Friday, September 2, 2011

Weekend Movie Guide

"The Debt" - Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington
30 years after three young Mossad agents track down and kill a Nazi war criminal, a dark secret comes back to haunt the group. "The Debt" has been sitting on a shelf for some time, having had at least a couple of release dates. It finally settled in at the end of the summer (it actually opened on Wednesday) and has garnered positive if unspectacular reviews. Chastain continues her incredible year as this is her third film of the year with at least three more to come before the year is up. Quite a run for an actress who had virtually no credits to her name when 2011 began.

Value: $8 I was able to see "The Debt" Wednesday (review to come soon) and found it to be quite solid. Chastain alone is worth the price of admission.

"Apollo 18" - Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen
A found footage film that centers around a secret moon landing and the reason why the US has never gone back. Director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego is going all out here on the found-footage bit, going so far as to leave his actors uncredited. I am always, ALWAYS, up for a quality, low-budget sci-fi film but I'm wary about this movie straying too close to the horror end of sci-fi for my tastes. The trailer is killer, though, and if done right this could be a major hit in relation to its budget ($5 million).

Value: $7 If I could confidently say this film would stay on the sci-fi/thriller end and not cross over into full on horror, I'd be much more interested. I think it could be worth your time but I'm not sure.

"Shark Night: 3D" - Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack
A group of vacationing college kids have their lake house retreat disturbed by the arrival of fresh water sharks. Oh boy. Look, if you're going to see "Shark Night 3D" you're not expecting a high quality film. This is a B-movie if ever there was one. My problem with this film is the the PG-13 rating. What's the point? You've put together a cheap end-of-summer horror flick and probably crammed it with cheesy 3D images. We can all guess there will be scantily clad females and hard partying. So why stop at PG-13? Why not go full bore and pick up the R-rating? If you're going to rip off "Pirahna" then you might as well do it right. Is there an audience for a watered down B-movie? I'm not so sure.

Value: $1 If you're into cheesy, low-rent horror films, I guess this fits the bill?

"A Good Old Fashioned Orgy" - Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Bibb, Tyler Labine
With access to his father's beach house over a long weekend, a party guy (Sudeikis) talks his friends into living up to this film's title. Because, you know, "Zack and Mimi Make a Porno" made soooo much money. I love Sudeikis; total genius. But you couldn't pay me to be see this movie.

Value: $0 Nothing good can come from this. Nothing.

"Saving Private Perez" - Miguel Rodarte, Jesus Ochoa, Joaquin Cosio
A Mexican crime lord (Rodarte) heads to Iraq to rescue his POW brother. I normally don't write about foreign films (which I'm guessing this is?) in this space but I saw the trailer for "Perez" a couple of months ago and it was the weirdest thing that I've ever experienced in a theater. After it rolled the entire theater was completely silent, like they weren't sure exactly what they'd just seen until some funny guy (read: "me") said rather loudly, "What just freaking happened?!" I just thought it needed to be noted.

Value: $??? I've no idea what to think about this film, I just think you should see the trailer for yourself.

2 comments:

  1. I am glad that you enjoyed The Debt. Look forward to your review.

    btw, been meaning to add you to my blogroll. That's been done now! sorry for the delay!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'll have "The Debt" up tomorrow. I think we've got similar opinions on that one.

    Thanks for the blogroll love!

    ReplyDelete

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