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The Weekend Warrior
Your Weekly Guide to New Movies for
March 16, 2007
By Edward Douglas -
Greetings and welcome back to the Weekend
Warrior, your weekly guide to the weekend's new movies. Tune in every
Tuesday
for the latest look at the upcoming weekend, and then check back on
Friday for final projections based on actual theatre counts.
(If you have anything to say about anything
written in this column, feedback and Email is always welcome, and almost always
responded to.)
THE BATTLE CRY!
Recently, a bunch of entertainment newspapers decided to run with
stories about how critics today are out of touch with the public.
We've seen it a number of times in the last few months with the success
of comedies like Wild Hogs and Eddie Murphy's Norbit,
both which were trashed by most of the critics who saw them, but
did extraordinary amounts of business nonetheless. There's also movies
like Ghost Rider, which wasn't even shown to critics before
opening because Sony expected them to savage it, and even though
that proved to be the case, it set a new opening record for Presidents'
Day weekend.
What one starts wondering when these allegations arise is whether or not in fact reviewers are supposed
to be in touch with the public to begin with and whether they're supposed
to be judging a movie based on whether moviegoing audiences from every
demographic might find it fun or entertaining or worthy of their movie
dollars. Usually, you can rarely tell with these sorts of things, unless
for some reason, you're somehow in touch with every person from the 9-year-old
girl to the 70-year-old man. Since few people (let alone critics) are,
it means that critics really can only rate the movie based on the
quality of what's on screen, rather than trying to determine whether it
will be popular, which should really be a moot point when reviewing a film.
Reviews are there to give you an overview of the movie and let you know
what's good or bad about it, then let you the reader decide whether that
movie is for you or something you're not into. Or at least that's the way
it should be.
For instance, if you're a fan of mindless physical comedy, you're probably
not going to find many film critics who share your tastes, so you have
to determine whether what you see in the commercials and trailer is funny
enough to warrant your money. You can certainly understand why studios
are especially hesitant at showing horror movies to critics, because that's
a genre that has a built-in fanbase who just want to be scared and aren't
necessarily concerned with the quality of the filmmaking it delivers.
Now imagine if you will, not only having to watch a movie critically but
also having to watch it trying to determine whether people will want to
see it or if it will be popular. That's the dilemma I constantly face while
watching movies, because I have to watch it critically and judge it based
on its quality, but also watch it as an "everyman" and try to determine
who might like the movie, who might see the movie and how much money it
might make at the box office on any given weekend. It leads to some very
schizophrenic thinking indeed, especially since I've learned that my tastes
don't always match that of the moviegoing public. Movies I like or love
often bomb or don't do well (see The Astronaut Farmer) but movies
that I loathe (like Wild Hogs) often end up bringing in big business.
But that doesn't mean that all critics should be forced to watch movies
like anyone else. There are different criteria in determining the quality
of a film and everyone's criteria is different. The better critics are
able to understand different genres and understand what's important for
that genre to work and in the case of comedies and humor, almost every
single person has different tastes.
It's probably something to think about the next time you're watching a
movie, whether you're a critic or a movie fan. Wearing someone else's shoes
for a while (figuratively not literally) can certainly be enlightening
for either camp and in doing so, maybe someday there won't be nearly as
big a divide between critics and moviegoers.
