Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture (and maybe one or thirty other awards, too), "The King's Speech" follows the path of King George VI (Firth) who battled and overcame a serious stammer during his nation's most trying time. Truly loved this movie but I would have never guessed that it would make the kind of money that it did. Not sure that it deserved Best Picture but still, it's success leaves some hope for the future of smart, mature cinema.
Rabbit Hole (2010) - Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart
Follows the interactions of a married couple after they lose their son to a heartbreaking accident. Sure to be one of the more depressing films of the year but I'm mildly interested in checking it out at some point. It received strong reviews and a great deal of award press for Kidman.
Gulliver's Travels (2010) - Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Jason Segal
A modern retelling of the classic book series that completely crashed and burned at the box office this part Holiday season. And thank goodness for that. Maybe studios will look at "Gulliver" as an example of why they shouldn't think of their audience as stupid. Black has officially reached "automatic out" status with me anytime he's the lead in a film ("Kung Fu Panda" excluded). His bit is just not funny. And it actually pained me to type Emily Blunt's name in conjunction with this catastrophe.
The Way Back (2010) - Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell
Based on a true story, this movie follows a group of prisoners who escape their Russian captors and walk 4000 miles to their freedom in India. I'm actually quite interested in this but know not a single person who has seen it. Anyone know what I can honestly expect here?
Somewhere (2010) - Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning
An actor (Dorff) whose lifestyle has become a sad cycle of booze-soaked nights and confusion-filled mornings starts to rethink his life during a visit from his daughter (Fanning). I saw a trailer for this a few days ago and it reminded me of the film's existence, piqued my interest a bit. For a while it looking like "Somewhere" or at least Dorff might have a place during Award Season and then everything came crashing in around it with a litany of poor reviews from important people. I've always thought that Dorff had more to offer as an actor than he's shown thus far, which leaves me wondering if this might be a worthwhile time investment for me.
New to Blu
Mortal Combat (1995) - Christopher Lambert, Brigette Wilson, Robin Shou
Short Circuit (1986) - Fisher Stevens, Ally Sheedy, Steve Gutttenberg
Short Circuit 2 (1988) - Fisher Stevens, Michael McKean
Also New
American Dad: Volume 6 (2009-2010) - Seth McFarlane
Did you see that the production company is re-releasing "The King's Speech" without the cursing scene? That infuriates me -- it was one of the funniest and most poignant parts of the film! I mean, that's where Albert truly finds his voice.
ReplyDeleteI kind of straddle the fence on the issue. As long as it's released in its original form (as opposed to George Lucas keeping the real Star Wars hidden away from me), I'm okay with it. I get that some people may not want their kids to hear those words. But you're exactly right, that's a pivotal scene that a lot of people will miss out on. Plus, it's far from gratuitous; it's extremely meaningful within the framework of the story.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!