CinePhillyist

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

Ira & Abby - Ira is a brilliant, neurotic Jew with tons of "issues" (hmm... where have we heard of that character before?), and Abby is a free spirit who likes to solve her friends' problems. They meet, fall in love, meet each other's parents, and decide to get married, all in just a few hours. Then, of course, a series of wacky shenanigans make them rethink their decision. Supposedly this is a "subversive romantic comedy that examines the issues of marriage, monogamy and whether 'I do' is the only path to life-long love and happiness." But in our experience, "subversive" and "romantic comedy" don't go together very well. We're going to go ahead and not see this one.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Lust, Caution - The latest film from Ang Lee is "a startling erotic espionage thriller" starring Tony Leung and newcomer Tang Wei. It's about an actress in Shanghai who's drawn into an assassination plot during the WWII-era Japanese occupation of the city. Besides the sex and spy stuff, it sounds like the film also deals with issues of identity. Interesting, and an Ang Lee film is always worth a look.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Michael Clayton - The title character is played by George Clooney, and he does the dirty work fixing problems for a large corporate law firm in New York. Things get dangerous and complicated when a guilt-ridden attorney for the firm (Tom Wilkinson) sabotages a multi-million dollar class action suit. The movie was written by, and is the directorial debut of, Tony Gilroy, the fellow who wrote the screenplays for the Bourne films, amongst other things. It also stars Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack, and it's getting good reviews. The film is playing exclusively at the Ritz Five this weekend, but will be opening in more area theaters soon, and we should have a review of it closer to that time.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz Five

New IMAX Movies - The Franklin Institute is screening a whole new slate of IMAX movies starting today, including a giant 3D version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a couple of movies about prehistoric creatures (Dinosaurs Alive! and Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure), and Space Station. Sounds like some fun stuff. Might be time to round up the kids and take them over to the Institute this weekend.
Showing at: The Franklin Institute

Most Likely to Rule: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - The title is practically a plot summary in itself, but if you didn't get the hint, this is about the later life of Jesse James and the man who killed him. Brad Pitt plays James and Casey Affleck plays Ford, with Mary-Louise Parker, Sam Rockwell, and Sam Shepard also starring. This Phillyist saw the film and really enjoyed it, but we'll let Phillyist Dan Linehan tell you about it himself in his review later on this morning.
Trailer
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

Feel the Noise - This one's about an aspiring hip hop artist from the Bronix who has to run to his estranged father in Puerto Rico when he's threatened by a gang of thugs. If the poster is to be believed, there is also sexy dancing in there somewhere. What with the lackluster plot summary, the lame title, and the fact that there aren't enough reviews for a Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating, we have to say this one isn't looking worth a trip to the theater to us.
Trailer
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

Most Likely to Suck: The Heartbreak Kid - The plot of this one actually sounds quite similar to that of Ira & Abby, above: Ben Stiller's character gets married to a woman after knowing her for only a week, and on the honeymoon realizes he's probably made a mistake. In fact, she's a horrible person, and he soon meets another woman (Michelle Monaghan) whom he realizes he should have married. The movie also stars Jerry Stiller (surprise!) and Malin Akerman. We generally don't like Ben Stiller's style of comedy, which tends to rely on embarrassing and shameful situations to generate laughs, and this one in particular is getting some pretty bad reviews, so we say skip it.
Trailer
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising - It's another adaptation of a series of novels about a young boy who discovers he has incredible powers which he must use to uncover clues and defeat powerful forces of darkness. The cast includes Christopher Eccleston and Ian McShane, which is vaguely impressive, and the commercials seem to promise awe-inspiring visuals and special effects. But those same commercials have some pretty bad dialogue in them, and as we've already suggested, this is a very old story. It certainly doesn't help that there are very few good reviews. We recommend avoidance.
Trailer
Showing at: UA Riverview

Image via Internet Movie Posters Awards Gallery