CinePhillyist

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

The Duchess of Langeais
An adaptation of the novel by Balzac, this "costume drama" or "period romance" set in 1820s Paris during The Restoration tells the story of how the titular character is pleased by the attentions of General Armand de Montriveau, but continually rebuffs him, until finally, humiliated, he seeks revenge. It's only then that the Duchess' love finally awakens, but by that point it may be too late. We think we saw this when it was called Gone with the Wind, and we didn't like it then, either. No thanks!
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Run Fat Boy Run
Five years after leaving her at the altar due to an attack of cold feet, Dennis (Simon Pegg) discovers his ex-fiancee (Thandie Newton) is now with a high-flying-go-getter (Hank Azaria), and realizes it's now or never. So he enters a marathon to show he's more than a quitter, only to discover that running a marathon is actually really hard. Will he win it anyway, or at least win back the hand of his love? Eh, probably. But will anyone really care? Although we like the talent involved here, the reviews aren't so good, and we can't say the story sounds very interesting. Count us out.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Snow Angels
An adaptation of a novel by Stewart O'Nan about two converging stories of love and loss. And if you've been reading this column for any length of time, you know how we feel about converging stories of love and loss. *blows raspberry*
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse

Most Likely to Rule: Flawless
Michael Radford, director of Il Postino and The Merchant of Venice, tries his hand at a based-on-a-true-story caper flick set in London. Hey, didn't we just see that movie? Anyway, this one's about two employees of the London Diamond Corporation—a savvy female executive tired of being passed over for promotion (Demi Moore), and an aging janitor (Michael Caine)—who team up for a complex jewelry heist. It doesn't have a really high freshness rating, but it sounds awesome to us.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz Five

21
A film adaptation of the true story of how six genius MIT students used their brains to make millions at blackjack in Vegas. Jim Sturgess plays one of the students, Laurence Fishburne stars as the security chief who catches onto their scam, and Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth fill out the cast. Sounds fascinating, but the reviews are pretty poor.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

Stop-Loss
We should have a review of this Iraq War drama later on today.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview

Most Likely to Suck: Superhero Movie
The Scary Movie people work their crapifying magic again, this time on the genre of superhero movies. Thanks, but we'd rather go get a couple of root canals.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview

Jellyfish
This film is being screened at the International House this weekend as part of the Israeli Film Festival. It's the story of three very different Tel Aviv women who all find themselves struggling with issues of communication, affection and destiny. One is a catering waitress who takes in a child apparently abandoned at a local beach. She happens to be one of the servers at the wedding reception of Keren. Also at the wedding is Joy, a non Hebrew-speaking domestic worker who has left her son behind in the Philippines. This is another one of those converging stories movies that we hate so much, but this one won the Camera D'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, was also an official selection of the 2007 Toronto Film Festival, and is just generally critically acclaimed. So no raspberries this time.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: The International House

Image via Internet Movie Poster Awards Gallery