It’s another Tuesday and here is what you should check out, give a chance and avoid this week.
Grab ‘Em Right Away:
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Written by: Bruce Joel Rubin & Audrey Niffenegger
Starring: Eric Bana & Rachel McAdams
Why should you buy this? What do I say about a movie as beautiful as this? Somehow it was able to make a perfect blend of romance, drama and science-fiction and at the same time, completely palatable for anyone watching. I walked into a theater filled with women waiting with baited breath, and a box of kleenex each for the romance, and they got it. Pick it up it up so you have a movie in your collection you will actually want to watch with your girlfriend, in between your 9th and 10th viewings of District 9. I have to give credit where credit is due and I love this movie; if that makes me a sap, then a sap I am.
Bronson
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Written by: Brock Norman Brock & Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Tom Hardy
Why should you buy this? I’ve never seen such an interestingly shot film about a character that is so adamant in his ways. After watching the movie you get a feeling that it’ll be a long while before you see something like it again. I can’t get out of my head the image of Tom Hardy in these intermission moments as he is speaking to an audience (onscreen and off) about what he’s going through and what we should be thinking about it. Tom Hardy gives us an amazing performance as Bronson that will be difficult to forget and easy to ask how it got snubbed by the Academy this year.
Give It A Chance:
A Serious Man
Directed by: Joel & Ethan Coen
Written by: Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg
Why should you rent this? I’m not a huge fan of the Coen Bros. I know they have a massive following (and you can send all relevant hate mail to andrew.robinson@thefilmstage.com) especially after doing The Big Lebowski, which is a fantastic film. However when they do their dark comedies about slightly too serious characters in ridiculous scenarios, like with Burn After Reading, I just don’t get it. I end up sitting in the theater realizing how majestically constructed the filmmaking is and how ridiculous everything is, but can’t manage to find a reason to laugh. What is a comedy if you aren’t laughing at it? I must say though I respect this film enough that I have to at least recommend it as a rental, and if you like it you like it, if you don’t you don’t, but it’s worth finding out which side of the fence you fall on first before judging.
Avoid it Like the Plague:
Couple’s Retreat
Directed by: Peter Billingsley
Written by: Jon Favreau & Vince Vaughn
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Malin Akerman, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Jon Favreau & Faizon Love
Why should this movie be split in half and left for dead at sea? Because it is boring. How can a movie starring some of the brilliant comedic minds behind Swingers make such a drab romantic comedy that has zero laughs and even less believable romance? I don’t know but someone should ask them that. This movie felt like Vince Vaughn just wanted to hang out with his old friend Jon Favreau and they ended up making a movie in the process. This movie leaves you feeling that the only thing worse than a failing relationship is the trouble of caring about it enough to try and repair it and that hurts me the most. I also can’t get the image of Jean Reno in those damn Speedos out of my head and now I’m afraid to go to sleep at night.
Jordan’s Blu-ray Deals of the Week:
Hellboy II: The Golden Army [$11.49]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [$12]
Juno [$12]
Serenity [$12.99]
The Rest
The Stepfather
Dangerous Man
I Hate Valentines Day
Serious Moonlight
Endgame
Peter and Vandy
Dante’s Inferno
Heist
Blu-Ray
Running Man
The Phantom
Maria Full of Grace
What are you picking up this week? What are you avoiding?