CinePhillyist

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

Philadelphia Film Festival - We've mentioned this once or twice. It's here again! All kinds of movies at all kinds of venues around the city. Take a look at the website for more details.

Most Likely to Rule: Grindhouse - There's not much we can say about this movie we haven't already said. It's an homage to the titular gritty, extreme '70s-era genre, and consists of two films played back to back, one directed by Quentin Tarantino, the other by Robert Rodriguez, separated by some fake trailers, and the whole thing loaded with style and famous actors and sex and violence. Tarantino's movie is about a killer stunt driver and is called Death Proof. Rodriguez's is a zombie movie called Planet Terror. We expect it to blow away the box office, and we're hoping it'll be completely awesome.
Trailer
Showing at: The Roxy, The Riverview

Most Likely to Suck: Are We Done Yet? - A really awful-looking family comedy starring Ice Cube that's actually a sequel to the other really awful-looking family comedy he was in, Are We There Yet? Looks like it hits pretty much all the cliches of the family comedy. By which we mean, Ice Cube falls over, gets hit by a lot of things, and is in other ways shamed and embarrassed. We can't imagine why anyone would want to see this.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview

Firehouse Dog - An arrogant, pampered Hollywood dog star is lost and presumed dead, and ends up getting picked up by a rebellious pre-teen who's the son of a single father, whose brother, the former captain of the local fire department, has recently died. Inevitably the dog and the boy form a bond, the father and son have their relationship repaired, the local firehouse is saved, and everyone learns an important lesson. Oh no, did we spoil it for you?! Anyway, sounds like your typical family film, but it looks like they used real dogs to play the dog, which we definitely prefer to some wretched computer-animated creature. Also, according to the IMDB cast list, all the dog actors are named after Lord of the Rings characters or places (Arwen, Frodo, Rohan, and Stryder), and that's awesome.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview

The Reaping - Another ridiculous-looking supernatural thriller which definitely would have gotten Most Likely to Suck if Are We Done Yet? weren't also coming out this weekend. In this one Hilary Swank plays a debunker of religious phenomena who meets her match when she goes to investigate a town that seems to be experiencing the ten Biblical plagues. We can't help but think the frogs plague is going to be really hilarious, and not terrifying in the least.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview, The Bridge

UPDATE: Oops! We missed a couple of flicks coming out this weekend. Sorry! We blame Moviefone for being stubborn and not showing us all the showtimes last night. Anyway, here's a few quick blurbs about the rest of this weekend's movies:

First Snow - A pretty interesting-looking film we mentioned in Whiz a while back. Guy Pearce plays a cocky salesman who's sure the future is bright... until he meets a soothsayer at the side of the road (played by J.K. Simmons) who tells him there'll be no tomorrow after the first snow. Then it's a spiral downward into paranoia and destruction! Fun stuff!
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

The Hoax - Another one we mentioned in Whiz. An amazing cast, including Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, and Marcia Gay Harden, as well as an amazing director (Lasse Hallstrom) tell the amazing true story of writer Clifford Irving's nearly successful attempt to trick everybody into believing the "autobiography" of Howard Hughes that he'd put together was based on exclusive interviews with reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. It wasn't, and was instead completely made up, but Irving had a fun ride for a while, and even got the book published.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse, Ritz Five

Image via I Watch Stuff!