Coming Soon

One good, one bad, one maybe -- New movies week of 12/5

Of the films coming out this Friday, one looks very good, one is probably very bad, and one could go either way. What are you looking forward to the most?

Reporters vs. The Man

3. Frost/Nixon (NEW) -- Watch the trailer.  This is almost unanimously getting good reviews. I'll definitely see it because I'm interested in anyone who's willing to risk their career by holding a president accountable for their illegal actions.

2. Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) -- Watch the trailer. Ed Murrow and Fred Friendly became my heroes when I saw them go against the grain of witch-hunting, McCarthy-ite America.

Do you guys think this is just 'an issue' movie? Even if you do, you have to admit it looks beautiful. Cigarette smoke is always so hypnotic in black and white. Speaking of smoking, my favorite movie about Reporters vs. The Man is...

1. The Insider (1999) -- Big tobacco pays Russell Crowe, a chemist, to make their cigarettes more addictive. When Crowe quits on moral grounds and threatens to go public with his story, he and his family begin to receive death threats. 

One of Michael Mann's best and most gripping films. And it isn't even violent!

Thank You Sir, May I Have Another: The Unstoppable Punisher Re-boots

3. The Punisher: War Zone (NEW) -- Watch the trailer. Ray Stevenson plays  Frank Castle, joined by Wayne Knight (Newman!) as Microchip, and the handsome Dominic West as horrific villain Jigsaw. Does it have a chance to be good?

2. The Punisher (2004) -- Watch the trailer. Tom Jane as Frank Castle. John Travolta tried to play creepy, but just came off sleepy. I give it one star (out of five).

1. The Punisher (1989) -- Watch the trailer. Dolph Lundgren! I never saw this one, but my old boss did, and he said it was better than the one with Tom Jane. What do you guys think?

Who do you guys want to see play the Punisher in the next, inevitable re-boot? Who should play the villain?

Also New: a Mixed Bag

1. Cadillac Records  -- Watch the trailer. It's 1950s Chicago, where some of the most exciting and beautiful records of all time were released by Chess records. I'm really interested in this time and the music that came from it, but it's getting mixed reviews.

A few of the musicians in it are Chuck Berry (Mos Def), Etta James (Beyonce Knowles) and Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright). Adrien Brody plays label owner Leonard Chess.

2. Nobel Son  -- Watch the trailer. When chemist Eli Michaelson (Alan Rickman) is awarded a Nobel Prize, a crook kidnaps his son and demands a ransom of $2 million. Rickman refuses, so his wife (Mary Steenbergen) tries to rescue her son.

Everything about this movie (except for Alan Rickman) says "second rate." Favorite Rickman performances, anyone? I'm going with the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

3. Local Color  --

 John is a shy teenager who would like nothing more than to become a painter, but his father (played by Ray Liotta) would rather have him play baseball and hang out with girls. John lucks out when he gets the opportunity to spend a summer with his favorite Russian impressionist. I'm mostly interested because Ron Perlman plays a minor role.  I always like watching him.

4. Ciao  -- Watch the trailer. Two men are brought together by the death of a mutual friend.

5. Let Them Chirp Awhile  -- A struggling screenwriter takes care of a Jack Russell terrier with hopes of laying its owner. (Sigh)

Re:One good, one bad, one maybe -- New movies week of 12/5

New DVD Highlights -- 12/2

1. Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -- Watch trailer. I haven't seen this one, would anyone recommend it?

2. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor -- Watch trailer. I liked the first Mummy, but I was pretty disappointed with Mummy 2. I'm inclined to ignore this one.

3. Speed Racer -- Watch trailer. Eye candy!

4. Step Brothers -- Watch trailer. While not as good as Talladega Nights, the chemistry of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly makes for some great scenes.

5. Wanted -- Watch trailer. Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy were great in this. It was so much fun, I didn't even care that it felt derivative of The Matrix.

6. The Longshots -- Watch trailer. Fred Durst (yep, the Limp Bizkit guy) directs this battle-of-the-sexes sports comedy starring Ice Cube and Keke Palmer.

7. Meet Dave -- Watch trailer. The one with all the little Eddie Murphy astronauts inside the Eddie Murphy spaceship.

Re:One good, one bad, one maybe -- New movies week of 12/5

Frost Nixon: This movie feels too appropriate given the current political situation. Most people say Dennis Kucinich is crazy, but he's one of the few who has continually called for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. One wonders if he will be vindicated sometime in the near future, and if a movie will also be made concerning him and his peers. Although Kucinich doesn't sound like a great movie title, to be honest.

The DVD lineup look terrible. Prince Caspian was only marginally better than its predecessor. Wanted was terrible, and in all the right ways a movie can be bad even when it has more money thrown at it than the governor's call girl.

Anyway I'll stop ranting.

The Insider was an excellent film in my opinion as well, and the punisher movies were merely shallow actioner films, but at least they didn't defy the laws of physics, unlike another STUPID film I just mentioned.

Re:One good, one bad, one maybe -- New movies week of 12/5

rjsprague:

Frost Nixon: This movie feels too appropriate given the current political situation. Most people say Dennis Kucinich is crazy, but he's one of the few who has continually called for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. One wonders if he will be vindicated sometime in the near future, and if a movie will also be made concerning him and his peers. Although Kucinich doesn't sound like a great movie title, to be honest.

The DVD lineup look terrible. Prince Caspian was only marginally better than its predecessor. Wanted was terrible, and in all the right ways a movie can be bad even when it has more money thrown at it than the governor's call girl.

Anyway I'll stop ranting.

The Insider was an excellent film in my opinion as well, and the punisher movies were merely shallow actioner films, but at least they didn't defy the laws of physics, unlike another STUPID film I just mentioned.

lol. Kucinich :) What a terrible movie title.

Caspian was a little less annoying to me than the first one too, I think it's because the kids are a bit older, but there were so many horrible teen-ager crush bits that mad me cringe. Needless in my opinion. 

Now I want to watch The Insider, silly me for waiting this long.

Actually, a lot of those DVDs look at least entertaining; better update the netflix queue.