What New Movies Start Friday, April 30th, 2010?
There are eight movies opening this week. Two are opening everywhere and six more open on a limited basis.
Opening Nationwide on Friday, April 30th:
Movie: Furry Vengeance (PG)
Starring: Brendan Frasier & Brooke Shields
Genre: Family Comedy
Synopsis: A real estate developer moves to Oregon to oversee a big new project that calls for the leveling of acres of forested areas. The animals living there don’t take kindly to the news and try to prevent it from happening.
First Thoughts: This looks dumb.
Movie: A Nightmare on Elm Street (R)
Starring: Jackie Earl Haley, Kyle Gallner & Katie Cassidy
Genre: Horror
Synopsis: A group of teenagers are being hunted in their dreams by the infamous Freddy Kruger. They have to stay awake to keep safe and try to protect each other.
First Thoughts: Another in a long line of movies, in the horror genre especially, that didn’t need an update.
Movies in Limited Release:
- The Good Heart - Drama about a guy that is drinking and smoking himself to deatht that comes across a homeless man that he deems the right person to take place and sets out to teach him about the male-centric laws of his alcoholic clubhouse.
- Harry Brown - Crime thriller about a man played by Michael Caine that comes to his breaking point when is companion is killed. Can you say an updated British Dirty Harry, as that’s what it sounds like to me.
- The Human Centipede - A sadistic horror movie about a German doctor attempting to surgically create a human centipede.
- Mercy - Fantasy movie about a romance author that is shocked at why a critic disliked his latest book and sets out to find the depth he seems to be lacking.
- Please Give - Black comedy about a couple that makes their living buying and selling things purchased cheaply at estate sales, but the woman doesn’t like what they are doing and makes a change that leads to some unexpected consequences.
- Phish 3D - See the band Phish in a 3D filmed concert.
For New Movie Friday there are three new movies to choose from this week. They are Furry Vengeance, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Phish 3D. None of which I will be seeing. Do any of this week’s new movies look good to you?
What New Movies Start Friday, April 23rd, 2010?
There are eight movies opening this week. Two are opening everywhere and six more open on a limited basis.
Opening Nationwide on Friday, April 23rd:
Movie: The Back-up Plan (PG-13)
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin, Eric Christian Olsen, Anthony Anderson & Linda Lavin
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Synopsis: A woman that can’t seem to find “the one” decides to jump ahead to the next step and get pregnant. It just so happens that on the same day she goes ahead with that plan, she meets a guy that has potential. She tries to see if there is really anything there, while also keeping the fact that she is newly pregnant from him. Can this out of order relationship survive?
First Thoughts: The premise sounds interesting, but also sounds like it can’t support an entire movie.
Movie: The Losers (PG-13)
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Jason Patric, Zoe Saldana & Idris Elba
Genre: Action Thriller
Synopsis: An elite group of commandos are betrayed while on a mission to Bolivia. They are presumed dead, but a mysterious operative finds them and offers them the opportunity to get the person responsible for the betrayal and get their lives back.
First Thoughts: I like a lot of the cast and it looks like a fun ride. It’s based on DC’s Vertigo comic of the same name.
Movies in Limited Release:
- Cheech & Chong’s Hey Watch This - Documentary film of their very successful reunion comedy tour.
- Best Worst Movie - The story of the Alabama dentist-turned-cult movie icon and the Italian filmmaker and the genuine, internationally revered cinematic failure they were apart of.
- The Good, the Bad, the Weird - A bounty hunter, a bandit leader and a train robber deal with a group of outlaws and the Japanese army while trying to find a treasure map in 1930s Manchuria.
- Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D - Concert film that shows the country star on tour in Pittsburgh, Seattle and other places.
- Oceans - Disneynature series chronicling and the exploring the mysteries of the ocean.
- Paper Man - Psychological comedy drama starring Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds about the unlikely friendship between an older failed novelist and a young woman suffering from a family tragedy.
For New Movie Friday there are four new movies to choose from this week. They are The Back-up Plan, Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D, The Losers, and Oceans. What new movie looks good to you this week?
Movie Review: Kick-Ass - Starring Nicolas Cage & Chloe Grace Moretz
Movie: Kick-Ass (R)
Released: February 16th, 2010
Runtime: 1 hr. 57 min.
Ticket Price: $6.00 Early Matinee
Refreshments: None
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lyndsy Fonseca, Clark Duke & Mark Strong
Director: Mathew Vaughn
Rating: Wait for the Rental, if Not Longer
Synopsis: A high school boy obsessed with comic books wonders why nobody has ever tried to be one in real life. He is pretty much invisible to everyone at his school, but is two friends. He gets tired of being a nobody and attempts to become a superhero, even though he has no special abilities, powers or training. He calls himself Kick-Ass. Meanwhile, a father and daughter team is out for revenge, as the masked duo of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, on a drug selling crime boss. Their stories converge as Kick-Ass starts to become famous for his exploits and the crime boss’ profits begin to take a hit.
