CinePhillyist: Holiday Weekend Edition

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this holiday weekend (all of these movies open today).

Most Likely to Rule: I'm Not There - An "unconventional" biopic of Bob Dylan wherein six different actors play him at various stages in his career. Said actors include Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, and Heath Ledger. Also in the cast (but not playing Bob) are David Cross, Bruce Greenwood, and Julianne Moore. We could see how this could either be clever and visionary, or irritating and pretentious. Happily, the generally positive reviews are making us lean more towards the former than the latter. We'd say this one is your best bet this weekend. (Btw, although we don't have a review of this film, we will have a review of the soundtrack coming up later today.)
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Margot at the Wedding - Nicole Kidman plays the Margot of the title, a witty short story writer who creates chaos wherever she goes - and now she's going to the wedding of her estranged sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh). As soon as she arrives, she starts planting seeds of doubt about her sister's union with unemployed artist Malcolm (Jack Black), and the wedding quickly spirals into confusion, complexity, and turmoil. But the ultimate message appears to be that despite everything, you can always count on your family, so we assume everything's going to turn out for the best. Sounds like your typical family drama, and who needs more family drama on Thanksgiving weekend? Plus, reviews are mixed, and there are definitely fresher, more interesting things to waste your money on at the box office.
Trailer
Showing at: Ritz Five

August Rush - Okay, this one just looks awful. Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russell play a couple of musicians who have a chance encounter one "magical" night and are then torn apart, leaving in their wake an orphaned infant. The kid (Freddie Highmore) grows up performing on the streets of New York and being cared for by a mysterious stranger (Robin Williams). He "uses his remarkable musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth." Ugh. Sounds sappy and disgusting. Give it a miss.
Trailer
Showing at: Roxy Theatre, UA Riverview

War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death - A documentary narrated by Sean Penn about how government deception and media spin keep dragging us into unnecessary wars. Supposedly it's well researched and "brutally persuasive." We can't say we're interested in seeing it - we're the choir they're preaching to, and it'd probably just make us even more frustrated and angry than we already are - but if you don't mind walking out of the theater wanting to start an armed revolt, go for it.
Showing at: Roxy Theatre

Enchanted - Your typical Disney animated princess (Amy Adams) from your typical Disney animated fantasy land, who's engaged to be married to your typical Disney animated prince (James Marsden), suddenly finds herself banished to real, live-action New York City by your typical Disney animated evil queen (Susan Sarandon). The city begins to wear her down, but she soon finds herself falling for the divorce lawyer (Patrick Dempsey) who's helped her survive in this frightening new world. Nothing about this one is attractive to us, but the few reviews that have come in so far are all positive, so maybe we're missing something.
Trailer
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

Hitman - Okay, yes, it's a film adaptation of a video game, and yes, as of this writing there aren't even enough reviews to calculate a freshness rating, but still... have you seen the ads? It looks cool! Impressive visuals, lots of action, and it's about a hitman known only as Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant) who works for a mysterious organization known only as "The Agency." It'll probably suck anyway, but we can't help but be intrigued.
Trailer
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

The Mist - Frank Darabont is back with yet another film adaptation of a Stephen King story, this time about a fog that rolls into a small town one day. Turns out the fog is full of... things that kill anybody foolish enough to wander in. A small band of survivors (including Thomas Jane, Andre Braugher, and Marcia Gay Harden) end up trapped inside a grocery store, and once they stop freaking out and turning on each other, they have to find a way to get out. Reviews aren't great, but they're not awful, either, and Darabont has so far done an excellent job translating King's work to the screen, actually improving on the source material rather than ruining it, a true rarity in Hollywood. So we're going to give this one a tentative recommendation.
Trailer
Showing at: UA Riverview

Most Likely to Suck: This Christmas - Argh! This one sounds even worse than August Rush. A family gets together for Christmas, secrets come out, bonds are tested, everyone learns an important lesson, blah, blah, blah. Excuse us while we throw up. As of this writing, the film actually has a pretty high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but that's with only a handful of critics reporting in; we suspect it'll get nice and stinky pretty soon. And as we've already mentioned, why would you want to put yourself in the middle of even more family melodrama this weekend? Definitely avoid.
Trailer
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

Image via Internet Movie Poster Awards Gallery