CinePhillyist

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
A twelve-year old boy living in 1970 Brazil, a country held in the grip of a military dictatorship, has his world turned upside down when his Catholic mother and Jewish father are suddenly forced to go "on holiday," and he has to go live with his paternal grandfather. In the midst of all the craziness, with the Vietnam War raging abroad, the boy puts all his hopes and dreams on his team beating Italy in the World Cup. We don't know from World Cups, but we're betting from what we're seeing on Rotten Tomatoes that this is a powerful coming-of-age story and an interesting slice-of-life. Plus, how can you resist a movie directed by a guy named Hamburger?
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz Five

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Yes, it's Harold & Kumar 2. This time the guys are accused of terrorism when they try to smuggle a marijuana-smoking implement onto a flight to Amsterdam. Reviews are mixed, so you might want to wait and see which side Phillyist comes down on when our review hits the site a bit later on today.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Roxy Theatre, UA Riverview, The Bridge

The Visitor
Director Tom McCarthy follows up The Station Agent with the story of lonely professor Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins), who lost his passion for life when his wife died. When he's sent to Manhattan by his college for a conference, he discovers that a young couple has moved into this seldom-used apartment there, having fallen victim to a real estate scam. What he experiences with them will bring him back to life again. Could be a corny, feel-good, inspirational type film, but the critics sure seem to like it, so maybe it's worth a shot.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz East

Baby Mama
In this pregnancy comedy that is not Juno, Tina Fey plays successful and single businesswoman Kate Holbrook who is determined to have a child, even though she herself has only a million-to-one chance of getting pregnant. She gets South Philly (woo hoo!) working girl Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) to become her surrogate, but gets more than she bargained for when Angie shows up on her doorstep with no place to live. Of course Kate and Angie are complete opposites and they end up in a "comic battle of wills." Sigourney Weaver also stars as the head of the surrogacy center. Reviews are mixed, so you're taking your chances if you decide to go see this one.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge

Most Likely to Suck: Deal
Sigh. Another card-playing movie. A cocky senior at Yale University dreams of becoming a professional Texas Hold'em poker player, but doesn't have what it takes—until he meets retired poker legend, Tommy Vinson (Burt Reynolds), and then no doubt ends up right in the middle of a helpful training montage. But of course the successful pair of teacher and student are split up by a woman (in this case a Las Vegas call girl played by Shannon Elizabeth), and end up facing off against each other in the World Poker Tour. We already thought this was bound to be terrible, and then we saw that it is currently sitting at a truly stunning 0% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with 16 reviews collected and none of them good. So now we're sure! Definitely avoid this stinker.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview

Deception
Ewan McGregor plays Jonathan, an accountant who has lost his passion in life—until his new lawyer friend Wyatt (Hugh Jackman) introduces him to a hot new sex club, where he thinks he's found the woman of his dreams. And then suddenly he discovers he's the prime suspect in her disappearance, and in the theft of $20 million. We don't want to ruin it for you, but we're betting that Wyatt guy framed him. This one has a rating only marginally better than Deal, so you might want to avoid all the movies with one-word titles starting with the letter "D" this weekend.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview

Moving Pictures: From Frame to Screen
The International House continues its Moving Pictures series this weekend with a couple of collections of short films tonight and tomorrow night. First up is Ringl and Pit, a documentary about photographer duo Grete “Ringl” Stern and Ellen “Pit” Auerbach. Just as they began to win international prizes in Germany, the Nazis came to power and they were forced to flee separately to New York and Buenos Aires. The film shows "how their pioneering work has been rediscovered and celebrated for its innovative portrayal of women." Following Ringl and Pit is Remembrance of Things to Come, a film which uses the photography of Denise Bellon to create a dazzling historical portrait of the two momentous decades between 1935 and 1955, complete with philosophical ruminations on the complex interrelations between photos, memory, thought and history. It's directed by Chris Marker and Bellon's daughter, Yannick. Saturday's program starts off with a documentary about Magnum Photos, the world's most prestigious photo agency, which is then followed by a series of short films, many created by Magnum Photos photographers.
Showing at: The International House

Most Likely to Rule: Confidential Report
As part of their continuing celebration of the Janus Films collection, the I-House is screening Orson Welles' 1955 film, Confidential Report (aka Mr. Arkadin) Saturday night. It's about an elusive billionaire who hires an American smuggler to investigate his past. The Mr. Arkadin story has been told many times in many different ways; there's a novel, three radio plays, several long-lost cuts, and a controversial European release. It's another Welles film with a tragic history surrounding its post-production. For more information on it, and an interesting analysis of the film, check out the program notes.
Showing at: The International House

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