Finally...A Decent Weekend Ahead! Oh Yeah...I Saw The Sitter

I think that the Holiday release season sits only second to the Summer Blockbuster Season.  It has something to do with extreme weather, I think  Granted, here in KC, we hit the low 60's this Wednesday with a Spring like wind, but the snow and the cold are certainly on the way.  

First, old business.  

THE SITTER: 3 of 5 Horns

Yes, you are correct...wrong movie, but this film was kinda a horror show, so I figured I wouldn't pass up such a pun-y opportunity.

Through the first half of this flick, I was thinking 1.5 to 2ish, at best, but somehow this flick pulled it together and rounded home towards a decent finish.

David Gordon Green's last effort was an absolute atrocity...Your Highness...a stoner comedy that left even the stoners running for the popcorn stand.

I stand by his directorial portfolio as a man with great promise, but efforts like this are tipping the teeter the other way.

The Sitter has a number of decent laughs...most of them directly tied to the antics of the youngsters said Babysitter is looking after.  The rest of the decent laughs come directly from Jonah Hill, who has a masterful comedic delivery, regardless of the material.

If you haven't seen the sitter yet, wait for the DVD or catch it On-Demand.  There's a bunch of popcorn-eating goodness headed for the big screen this weekend...

Yep, that's all I have for you on The Sitter.

This weekend shows some promise for the Big Picture Houses...

I will not mention that Alvin and The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is being released this weekend...whoops, I guess I mentioned it.  But that aside, there is plenty of decent fare hitting the screen to keep that trainwreck from taking home the weekend title.

This weekend is the warm up week...some big flicks hitting, some in limited release, some flooding the market.

Take for example, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows.  Admittedly, I was not blown away by the first in this series.  Everyone involved with the film, made it wholly entertaining, but I thought the plot was a little lacking.  I am worried that Guy Ritchie's early indie appeal is ever-tainted by Madonna's stink of commercialism.  Here's hoping he can overcome.  God knows I would watch Robert Downey Jr. read a phone book...he is damn charismatic!

This weekend also brings us a studio first...a release of a tent-pole release, in limited form, coming out on IMAX screens only.  Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is coming to an IMAX near you, but that is it.  If you want to catch MI:4 on what some call a reasonably sized screen, you will have to wait a week.  In my opinion, it's a brilliant release plan.  This will most definitely siphon a few extra bucks out of those eager Tom Cruise fans who want to catch a glimpse of their hero ASAP.  Yes, that Tom Cruise fan base is dwindling, but throw in a dash of Jeremy Renner, and game-on man....game-on.  Have you heard of his flick coming out this March?  Hansel and Gretel?  In concept, it looks re-donk-u-lous.  MI:4 is sitting at a strong 91% fresh and at an early but promising 8.1 on IMDB.  Even Ebert lent a hand, offering 3 and 1/2 stars to this late series entry. I think it is going to be a very dangerous holiday movie season, dangerous indeed.  

You know what else might hook up MI:4 for the big win....3 words: Dark. Knight. Rises.  Yep, the DKR prologue, those six glorious minutes of film, will be playing before Tommy Cruise and Co. take the screen.  Another means for packing the house, as IMAX screens have felt the impact of such ridiculously high prices.

And finally, Young Adult.  The re teaming of the oh-so-successful team of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody.  Maybe this is what Cody needed to jump back into the realm of respectable.  Perhaps, Ms. Cody, we can forgive you for the mess that was Jennifer's Body.  That catastrophe could have been half horror, half Megan Fox sex tape, and I would have the same level of interest.  That was crapola.  That said, Young Adult has received some rave reviews and RT has it at 80% fresh.  Although Young Adult is not being cut as a new release.  It played in 8 theaters last week, so this counts as an expansion, and a meager one at best, playing in 1000 theaters as of Friday.

These past few weeks have been exceptionally weak at the cinema, and it has shown on the overall box office numbers.  I think this weekend will see people flooding theaters, but as to who will take the weekend, your guess is as good as mine.  

Will the IMAX upcharge be enough to push Tom Cruise back into the top spot.  

