WANT TO SEE NOW

BIG BLU TUESDAY

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

I'd like to see Frankenweenie but not sure when I'll have the chance.  I wish Perks of Being a Wallflower had opened near me this weekend -- maybe next Friday it'll show up...

From Netflix is the indie suspense drama Red Lights, from the director of the excellent thriller Buried.

BEST OF 2012 SO FAR

The Dark Knight Rises
Prometheus
The Grey
Lawless
Looper
End of Watch
Bernie
The Raid
God Bless America
Cabin in the Woods
The Master
The Bourne Legacy
Take this Waltz
Your Sister’s Sister
Savages
Magic Mike
Chronicle
Haywire
Ted
The Avengers
Moonrise Kingdom
Dredd
Perfect Sense
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Snow White & the Huntsman
ParaNorman
Goon
Two Days in New York
The Deep Blue Sea
The Amazing Spider-Man
Project X
21 Jump Street
Safe House
Friends with Kids
Extraterrestrial
Jeff, Who Lives at Home
The Dictator
American Wedding
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
Bachelorette
The Vow
The Hunger Games
360
Contraband
Act of Valor
Battleship
John Carter
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Wanderlust

MOVIES FOR THE LONG WEEKEND

Gonna see Lawless -- huge fan of John Hillcoat's work thus far.

From Netflix is The Hunger Games -- let's see what the fuss is all about...

On the DVR is Anonymous, The Change-Up, and The Skin I Live In.

Need to check the On Demand new releases as well...

BEST OF 2012 SO FAR

The Dark Knight Rises
Prometheus
The Grey
Bernie
The Raid
God Bless America
The Bourne Legacy
Take this Waltz
Savages
Magic Mike
Chronicle
Haywire
Ted
The Avengers
Moonrise Kingdom
The Deep Blue Sea
Perfect Sense
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Snow White & the Huntsman
ParaNorman
Goon
Two Days in New York
The Amazing Spider-Man
Project X
21 Jump Street
Cabin in the Woods
Extraterrestrial
Jeff, Who Lives at Home
The Dictator
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
Safe House
Friends with Kids
Bachelorette
The Vow
360
Contraband
Act of Valor
Battleship
John Carter
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Wanderlust

FALL 2012 -- WHAT I'll BE SEEING

Some will be seen in the theater, others at home via HD On Demand, the rest via Netflix.  Am I missing anything notable?

Lawless
The Master
Dredd
End of Watch
Trouble with the Curve
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Looper
For a Good Time, Call...
Frankenweenie
Taken 2
Butter
Argo
Seven Pyschopaths
Killing them Softly
Cloud Atlas
Flight
The Man with the Iron Fists
Wreck-It Ralph
Skyfall
Lincoln
Rust and Bone
Anna Karenina
Life of Pi
The Silver Linings Playbook
Deadfall
Hyde Park on Hudson
Les Miserables
Jack Reacher
This is 40
Zero Dark Thirty
Amour
On the Road
Django Unchained
Promised Land
Not Fade Away
The Impossible

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Paranorman looks like fun -- will check that out this weekend.

From Netflix is Dick Linklater's critically acclaimed black-comedy Bernie, with Jack Black.

R.I.P.

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

The Expendables 2 and Paranorman are of interest...I'll seem them both ASAP.

Absolutely loved The Bourne Legacy -- want to see it again.

From Netflix is the Will Ferrell comedy Casa de mi Padre.

SISSIES NEED NOT APPLY

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

The Bourne Legacy looks awesome -- gotta see it soon.

From Netflix is the romantic drama The Deep Blue Sea, with Rachel Weisz.

I REALLY LOVE THIS ART

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Despite the largely negative reviews, I'm interested in checking out the Total Recall remake, as I'm a sucker for stylish, shiny, expensive looking sci-fi movies.  Not sure if I'll go this weekend but I do want to see it...

From Netflix is the Rudd/Anniston comedy Wanderlust.

Checking out JB Smoove's stand-up comedy act on Saturday night.

