So Chicago is pretty awesome. It’s nice and cold, and we can take public transportation pretty much anywhere. Our apartment overlooks Lake Michigan. And the list of things to do is pretty much endless – I’ll probably be able to spend the next year just exploring the city.
One thing it does not have, though (at least that I can find) is a nice list of movies that are opening on any given week. Yes, it’s true, I was cheating in Dallas, using this page to get my info. So now I’ll have to cull the openings from the movies that are actually reviewed, plus anything else I notice that wasn’t screened for critics. This means I may miss something now and again. I doubt it will be anything particularly worthwhile, but fair warning.
Oh, and also, Nick’s openings inspired me to add a bit more content to this column each week. Hence, I’ll add the critics’ ratings (MC=Metacritic, RT=Rotten Tomatoes). After all, it is a new column, completely distinct from that crappy old one in crappy old Dallas.
So, without further adoing:
Juno (trailer)
Director: Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking)
Said Nick in last week’s USA openings: “Great cast, clever dialogue, how can this be a bad thing?” Well … I wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of director Jason Reitman’s Thank You for Smoking, and the same description could be applied to that. Clever dialogue loses a lot of punch when it’s only superficially clever, which seems the case for much of the trailer (“That’s one doodle that can’t be undid, home skillet.”). This looks like something that will be amusing once but more tedious with repeated viewings. The trailer sure is. Maybe I’m wrong.
MC/RT: 82/93
The Kite Runner (trailer)
Director: Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, Stranger than Fiction)
I will admit that this movie’s tagline gets to me: “There is a way to be good again.” I’m not familiar with the book (of course), and the trailer only hints at what the movie is really about, but I’m intrigued. Forster is a solid director -even his little-seen Stay was OK – and all of his movies seem to turn out a little differently than I expect, so I’ll happily go see this.
MC/RT: 60/59
Starting Out in the Evening (trailer)
Director: Andrew Wagner (The Talent Given Us)
Drama about an aging writer which has gotten notice because of Frank Langella’s performance. Watching the trailer for the first time this morning, it looks a little bit like Langella’s Venus – tired and aging artist rejuvenated by a young woman. Maybe Langella will have better luck with the Academy.
MC/RT: 81/81
I Am Legend (trailer)
Director: Francis Lawrence (Constantine)
Hard to know what to make of this. On the one hand, the scenes in the trailer of Will Smith wondering around a deserted New York are certainly evocative, in the same way that Tom Cruise finding himself in an empty Times Square in Vanilla Sky was. There’s something inherently unsettling about there being no people where there should be lots of people. On the other hand, though, I’m sure I’ll be disappointed when the zombies come around. I don’t care about the damn zombies. Maybe the filmmakers have found a way to do this that isn’t simply a big-budget redo of 28 Days Later, but I’m not optimistic.
MC/RT: 65/58
Grace Is Gone (trailer)
Director: James C. Strouse (feature debut)
Previously reviewed on this site by Professor Wagstaff. The good news is that there have been no reports of reshoots by Robert Rodriguez.
MC/RT: 65/67
The Walker (trailer)
Director: Paul Schrader (Hardcore, American Gigolo, Affliction, Auto Focus)
Intriguing from the outside, as Woody Harrelson has always been underrated as an actor, I feel. Here he plays some kind of … hard to say from the trailer. I guess a male escort, involved with powerful figures in Washington, D.C. But reviews have not been kind, and while I haven’t seen much of Schrader’s directorial work, he seems to enjoy going out of his way to make his films a tough sit. That’s all good and well when the movie is good, but doubly unpleasant when it is not.
MC/RT: 56/49
The Perfect Holiday (trailer)
Director: Lance Rivera (The Cookout)
A little girl tries to set up her mother with a department store Santa. That doesn’t sound like a perfect holiday, but I guess it probably works out in the end. Way to spoil it with the title, guys.
MC/RT: 32/19
Alvin and the Chipmunks (trailer)
Director: Tim Hill (Muppets from Space, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties)
Oh my. If I made a list of everything that’s come out in the last three years, and ordered them by how much I wanted to see them, I think this would be at the bottom. Below Little Man. Or Daddy Day Camp. Or Catwoman. Even below Spanglish 2: The Wrath of Téa. It simply appears to be the most unpleasant, cynical, and disgusting movie that I can remember coming out.
MC/RT: 38/29
I dig it! The new style and the new sunny outlook on life. Must be nice celebrating Christmas in a place where it can actually snow.
The Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic score are a great complement. Take a while to compile though, I felt.