Will the commercial Holmes be the ticket with the return of Noomi Rapace, the girl with Downey Jr. and Jude Law?  I doubt that 1000 screens for Young Adult will be enough as it is also an R-rated flick, but it sure will help muddy the waters.  

And lest I forget Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, members of the Chipmonk trio that continue to plague my existence.  

The answers to all this and more...in just 5 days.

A good weekend to all, and to all a good night.

Reel Rhino  

Arthur Christmas and the Weak 2 Weeks in Cinema

Look at me...new font...nice.

I have been promising this Arthur Christmas review to people for the better part of this week.  I am currently under the weather, coming out of a week of teaching photography, and headed into the weekend needing a pick me up, that just isn't there.

What in the holy hell has been going on at the movies?!? 

Last week, no new releases, this week, just The Sitter and the star-studded but likely garbage-rific New Year's Eve.  So at this very moment, The Sitter is at 17% on Rotten Tomatoes and New Year's Eve is at a (just like I expected) 5%...garb-oni!

What a miserable 2 weeks at the theater...gimme gimme Ticker Tailor Soldier Spy...opening this week as well, but only on a miserable 4 screens.  Thanks a lot, New York and LA!

I understand the appeal of the masses for the Twilight flicks, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.  But for the love of Pete...we have set up Twilight to rock a FOURTH #1 week at the movies.  That is unless the milquetoast New Year's Ever manages to take the weekend.

For my money, as I have said before, the best options out there in wide release are still The Muppets (97% on RT) or Hugo (94% on RT), but also perhaps today's offering (sitting at 94% on RT)...

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS: 4.5 of 5 Horns

I saw Arthur Christmas last Saturday.  This capped a great run at the movies, which including those above along with My Week With Marilyn, was pretty fantastic.  That said, you can understand why I am so sick of these lame weeks of nothing new worth watching.

I went into Arthur Christmas having seen only one teaser trailer  

The truth of the matter is that I probably wouldn't have gone and seen this flick, if I hadn't exhausted all other options...except Jack and Jill, which I flat out refused to go see.  I have stuck by Adam Sandler through thick and thin, but with the atrocity that is Jack and Jill, I am hanging him out to dry.

Arthur Christmas is a wholly British film.  Eva Longoria, Laura Linney, and Joan Cusack are the only touch of Americana, with the real charge being lead by some of my favorites: Jim Broadbent (Santa), James McAvoy (Arthur), Hugh Laurie (Steve - Arthur's Brother and the heir apparent to the job of Santa), and Bill Nighy (Grand Santa) as the core four leads.

From IMDB: On Christmas night at the North Pole, Santa's youngest son looks to use his father's high-tech operation for an urgent mission.  

An urgent mission...what could it be?  True love?  Save the world?  Nope...a kid's been missed!  Young Arthur Christmas is sent into a tailspin while the rest of the Santa family is seemingly unaware or not concerned.

Yikes...

What really grabbed me with this flick was the absolutely stellar presentation of Santa's delivery.  Such a high tech effort, as is briefly evidenced in the first trailer, presented above.  It was an awesome display of tech and the animation was spot on wonderful.  Yes, I saw this in 3-D, which was certainly passable, but this was a wonderful film, no matter how many D's you see.

This film delivered great laughs, for the adults as well as the kids.  But unlike the obviousness of the Shrek in-jokes for adults, this film's jokes were absolutely hilarious.  Guffaws were heard throughout the land, soda spewing from many a parent's nose.

Give this one a chance.  The kids will love it...the adults will love it.  It was a damn fine entry into the films of Christmas.  Nothing like cursing when talking about the great gifts the holiday season brings us.

As a side note, I am a big fan of Pawn Stars, Auction Hunters, Hardcore Pawn, American Pickers, and perhaps most of all, Storage Wars.  I am happy a double dose of Storage Wars, with the addition of Storage Wars: Texas, but I am a little on the fence about these new characters.  They seems to have selected carbon copies of the type of people we are already dealing with on the original.  I will watch though, because I am an addict like that.

As a second side note, when my in-laws were in town, I was flipping through the DVR and my father-in-law caught a glimpse of Hardcore Pawn in my saved episodes list, and quickly looked away from the TV, saying: Oh, um, oh, we probably don't want to watch that....

Good times.

Until later, take care...

Reel Rhino