Weekend Forecast: Looks like six more weeks of movie winter

Ordinarily I’d say “better late than never” when it comes to the Weekend Forecast, but a quick glance at the new wide releases for the first weekend of February reveals a lineup that is probably just as well forgotten. If you live in New York, I recommend you check out The Red Riding Trilogy. If you don’t, stay home and watch it on VOD.

Opening in wide release:

• From Paris with Love. Johnathan Rhys-Meyers (Match Point) is a low-level CIA guy eager for more excitement. He gets more than he can handle when he’s teamed up with loose canon John Travolta to foil a terrorist plot in Paris. Former cinematographer and Luc Besson protégé Pierre Morel (District B13, Taken) directs from Besson’s screen story. Is it too much to ask for some basic action thrills in the dead of winter? I hope not. Trailer / Showtimes

• Dear John. Directed by Lasse Hallström  and based upon the novel by Nicholas Sparks (purveyor of sub-literate romances like The Notebook and Nights in Rodanthe) Dear John stars Channing Tatum (I always want to call him “Tatum Channing”) and the lovely Amanda Seyfried as a couple kept apart by military service. A quick glance at the Wikipedia entry for the novel highlights the words “Asperger’s Syndrome,” “Habitat for Humanity,” “9/11,” “autism” and “melanoma.” Thank god I’m single. Trailer / Showtimes

Opening in limited release:

• District 13: Ultimatum. 2004’s District B13 (directed by From Paris With Love’s Pierre Morel) was a goofy but fun action B-picture that introduced me to parkour, the non-competitive street sport where participants vault themselves over and around and from objects and buildings. In this sequel, parkour founder David Belle reteams with super-cop Cyril Raffaelli to save his crime-ridden neighborhood District 13 from corrupt cops and greedy developers. You’re not coming for the plot and characters. You’re coming to see this crazy acrobatic French dude jumping across building tops, through windows and down fire escapes and whatnot. Trailer / Showtimes
• Frozen. This little horror suspenser made a few waves when it premiered in the Park City at Midnight section at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Three college kids are stranded at night on a ski lift. I’m guessing frostbite and wolves are a bit worse of a problem than finding someone to buy you a half rack of Rhinelander outside the Gas-n-Go though, depending on the Gas-n-Go, no more horrifying. Trailer / Showtimes
• Terribly Happy. Danish noir with a darkly amusing streak. After a breakdown, a big city policeman takes the Marshal’s job in a small town. What could possibly go wrong in a small town in Denmark? Well, first of all, he falls for a married woman… Yeah, you get the picture. Trailer / Showtimes

New York.

• The Red Riding Trilogy (also IFC VOD) (****). Originally produced for UK television, The Red Riding Trilogy is based on three of four novels written by David Pearce that use the real-life Yorkshire Ripper murders of the mid-70s to early 80s as a backdrop for an unremittingly bleak plunge into the depths of the human soul, or lack thereof. Building one after another as the case moves from 1974 to 1983, the story weaves characters in and out while the bodies pile up and hope recedes. It’s grim business and time and again it upends the comforting notion of a lone good guy riding into town to clean up the mess armed only with his determination and a clear sense of righteousness. The killings themselves are mostly just to stir the pot of corruption and despair that define the time and place. I watched all three films 1974, 1980 and 1983 in one night. You can do the same for one week only at IFC Center in New York, but I think they might be best appreciated if they’re given a little breathing room. For those living outside of New York, the film is also available on IFC VOD. The careful cinematography takes advantage of a large screen and I generally always recommend the theatrical experience over television, but The Red Riding Trilogy might be best digested in chunks in the comfort of our own home. Trailer
• Ajami. (Wed. 2/3). Co-directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian, Israel’s recent Best Foreign Language Oscar nominee takes place in a crime-ridden, multi-ethnic neighborhood in the city of Jaffa. Touched off by a botched revenge killing, the story is one of those multi-threaded narratives with multiple characters (played here mostly by non-actors) weaving in and out of a series of non-chronological chapters.

Opening in Los Angeles:

• North Face (***). Trailer / Review / Showtimes

Speaking of mountains, this week’s musical sponsor is part 1 of Alan Hovhaness’ Mysterious Mountain. John Williams conducts the London Symphony Orchestra:

Filed under: Weekend Forecast