What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend.
A Girl Cut in Two
Director Claude Chabrol's latest is about a television weatherwoman who finds herself being pursued simultaneously by a spoiled pharmaceutical heir and a successful—but much older—author. The film is described as a blackly comic tale of romance and class differences. We are often suspicious of arty French films, but the reviews of this one are good, so it could be worth a viewing.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse
Most Likely to Rule: Momma's Man
Mikey is about to board a plane for California to return to his wife and child, when he suddenly finds himself fleeing the airport and returning to the comfort of his parents' New York home. He's not sure why he does it, but as time goes on, he finds it harder and harder to muster the courage to return to his responsibilities, and drifts further and further into a second adolescence. Sounds like a fascinating, surreal idea for a film, and the reviews are quite positive. We'd see it.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse
Igor
A computer-animated film about a mad scientist's hunchbacked lab assistant who dreams of becoming a scientist in his own right and winning the coveted first place award at the annual Evil Science Fair. John Cusack provides the voice of the title character, and John Cleese, Steve Buscemi, Sean Hayes, Eddie Izzard, Jennifer Coolidge, Jay Leno, and Molly Shannon also lend their vocal talents. It sounds like a vaguely cute idea for a film, but the ads are pretty dull, and the critics have not been kind. We'd stay away from this one.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Pearl
Lakeview Terrace
We still remember being really, really impressed by Neil LaBute's shattering debut film, In the Company of Men, but we're not sure he's made a decent film since then. The latest (and apparently also disappointing) entry in his filmography is this thriller about an interracial couple who move into their California dream home and soon find themselves terrorized by their volatile next-door neighbor, a racist LAPD officer. The twist is that the racist LA cop is a black man, played by Samuel L. Jackson. The couple is played by Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington. We can't say we see anything in the ads to recommend the film, and critics generally dislike it. Give it a miss.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge, The Pearl
Ghost Town
We should have a review of this comedy, starring Ricky Gervais as a man who can see dead people, a little later on today.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview
Most Likely to Suck: My Best Friend's Girl
Jason Biggs seems doomed to always be the pathetic dude who desperately wants the girl, but bumbles constantly in his attempts to get her. In this film, he plays Dustin, who comes on too strong with Alexis (Kate Hudson), the girl of his dreams. So strong, in fact, that she breaks things off with him. In a desperate attempt to get her back, Dustin asks for help from his best friend, Tank (Dane Cook). Tank is a rebound specialist who is hired by freshly dumped guys to take their ex-girlfriends out on the worst date of their lives, giving them an experience so horrible that they run gratefully back to their exes. This film was not screened for critics, so there's no freshness rating as of this writing—but as we've said in the past, that's a rating in and of itself. Plus, this looks like one of those films that relies heavily on shameful or uncomfortable situations for its comedy, which is something we never enjoy. And that's why it gets the suck.
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: UA Riverview, The Bridge, The Pearl
Ibrahim Theater Grand Opening: Faces
At long last, the renovations at the International House's theater are complete, and tonight is the grand opening! The theater has been rechristened the Ibrahim Theater, in honor of the fellow who donated the money for the upgrade. The I-House was one of the most uncomfortable places to see a movie in Philadelphia, so we're definitely excited about the new seats. Unfortunately, we're very much not excited about the film they chose to break in the new theater. John Cassavetes' black-and-white relationship drama from 1968 is beloved by most film critics, but we've always found it painfully boring and pointless. It's over two hours of a bunch of people you don't understand or care about blabbering at each other about nothing in particular. We think we'll wait for a different screening to try out those new seats...
Trailer - Freshness
Showing at: The Ibrahim Theater @ The International House
Image via Internet Movie Poster Awards Gallery
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Post a comment (Comment Policy)