New Releases

Friday is upon us once again. It is time to look at what new wonders will be lighting up the screens around the country. There are five new films to take a peak at this week.

Thunderbirds. To be honest, this looks a little silly, but that may be part of the point. This is a remake of a marionette show from the 1960's as a live action film. I'm not sure what to make of it. It does look like it could be goofy fun, but there is a fine line between goofy fun and horrible entertainment. It does feature Bill Paxton and Ben Kingsley, bot of whom are good actors and have delivered fine performances in otherwise bad films before. It was also directed by Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame, he had directed the excellent Star Trek: First Contact, but has been on a slide since that with the mediocre Star Trek: Insurrection, then the kids movie Clockstoppers. Reviews have not been too kind, I'll probably hold off til it hits the second run theater.

Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Now this looks like fun. Two stoner roommates get the munchies, see a White Castle commercial and the adventure begins. It is also notable for featuring two minorities as the leads, Korean John Cho (from American Pie) and Indian Kal Penn (from Van Wilder). It just looks like a funny movie, not much more that I can say! Oh yeah, Ebert & Roeper gave it two thumbs up.

The Manchurian Candidate. Jonathan Demme has directed this update of John Frankenheimer's 1962 political thriller. I admit, as of this writing I have not seen the original film, though it is in my collection and will be seen soon. The original starred Frank Sinatra and Lawrence Hervey, this time it's Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber, respectively. It looks to be a fairly intense thriller about putting a controlled element into the White House. The implications are frightening, and that can help create a great film. Not sure how great this will be, but I am sure to find out.

The Village. M. Night Shyamalan has delivered us another great looking film. I have loved each of his previous three outings, and can only hope that it continues here. The movie is about a community living completely isolated from any outside interference as they are surrounded by woods that are said to be inhabited by mysterious creatures. Word seems to be mixed, those who like his previous work, like it, those iffy on his previous work, tend to not like it so much. I hope to like it, we shall see.

Riding Giants. Here is a film that I hear is fascinating, but don't have a terribly strong desire to see. It is a documentary on surfing, like last year's Step Into Liquid. It is not that I think it would be uninteresting, I just do not have much interest in surfing. The film looks to explore its culture and show us the early innovators, and I do hope that it gets to be seen.

That does it for this week, hopefully there is something you want to see! Enjoy your week at the movies.