Theater Watch: November 16th, 2007
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The days of back-to-back blockbusters is long over I'm afraid, but that doesn't mean there aren't still good flicks to see this weekend if you enjoy spending $10 to have people spend two hours talking on their cell phone. Personally I'd rather wait a few months and watch it at home where I can pause it, eat a real dinner, rewind and watch something I didn't understand, turn on subtitles, and all the new experience stuff you get having a home theater.I think most of this year's flicks with the exception of just a few are destined for rental and not really even worth buying after you've seen it. The first couple of Spider-Man films were good but 3, and Pirates 3, I think we all know those were blatant profit taking as opposed to people wanting to make cool movies. That's not to say those goals are exclusionary, they aren't, just that usually one is more important than the other. Which do you think was the case for Pirates 3?
Anyway, on to the show..
Beowulf - is completely CGI with motion capture technology which frankly doesn't really make it look any better. Lots of big names which amount to nothing more than voice overs, I don't care how accurate they 3D models are, in the end, they are just 3D models. They may look great, they may be another step in generational 3D animation that can replace live action, but it's still so much money for celebrity dubbing.
If you aren't familiar with the story, I'm going to brain you with a hammer. Opens in 3100+ theaters and cost $150 million to make and probably another $30 million to market. Directed by Robert Zemeckis - which means it's going to be pretty good - and a script written by Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman, this is something worth owning once it hits DVD. I don't know how well it'll do in theaters though, $150+30 million is a hell of a mountain between bombing and making your money back.
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium - confuses me. It has Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman in it, so that's good. Here's the description from Wiki:
When a young pianist named Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman) inherits a magical toyshop from her eccentric 243-year-old boss, Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman), she struggles with self-doubt, as well as the store's tantrum. But through the friendship of a charismatic little boy (Zach Mills) and a buttoned-up accountant (Jason Bateman), she learns to believe in herself, and finds that she does possess enough magic to run Mr. Magorium's shop by finding herself in places she's never imagined.
Opens in 3100 theaters from 20th Century Fox and is the only credible challenger to Beowulf. Based on what Bee Movie did last week though, for all anyone knows, it may hang on to that top spot again.
Love in the Time of Cholera - sounds like a real winner, doesn't it? You know this may be a good flick or may not, but I'm pretty certain that's one of the worst titles I've ever seen in my entire life. I don't even want to know what the movie is about if that title is any kind of indication. Jesus..
Your best bet this weekend is: Beowulf
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