VERY CURIOUS ABOUT THIS

CAN'T WAIT

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

The Watch got killed so I am gonna wait for On Demand/Netflix.  Maybe a $5 Tuesday showing in a few weeks...

I really want to see The Dark Knight Rises again...

Ruby Sparks and Killer Joe are the two indies I want to see at the moment, both of which aren't playing near me...

From Netflix is the relationship drama Last Night with Knightley/Mendes/Worthington.

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

There's a little movie called The Dark Knight Rises opening this weekend.  I'll see it at some point soon...

From Netflix is either Submarine or Scream 4, can't remember.  Just sent back Extraterrestrial -- a clever little sci-fi romantic dramedy.

GET HERE

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Gonna check out The Amazing Spiderman on Saturday afternoon.

From Netflix is the Greek sexual drama/satire Attenberg, exec produced by the Dogtooth guy.

I wonder if anything dropped HD On Demand...

HA-HA

TOP 10 SO FAR

Prometheus
Savages
The Grey
Take this Waltz
God Bless America
The Raid
Chronicle
Haywire
Ted
Magic Mike

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

On Saturday I'm headed to NYC to see the Broadway version of the movie-musical Once.  I loved the film so I'm expecting to totally enjoy the show...

On Sunday I'll be checking out Savages, which looks like Vintage Oliver Stone.

Gonna wait a week on The Amazing Spiderman -- let the crowds die down a bit.

From Netflix is the Marc Forster/Gerard Butler drama Machine Gun Preacher.

ANGRY BLU TUESDAY

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

BIG WEEKEND!  Magic Mike, Ted, and Moonrise Kingdom.  Not sure when I'll see each one but those are the big releases for me this weekend.

From Netflix is the Oscar nominated drama Bullhead.

FINALLY

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

I will probably check out Seeking a Friend for the End of the World on Sunday.  I also want to see Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter but will save that for a matinee after work next week.  Moonrise Kingdom is still a no-show in my area.  This is getting annoying...

Nothing from Netflix this weekend -- sending back the dark and funny Jeff, Who Lives at Home, which while satisfying didn't hit the brilliant heights of Cyrus, the last film from the Duplass brothers.

WILD, ASININE FUN

WOWSERS!!!

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Much to my annoyance, there's nothing to see this weekend in the theater.  This shouldn't be the case.  There should be something to see every weekend, especially during the summer.  So many small films are out there but none of them are in my area yet. 

From Netflix is the much-buzzed-about We Need to Talk About Kevin.

CURIOUS

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Prometheus lands today.  And I've got my ticket for 10:45am tomorrow...

Nothing from Netflix; sending back the excellent and subtly deceptive Certified Copy.

Gotta check what dropped HD On Demand...

THE RETURN OF BOBBY Z!!!

SOMEONE ASKED ME...

...a few days ago what my top 10 favorite movies are.  It's an almost impossible question to accurately answer.  But, here are 10 movies I simply couldn't live without:

Goodfellas
Pulp Fiction
Heat
Double Indemnity
Back to the Future
All the President's Men
Top Gun
Natural Born Killers
The Tree of Life
Casino

TUESDAY BLU

BEST OF 2012 SO FAR...

The Grey

God Bless America
The Raid
Chronicle
Perfect Sense
The Avengers
Haywire
Snow White & The Huntsman
Goon
Project X
21 Jump Street
The Dictator
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
Safe House
The Vow
Cabin in the Woods
Contraband
Friends with Kids
Act of Valor
Battleship

YUP

HYSTERICAL

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Definitely going to check out Snow White & The Huntsman -- looks very stylish and slick and I'm normally not too big on LOTR-esque fantasy stuff.  But for some reason, just judging from the trailers, I think this one is going to be cool, at least from a visual stand-point.

Nothing from Netflix; sending back Jordan Scott's moody, artsy, and interesting debut -- Cracks, starring the always excellent Eva Green as a psychotic all-girls-school teacher who gets a wee-bit-too-infatuated with one of her students.  A nasty little film with some truly elegant cinematography (it's nice when dad, in this case Sir Ridley, calls up John Mathieson and asks him to do a favor...)

