CinePhillyist

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

Academy Award Nominated Animated Shorts
Academy Award Nominated Live-Action Shorts
Wow, this is totally cool: the Ritz at the Bourse is actually screening all the animated and live-action short films that have been nominated for Oscars this year. These films are usually quite difficult to see, so this is a really neat opportunity.
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

George Romero's Diary of the Dead
It's The Blair Witch Project with zombies! What, you thought Romero was going to do a rom-com? Nope, it's a bunch of film students who go into the woods to make a horror movie and end up making a horror documentary when the dead actually begin to rise. Romero apparently came up with the idea independently of Cloverfield; he just happened to also want to use a monster movie to examine new media and video self-documentation. Romero's films tend to be hit-and-miss, and the "found video" concept is gimmicky and can dangerously limit what you can do with a movie. But the reviews aren't too bad. Could be worth a viewing, especially if you're a fan of the zombies.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Most Likely to Rule: In Bruges
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson star as Ray and Ken, a pair of hit men who, after a tough job, are ordered by their boss (Ralph Fiennes) to cool their heels in the historic Flemish city of Bruges. Ray hates the place, but Ken finds it quite lovely. The longer they stay there, amongst the prostitutes, tourists, and midget American actors, the more surreal their experience becomes. And when their boss finally calls, their vacation turns into a life-and-death struggle. The trailer for this dark comedy is hilarious, and the reviews are good. We're looking forward to it.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz East

Definitely, Maybe
A 10-year-old girl asks her 30-something Manhattan Dad (Ryan Reynolds), now in the midst of a divorce, to tell her the story of his life before the marriage. The story ends up being about a starry-eyed idealistic aspiring politician falling for three very different women. He changes the names so his daughter has to guess which one became her mother: the college sweetheart and dependable girl-next-door (Elizabeth Banks), the longtime best friend and confidant (Isla Fisher), or the free-spirited but ambitious journalist (Rachel Weisz)? As you might expect, in the process of telling the story, Dad realizes it's never too late to go back and have a happy ending. Sounds kind of cute, and the critics aren't being too harsh. We might even be willing to make an exception to our ban on romantic comedies for this one.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview

Jumper
We put this on our list of the 10 most anticipated movies of 2008, so you know how we feel about it. It's got Hayden Christensen as a man who discovers he can teleport himself anywhere, and further discovers there are many others like him who are in a war with a secret group who have sworn to kill them. Sam L. Jackson plays a member of this latter group. The trailer for Jumper is awesome, but the reviews are not good, so we can't in good conscience recommend it. Although of course we plan to see it as soon as possible.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

The Spiderwick Chronicles
The film adaptation of the series of fantasy novels about the Graces family, who move away from the big city to a mansion owned by their uncle, only to discover the house has a magical history. We're getting a little tired of all the film adaptations of children's fantasy novels that have been coming out lately, but this one is getting good reviews, and after all, there are few things more fun and escapist than a good children's fantasy movie.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

Most Likely to Suck: Step Up 2: The Streets
A rebellious street dancer has a hard time fitting in at a prestigious arts school, but teams up with the top dancer, helps train a team of misfit dancers, and sets her hopes on winning a hot underground dance contest called The Streets. What do you think happens? There is no part of this movie that we care about even a little.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

A Walk into the Sea & Danny Williams' Factory Films
Twice this weekend the I-House is screening a documentary called A Walk into the Sea about Danny Williams, who made films at Andy Warhol's Factory before disappearing mysteriously one night in 1966. Tonight's showing of the documentary will be accompanied by a screening of Williams' Factory films, including Factory Film, The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground Eat Lunch, and Harold Stevenson parts 1 and 2. Seeing a young Velvet Underground rehearsing and, yes, actually eating lunch, sounds like fun, but apparently the Velvet Underground films, along with Factory Film, will be screened silent, and only the final film has sound - an ambient score added by T. Griffin and Catherine McRae. Hmm. Well, the documentary sounds like it might be interesting. But we were never really a big fan of Warhol's films, or the films of his followers, as they tend to be pointless and dull, and the idea of watching them without any sound is kind of horrifying. We'd say go to the Saturday screening and skip the Factory Films.
Showing at: The International House

The Spirit of the Beehive
The International House is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year by screening a series of brand new or restored 35mm prints from the Janus Films collection. First up is this screening of a film widely considered to be the best to come out of Spain during the 1970s. It's set in a small Castilian village in 1940, just after the Civil War, and it's about a young girl who attends a travelling movie show of Frankenstein and becomes obsessed with it. The film is described as "a bewitching portrait of a child’s haunted inner life" and "one of the most visually arresting movies ever made," which actually sounds pretty amazing. It also reminds us a lot of Pan's Labyrinth, which we love, so we're thoroughly intrigued.
Showing at: The International House

Image via the Internet Movie Poster Awards Gallery