Weekend Forecast: 3/26/09
By Craig Kennedy - March 26th, 2009; 12:01 am
Here’s a little game we like to play each Thursday called The Weekend Forecast. It’s your guide to the new movies hitting theaters this Friday and, as always, it’s 100% free of charge and worth twice the price.
- Monsters vs. Aliens. DreamWorks dips its toes into animated 3D waters and comes up with a group of monsters being held at a secret government compound who are enlisted to save the earth from an alien robot. The great voice cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert, Kiefer Sutherland and Paul Rudd. Kung Fu Panda made me believe DreamWorks can do animation and this one could be fun.
- 12 Rounds. Out for revenge, an escaped criminal mastermind kidnaps a cop’s fiancée. In order to save her life, the cop is forced to perform twelve seemingly impossible tasks. It’s an intriguing but ridiculous premise sure to be ruined by movie-killer Renny Harlin. Seriously. Nearly 20 years after his only movie that didn’t suck (Die Hard 2), the studios are still hoping lightning will strike twice.
- The Haunting in Connecticut. Yet another movie based on yet another true story about yet another family who moves into yet another charming old home only to find it’s haunted. This one’s got Virginia Madsen.
Opening in limited release:
- The Education of Charlie Banks. I’m quietly hoping this movie sucks so we never have to hear the words “Directed by Fred Durst” ever again. Never. Ever. Anyway, Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale) plays Charlie, a privileged young man living on an Ivy League campus. When an old friend with a dark secret turns up and insinuates himself into Charlie’s world, Charlie…I don’t know…gets an education…or something.
- Goodbye Solo. Indie favorite Ramin Bahrani’s third film looks a little more ambitious than his simple yet terrific Man Push Cart and Chop Shop. Unfettered by the narcissism that pollutes so much indie cinema, Bahrani is more interested in looking at the world around him. This time he leaves behind the New York setting of his first two films to return to his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. There he spins a seemingly simple tale of an energetic Senegalese taxi driver who befriends an old man. If Bahrani remains true to form, Goodbye Solo will be light on plot, strong on character and wholly worth seeing.
- Guest of Cindy Sherman. A documentary trip through the nature of celebrity and the New York art world with GalleryBeat host Paul H-O and his wife, famed photographer Cindy Sherman.
- Spinning into Butter. The trailer for this thing looks like a satire of one of those sanctimonious, self-important, heavy-handed films about racism when in fact it IS a sanctimonious, self-important, heavy-handed film about racism. Sarah Jessica Parker, Beau Bridges, Miranda Richardson and Mykelti Williamson star in this story about a hate crime at a New England college. The title of course refers to the story of Little Black Sambo.
Opening in New York
- American Swing. Documentary about Plato’s Retreat, the swingers club that operated in New York from the mid-70s into the 1980s. Yes, it’s about sex, but it’s also about societal attitudes and ordinary people breaking off their own piece of the sexual revolution. Recommended.
- Shall We Kiss? A frothy romantic comedy as only the French can deliver. What’s a kiss between two best friends? Just the beginning. Virginie Ledoyen stars. Recommended.
Opening in Los Angeles
- Tokyo Sonata. The best movie of the year so far hits Los Angeles. Check out the LiC review here. Recommended.
- Hunger. Another good one comes to Los Angeles. Read the LiC review of Steve McQueen’s film about IRA prisoner Bobby Sands. Intense. Recommended.
- Three Monkeys. Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Cannes premiere about a politician who pays his chauffeur to take responsibility for a hit-and-run accident. You just know nothing good is going to come of this.
This week’s musical sponsor is from a little quartet known as The Beatles. Please enjoy I Will.
Filed under: Weekend Forecast
I might see Aliens vs Monsters but I really didn’t care for the trailer much and Dreamworks Animation tends to underwhelm me, so it’s low on my list.
Keeping an eye out for Goodbye Solo and expecting Tokyo Sonata to open here next week. Guest of Cindy Sherman, Three Monkeys, and American Swing all have potential.
That is such a pretty song. :-)
Goodbye Solo definitely sounds like one worth checking out.
If you want a good laugh, watch the Spinning into Butter trailer. I can’t believe it’s real…I can’t believe it’s not…BUTTER!
The trailer for Aliens v Monsters did zero for me either, but I’ll keep an open mind about it.
Besides the recommendeds, I’m kind of looking forward to Three Monkeys even though the trailer looks like pretentious twaddle.
And yeah I’m sold on the Bahrani film.
Also…who writes sweeter love songs than Paul McCartney?
The only thing worse than the Spinning into Butter trailer is the idea that “Spinning into Butter” is an enticing title for a movie.
The Cindy Sherman movie also sounds unbearable.
I’m glad to know racism is still a bad thing.
“The only thing worse than the Spinning into Butter trailer is the idea that “Spinning into Butter” is an enticing title for a movie.”
Hahaha… That and Craig’s “I can’t believe it’s not… BUTTER!” bit has made this Thursday very rewarding already.
Maybe it’s the cast, or the way the first trailer was cut, but I suspect I’ll try out A Haunting of Connecticut sooner or later.
Has anyone but Sam J. (who disliked it) seen Duplicity yet?
Love that song by McCartney.
I haven’t seen Duplicity yet, Alexander, but Miranda Wilding saw it and has a review up. She liked it more than Sam. :-)
Not sure if this is just a west coast thing, but the story of Little Black Sambo puts me in the mind of Sambo’s family restaurant which in turn puts me in the mind of pancakes and that’s a place I like to be.