THE WEEKEND PREDICTIONS: (final update 3.15)
|
TW |
LW |
Title |
Weekend (in millions) |
Change |
# Of Theaters |
Average |
Week |
|
1 |
1 |
300 |
$36.8 |
-48% |
3,270 |
$11,254 |
2 |
|
2 |
2 |
Wild Hogs |
$18.0 |
-35% |
3,360 |
$5,357 |
3 |
|
3 |
New |
Premonition |
$15.5 |
N/A |
2,831 |
$5,475 |
1 |
|
4 |
New |
Dead Silence |
$8.8 |
N/A |
1,803 |
$4,881 |
1 |
|
5 |
New |
I Think I Love My Wife |
$8.0 |
N/A |
1,776 |
$4,505 |
1 |
|
6 |
3 |
Bridge to Terabitha |
$4.9 |
-28% |
3,019 |
$1,623 |
5 |
|
7 |
4 |
Ghost Rider |
$3.7 |
-45% |
2,824 |
$1,310 |
5 |
|
8 |
5 |
Zodiac |
$3.6 |
-45% |
2,362 |
$1,524 |
3 |
|
9 |
6 |
Norbit |
$2.6 |
-42% |
2,016 |
$1,290 |
6 |
|
10 |
8 |
Music and Lyrics |
$2.5 |
-35% |
1,850 |
$1,351 |
5 |
| |
|
|
Est. Weekend Total
$104.40 |
Est. Avg. Drop-Off
-40% |
|
Est. Average PTA
$3,857 |
|
After a monstrous weekend, last week's Warner Bros. blockbuster 300 won't
be too bothered or affected by the release of three new movies this
weekend, so one can expect to see the historic epic and Touchstone
Pictures' comedy Wild Hogs dominating once again this weekend.
At least two of the three new movies this weekend offer some true star
power in the form of Sandra Bullock and Chris Rock, both doing something
a little different, then you have the creators of the original Saw treading
familiar horror territory with Dead Silence. It's likely that Premonition will
find the most audiences, particularly women, as it puts Bullock into a
high concept thriller that looks better than it actually is thanks to strong
marketing. James Wan and Leigh Whannell's Dead Silence is likely
to take the diehard horror fans away from seeing it, but it doesn't have
the same cool factor (or the Lionsgate horror label) that's helped turn Saw into
such a huge franchise, and with a moderate theatre count, it'll be hard
to crack $10 million for the weekend. Chris Rock's I Think I Love My
Wife, which also stars the Weekend Warrior's dreamgirl, actress Kerry
Washington, may have a hard time finding Rock's usual audiences, since
it's being sold like a romantic comedy, though the humor is much more from
the male perspective.
Some of the movies may be affected by the Saturday night St. Patrick's
Day holiday, not so much Bullock or Rock's movies, and New Line once again
will sneak preview their family sci-fi film The Last Mimzy on Sunday.
Last year, V For Vendetta took the top spot with $25.4 million while
the Amanda Bynes comedy She's the Man wound up with just under $11
million, the previous week's Failure to Launch and Shaggy the
Dog filling in the spaces in between. The Top 10 grossed $89 million,
an amount that should be easily beaten even without openers as strong as
the past few weeks.
THE CHOSEN ONE:
This is another tough week to pick just one movie, since it sees the release
of two festival favorites, Scott Glosserman's horror-comedy Behind the Mask and
an interesting doc about reality TV called American Cannibal. Since this
section is more about quality and the best movie of the week (maybe even the
year), that has to go to Ken Loach's…
THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE
BARLEY (IFC First Take)
Starring Cillian Murphy, Liam Cunningham, Padraic Delaney, Gerard Kearney, William
Ruane
Directed by Ken Loach (Sweet Sixteen, The Navigators, My Name
is Joe, Bread and Roses and many more); Written by Paul Laverty (Bread
and Roses, Sweet Sixteen, My Name is Joe)
Genre: War, Drama, Historic
Rated R
Story: The Irish War of Independence against the oppressive British Black and
Tan forces and the birth of the IRA (Irish Republic Army) is explored through
the eyes of two brothers (Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney) who take very different
approaches to achieving freedom, something that comes between them when the country
is later divided by civil war.
REVIEW (Coming Soon!)
INTERVIEW (with Ken Loach and Cillian Murphy)
British filmmaker Ken Loach is very well respected among devout cinephiles for
his strong flair for drama and in his latest movie, he takes on the subject of
war, in this case, the one that took place in the 1920's between the farmers
and tradesmen of Ireland and the invading British forces who tortured and imprisoned
them for their beliefs. Forming volunteer militias, these men fought back for
what was right, creating the Irish Republican Army to rectify the injustices
of the British government.
