my week at the movies: ‘Marley & Me,’ ‘The Spirit’

This is it. My movie year is almost done. I’ve got a few awards screeners still sitting in piles here needing to be watched, but with these two movies (and one more next Monday), I’m done for 2008. My final tally of new theatrical releases seen for the year will be around 225. *whew*

My screening of Marley & Me (opens wide in the U.S. on December 25, and in the U.K. on March 13, 2009) tomorrow is actually the last screening I locked in, so it feels like putting the capper on the year. It’s about an adorable dog, so how can it go wrong? (No, don’t tell me -- I know all the ways it can go wrong, I just don’t want to think about them at the moment, except to hope that the movie avoids them.)

I’ve written already about why I’m psyched for The Spirit (opens in the U.S. on December 25, and in the U.K. on January 1, 2009), and now I’m in the crunch time between when the film has started to screen -- and garner reviews (don’t click if you don’t want to know) -- and when I actually get to see it. That’ll be tomorrow, too, so only another day to go with my fingers in my ears...