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

The Flying Scotsman - Apparently the long, slow process of Philadelphia Film Festival movies getting "real" releases has begun, as here's The Flying Scotsman, a Film Festival film that tells the true story of Graeme Obree, an untrained amateur who broke the world one-hour record on a bike in 1993 using a bike he built himself out of scrap metal and washing machine parts. Sounds like an amazing story, and it's getting good buzz. Probably worth a viewing.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

The Wind That Shakes the Barley - Two brothers in Ireland in 1920 join together to fight for their country against Britain's ruthless "Black and Tan" squads. Eventually a treaty is signed which "the Irish between those who believe they must work within the new and flawed system to make a difference and those who believe they have to continue to fight until they are truly free." Inevitably, the brothers end up on opposite sides of said divide. Sounds dramatic and interesting, and it stars Cillian Murphy, who's a reasonably good actor. So it could be good, despite its horrible title.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz Five

Most Likely to Suck: Lucky You - Now that poker is so popular, here is the inevitable poker movie, starring Eric Bana as Huck Cheever (which may very well be the worst character name ever), a master poker player who sets out to win the 2003 World Series of Poker and the heart of Drew Barrymore (well, Drew Barrymore's character, anyway). Things are complicated by the fact that Cheever is going up against his own Dad (Robert Duvall), a poker legend in his own right, who left Cheever's mom years ago. Sounds pretty ridiculous and cliche, but wait and read our review, coming up later today, before making your final decision.
Trailer
Showing at: The Roxy, The Riverview

Diggers - You wouldn't think a movie about a bunch of clam-diggers working the Hamptons in the '70s would be very interesting, but the ads for this one (which was also in the Philadelphia Film Festival, btw) look pretty good. It ends up being about the drama and comedy of everyday life for a group of people whose way of life is about to change. And the critics seem to like it.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz East

Spider-Man 3 - Here's a little independent film you probably haven't heard of... Well, okay, maybe not. In fact, the much-hyped third entry in the Spider-Man film series is finally here, featuring Tobey Maguire's squeaky Spidey versus Sandman, the New Goblin, Venom, and even marriage! Really, we think it's one or two too many supervillains to put into one movie; inevitably important character development and story details will be left in the dust. Besides which, reviews are mixed, and we haven't been a big fan of this series so far anyway. 2 was okay, but both films were full of corn and cheese, as well as clumsy metaphors, obvious moral lessons, and incredibly hard to believe events. Although of course, we'd definitely see it if we got the chance. What can we say, we're a sucker for comic book movies.
Trailer
Showing at: The Riverview, The Bridge

Most Likely to Rule: Kung-Fu Triple Feature! - Oh, Exhumed Films. You had us at "Kung-Fu." The festivities start off with a screening of John Carpenter's classic '80s cheesy fantasy fighting film, Big Trouble in Little China, starring Kurt Russell as the great poet, ass-kicker, and truck driver Jack Burton, who nearly gets in over his head when he goes deep into Chinatown in an attempt to help save his friend's fiance and a pretty reporter (Kim Cattrall) from the evil David Lo Pan (played with furious genius by the great James Hong). Next up is the product of the unlikely team-up of British horror studio Hammer Films with Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers Studios: the first ever kung-fu vampire movie, Seven Brothers Meet Dracula (AKA Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires). It's got Peter Cushing as Van Helsing teaming up "with a kung-fu master to battle seven vampire overlords and their zombie army." We're not sure we could even imagine a greater idea for a movie. Last in the triple-feature is a straight-up, old-school, late-'70s kung-fu movie called Kid with the Golden Arm about rival gangs fighting over a treasure in gold. If you're not excited to see this by now, there's something wrong with you.
Showing at: The International House, Sat @ 8PM ONLY

And Now for the Glove - The first feature length film of Jim Bogillek, director of the acclaimed short film Tokyo New Jersey, is screening for free this weekend. Bogillek tells us And Now for the Glove is a darkly humorous film noir ensemble piece, and it "revolves around bondage, prostitution, and murder. A homicide detective, a mysterious prostitute, a dirty cop, a serial killer, and a Jewish Rastafarian Pimp, all will be touched by the GLOVE!" Wow. It's hard to resist the chance to see a film noir with a Jewish Rastafarian pimp in it. Keep in mind you'll be able to meet the cast and crew after the film, too.
Showing at: 1125 S Broad St 2nd Floor (look for the poster on the door), Sat @8PM ONLY (doors @7PM)

Black Lily Film and Music Festival - We'll have a more detailed preview of this event (running today through Sunday) later on this morning, but we wanted to mention it here, too, because, well, it's got film in it! And this is the film post. Click through for more info on venues, films, and showtimes.

Trenton Film Festival - Aw, isn't that nice. Trenton has a film festival, too! This is the 4th year for theirs, and it's going down today and tomorrow in two different venues. Click here to see the full schedule (pdf).
Showing at: Multiple venues; see website

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