Loach crafted this film with his long-time collaborator Paul Laverty and has
assembled a fine cast of local actors and non-actors from Cork, one of them who
just happens to be reputable box office star, Cillian Murphy. I'm trying to save
some stuff for my interview and review (which are both delayed due to coverage
of ShoWest in Vegas) but The Wind That Shakes the Barley is another amazing
achievement for the director who has had seven films in competition at the Cannes
Film Festival but finally had a film win the Palm D'Or with this one. It's an
excellent film, well worthy of seeking out, and it's opening just in time for
St. Patrick's Day, so one can catch what might be Loach's best film at the IFC
Film Center on Friday, also in Massachusetts and California, plus it will also
run on IFC First Take for the next month. Do try to check it out.
DEAD SILENCE (Universal)
Starring Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Wahlberg, Bob Gunton
Directed by James Wan (Saw); Written by James Wan and Leigh Whannell (Saw, Saw
II, Saw III)
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "You scream. You die."
Plot Summary: When a newlywed bride is brutally killed on her honeymoon,
her husband Jamie (Ryan Kwanten) returns to their hometown of Ravens Fair, a
creepy place purported to be haunted by the ghost of Mary Shaw, a murdered ventriloquist.
Once home, Jamie needs to investigate and solve the mystery of his bride's death
to absolve himself of the crime that most people think he committed.
Of Note: The team that created Saw returns with a gothic ghost
story that should offer lots of scares for horror fans.
INTERVIEW (with
James Wan)
Analysis: When James Wan and Leigh Whannell's low-budget debut feature Saw opened
over Halloween weekend in 2004, there was already a lot of excitement among horror
and genre fans, but when it made $18 million its opening weekend in just 2,315
theatres, a new franchise was born, one that has gone on to make a lot of money
for distributor Lionsgate. After making the first movie, Wan remained involved
with the franchise by working with Whannell on the stories for the next two movies,
but by the time Saw II came out for Halloween '05, he was already working
on a new horror film, his tribute to '60s gothic horror films like the ones that
came out of England and Europe. It's somewhat of a risky move since Saw was
considered such a cool original premise and Dead Silence might not be
as immediate to anyone older horror fans who'd be familiar with the films of
Hammer Films and Italian horror-meisters like Dario Argento and Mario Bava. Fact
is that none of those movies have ever been as popular in this country as home-grown
horror like the Friday the 13th or Halloween series.
Still, there are plenty of elements that will appeal to the fans of Saw,
like the prominent puppets that appear in the commercials and trailer, and the
premise of a dead woman returned to kill others, which is similar to the 2003
horror-thriller Darkness Falls. The big difference is that this is helmed
by a horror filmmaker who has gained some respect after Saw.
The cast really is nothing special, starring Ryan Kwanten of the WB show "Summerland" and
Fox's recent Flicka, as well as Amber Valletta, who oddly, also appears
in Sandra Bullock's Premonition this week, and Donnie Wahlberg, who also
starred in the horror sequel Saw II. Horror fans probably won't care too
much who is or isn't in the movie, since it's more about the look and feel and
whether or not they find the commercials scary or just think that this is a Saw knock-off
trying to capitalize on that franchise's success. Certainly, fans of the original Saw will
be interested to see how Wan has developed as a director since making his first
and only movie, but younger moviegoers might not feel the need to rush to see
this in theatres.
For some reason, the movie seems to be getting dumped by Universal, having been
delayed for a while, then being released without a lot of advance hype, following
the recent pattern of not screening it for critics. Granted, this isn't that
busy of a weekend in terms of new releases, but the trailer only showed up a
month back and it's being release into less than 2,000 theatres. Universal really
hasn't made much of a name for themselves with horror, surprising considering
that the studio was responsible for early horror classics like Dracula, Frankenstein and The
Wolf Man. Their most recent horror hit was the supernatural thriller White
Noise in early '05, but most of the time, horror films are shunted off to
their horror imprint Rogue Pictures. Last year, they released James Gunn's Slither,
an R-rated retro-horror film (much like Dead Silence) in a similar number
of theatres without screening for critics, and it bombed badly. Dead Silence has
some tight commercials that might offer lots of scares for modern horror fans
but with no reviews and not many interviews (ala The Grudge 2), this might
not reach out too far beyond them.