I Am Legend comes out here january 25th, so it’s a way off. The Richard Matheson novel it’s based on is one of my favorite novels, so I’ll gladly see any adaptation, even if it has Will “Awhellno” Smith in it. The transition to New York sure is a way to balloon up the budget, since the original was in LA, if I recall correctly. Does look amazing, though.
Juno also comes out late january. I was a fan of Reitman’s TYFS, and clever dialogue always works at least once for me. I can see the problem of it coming off as superficial, clever dialogue ain’t necessarily the same thing as good dialogue, but the reviews of this have been stellar and the trailer makes it look like it has something more than just superficial.
question about the move (may be too personal, so you don’t have to answer). Did you get a new job or get to keep the same one? Did Jeanine? Reboot?
I’m doing a reboot, and am currently unemployed (and loving it!). Jeanine got to keep her job.
Alvin and the Chipmunks is going to make 40 million this weekend. Jesus.
I saw the trailer for ‘Juno’ recently and like Brian, had a pretty negative reaction to it – found it rather smarmy. Mind you, I wasn’t a major fan of TYFS either so – in correlation with Nick’s opinion of it – I guess it may come down to whether you really took to Reitman’s earlier film.
Re: Alvin
When I took the family to Enchanted and sat amidst many other families, we were treated to an Alvin & The Chipmunks trailer. All the kids could not stop laughing, including my own. There’s definitely something that kids inherently like about this movie and resistance was futile. I’m not taking the kids, but I could tell from their reaction that it is the top must-see for the under-10 set.
Sometimes, talking CGI animals with funny voices are enough to open a picture. Hats off to Fox for understanding that and (yet again) proving they have the best marketing department in the industry.
Still amazing that the analysts were a whopping 20-25 million off…!
Re: reboot
Does this mean you’ll have to start (gulp!) paying for movies? Will the 2008 gatorbrian list be a mere trickle compared to the watersheds of years past?
Anyone else see I am Legend? That first hour is pretty terrific, it’s a shame there’s another 45 minutes following it.
$78.1 million for I Am Legend. Hope this greenlights some more scifi classics.
I also heard the last half diverges much from the last half of the book. The ending to the novel is some powerful shit, so I hope they didn’t change too much. Sounds like they might have, though.
With Alvin & The Chipmunks, it’s all about the voices. How can you not at least smile at someone who sounds like he inhaled helium balloons. I know the films are terrible, but if Daddy Day Care was a hit, it’s no surprise this is.
Seen four movies in my first week here, haven’t paid for one yet.
Wow, that’s exactly what I would have predicted. I might see it if I can get around to it in the next few weeks. But I still haven’t even seen Beowulf (will probably have to pay for that one), so it may be a little while.
Brian, I’m sure there’s an innocent and legal explanation for you to see free movies, but the romantic in me prefers to think you’re sneaking in (maybe Jeanine is letting you in through the emergency exit?
Saw Atonement and Juno over the weekend, reviews to come soon. Atonement is great, Juno is good.
Yeah, I’m afraid it’s all above-board. Basically, due to our jobs (her current, my previous), we have free passes to two different theatre chains.
The Day the Earth Stood Still hits theaters next Christmas, I’m betting they’re pretty stoked after this opening. The bigger question is going to be whether WB develops an IAL sequel.
Without getting into spoiler territory: there are hints that point towards the original’s ending, but they’re never followed up on.
It’s a very frustrating film. Another pass on the screenplay (and some dramatically different choices in terms of effects) and they could have had something really special. As it stands, they produced a decent popcorn picture with several fatal flaws.
Haven’t seem Beowulf yet either. It’s no longer playing in 3-D locally, so the incentive for a theatrical viewing just isn’t there.
Good lord, I’d go nuts with that…
Bryan Singer has been developing Logan’s Run for a long time. But I was thinking more of sci-fi novels, like Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama (which Fincher has had for the longest time), Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game (which Wolfgang Peterson has the rights to), Joe Haldeman’s Forever War and even my personal favorite The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. Stuff like that.
Ugh. Sounds like they screwed it up already. I’ll try and watch it with an open mind.
Logan’s Run is on the fast track. I’d be shocked if (strike permitting) they’re not in production by late summer/fall. The bad news: Singer bounced off the project last year and a first-time music video/commercial director named Joseph Kosinski stepped in.
That Rama thing always seemed odd to me. Fincher’s name was front-and-center whenever I’d see a trade ad looking for financing, but I’ve rarely heard him actually talk about it. I really wonder if his heart is in it? If Fincher is going to direct a sci-fi flick, I’d rather see him tackle Passengers.
Yes, the book’s ending probably wasn’t as “sequel-friendly” as this. I could probably outline a viable sequel in about 15 minutes based on the ending…I’m sure the bean counters at WB are doing the same.