Review: Kick-Ass falls somewhere between cool and demented. Unfortunately, the more I think about it, the more it seems to lie closer to the latter than the former. I’m really torn on this one, as I kind of liked it, but also feel like I shouldn’t because of a couple of things. I try not to be too spoilery, but if you haven’t scene it yet and don’t want to be spoiled, read on at your own risk.
First, while Chloe Grace Moretz (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), as Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl, definitely steals the movie, it felt really weird watching a pre-teen girl running around swearing and killing dozens of people, even if they were the bad guys. This is something that is completely left out of the trailer and promos for the movie and took me completely off-guard. We also see some of her training with her father, played by Nicolas Cage (National Treasure), which is particularly disturbing.
Second, while I know Lyndsy Fonseca (TV’s Desperate Housewives) is actually 23-years-old, she is playing a high school teenager here. It just seems not right to play up the sex angle the way the movie does. Yes, teenagers have sex. And, yes, this is an R-rated movie. But, should we really be showing a teen girl practically naked on screen, let alone the sex scene that appears a little later. This is a bizarre dichotomy that has always bugged me in the movies and on TV. We take 20-something young women and play them as sexy teenagers for the enjoyment of a mostly adult audience.
On the positive side of things, many of the fight scenes were, well, kick ass. There is a lot of blood, but the scenes come off really well, except for the first problem I mentioned above.
Cage is good as Big Daddy. His speech pattern when in his Batman like costume is hilarious.
While on the topic of humor, Clark Duke (Hot Tub Time Machine, TV’s Greek) is always good as the funny sidekick. And, there is a scene where the movie turns into a first person shooter video game, which is really well done.
There are a lot of good story elements. They really have fun playing off the Spider-Man mythology. The beginning of Kick-Ass’ hero’s journey is essentially good. And, you can’t really go wrong when the geeky guy gets the hot girl.
Overall, I just couldn’t wrap my head around Kick-Ass and fully enjoy it. I know it’s fake. I know it’s based on a comic book. I know it’s supposed to be escapist fun. But, what does it say about us that this is what so many seem to find fun and enjoyable to watch.
I haven’t read any full reviews of Kick-Ass yet, other than seeing a few tweets from movie bloggers/critics that I (@NewMovieFriday) follow on Twitter, but it seems I fall outside the prevailing wisdom that this movie is great.
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on Kick-Ass. What do you think?
What New Movies Start Friday, April 16th, 2010?
There are nine movies opening this week. Two are opening everywhere and seven more open on a limited basis.
Opening Nationwide on Friday, April 16th:
Movie: Death at a Funeral (R)
Starring: Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Danny Glover, Regina Hall & a host of others.
Genre: Comedy Farce
Synopsis: An American family sets out to lay their beloved husband and father to rest. As mourners begin to gather for the funeral, many shocking revelations, old resentments, threats, a little blackmail, and the wrong corpse unleash all kinds of mayhem.
First Thoughts: This looks disturbing, yet funny. But, mostly I wonder why a British movie from three years ago needs to be remade for an American audience, with Peter Dinklage apparently reprising his role from the first one. I probably won’t be seeing this one at the theater, but have added the British version to my Netflix queue.
Movie: Kick-Ass (R)
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse & Mark Strong
Genre: Superhero Action
Synopsis: An average teenager that loves comic-books decides to turn his obsession into reality and attempts to become a real-life superhero. He decides that “Kick-Ass” will be the name by which he goes and puts together a suit and mask to wear when he goes out to fight crime. The problem is, he doesn’t actually have any superpowers. Things change for him forever when his outings inspire a group of copy cats that includes an 11-year-old sword-wielding dynamo that goes by the name Hit Girl and her father, Big Daddy and he becomes friends with another wannabe superhero that goes by Red Mist. A local mob boss doesn’t like this new alliance and sets out to put an end to it.
First Thoughts: I go back and forth between thinking this looks like it could be fun and that it looks like it could be stupid. I am hoping for the latter, as I will be going to see it this Friday.
Movies in Limited Release:
- The City of Your Final Destination - Anthony Hopkins and Laura Linney star in this family drama about a writer’s family that tries to make sense of their lives after the author commits suicide.
- Exit Through the Gift Shop - A comedy by graffiti artist Banksy.
- Handsome Harry - Road movie starring Jamey Sheridan and Steve Buscemi about an electrician that has kept his rugged good looks into his 50s, but has never let anyone get close to him.
- The Joneses - David Duchovny and Demi Moore star in this comedy drama about family that lives very well with all the latest gadgets and gizmos, but find out who they really are after a disaster hits them.
- No One Knows About Persian Cats - Comedy drama about a couple of Iranian musicians looking for some backup players before a gig in London.
- The Perfect Game - A docudrama about a group of boys in Mexico with a love for sandlot baseball that are coached by an aspiring Major League coach that is suffering from discrimination.
- The Secret in Their Eyes - Suspense thriller about a retired court employee that sets out to solve a case he didn’t think was solved correctly, while he writes a book about it.
For New Movie Friday there are two new movies to choose from this week. They are Death at a Funeral and Kick-Ass. What new movie looks good to you this week?
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