New Releases

There are a whole lot of releases coming out this weekend vying for your pre-holiday dollars. A lot of them look really good, it will be interesting to see how many I get to see.

Closer. The Mike Nichols film about complicated relationships is opening wider this weekend. It has had a lot of good word surrounding it. It stars Clive Owen, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, and Jude Law who seems to be in every other movie this year (alternating with Ben Stiller). A tale of fractured couples trying to tend to their fractured lives. This is a definite one to see.

Finding Neverland. Finally getting a wider release, I have been anxiously awaiting this. I find Johnny Depp to be one of the best actors working today, it is nice to see him finally getting some recognition. This movie surrounds JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. I understand that there are questions raised as to the accuracy of what is portrayed, but despite the inaccuracies, it appears to be a very entertaining well made film.

Flight of the Phoenix. On the lighter side of entertainment we have this adventure yarn about a plane that crashes in the desert, way of course, and in lots of trouble. The only way out is to build a new plane out of the old one. It stars Dennis Quaid and Giovanni Ribisi, and looks like it could be fun. This is for those not interested in this weeks smattering of Oscar type fare.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Stepping in to fill the fantasy hole left by Harry Potter release moving to the summer months. Jim Carrey stars in this book adaptation. I am completely unfamiliar with the books, so cannot say anything other than what I have seen in trailers, but it looks very entertaining, something the whole family will probably be able to find something to like in.

Spanglish. Writer/director James L. Brooks appears to be the latest director to help elevate Adam Sandler above the slapstick comedy line he is always toeing. The film looks completely inoffensive, yet also looks to have something special to it. I am looking forward to seeing, and besides Sandler, it features he American debut of Baz Vega who has been getting high marks for her performance here. We shall see.

Down to the Bone. This one is coming to the local arthouse theater. The film is about a woman who hides a cocaine habit and eventually enters rehab, but upon returning, she has grown apart from her husband and finds herself in an affair with someone she met in rehab. Looks interesting, plus one of the screenings will feature a Q&A appearance from the director.

What the F@#& Do We Know? This one is also coming to the local arthouse. It has been received with mixed reviews, but is gathering a sort of cult following, or so I've read. It's a drama/documentary trying to explain quantum mechanics and physics, which ends up being more about metaphysics. It is hard to describe what it appears to be about, I may just have to check it out.

That does it for this week, a lot of big releases, it is going to be hard to fit them all in. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Time to finish the year off strong,