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Home > Blogs > Sir Critic on Cinema > Archives > 2009 > January > 06
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
February movies: What’s coming up?
Our Winter/Spring preview of 2009’s movies continues. After a mostly weak January, the movies come to life ever so briefly in the first two Fridays of February, before things start to slide again.
FEBRUARY 6
Coraline
The lowdown: A girl enters a parallel world where the humans have buttons for eyes. A curious case indeed.
The forecast: The 3D trailer for this stop-motion animated movie looked positively entrancing. The fact that it’s by the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas is a major plus as well. Unquestionably my top pick of the month.
The prospect: A
He’s Just Not That Into You
The lowdown: Baltimore singles and marrieds consider life and love.
The forecast: An absolutely terrific cast includes Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly and Ginnifer Goodwin. Two debits; A delayed release and a bland director, Ken Kwapis, who last made the reviled License to Wed. Still, the cast is enough to spark my interest.
The prospect: B
I’ve Loved You So Long
The lowdown: Confronted with the unexpected goodness of her younger sister , a woman who has been in prison for years begins to open up.
The forecast: The highlight here is the performance by Kristin Scott Thomas, which has earned raves, although awards buzz seems to have cooled somewhat. Still, I’m intrigued.
The prospect: B
Pink Panther 2
The lowdown: Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin, who usually has much better taste) fumbles, tumbles and bumbles again.
The forecast: I’m just not that into it, even with John Cleese playing the chief this time.
The prospect: C
Push
The lowdown: Sort a “young X-Men,” the cast includes Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle and Chris Evans. Also known as “the trailer that ran before Twilight.”
The forecast: Holds some promise, but it just might be derivative.
The prospect: C
FEBRUARY 13
Confessions of a Shopaholic
The lowdown: Isla Fisher (best known as the wild girl of Wedding Crashers) stars in this adaptation of the Sophie Kinsella novels.
The forecast: Fisher brings great energy to all her roles, and just as promising is director PJ Hogan, whose credits include Muriel’s Wedding, My Best Friend’s Wedding, and the very underrated 2003 version of Peter Pan.
The prospect: B
Friday the 13th
The lowdown: (Insert death metal version of “Taps” here)
The forecast: I have never, ever understood the appeal of this series. This movie, by the same crew that filmed the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, will do nothing to change that.
The prospect: F
The International
The lowdown: An Interpol agent (Clive Owen) and Manhattan DA (Naomi Watts) attempt to break up an international arms dealing ring financed by a high-profile bank.
The forecast: The two leads are promising enough, but surprisingly, the trailer never even mentions director Tom Tykwer, who made Run Lola Run. That’s a good selling point for me.
The prospect: A
Waltz with Bashir
The lowdown: A man who fought in the first Lebanon war of the early 80s tries to piece together his memories of that time.
The forecast: Somewhat similar to Persepolis, in that it uses striking animation techniques to illustrate real events, this just won the Best Picture award from the National Society of Film Critics - influenced, no doubt, by the current Gaza conflict.
The prospect: A
FEBRUARY 20
Fired Up
The lowdown: Two high school ditch their football training for cheerleading camp. Oh boy.
The forecast: The poster features the giant letters FU. I don’t have much more to add.
The prospect: F
Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail
The lowdown: Another self-explanatory title. Too bad Ernest can’t be there too.
The forecast: People who will like this know who they are. I am not one of them.
The prospect: D
Youth in Revolt
The lowdown: Michael Cera formulates a plan to lose his virginity to a local girl.
The forecast: With Cera (Juno, Superbad) in the lead, I have to give this one a chance, despite the tired plot.
The prospect: B
FEBRUARY 27
Jonas Brothers: The 3D concert experience
The lowdown: AKA The Hannah Montana concert movie with a sex change times 3.
The forecast: The visuals may be 3D, I’m betting the music is still 2D. Best New Artist Grammy nominees my posterior.
The prospect: C
Resurrection
The lowdown: Interpol agent Chun-Li (Kristen Kreuk) enters an underground fighting tournament, where she finds the man who may have been responsible for the death of her father.
The lowdown: Yawn. Wake me up in March.
The prospect: D
Slim pickins, innit? March gets somewhat better. What do you want to see here?
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DVDs: Highlighting a great sleeper and classic romance
It’s time to catch up with the recent DVD slate, which includes one of the year’s great comedies, and 2008’s “movie that got away.”
Today
Babylon A.D.: A sci-fi flick that’s reportedly so bad, even its director trashed it. Small wonder Vin Diesel’s going back to the Fast and the Furious franchise.
Bangkok Dangerous: Nicolas Cage really must have more mortgages than I thought.
Disaster Movie: The most appropriately titled film of 2008. Can these guys, who also made slop like Date Movie, Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans just go away once and for all?
Stairway to Heaven (A Matter of Life and Death): One of my very favorite romances of all time finally comes to DVD in this country. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (The Red Shoes) , this love story between a dead Worid War II pilot (David Niven) and a radio operator (Kim Hunter) features some wonderfully original touches, like filming heaven in black and white and our world in glorious Technicolor. It’s packaged with another Powell/Pressburger film I’ve not seen (Age of Consent) but Stairway alone is worth the purchase. Most highly recommended. GRADE: A+
Pineapple Express: Imagine - a stoner flick so good it made my runners-up list last year. It’s one of the rare comedies that kept me guessing as to where it was going. Full review: GRADE: A-
Righteous Kill: Robert De Niro and Al Pacino team up again - apparently to much lesser effect than last time.
The Movie That Got Away
Ghost Town: Most every year brings us at least one title that gets far less attention than it deserved. This delightful comedy concerns an arrogant man (Ricky Gervais) who temporarily dies, only to find he can communicate with the dead - one of whom (Greg Kinnear) wants to use Gervais to win over his wife (Tea Leoni). Derivative? Maybe a little, but I’ll take this over Ghost any day of the week. Smartly directed and co-written by David Koepp, the movie feels like a picture that might have been made during Hollywood’s golden age. It’s a little Frank Capra, and a little Ernst Lubitsch. When I saw this in the theater, I was completely by myself. It deserves, and will find, I believe, a much larger audience. GRADE: A-
On shelves now
An American Carol: This grabbed quite a few headlines last year as the rare comedy for conservatives. Given how poorly it fared, I wonder if even the conservatives cared.
The Duchess: Keira Knightley squeezes into a corset yet again - and this time the movie fails to catch.
Eagle Eye: This thriller with Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan, from the director of Disturbia, has just enough energy to make it passably diverting, but by the end, it gets so ludicrous that even the strongest suspension of disbelief is bound to snap. Full review: GRADE: B-
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