Comparisons:
|
Title |
Release Date |
Theater Count |
Weekend Box Office (in millions) |
Average |
Total Box Office |
|
Saw II |
10/28/05 |
2,949 |
$31.73 |
$10,758 |
$87.03 |
|
Saw |
10/29/04 |
2,315 |
$18.28 |
$7,895 |
$55.15 |
|
The Messengers |
2/2/07 |
2,528 |
$14.71 |
$5,820 |
$34.46 |
|
Slither |
3/31/06 |
1,945 |
$3.88 |
$1,994 |
$7.80 |
|
Stay Alive |
3/24/06 |
2,009 |
$10.73 |
$5,339 |
$23.09 |
|
The Fog |
10/14/05 |
2,972 |
$11.75 |
$3,955 |
$28.00 |
|
White Noise |
1/7/05 |
2,261 |
$24.11 |
$10,665 |
$55.87 |
|
Darkness Falls |
1/24/03 |
2,837 |
$12.02 |
$4,239 |
$32.54 |
Why I Should See It: James Wan flexes his love for classic horror with
a movie that pays tribute to the gothic movies of the '60s and '70s.
Why Not: Am I the only one who thinks this looks a bit too much
like Darkness Falls?
Projections: $8 to 10 million opening; $23 million total.
I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE (Fox
Searchlight)
Starring Chris Rock, Kerry Washington, Gina Torres, Steve Buscemi
Directed by Chris Rock (Head of State); Written by Chris Rock (Head
of State, Down to Earth, CB4), Louis CK (Down to Earth, Pootie
Tang, "Lucky Louie", "Saturday Night Live")
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated R
Tagline: "In marriage, no one can hear you scream." (Now if there's something
about screaming in the Premonition tagline, we'll have ourselves a trifecta.)
Plot Summary: Richard Cooper (Chris Rock) is a mostly happily married
man except that his wife Brenda (Gina Torres) has stopped having sex with him,
which just adds even more temptation when sexy former acquaintance Nikki (Kerry
Washington) shows up at Richard's office to rekindle an old friendship that starts
a lot of gossip around the office.
Of Note: Comic superstar Chris Rock remakes Eric Roehmer's French
film Chloe in the Afternoon into a modern-day relationship comedy
REVIEW (Coming Soon!)
Analysis: It's been nearly two years since Chris Rock pulled the coup of
starring in two Memorial Day blockbusters (The Longest Yard and Madagascar)
so the only real way he could follow that up was to write, direct and star in
a challenging film that merges his comic sensibilities into the premise from
a '60s French film. While I Think I Love My Wife is loosely based on Eric
Roehmer's Chloe in the Afternoon, a comedy about a married man resisting
the temptation of a sexy colleague, it's really more about Chris Rock's normal
brand of comedy that he's been doing since his early days doing stand-up.
After Rock's brief stint on "Saturday Night Live", he had a series of HBO
specials that helped build him an audience before making the jump to movies.
In 2001, Rock wrote and starred in Down to Earth, another remake (of
sorts) of the film Heaven Can Wait, which did decently, and his directorial
debut Head of State had a respectable opening four years ago. Other
than those two movies and Rock's 2005 Memorial Day double play, he hasn't
really been very consistent as a box office star. He produced the 2001 flop Pootie
Tang and provided his voice for the Farrelly Brothers' foray into family
films Osmosis Jones, both embarrassing flops. (He also starred in
Neil LaBute's Nurse Betty, which didn't fare much better.) Teaming
him with Anthony Hopkins in the Joel Schumacher's summer action-comedy Bad
Company didn't help much, and it wasn't until he appeared in Madagascar and The
Longest Yard where it seemed like Rock's career was getting back on track.
