Filed under: Weekend Playlist

This Weekend at the Movies: November 20, 2009

New Moon is definitely the belle of the ball, but there's more to talk about

This weekend the talk is going to be all about The Twilight Saga: New Moon and early reports from Nikki Finke say it has a chance to beat the midnight numbers turned in by The Dark Knight in 2008. Unfortunately, the film didn't hit home with critics as the 49% RottenTomatoes rating the first film earned has fallen to 27% for New Moon. Will audiences feel the same drop?

The Twilight Saga: New Moon
I reviewed this one and have said my peace, no sense in adding any more as it now belongs to the audience to make up their mind. However, I will still point you to my review.

This film is rated PG-13 for some violence and action.
The Blind Side
For a safe film that takes absolutely no risks it's actually quite good. You can read my full review right here.

This film is rated PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references.
Planet 51
I just couldn't muster up enough interest to see this one. The last time I did that with an animated film it was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and it ended up making over $122 million domestically so far, will the same formula apply here?

This film is rated PG for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
I saw this one and I apologize, but I just have nothing so important to say that it warrants a full on review. It wasn't as crazy as I expected, it dragged a lot and Val Kilmer wasn't given nearly enough on screen time considering he had the most interesting character in the entire film. One fellow film reviewer suggested some of the movie turned out the way it did as a result of director Werner Herzog getting bored. It's an interesting perspective, and one I don't expect we will ever know the truth about.

This film is rated R for drug use and language throughout, some violence and sexuality.
Uncertainty
This one actually looks quite good and I requested a screener from IFC, but never received that disc so the trailer is all I can give you to go on. Then again, it's only in one theater so I'm not sure how many of you even care.

This film is rated NR
Broken Embraces
I recently learned I won't be screening this one here in Seattle until December, but if you are interested in a perspective on the film might I suggest Nathaniel Rogers's essay at Tribeca Film right here. I'm sure any Cruz and/or Almodovar fan will get something out of it.

This film is rated R for sexual content, language and some drug material.
Red Cliff
This one I have seen and will be watching once again tomorrow morning before posting my review, but really quickly I will tell you it is definitely worth seeing. It's action packed and a lot of fun, but not perfect. I think Mike Hale summed it up nicely in his New York Times review saying, "It would be nice to report that he's also back on top of his game, but Red Cliff, while handsome and intelligent and perfectly easy to sit through, never really approaches the visceral tug of Mr. Woo's Hong Kong hits." It's not a glowing statement, but I would expand on his "perfectly easy to sit through" statement and say it's one I would recommend you check out in theaters for a good time.

This film is rated R for sequences of epic warfare.


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Post #1
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Brad, no need to see "Planet 51," which is pretty much terrible. I saw it on Sunday and forgot about it until this post, lol. And you know, I wasn't offended by "The Blind Side" either. I found it to be surprisingly mature. Sort of a "Precious"-lite, and I mean that in a modestly good way. I didn't hate "New Moon" as much as you did, but I did find it rather dreary. For my money, the first "Twilight" (which I kind of liked) was better.

- Joel
( November 20th, 2009 | 9:28 am )
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Post #2
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Brad, I think you owe us to write a review on Bad Lietenant man. It's getting great reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and I'm interested in a review as a result.

- adu
( November 20th, 2009 | 12:01 pm )
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Post #3
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Twilight will experience the same "drop" in box office that Transformers did when it went from 56% to 19% with its second installment. That is to say, it won't drop at all. It'll go up. Even more so because critics are decidedly not Twilight's target audience (even less so than Transformers), so that 26% won't translate into only 26% of the audience being satisfied. Remember that "A Walk to Remember," a favorite among teenage girls, is only at 27% on RT.

- JM
( November 20th, 2009 | 1:59 pm )
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"Val Kilmer wasn't given nearly enough on screen time considering he had the most interesting character in the entire film."

You're the first person I've heard say this.

Anyways, I had tons of fun with Bad Lieutenant. Too bad everyone will be flocking to go see Taylor Lautner take off his shirt in slow motion for two hours.

- Chris138
( November 21st, 2009 | 1:20 am )
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Post #5
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@Chris138: Didn't Val Kilmer take his shirt off in The Island of Dr. Morreau? What about that movie where he was called in to hunt two maneating lions? He's had his 'take off his shirt' time, now let someone else have a turn.

- mfan
( November 21st, 2009 | 11:19 am )
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