Thursday, February 16, 2012

Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (for Friday, Feb. 17th)

Andrew: Hello readers! Today is our weekly preview of the films that will be coming out in theatres on Friday. Last week's releases were...well...kind of weak, in that there weren't many. "The Vow" was good and "Safe House" is a good way to kill the afternoon (respectively reviews for The Vow and Safe House linked there), and this week doesn't look too much better.

We'll start off with a film that I know the two of us have been looking forward to since we saw the first trailer, and it's release has been bumped around a bit until settling on February 17th, and that film is the new Reese Witherspoon/Tom Hardy/Chris Pine flick "This Means War." Sarah, what are your thoughts on "This Means War?"

Sarah: Well, dear, I think we will have to wait until Saturday to get what I really think about “This Means War.” But for now, let me just say that I am very excited at the prospect of this movie. I have been hearing mixed reviews from film critics, but those who saw the sneak preview on Valentine's Day have said that they loved it.
Official Trailer for "This Means War"

A: We didn't even mention that it's directed by the guy who did the Charlie's Angels movies and “Terminator: Salvation” (McG) or written by Simon Kinsberg, who wrote "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," or anything about how we both really like Tom Hardy and Chris Pine in general. But hey, I guess I just covered those bases, huh?

S: Chris Pine and Tom Hardy are quickly becoming men to have in your movie. They both have this rugged manliness that mirrors a little bit of George Clooney and Brad Pitt in their younger days. It will be interesting to see how their careers evolve as they take on different roles.

This might be a good time to mention, yet again, that if you haven't seen Tom Hardy in “Warrior” then you are SERIOUSLY missing out. With the same guy who wrote “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” I think we can expect a fun movie that will probably end up on shelves since we own 3 copies of Mr. & Mrs. (Ah the joys of combining movie collections when you get married). I can honestly say that I have never seen “Charlie's Angels” so I don't really know what to expect on that front, but I guess it will be a surprise!

Ok, the next installment of Ghost Rider also comes out this weekend. What are your thoughts on the prospect of “Spirit of Vengeance?”

A: I have mixed feelings about the new "Ghost Rider" film, and honestly, that's because I saw the first one in theatres with a college friend during a matinee, and we both had such low expectations for it that we ended up having a blast. It wasn't a good movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a FUN movie because it was so outlandish and silly. If "Spirit of Vengeance" is the same way, we'll have to check it out someday, maybe just not in theatres.

Oh! And remember that behind the scenes thing we saw at AMC about "Spirit of Vengeance" and how the directors, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, are also the cinematographers and do these crazy stunt things to get the shots they want? (Seriously, for highway action scenes these guys were being pulled behind trucks while wearing in-line skates and holding the camera. It’s nuts.)
Official Trailer for "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance"

S: I will say that the behind the scenes looked way better than the movie, but who knows, it might end up surprising me. Maybe it's just that I have a hard time taking Nicolas Cage seriously. We’ll probably end up picking it up to watch on some lazy night once it's on DVD.

Ok, now onto the kid’s movie hitting theatres this week, “The Secret World of Arrietty.” This take on the classic book The Borrowers looks interesting, but I have to admit, the anime look is a little off-putting. And this coming from a girl who loved the television show, Avatar.

A: Yeah, I'm confused about a few things about this movie; the first being why they've named it "The Secret World of Arriety" and not just "The Borrowers." I looked up the movie's entry on Wikipedia (totally reliable!) and it said nothing about the name change other than the main character is Arrietty Borrower, so I suppose the title was molded to focus more on her character in general.

That said it apparently won the Japanese equivalenty of the Academy Award for Best Animated Film, so it has that going for it!
Official Trailer for "The Secrety World of Arrietty"

S: Well, I guess that's something. Probably one that we won't see in theatres either...man, it is another weak weekend for the movies. This is just another reason why spring and summer are just so much better than winter.

A: It's very weak. February generally is a month when studios dump out their worst films (same as January), but even though we'll probably only end up seeing "This Means War" out of these films, we'll have our Oscar categories breakdowns starting on Monday with Best Supporting Actress, so it's all good!

S: Yes! So as we count down to the Oscars, we'll be picking up some of the films that got past us when they were in theatres and are now Oscar nominees, and writing reviews on them over the next week! Excited for one of the biggest nights for films!

A: Absolutely right. I believe "The Help" is first on that list, with "The Tree of Life" on the to-see list. We should probably also get to the theatre to catch "Hugo" before it leaves, yes?

S: Agreed. We’ve heard good things about “Hugo” as well. So for now, we will sign off. Get ready for our review of “This Means War” later this weekend!

A: And here's our ranking of which new films this week we're most likely to go see:

1.) "This Means War"
2.) "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance"
3.) "The Secret World of Arrietty"

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