CinePhillyist

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend.

Death of a President - What if George W. Bush were assassinated a year from now? That's the question this fictional documentary/political thriller answers, using new and archival footage. The reviews aren't that great, but it sounds like fun...
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Little Children - The reviews for this one are great, but the synopsis makes us sick. Suburban malaise, blah blah blah, handful of individuals whose lives intersect in surprising ways, blah blah blah - blech. Bored now. Oh, it's also an adaptation of a novel - or rather, a re-imagining of the written word to explore new possibilities for the characters. So, it's cliche and pretentious!
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz Five

Most Likely to Suck: Running with Scissors - This comedy drama is the story of a boy who spends his childhood with an alcoholic father (Alec Baldwin) and an unstable mother (Annette Bening), and his adolescence as a member of the bizarre extended family of his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch (Brian Cox). Joseph Fiennes, Evan Rachel Wood, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Gabrielle Union also appear. Sounds like it could be okay...but then again...
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz Five

Catch a Fire - This film dramatizes the true story of Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke), an innocent, apolitical, hard-working family man living in South Africa during the early 1980s. When he is arrested for a crime he didn't commit by the brutal Colonel Nic Vos (Tim Robbins), he and his wife go through a nightmare of interrogation, torture, and imprisonment. The experience radicalizes Chamusso and turns him into the terrorist Vos thought he was. Sounds like an interesting and moving film - although probably not a fun or pleasant one.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview

Saw III - More gory fun at the hands of cruel torturer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell). This time he has his new apprentice kidnap a doctor, whom he forces to keep him alive for as long as it takes his latest victim, Jeff (Angus Macfadyen), to finish one of those terrible games. But of course, there's more to Jigsaw's plan than just that. We have to admit, we haven't seen any of these yet, but they look like fun if you're into this kind of thing, and it seems like an appropriate type of movie to see at this time of the year.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview, The Bridge

Most Likely to Rule: Grindhouse Horror Triple Feature Part Two - Exhumed Films always ups the ante during October, especially close to Halloween, and this year is no exception. Saturday night they've got for us three - count 'em, three! - B horror movies in a row, including Beast of the Yellow Night, a Fillipino movie about Satan saving a man's life, on the condition that he become an evil bloodthirsty monster (good deal!); Devil Times Five, about three couples trapped in a lodge by a snow storm, and beset by children who are actually murderous escaped mental patients - and one of whom is played by Leif Garrett; and Screamers, which tells the story of a bunch of people who survive a shipwreck only to wash up on an island populated by genetically altered fishermen. These movies sound awesome, and hey, it's Halloween, so this one's getting our vote for most likely to rule.
Showing at: The International House, Sat @ 8PM ONLY

Image Credit: Amazon.com