Political correctness has robbed me of pancakes!
At first I was with you on Cindy Sherman Jeff, but I get the feeling based on the trailer they’re letting a bit of air out of the NY art scene. I could be wrong, it could be first order self-congratulatory art wankery, but if not sign me up.
Ah, okay. Thank you. You’re faster than CNN, Alison. :-)
Hey, they don’t call me Speedy for nothin’.
I’m still curious about Duplicity despite the mixed reviews.
Craig, my assumption was of self-congratulatory wankery. The NY art scene is sophisticated enough these days that even when someone lets the air out of one part of it, they’re still doing it in a self-congratulatory puffed-up manner.
I loved Kung Fu Panda but I’m unsure about this one. Maybe it feels like a knockoff of Monsters, Inc., or maybe I’m just sick of aliens at the time being.
All three of Bahrani’s hits will be played here next week ahead of his visit to introduce Goodbye Solo on Friday night. I’m pretty excited. So is, evidently, Roger Ebert. The LA releases all interest me, so I’m glad all three of them – especially Hunger – will be here as festival screenings over the next month.
We have a nice little mini-festival going on from yesterday-Sunday. I’m volunteering Sat. and Sun. and will hopefully see Sita Sings the Blues, Revanche, Big Man Japan, Art & Copy, and, most importantly, Sugar, with an introduction by the filmmakers. So it should be a nice if not heavy weekend for me.
Otherwise opening here are The Great Buck Howard, which is “eh” but not much more than amusing; Everlasting Moments, which I know is supposed to be good but doesn’t interest me that much; and Amarcord, a Fellini film that I’ve never seen and is apparently having some kind of limited rerelease. Might be a squeeze to see that in the next week, though, and I still haven’t seen Gomorrah.
And I’m curious about Duplicity, too, Craig, enough so that it might be on tap for tonight.
See Amarcord, Daniel. I practically grew up on that film.
Yes, I’m insane.
The Great Buck Howard is available through the “Magnolia Pictures” selection on On Demand. Everlasting Moments is available through the “IFC in Theaters” selection on On Demand. Just letting everyone know…
I’ve been pushing “Goodbye Solo” hard at From the Front Row for the last few weeks. It’s a wonderful film that holds a very special place in my heart. It was filmed in my home town of Winston-Salem NC, and the area where I currently live of Blowing Rock. It ends up being a kind of love letter to the NC mountains, which really made me happy.
Anyway, it’s the best film I’ve seen so far in 2009, and it’s definitely recommended.
Also, “Three Monkeys” is excellent. But as far as this week goes “Goodbye Solo” is hard to beat.
I don’t blame Craig for touting TOKYO SONATA as “the best film of the year so far.” For me it does vy for that top spot with a certain Swedish film. I think TWO LOVERS and SIN NOMBRE would be up after that.
My kids will demand MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, but I have another hectic weekend, which includes a concert and a play. I want to see those two exclusive NYC openings Craig highlights (AMERICAN SWING and SHALL WE KISS?), but again I’m not sure what can be negotiated.
LIC members in the NYC area should be advised that beginning on Saturday and running through April 12th is a comprehensive Jules Dassin retrospective at the Film Forum, which opens with “Night and the City” and includes such classics as “Thieves Highway,” “Rififi,” and “The Naked City.” A few of the ones being offered are rare too.
Also, I hear you Matthew. GOODBYE SALO seems to be an essential viewing.
“Goodbye Salo” sounds like an elegy for Pasolini.
LOL Jeff!!!!!!!!!!
Duly noted on Amarcord, Alexander, especially considering the fruit of such an upbringing. And thanks for that note about On Demand. I didn’t know Everlasting was in there, though I have seen listed recently Che, Medicine for Melancholy, Gomorrah, Alexander the Last, Buck Howard, The Secret of the Grain, and Hunger. Pretty impressive lineup, though it pains to go against my theater experience and Medicine was the only one I’ve ordered because it’s unavailable theatrically. At this point $$ rules all, though, and spending $7.99 is a lot cheaper than $18-$20 for my girlfriend and me.
Sounds like you have another solid weekend lineup once again, Sam. Good on you for always taking advantage of the offerings around you.
Clearly, Daniel, you’d save a lot of money by losing the girlfriend. I don’t have one and it works wonders for my budget.
Since we cut out the cable to save $$, I think I miss On Demand almost as much as all the regular cable programming, especially when I see the lineup Daniel just mentioned.
I can’t get excited for Monsters v. Aliens. It’s probably cute enough, just not at all what I’m in the mood for lately.
Shall We Kiss? on the other hand, yes sirree, I want to see that and will the first chance I get.
This weekend my husband and I are dedicating to DVDs and reading, refusing to make any plans for anything else. I’m very much looking forward to it. We’re going to try to see a bunch of good stuff (not Alexander amounts, but more than usual).
I agree, the best thing about Spinning into Butter seems to be the happy pancake memories from the Sambo’s restaurants of my childhood. Mmmm.
And the song? I think “I Will” has got to be one of the most romantic songs ever. So simple and sweet, and so singable. Great taste, Craig.
Haha, sorry I missed that, Joel. Yeah the movies are kind of “my” thing in the relationship, so I have to support my own habit and also support her support of my habit.
And JB, cable is one of those things you miss when you know what you’re missing, I think. And in this case, it’s worth knowing that this is my far the most current lineup that’s been On Demand – it could be a fluke or it could be the future, I don’t know.