Thursday, February 9, 2012

Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (for Friday, Feb. 11th)


Andrew: Hello readers! Today we bring your our second weekly preview of the new movies coming out on Friday. Sarah, we had some good ones last week with "The Woman in Black" and "Chronicle," both of which we wrote reviews for. This week looks like it has some promise as well.
Because Valentine’s Day is coming out early next week, we'll start this column off with the new Rachel McAdams/Channing Tatum movie "The Vow."  What are your thoughts on how this movie looks?
Sarah: Yes, this week’s movies are a little more "Sarah Friendly." I am excited about “The Vow!” They have timed it just right so that every blue-blooded male will have to take his significant other to the movies this weekend. I believe this duo will bring this touching, yet heartbreaking story to the screen in typical Nicolas Sparks fashion.
In case you’re not familiar with “The Vow,” it focuses on a young married couple in the great city of Chicago. Early on in their marriage, while sitting at a red light, they get slammed into from behind. The next thing the viewer knows, Rachel McAdams' character is waking up in the hospital and mistakes her husband for her doctor.
She has no memory of the last four years. She doesn't remember the accident let alone being married to Channing Tatum (who could forget that, I ask you?!). In fact, she still thinks she's engaged to her previous beau, played by Scott Speedman.  Shaken by this terrible event, Tatum starts the process of trying to bring his wife back to him by making her fall in love with him all over again.
Trailer for "The Vow" starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum

Now, what are your thoughts on "Safe House," starring the amazing Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds?
A: I don't know how I feel about "Safe House" to be honest. I'm a big fan of the stars and it looks like a slick, Tony Scott-type action film. I like the concept of Denzel playing a bad guy who gives himself up, is kept in a CIA safe house run by Reynolds, and then all hell breaks loose with people trying to kill Denzel. That's a set-up I can get behind. I just don't know if it’s a lock we'll see it in theatres.
Trailer for "Safe House" starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds

S: I understand what you mean about not being sure about it, but it also might end up being one of those films that needs to be seen in theatres. We can Netflix it, though and I'm sure we’d get some of the same effect.
Now...George Lucas has decided that the world needs to be tortured by putting ALL of the Star Wars movies back up on the silver screen, but this time in 3D! Like we need to see JarJar Binks up-close and personal! Now, I love Star Wars as much as the next nerd, but c'mon!  
Thoughts on the re-release of the series that refuses to go quietly?
A: If George Lucas didn't already kill most of the goodwill he had left with fans after his terrible script for the last Indiana Jones movie, he's killing ALL of it with this movie. It's a total cash-grab, which isn't unheard of in Hollywood obviously, but this is such a bad idea. It’s the worst kind of cash-grab – the obvious kind.
And "Phantom Menace" is the least liked of all the Star Wars films to begin with, so I think rereleasing all of them in numerical order is a mistake as well. If he wants to re-release them, in my opinion, he should do it like all the films originally came out and go Episodes 4-6 first and then 1-3 after that. That's how almost everyone who loves these movies first saw them, and to start with the weakest link (and targeting the kiddie crowd) could be a disastrous P.R. move.
Trailer for "Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D"

S: Oh yeah, it's going to be bad, and if it fails it’s totally on Lucas.
The only other movie worth noting is “Journey 2” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Now I never saw the first one, and we don't have kids, so I think it is safe to say that we will not be seeing this one in theatres.
A: Uh, yeah. That's a resounding "hell no" on "Journey 2." Did anybody ask for a sequel to “Journey to the Center of the Earth” starring Bredan Fraser? This movie just looks terrible. (UPDATE: Minutes before editing this post before publishing it, I was walking between building’s on ESPN’s campus and ran into a co-worker who pointed and said, “The Rock’s cooking over there.” I look where he’s pointing and damn if Dwayne Johnson wasn’t walking right towards me being followed by a camera crew. #awkwardturtle)

By the way, earlier in this post did I say that this weekend had some promise? Now that I think about the movies that are coming out tomorrow, I take that statement back. I'm hoping that "The Vow" will be good because we're definitely seeing that, as we're celebrating Valentine's Day a bit early, otherwise I guess "Safe House" is really the only other movie coming out this weekend I'd want to see. I had totally forgotten that "Phantom Menace" was coming out this weekend (and I'm sure it will make tons of money at the box office), but yeah..."Journey 2" is not a movie we'll be seeing and then there's nothing else. At least next week brings a movie I really actually do want to see in "This Means War" but man...after last weekend's flicks the rest of February is looking bleak!
S: Oh well, maybe March will be better!
A: And with that, we'll wrap up this week's preview of the new releases coming out. You'll have to take my word for it because we write this blog via email and Sarah had to run to the grocery store, but here's our order for which movies we're most likely to see:
1.) "The Vow"
2.) "Safe House"
3.) "Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace"
4.) "Journey 2"
Next Post: You can expect a review of "The Vow" to be posted late tomorrow night, with the possibility of a post earlier in the day on some movie news. As always, thanks for reading!

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