(Of course, those movies had other things going for them, like Ben Stiller
and Adam Sandler.) Rock wrote the movie with fellow stand-up and frequent
collaborator Louis CK, who recently starred in his own HBO sitcom, but wisely,
Fox Searchlight isn't marketing the movie as being from the writer and producer
of Pootie Tang (gee, I wonder why).
In this movie, Rock is married to Laurence Fishburne's wife Gina Torres,
who seems to have appeared on every single hit show on television, including "The
Shield", "24", "Alias" and "CSI" but she's also a fave of sci-fi fans thanks
to appearances in movies like The Matrix sequels and Serenity.
(It's kind of atypical for her to play the unsupportive wife at home in
this comedy.) On the other hand, who is better to play the foxy home wrecker
Nikki than Kerry Washington, who first got attention as Ray Charles' wife
in Ray and then Idi Amin's wife in The Last King of Scotland.
(Both of her husbands won Oscars in their respective years, but when she
appeared in Little Man, the Wayans Brothers just won a couple Razzies.)
Rock certainly has a pretty strong fanbase that crosses over into many
demographics, and while this looks like the kind of urban romantic comedy
that has done fairly well in recent years, it's not necessarily geared
towards African-American women in the same way as Tyler Perry's hit movies.
Rather, Rock's movie is probably going to be have more of an appeal with
guys, white, black, single or married, due to the subject matter, even
though the ads don't really make it seem like a guys' film. Maybe it'll
be able to get some of the married crowd on date night, but it's going
to be a hard sell, especially with its R-rating which means that most of
Rock's younger fans won't be admitted. Then again, with most of its humor being
based on marriage and infidelity, there's a good chance that few moviegoers
under 20 will be interested enough in the subject matter to try to sneak
in. The movie just doesn't have as strong or relevant a premise as Head
of State, nor does it have Bernie Mac, who probably helped with that
comedy.
Really, this isn't a bad movie and quite an achievement for Rock, but it's
just not being sold in the way that can help it find the audience that
might be interested in it, and those who normally would be interested in
Rock's humor probably won't be as easily sold by the ads, which don't look
as funny as the movie actually is.
Comparisons:
|
Title |
Release Date |
Theater Count |
Weekend Box Office (in millions) |
Average |
Total Box Office |
|
The Longest Yard |
5/27/05 |
3,634 |
$58.61 |
$16,129 |
$158.12 |
|
Head of State |
3/28/03 |
2,151 |
$13.50 |
$6,278 |
$37.79 |
|
Bad Company |
6/7/02 |
2,944 |
$11.01 |
$3,739 |
$30.16 |
|
Osmosis Jones |
8/10/01 |
2,305 |
$5.27 |
$2,287 |
$13.57 |
|
Pootie Tang |
6/29/01 |
712 |
$1.51 |
$2,115 |
$3.29 |
|
Down to Earth |
2/16/01 |
2,521 |
$17.30 |
$6,862 |
$64.17 |
|
CB4 |
3/12/93 |
1,204 |
$6.12 |
$5,083 |
$17.64 |
|
Something New |
2/3/06 |
1,265 |
$4.87 |
$3,857 |
$11.47 |
|
Breakin' All the Rules |
5/14/04 |
1,318 |
$5.09 |
$3,861 |
$11.83 |
Why I Should See It: If you're into Rock's sense and style of
humor, this movie offers a lot of the same hilarious laughs as his
stand-up act… and Kerry
Washington ain't bad on the eyes either.
Why Not: Despite the R-rating, Washington doesn't get naked. Okay,
I know that's a selfish reason not to see the movie, but c'mon, single
guys need their fun, too!
Projections: $7 to 9 million opening; $25 million total.
