my week at the movies: ‘New York, I Love You,’ ‘The Road,’ ‘Paranormal Activity,’ ‘Law Abiding Citizen,’ ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ ‘Precious,’ ‘Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,’ ‘The Messenger’
Geez, the week is half over already, but I’ve still got as many screenings ahead of me this week as I’ve got behind me. There’s too many damn movies opening in NYC this time of year, and I’m not even getting to anywhere near all of them.
If follow me on Twitter or Facebook, then you already know my intial reaction to New York, I Love You (opens in the U.S. on October 16; no U.K. release date has been announced):
MaryAnn Johanson found NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU surprisingly banal, but maybe she's just too familiar with the city to fall in love with it all over again
...and my reaction to The Road (opens in the U.S. on November 25, and in the U.K. on January 8, 2010):
MaryAnn Johanson traveled THE ROAD, and found it just as devastating as she was expecting
...and my reaction to Paranormal Activity (now playing in the U.S. in limited release; goes wide in the U.S. on October 16; opens in the U.K. on November 27):
MaryAnn Johanson is unsurprised to discover that the most interesting thing about PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is the hype
...and my reaction to Law Abiding Citizen (opens in the U.S. on October 16, and in the U.K. on November 27):
MaryAnn Johanson wonders if the title of LAW ABIDING CITIZEN is deliberately ironic, because this is a movie only torture-justifying-memo writers could love
But still on my to-see list for the week are:
• Where the Wild Things Are (opens in the U.S. on October 16, and in the U.K. on December 11), which Warner Bros. won’t screen for NYC critics till tonight, barely 24 hours before midnight showings begin tomorrow. (I hope that’s not a bad sign, but it usually is.)
• Precious (opens in the U.S. on November 6; no U.K. release date has been announced), which looks so sad I’ll already curling up into a defensive fetal ball at the thought of it.
• Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (opens in the U.S. and the U.K. on October 23), which I hope will be funny and cool and also serve as a bulwark to prepare me for the emo onslaught of New Moon, opening a month later.
• The Messenger (opens in the U.S. on November 13; no U.K. release date has been announced yet), another movie about the impact of the Iraq war on our soldiers, which could be the breakout movie for the wonderful Ben Foster.
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comments
posted by bracyman (Wed Oct 14 09, 3:24PM)
Wasn't The Punisher Ben Foster's breakout role? Bad publicity is better than no publicity, right?
posted by MaryAnn (Wed Oct 14 09, 3:25PM)
A breakout role makes someone a household name, or close to it. Foster ain't there yet... but he deserves to be.
posted by bracyman (Wed Oct 14 09, 3:35PM)
Darn right he does. Anyone who could make Archangel even remotely interesting could out-act Alec Baldwin.
I always connect him in my mind with Paul Bettany. Does some really great work and seems to have fantastic range, but never seems to catch on as a big lead.
posted by Brad (Wed Oct 14 09, 5:02PM)
Ben Foster was also the most memorable thing about Hostage (2005), although granted that's not saying much. However I figured for certain he'd be a "household name" after 3:10 to Yuma, as he was even better in that.
I'm quite looking forward to The Road, and MaryAnn gives me some hope that it will be just as gut-stabbing as the book.
posted by Tonio Kruger (Wed Oct 14 09, 10:59PM)
Yes, but Tonio Kruger wonders what MaryAnn thinks about people who continually refer to themselves in the third person. ;-)
posted by Alli (Wed Oct 14 09, 11:21PM)
Saw your Tweet on Where the Wild Things Are. Not sure if being "different from what you expected" is a good thing or not. I hope it is. However it's receiving average reviews on Rottentomatoes.
posted by Jurgan (Thu Oct 15 09, 7:03AM)
I think Twitter requires that format.
posted by Li (Thu Oct 15 09, 9:28AM)
Ben Foster is a bit mannered (thinks Lisa)
posted by JoshDM (Thu Oct 15 09, 12:22PM)
It seems I'm the only one pointing out what a Six Degrees killer the "I
If it's a series of disconnected stories, then does it only count if the actors are in the same story as Kevin Bacon, so it actually limits the connectivity?
posted by JoshDM (Thu Oct 15 09, 12:23PM)
:/
That should have read "It seems I'm the only one pointing out what a Six Degrees killer the "I heart NY" movie is.
posted by Tonio Kruger (Thu Oct 15 09, 10:30PM)
Tonio Kruger thanks Jurgan for his response.
posted by JosephFM (Fri Oct 16 09, 12:48AM)
JosephFM says you need to use an at sign when adressing someone on Twitter as well @TonioKruger.