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Yo, Philly in the News
Whole Hog Is All Heart
What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend.
Most Likely to Rule: Gay Sex in the 70s - As you might expect, this film is a documentary about...gay sex in the '70s. Via a series of recent interviews with those who were there, it examines how the Gay Pride movement was born and came to prominence in America , and how gay culture came out into the open for the first time. It's getting good reviews and sounds pretty interesting. Plus it's hardly longer than an hour, so you'll have plenty of time for dinner and maybe some gay sex afterwards.
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse
L'Enfant - That's The Child for the French-language-impaired amongst you. The film is also in that language (although, of course, subtitles will be provided), being as it is a co-production of Belgium and France. It's about a small-time thief who considers going straight when he finds out he has a newborn son - although apparently only after he tries to sell the kid on the black market. Described as a "social-problem drama," this one's got what sounds like a familiar story, but with that added twist that's quite dramatic and pretty nasty. Plus the main character is described as being amoral, so maybe this film is better than it looks. Even if it is French.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse
Winter Passing - The first film from playwright Adam Rapp, Winter Passing tells the story of struggling actress Reese Holden (Zooey Deschanel), the daughter of respected novelist Don (Ed Harris), whose career has faded. Hard-up for cash, Reese accepts a publisher's proposal to acquire a series of love letters that her mother wrote to her father, so they can be published. She returns home to get after-the-fact permission from her father, as well as to collect the letters, only to discover two strangers living with him: her father's former student and self-proclaimed business manager, Shelly, and "a neighborhood sad sack" named Corbit (Will Ferrell, trying out the old transitioning-from-comedic-to-serious-dramatic-roles trick) who acts as her father's gofer and housekeeper. As one might expect, the visit becomes an opportunity for Reese to examine her childhood, her life, and her relationship with her family. This one sounds like it might be pretty good. It'd certainly be at least interesting to see what happens when Will Ferrell tries to act serious.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse
American Dreamz - A Philadelphia Film Festival entrant now getting its national release, this one's a satire of "American Idol," with Hugh Grant as the Simon Cowell-type character, Dennis Quaid as the President of the United States (who's a big fan of the show, and gets signed up to guest judge on the season finale), Marcia Gay Harden as his First Lady, Willem Dafoe as his Chief of Staff, and Mandy Moore as one of the show's leading contestants. "American Idol" and the whole reality TV talent show culture desperately needs to be satirized, but from what we've seen this film doesn't look like it does a very good job at it. The reviews coming in aren't very promising, either. Ah, well. Maybe next time.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz Five
Most Likely to Suck: When Do We Eat? - Tensions, secrets, and fantasies are all revealed at one family's crazy Passover Seder. The wackiness begins in earnest when one of the kids slips Dad a tab of Ecstasy, leading him to have visions of bringing the family together in happiness and forgiveness, which, to everyone's annoyance, delays the start of the meal. Oy! Sounds exceedingly silly and stupid to us, but it might be fun, especially for those of us who have attended a Passover Seder or two.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz Five
Friends with Money - Yet another film from the festival making its national debut, this one's got Jennifer Aniston as the only single, financially struggling person in a group of otherwise married, well-off girlfriends. Those other friends are played by Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, and Joan Cusack, and unsurprisingly all have problems of their own. This is a chick flick if Phillyist has ever seen one, but it's also short (not even an hour and a half long), and we suspect it might not be too painful to sit through if our S.O. happened to drag us to it.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz East
The Sentinel - Get a preview of what 24: The Movie will be like by checking out Kiefer Sutherland in The Sentinel as David Breckinridge, a government agent trying to track down a presidential assassin and mole. The evidence points toward Breckinridge's mentor, a respected senior Secret Service agent named Pete Garrison (Michael Douglas), but Garrison claims he's innocent and takes off in search of the real mole. Who's the real guilty party, and will he/she be found before the president is killed? Well, that's the question, isn't it? Sutherland is joined in his quest, btw, by fellow TV star Eva Longoria. This looks like a pretty by-the-numbers action-and-intrigue movie, but the director (Clark Johnson) was born in Philly, so maybe it's not all bad.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview
Silent Hill - Yes, it's a video game adaptation, and those are traditionally awful, but the ads actually make this horror thriller about a woman searching for her daughter in the titular creepy deserted town (which turns out, of course, to not be so deserted, if you count the freakish mutant monsters) look pretty good, and genuinely scary. Plus, it's directed by Christophe Gans, the guy responsible for the best French horror kung fu period drama ever, Brotherhood of the Wolf. So maybe it'll be good. Huh? Maybe? Please?
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview, The Bridge
Image Credit: Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
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