PREMONITION (Sony/Tristar)
Starring Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Nia Long, Kate Nelligan, Amber Valetta,
Peter Stormare
Directed by Mennan Yapo (Framed); Written by Bill Kelly (Blast from
the Past, upcoming Enchanted)
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "Reality is only a nightmare away." (Oh, well… we tried.)
Plot Summary: Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) has a beautiful house and
a wonderful family, but one day she wakes up and is told that her husband has
died in a horrible car accident on the highway. Distraught, she mourns the
loss and prepares for the funeral, but when she wakes up the next day, he's
alive and well and lying next to her. She then realizes that she's somehow
living the days of the week out of order and she only has a few days before
the actual event that killed him to try to save him. What will she do? What
WILL she do?
Of Note: Sandra Bullock
returns to the suspense thriller genre with a high concept premise that offers
some intriguing possibilities.
Mini-Review: Bullock's latest "mind f*ck" thriller isn't nearly as poorly
conceived or confusing as The Lake House and her strong performance
keeps it from being completely horrible, but let's face it, the non-linear
premise, jumping backwards and forwards in time, makes it far too easy to figure
out exactly what's going to happen from one moment to the next. Because of
that, there's no real suspense, and it crawls along as a dull and slow drama
trying to build up to a climax that's already been telegraphed from the very
beginning. In many ways, the movie is similar to White Noise in that
it never really delivers on what might have been a cool premise, and what might
have been a competent thriller gets so bogged down in its meandering storyline
that by the time it ends (and it's a real bummer of an ending too), you just
don't really care much what happens to Bullock's character. Rating: 6/10
Analysis: 2006 was quite
year for Sandra Bullock. The indie drama Crash, which she co-produced
and starred in, won an Oscar and a SAG Ensemble award and a few months later,
she was reunited with her Speed co-star Keanu Reeves for the romantic
drama The Lake House, which grossed over $50 million despite its strange
time-spanning premise. A few months later, she co-starred in Doug McGrath's
Truman Capote biodrama Infamous, which had the misfortune of coming
out after the Oscar-nominated Capote.
Bullock's continuing her dramatic
run with a fairly high concept thriller, which once again teams her with a
foreign filmmaker making his English language debut, that being Mennan Yapo
(no, I hadn't heard of him either.) While the premise seems intriguing, Bullock's
last suspense thriller, Murder by Numbers (2002), didn't fare nearly
as well as some of her romantic comedies, grossing just $32 million, and it
seems kind of risky to return to the genre, which obviously didn't appeal much
to her fans. Regardless, things are different now and Bullock continues to
be very popular, especially among women who might not have as many choices
in theatres. Despite the lukewarm reviews for The Lake House, they're
likely to be interested in Bullock's latest just because it seems like an intriguing
premise. On top of that, Bullock has a bit of credibility among moviegoers
because she tends to be very selective about the projects she chooses, especially
in recent years as she becomes less prominent and box office worthy. The movie
offers a sense of déjà vu to other mind f*ck thrillers, most notably The
Forgotten (also released by Sony), which was a decent sized hit for Julianne
Moore despite a similarly odd premise. Unfortunately, this is following way
too close on the heels of Jim Carrey's The Number 23, which hasn't fared
that well at the box office.
The good thing going for the movie
is that it's the only movie opening this weekend with a PG-13 rating, which
means that the teen girls and women who might not have been as interested in
last week's testosterone-driven 300 will have something to see this
week.
Unfortunately, Premonition and the other two movies this week
have to contend with 6 new movies opening next weekend, and this one
certainly isn't strong enough to hold up of over the next few weeks even
if by some fluke, it gets decent word-of-mouth. The fact that the movie
has a 10% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes,
doesn't bode well for that happening, and my premonition is that it's
gone from most theatres by April.
