CinePhillyist

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

American Hardcore - A documentary film adaptation of a book by Steven Blush, this is a look at the wave of popular and influential anti-establishment punk (is that redundant?) bands that arose during the Reagan era - including Minor Threat, The Circle Jerks, Black Flag, and the Dead Kennedys. Awesome. We don't see how this could be bad.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Copying Beethoven - Thankfully, this is not another of those horrible comedies about the giant slobbering dog (like, one where he gets cloned and wacky hijinks ensue). Instead, it's a fictionalized account of the last year of the life of the famous composer, focusing mainly on his relationship with an aspiring composer and copyist who is brought in to help him finish his latest symphony on time. He's skeptical that she'll be able to assist him at first, partially because she's a woman, but a strong connection grows between them. Sounds quite interesting, and we love the guy who's playing Beethoven (Ed Harris), even if he does look kind of weird in all that make-up. Could be good.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Old Joy - This film - about two old friends who reunite after a long separation to go on a camping trip together - sounds exceedingly boring, but it has a score by Yo La Tengo and stars Will Oldham. Plus, we've had a peak at Phillyist Dan's review, which should appear on the site later today, and we don't want to steal any of his thunder, but the word "glowing" comes to mind...
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

A Good Year - An investment expert loses his job at a financial firm, and so naturally moves to Provence to take over his late uncle's small vineyard - it's what anyone would do. But then a beautiful Californian shows up claiming the land as her own. We all know where this is going, don't we? Looks quite lovely, though, and besides, the investment expert is played by Russell Crowe and the film is directed by Ridley Scott, and they're a pretty dynamite pair. We doubt Crowe will get to fight any lions in this one, but still, could be worth a watch.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview

Harsh Times - We saw Christian Bale acting crazy and waving a gun around in the ads and we were pretty much sold on this one, but if you want to know more, it's directed by the guy responsible for Training Day, and in it, Bale plays an ex-Army Ranger haunted by memories but trying to get a job with the LAPD so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend and bring her to the US. Unfortunately, he and his buddy Mike (Freddy Rodriguez) end up on the streets, mixed up in drugs, crime, and violence, much to the chagrin of Mike's girlfriend (Eva Longoria). Actually, now that we've read more about it, we're not as interested; they should just advertise it as Christian Bale with a Gun (and Eva Longoria Is There, Too).
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview

Most Likely to Suck: The Return - Sarah Michelle Gellar's latest supernatural thriller. Yawn. In this one, she has a vision of a young woman being murdered, and realizes she's next on the killer's list. More visions and nightmares lead her to the young woman's home town where (and this is from the description on AOL; don't read if you plan to see the movie): "she will discover that some secrets can’t be buried; some spirits never die; and that the murder she is trying to solve may be her own." Woah! Way to spoil the movie, guys! Not that we expected it to be very good anyway, but still.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview

Most Likely to Rule: Stranger Than Fiction - The Will Ferrell movie that even people who don't like Will Ferrell want to see. And we like him, so we've wanted to see it from the first moment we heard about it. He plays Harold Crick, an extremely boring man who starts hearing a woman's voice in his head, narrating his life. Eventually he discovers he's somehow a character in the latest novel of acclaimed writer Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) - and that she plans to kill him off. It's a concept worthy of a Charlie Kaufman movie, it's from director Marc Forster (who did Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland), and it also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah, and Dustin Hoffman. We can't wait.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview

Image Credit: Yahoo! Movies