CUTE FUN FOR HALLOWEEN

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

So I guess I should finally see The Avengers, huh?!  Gonna check it out (in 2-D) on Saturday as it's supposed to be hot-as-fuck outside and I detest hot weather.

From Netflix is either Cracks, Battle Royale, In the Land of Blood and Honey, or We Bought a Zoo -- not sure which'll ship...

Gotta check my HD On Demand options...hoping Take this Waltz is in rotation...

ANDREW DOMINIK IS BACK

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Let the summer movie season begin!  Battleship and The Dictator for this weekend -- can't wait to see 'em both!  Also still have to see The Avengers (but in luscious, un-obtrusive 2-D...) at some point in the near future...

From Netflix is the latest Herzog doc, Into the Abyss.

HD On Demand options include God Bless America and The Vow.

DEFINITELY

BLU MADNESS

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

The Avengers opens this weekend, but due to other commitments and the fact that there aren't enough 2-D show times that fit with my schedule, I will be waiting a little bit before seeing it.  I also don't need drooling and imbecilic opening-weekend-mouth-breathers encroaching on my personal space.  I'll see it soon on a matinee...

From Netflix is the much discussed and seriously praised doc Into the Abyss, from my main man Werner Herzog.

BLU TUESDAY

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Not sure what (if anything) I will see in theaters this weekend.  The Five Year Engagement?  The Hunger Games?  Titanic 3-D?

From Netflix is Lena Dunham's acclaimed indie Tiny Furniture.  I've been a big fan of her new HBO show Girls so I wanted to see her theatrical effort.

SPOILER!

DOUBLE BLU TUESDAY

BEST OF 2012 SO FAR

The Grey
The Raid
Chronicle
Perfect Sense
Haywire
Goon
Project X
21 Jump Street
Safe House
Friends with Kids
Act of Valor

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

The Raid is actually opening in my area this weekend -- I am basically already in the theater.  Absolutely cannot fucking wait.

From Netflix is the documentary Helvetica, which is about, well, you guessed it -- a type font.

THE 25 FILMS OF SUMMER 2012

Lots of exciting and potentially awesome pop-corn flicks this summer, with a smattering of high-brow stuff thrown in for good measure.  Here's a list (in order of want-to-see) of what's coming out between May and August:

Savages
Prometheus
The Dark Knight Rises
Lawless (not the new Terry Malick film, the new John Hillcoat, which was previously titled The Wettest Country in the Wold, which is a much, much better title)
Ted
Magic Mike
Take this Waltz
God Bless America
Moonrise Kingdom
The Bourne Legacy
Battleship
The Avengers
The Dictator
The Amazing Spiderman
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Snow White & The Huntsman
Total Recall
Safety Not Guaranteed
Rock Of Ages
Neighborhood Watch
360
The Expendables 2
Premium Rush
Hysteria
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

IN THE QUEUE

At home:  Revenge of the Electric Car (just finished watching it -- very good stuff)

Into the Abyss
Battle Royale
Helvetica
Cracks
In the Land of Blood and Honey
The Last Mountain
Tyrannosaur
One Lucky Elephant
The Double Hour
Urbanized
We Bought a Zoo
Objectified
The Skin I Live In
Submarine
The Wildest Dream
Freakonomics
The Chaser
Cold Fish

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Nothing in the theaters this weekend.  American Reunion screams Netflix.  I'll definitely check out Titanic 3-D, just not this weekend.

Just sent back Carnage to Netflix -- it was as good as the play.  Shipping today for delivery tomorrow is the doc Revenge of the Electric Car.

BETTER BE AWESOME

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Finally gonna check out 21 Jump Street this weekend.  Wrath of the Titans looks bright and fun -- it'll either be an HD On Demand in a few months or I'll check it out on a $6 matinee in the coming weeks.

