New Movie Friday

FINALLY. Finally we're getting to some movies that I might want to see. I've seen two movies in theaters in the last 5 weeks and that isn't a result of not having enough time. I've probably looked at Moviefone 30 times just thinking something would change and for some reason a film worth seeing would pop up. No such luck until now. (Note: there are a couple more limited release movies hitting screens this week but I think we'll wait until they come to DVD before bringing them up.)

"The Town" - Ben Affleck, John Hamm, Jeremy Renner
A crew of thieves in Boston pulls a big heist that draws the attention of the FBI and a particular agent (Hamm) who grew up with the group. Meanwhile their leader (Affleck) is falling in love for a witness from their crime and things begin to unravel quickly. Not one day after I finished my "Top 10 Anticipated Films Films for the Remainder of 2010", I saw the trailer for this movie and regretted leaving it out. An outstanding trailer that either did its job perfectly by displaying what a strong movie this could be or will end up ticking off a lot of people who feel misled.  This is Affleck's directorial follow up to 2007's "Gone Baby Gone" which was an excellent film. Say what you want about the man's acting chops, he knows how to direct and I am truly, deeply excited to see this movie at the first opportunity.

"Easy A - Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church
A high school nobody (Stone) finds that her popularity goes through the roof when she starts rumors about her own love life. Before long she begins to draw parallels to herself and the classic novel "The Scarlet Letter." Here's the thing: if done correctly, this could be brilliant. Satire over slapstick, depth, and light hearted humor masking actual social commentary would be the key elements here. The trailer, however, doesn't seem to hit those notes. I'm hoping that's the studio trying to play up the film's easy humor more than anything else but I'm skeptical.

"Devil" - Chris Messina, Caroline Dhavernas, Bokeem Woodbine
As per IMDB: "A group of people trapped in an elevator realize the Devil is among them." Not my type of film but an interesting concept nonetheless. More interesting, "Devil" is written and produced (but thankfully not directed) by M. Night Shyamalan. I want Shyamalan to be relevant again but he seems hellbent on destroying his career. This could be a make or break film for him.

"Alpha and Omega" - Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Christina Ricci
Two wolves, one a straggler, the other a leader of the pack, are tranquilized and relocated to repopulate the area. Shenanigans ensue. Absolutely the worst trailer I've seen for a kids movie in years. I would rather let Mike Tyson take a free swing at me than watch this movie. Seriously.

"Never Let Me Go" - Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan
Based on a bestselling book, a group of children (and then teenagers) are raised for the sole purpose of providing organs to those who need them (I think) in a dystopian society. High concept films usually fail miserably and reviews have been poor but I confess I find myself slightly interested.

"Catfish"
A "documentary" about a young man who meets a girl on Facebook and unravels a series of lies to reveal a shocking truth. I think (and I stress "think" because it's really not clear) what they discover is that the girl that he's been talking to is not at all who she says she is but rather a very sad little family who went to extremes to create a departure from reality for themselves. This film has received a ton of press over the last few months and more than its fair share of negative reviews. It is still unclear whether this thing is A.) complete truth, B.) complete crap, or C.) a mixture of the two wherein it started as a documentary and when they figured out the bit, the cast and crew pretended they didn't know and let it run an awful course. If the truth is option C, then there is a special place in hell for these people, that's all I'm saying.