opening wide
Up: It is balloons! (You probably don’t get that reference unless you were a kid in the 1970s in the New York metropolitan area and watched WPIX and saw its promos for F-Troop reruns. Sorry.)
Drag Me to Hell: Sam Raimi tortures poor Alison Lohman. But might she maybe kinda sorta deserve it? Maybe she’s not such a sweet girl after all?
opening limited
What Goes Up: Steve Coogan goes all sadsack miserable when his journalist visits the school where teacher-in-space Christa McAuliffe… just before the Challenger launch. No, it’s not a comedy. [trailer]
Departures: It’s this year’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, from Japan. It sounds like The Soloist meets Six Feet Under. [official site]
The Lonely Maiden (aka The Maiden Heist): And this one sounds like Night at the Museum meets The Brothers Bloom — Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman, and William H. Macy are museum guards who plot to steal exhibits they like. Damned if I can figure out where this is actually opening, though (it’s not in NYC or LA); it’s from bankrupt Yari Film Group, so maybe it’s out in one theater in someone’s backyard before going to DVD. [IMDB]
Pontypool: A horror comedy from Canadian director Bruce McDonald, who made the fascinating The Tracey Fragments. It’s also on IFC on Demand, and I’m gonna go watch it right now… [IMDB]