From Netflix, if it actually shows up (late 2 days now...), is the critically acclaimed foreign film Miss Bala.

DEFINITELY

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Still need to see 21 Jump Street.  Still want to see Jeff Who Lives at Home (why can't this film open in my area?!)

From Netflix is Bill Monahan's directorial debut London Boulevard.

TODAY'S BLU

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

21 Jump Street looks like fun -- I'll definitely see it soon.  Really, really want to see Jeff Who Lives at Home but that didn't open in my neck of the woods yet.

From Netflix is My Week with Marilynn.

TODAY'S BLU

TYPICAL WES

FRIEDKIN/LETTS TOGETHER AGAIN

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

I was interested in John Carter until everyone started going to the bathroom on it.  I'll wait for On Demand.

Not sure what ships from Netflix today...London Boulevard?  Senna?

TODAY'S BLU

ETERNAL PRIVACY

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Project X looks like wild fun -- checking it out at some point this weekend.

Nothing from Netflix as I'm sending Bellflower back today.  COOL MOVIE.

Postings around these parts have been light due to work demands, but I have a lot of new reviews coming up...

VERY EXCITED TO SEE THIS

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Act of Valor on Sunday morning.  I'm curious to see it even if it does look like the ultimate military recruiting advertisment.

From Netflix is the indie drama Bellflower.

NICE ART

IN THE QUEUE

At home:  Bellflower

Martha Marcy May Marlene (3/20)
Senna (3/6)
Carnage (3/20)
London Boulevard
One Lucky Elephant (3/20)
The Skin I Live In (3/6)
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
Like Crazy (3/6)
Revenge of the Electric Car
The Last Mountain
Cracks
Helvetica
Urbanized
The Puffy Chair
Objectified
Submarine
The Wildest Dream
Red Road
Attack the Block
Old Joy
El Topo
The Hit

MA-CHINE! HEY, MALCATRAZ!

One of the trippiest movies ever conceived finally gets the Criterion Blu treatment. Paging Amazon Pre-Order...

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Still need to see Safe House.  The Vow looks fun enough.  This Means War looks like a stool-sample and it got destroyed by critics so that now becomes a Netflix curiousity...

From Netflix is the gang doc The Interrupters.

On Demand options include The Rum Diary, Kill List, and Margin Call.

V-DAY GIFTS

TODAY'S BLU

One of the best, most underrated movies from 2011.  Michael Shannon should have been nominated for Best Actor, and this is the performance that Jessica Chastain should have been nominated for, not The Help.

COMING SOON FROM NETFLIX

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

Tony Scott's, errrr, Daniel Espinosa's Safe House opens this weekend.  Looks like a kick-ass-entertainment.  Seeing it soon...

From Netflix is the doc Project Nim from director James Marsh (Man on Wire).  I'll be crying...

To my surprise, hearing good things about The Vow...

NEED TO SEE THIS RIGHT NOW

MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND

On Sunday I'll be checking out Chronicle, which looks superb...

From Netflix is Texas Killing Fields.

I still need to see Margin Call...

EXPECTATIONS -- THE GREY ZONE

I have had the pleasure of watching Joe Carnahan's grim, thrilling masterpiece The Grey twice over the last five days.  Both viewings cemented one clear fact -- Carnahan has made a quantum leap as a filmmaker (previously excelling with Narc, moving laterally with Smokin' Aces, and then regressing with The A-Team).  This is a tremendous piece a work, a serious movie made by a ballsy filmmaker who wants to be taken seriously.  The themes that The Grey explores -- death, isolation, the randomness of things, your willingness and desire to fight against all odds -- are elements that everyone will face at some point in their lives, just probably not in the ways that the characters in The Grey take them on.  I could go on and on about what I love about the film -- the poetry of the narration, the muscular and oppressively cold cinematography, the cutting and mournful musical score, the splendid performances from the rugged ensemble, the absolutely magnetic Liam Neeson in the lead role -- The Grey has it all.  But this is not a formal review.  I want to discuss the ending.  Because what sets this film apart from so many other similar tales of survival is its ending. And it's here where I will embark into MASSIVE SPOILER TERRITORY, so you've been warned.