Comparisons:
|
Title |
Release Date |
Theater Count |
Weekend Box Office (in millions) |
Average |
Total Box Office |
|
The Lake House |
6/16/06 |
2,645 |
$13.62 |
$5,147 |
$52.33 |
|
Crash |
5/6/05 |
1,864 |
$9.11 |
$4,886 |
$54.56 |
|
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood |
6/7/02 |
2,507 |
$16.17 |
$6,449 |
$69.59 |
|
Murder By Numbers |
4/19/02 |
2,642 |
$9.31 |
$3,495 |
$31.87 |
|
The Forgotten |
9/24/04 |
3,104 |
$21.02 |
$6,773 |
$66.64 |
|
The Jacket |
3/4/05 |
1,331 |
$2.72 |
$2,046 |
$6.30 |
|
Intersection |
1/21/94 |
1,300 |
$7.82 |
$6,015 |
$20.64 |
Why I Should See It: Because Sandra Bullock's actually almost tolerable when
doing drama.
Why Not: These kinds of movies can work if done well and intelligently,
but very often, they just confuse and annoy viewers, especially if things don't
turn out well for the characters.
Projections: $14 to 16 million opening weekend and less than $40 million
total.
OTHER LIMITED RELEASES:
ADAM'S APPLES (Outsider
Pictures) Danish screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen directs this comedy
starring Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) as a smalltown vicar
who welcomes a neo-Nazi named Adam (Ulrich Thomsen) into the community
and puts him in charge of caring for the church's apple tree. It opens
at New York's Chelsea Cinemas on Friday, but in a few weeks, Mikkelsen
and Thomsen also star in the upcoming drama After the Wedding,
which was co-written by Jensen.
AMERICAN CANNIBAL:
THE ROAD TO REALITY (Lifesize Entertainment) Perry Grebin
and Michael Nigro's documentary which follows two writers and the conception
and making of their reality TV show, which quickly crashes and burns when
they get involved with Kevin Blatt, the producer of the Paris Hilton sex
tape. It opens in select cities on Friday. Mini-Review: It's hard
to keep your jaw from dropping as you watch one of the most disastrous
attempts
at a reality TV show unfold before your eyes, and really, it probably couldn't
happen to two nicer guys. Of course, that's probably what happens when
you get in bed with someone like pseud-pornographer Kevin Blatt, who proves
himself to be an *sshole of the highest degree whenever he's on camera.
Still, as an insight into what goes on behind the scenes in reality TV,
this is a very cleverly-assembled documentary, hard to believe at times,
depressing at others, though a must see for anyone looking into breaking
into television by taking the reality route. Rating: 8/10
BEHIND
THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (Anchor Bay Entertainment) -
If you ever wondered what goes through the eyes of movie serial killers like
Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, Scott Glosserman's horror-comedy stars Nathan
Baesal as a killer influenced by his heroes to slaughter teenagers, as he's followed
around by a documentary crew and he shares his plans for his night of terror.
It opens in select cities on Friday. REVIEW (Coming Soon!)
CAFFEINE (Meurer
Productions) This British comedy centers around the quirky
inhabitants of a London coffee shop called Black Cat Café includes
the likes of Breckin Meyer, Katherine Heigl and Mena Suvari,
the latter sporting British accents no less. This cross between "Friends" and "Couplling" opens
in select cities.
TORTILLA HEAVEN (Archangel
Entertainment) - Judich Hecht Dumontet's comedy about a tightly-knit
Mexican community living in New Mexico and how it's disrupted when the
image of Jesus Christ appears on a hand-made tortilla at a local establishment.
Co-starring George Lopez, this comedy opens in select cities.
Next week, the world goes nuts as SIX new movies are released nationwide. (Please,
kill me now.) It almost makes me want to take the week off, but if I don't, you
can read all about Mark Wahlberg in the action-thriller Shooter, Warner Bros'
CGI T(eenage) M(utant) N(inja)
T(urtles), the horror sequel The Hills Have Eyes 2,
Terrence Howard swims with Pride, Adam Sandler
and Don Cheadle in Reign Over Me and
something called The Last Mimzy. (I
guess we'll also figure out what a "Mimzy" is next week.)
Copyright
2007 Edward Douglas

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