December 24, 2004

New Releases

Between 12/22 and 12/25 a variety of films are being offered up to the discerning palate of any filmgoer. There are films for the family, horror fan, drama enthusiast, and for those that like them quirky. It is going to be tough trying to fit them all in around the Christmas time activities which suck up valuable time that could be directed at the movies.

Aviator. Martin Scorsese's next attempt to bring back Leonardo Dicaprio. It has gotten a lot of early buzz. It depicts the life and times of Howard Hughes. The production looks great, something I would expect for Scorsese. Hopefully it lives up to his high standards.

Darkness. Here's one for the horror fan in your family, yet another PG-13 "horror" film with creepy kids. As good as some of these have been, some have been horrible, I am looking forward to the bursting of the bubble for the current stylings of horror. Saw was a step in the right direction, we need to go a step further. Anyway, this still looks as if it may be interesting.

Fat Albert. Did we really need this movie? Probably not, and it looks bad. I'm sorry, but the commercials do not make this look good at all, save the moment where Albert is looking for Cosby. Just a waste of time.

Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Hopefully this won't end up like I Heart Huckabees, collapsing under it's own desire to be quirky to the point of forgetting to have fleshed out characters. Early word hasn't seemed too kind. I like Murray, and hope that it turns out well. I like quirky movies, just not if they're quirky for the sake of it.

Meet the Fockers. This looks to expand on the original surprise hit. It looks like fun, hopefully it can stand up to the original. This time we add a couple more players, in the guise of Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand, as the Fockers of the title. Can this wedding go off without a hitch?

Phantom of the Opera. This one has had mixed reviews, but appears to be surviving on the set design. They all agree that the film looks great, but most seem to agree that it tends towards the dull side. I saw the show on Broadway and loved it, by comparison, this looks to be a faithful adaptation.

Bad Education. From director Pedro Almodovar comes his new film, which I have no idea what it is about, other than the trailers look interesting. It stars up and comer Gael Garcia Bernal, who has an excellent future, I have seen him in Y tu Mama Tambien and The Motorcycle Diaries. I may try to catch a screening of this.

Kinsey. Liam Neeson returns to the big screen as the controversial sex researcher Dr. Kinsey. This looks like a good film. It has already set off a firestorm of controversy, with family and religious groups staging protests against screenings. I hope to go and see the film, and then I will judge if protests are worthy or not.

That does it for this holiday weekend. I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and get to enjoy film in some form during your get togethers. I will see in 2005!

0 comments:

Post a Comment