This week there are three high profile releases, and one indie film, local to me, that I plan on seeing.
The Chronicles of Riddick. This movie hasn't fared too well with the critics, which is a shame, I had hoped this would get at least mediocre reviews. I say that because I really enjoyed the original film, Pitch Black. Starring Vin Diesel, returning to the anti-hero he created in the first film, stars as Riddick who, judging by the trailers, is called upon to stop a large army of evil. I will admit that the trailers haven't looked all that impressive. Seeing some of the designs of this film, it's not what I expected to see in this universe. It does not seem to be a sequel in the traditional sense, more of a film that happens to share a primary character. This was probably a good idea, we don't want to turn it into a retread of the previous film. David Twohy wrote and directed both this and Pitch Black. It's good to see a creator stick with his work rather than pawning it off, or worse not be given the opportunity. I like Twohy's work, in addition to these two films, he also made The Arrival, one of Charlie Sheen's better efforts. He has made a reputation for creating intelligent sci-fi films on lower budgets, it'll be nice to see what he can do with a larger budget. One can only hope.
Garfield: The Movie. What can I say about this one? I love the Garfield comic strip, I love the holiday cartoons, I hope to at least enjoy this movie. I had no idea what to think when I heard that a live Garfield flick was in the works. How can you translate this with live people? I continued to be puzzled when I heard that there would be a computer generated Garfield, yet Odie would be a real dog. Anyway, the trailers have been mildly amusing and it has gotten some decent reviews, so maybe it will be fun? It stars Breckin Meyer(Freddy's Dead, Can't Hardly Wait, TV's Inside Schwartz) as Jon, Garfield's loser owner, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Liz, the vet and object of Jon's affection, and most importantly Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield. I couldn't help but think when watching the trailers that Tom Hanks would have been a great Jon back in his Bosom Buddies days. One last thing, I hate how Garfield's mouth moves when he talks.
The Stepford Wives. A comic remake of a 70's horror film, sound like a bad idea? Probably not as bad as it would seem, the base material could easily go either way, and Frank Oz has decided to go the comic route. The basic idea here is that in the town of Stepford, the men are all turning their wives into perfectly formed robots. Oz has collected a top notch cast including Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, and Bette Midler. I hope this is a fun movie, but the commercials all seem a little bland.
Lastly, we have I'm Not Scared, a thriller from Italy. This looks like an excellent film based on the trailers I've seen. The story follows a little boy who discovers another child chained in a well and his discoveries as to who he is and where the boy came from. I have read that in the 1970's there were a number of ransom kidnappings in Italy, and the author of the novel and co-writer of the screenplay grew up in the area where this took place, and it also served as the inspiration for this story. I'm not sure how widespread the screenings are, but I hope to catch it this weekend and report back on the outcome.
There you have it, this weeks primary film releases. I hope you all enjoyed this peak, and be sure to post back your own findings if you catch any of them. And again, I'm glad to be back and hope to be posting some more reviews over the next few days.
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