Everyone dies by the end of The Grey.  The film is about a group of men miraculously surviving a harrowing plane crash, finding themselves in tundra-esque conditions in the middle of a blizzard in Alaska, with no food, water, weapons, or help.  As one of the characters proclaims while rummaging through the plane crash debris: "I found a book -- it's called 'We're All Fucked.'"  One by one, each survivor falls to the elements or to the wolves (some face both at the time of their death) until we're left with just Liam Neeson.  The final moments of The Grey find Neeson's character (Ottway) trapped in the den of the wolves that have been stalking and killing all of the survivors of the plane crash.  Ottway, knowing that he's outnumbered, and after a stark and chilling moment of faith questioning, tapes a knife to one hand and some broken bottles to the other, and squares off against the "alpha wolf" in a fight to the death.  Of course, it would be needless (and amazingly pointless) to show Ottway ACTUALLY FIGHTING the wolf, so Carnahan, wisely, artfully smash-cuts-to-black as soon as Ottway takes off in the direction of the big-bad-wolf.  It's clear what the deal is -- Ottway is a man, at the end of his line (literally and metaphorically), who isn't going to die sitting down. His wife has died, he was about to commit suicide in the film's first scenes, and there's no chance of survival.  Through effective backstory, you learn that Ottway's father had written a poem when Ottway was a child:

Once More into the Fray
Into the Last Good Fight I'll Ever Know
Live and Die on This Day
Live and Die on This Day

If you can't read between the lines, well, you're an imbecile and you should quit while you're ahead.  The entire message of The Grey is right there in that poem.  As violent and as visceral as the wolf attacks and action scenes are, there is an underlying sadness, a lyrical quality to the movie that recalls the work of Jack London or Ernest Hemingway.  There's no way that Ottway can survive; it's just not possible, and like any realistic man, he knows it.  But that's beside the point -- it's not about if he lives or dies in the final fight with the wolf -- it's that he went out like a man, on his watch, his fate in his own hands, guided by his own decisions.  But for some reason, both times I've seen the movie, half of the theater is essentially ready to fucking riot because they've been "cheated" out of a scene that the trailers have promised them -- that of Ottway, with glass on his knuckles, slugging it out with a wolf.  Both times people have actually verbally proclaimed their distaste with the ending (and then with the film), and how the movie "sucked" or "was awful."  You were with it for two hours and now all of a sudden the movie is a failure because you didn't see the main character get torn to shreds?  Where is your sense of imagination?  Why can't the final moments of a movie sometimes be left up to the viewer to determine what the final outcome is?  It's so incredible that so many people seem to actively hate the idea of using their brains while they're being entertained.

The problem is -- how do you sell a depressing, introspective, at times existentialist meditation on death to the masses?  What you do is have the marketing team cut a totally disingenuous trailer that highlights the four action beats in the entire movie, while leaving out all the rest of it -- the quiet reflection, the conversations about god and faith and what it means to be a man staring down the certain inevitability of death.  But this is nothing new -- studios cut misleading trailers all the time (see The American or Haywire for further proof) --because if they didn't then every fifth movie would immediately die at the box office.  But what it does is unfairly set totally unrealistic expectations for the audience.  People are going into The Grey thinking they're about to see Liam Neeson have a boxing match with wolves.  It's Taken with Wolves!  Now, just to be clear, if that's what you really want to see -- men punching wolves -- then you're a fucking idiot and there's no helping you.  However, if what you were looking for was an empty action film with a big fight finale, then, yeah, I can see how you might be upset, because The Grey is not that film, and based on the trailers, you'd be right in thinking that that's what the movie was going to be like.  And as much as I hate the term "thinking person's action film," because in reality, all movies should make you think, I think that's what The Grey is.  We've become accustomed to rank stupidity when we go to the movies, which is a shame; the days of the ambiguous ending are far behind us.

DOUBLE BLU TUESDAY