story I wrote about a broken-down pro wrestler years back, haha. How did Aronofsky get his hands on it?
Twilight … not terrible. Just not quite good. But I got a hilarious out of it, so I’m happy.
hilarious review out of it.
It bugs me so that people who don’t even really want to see Twilight are seeing it this weekend, and I have to wait! Just kidding, I don’t have to wait that long anyway.
And that’s fine Jeff if you didn’t like “Thirteen,” its my favourite film of all time, but I have a deep, personal connection with it and its subject matter, so it just means a hell of a lot to me.
I couldn’t even make it all the way through the first Twilight novel, so I don’t know how I’ll make it all the way through a Twilight movie.
Well, Twilight is getting the raw treatment from most of the critics today, so your hunch sounds correct, K.
Yeah, I think Ebert really nailed it in his review of the film.
Oh, Nick. Oh, my, my, my… (shaking head sadly and wandering away)
Well I’m going to see both BOLT and TWILIGHT tonite, back to back.
My five kids have given me the order.
And Jeff, I greatly respect Nick Plowman for his passion there. I know just how he feels.
I hope you can also respect my passion when I tell you that I hate that movie with the fury of three or four suns.
Here’s the thing, though, if you enjoy writing about film, you ought to want to go see Twilight anyway. It’s just great fun to write about. :)
You know what Jeff, I’m not a fan of that film either, but Nick Plowman’s great love of the film (calling it his favorite film of all time) supercedes anything you (or I) can say. He clearly says there are reasons why it means so much to him.
It’s HIS moment in the sun, and he’s a great guy. It’s cruel to crash the party, man.
Sometimes a film doesn’t have to be the greatest one ever made to mean a lot to someone. My favorite film of all-time is not the same one I’d name as the best film of all-time.
And I’m not arguing that point, I just hope that you guys can respect my position when I say I think it’s a terrible piece of work.
A guy can’t get no respect!
Jeff, my last comment was meant generally. It just happened to come after your post.
Jeff, I respected your opinion on Thirteen although I equally respect Nick’s feelings on it. It’s only fair, since you (generally) respected my absolute hatred of Spider-man 3 last year (heh heh).