Movies This Weekend! 9/12/08

Alright all, I’m back and refreshed after a light week… my birthday week! Only one movie graced our presence last week… and as you can read over here at Film School Rejects, it wasn’t all that impressive. I agree with the article that the release schedule got all messed up, that Righteous Kill should have been released last week along with Bangkok Dangerous. I really don’t know what they were thinking but… I don’t make those decisions. In any case, this week is packed, but is it just quantity or will we have some quality as well? Let’s take a look.

Burn After Reading, Directed by Joel Coen, Rated R

A dark spy comedy from the Academy Award winning directors Joel and Ethan Coen.  John Malkovich plays an ousted CIA official, whose memoir accidentally falls into the hands of a couple of gym employees intent on exploiting their find.

Interesting note about this film:  Was the opening night film of the 2008 Venice International Film Festival.

Righteous Kill, Directed by Jon Avnet, Rated R

A pair of veteran New York City Police officers (Al Pacino and Robert De Niro) are on the trail of a vigilante serial killer.  After 30 years as partners in the force, Detectives David Fisk and Thomas Cowan should be ready for retirement.  Instead of hanging up their badges, they are called into investigate the murder of a notorious pimp.  It appears to have ties to a case that the two solved years ago.  Like the original case they solved, the victim is a suspected criminal whose body is found, accompanied by a four line poem that justifies the crime.  Combined with other crimes that take place, the detectives realize they are looking for a serial killer who targets criminals that have fallen through the justice system, to take them off the streets for good.  This makes the men question: Did they put the wrong man behind bars?

Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys, Directed by Tyler Perry, Rated PG-13

Charlotte Cartwright and her close friend Alice Pratt have enjoyed a lasting friendship despite the differences in their social statuses.  However, their lives become tumultous as their adult children’s extramarital affairs, unethical business practices, and a dark paternity secret threaten to tear apart their families.  Despite all this, Charlotte and Alice deicde to take a breather from all this and take a cross country road trip where they rediscover themselves and possibly find a way to save their families.

Women, Directed by Diane English, Rated PG-13

Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, and Annette Bening start in this comedy where a group of close friends meet to talk about their relationships.  Scandals and affairs run amok as the women share their stories.

Joe Weekend Outlook

Well, I’ve already expressed how disappointed I was in Hollywood for their poor release schedule, and how this week is jam-packed with new releases.  However, it’s time to answer the Quantity/Quality question.  I honestly feel that there is some good quality films coming out this weekend.  For me, the headliner is Burn After Reading, the spy-comedy.  First off, it’s got a great cast, one that I think will work extremely well together.  George Clooney seems to have a way of making slightly darker movies his own, and performing extremely well.  The next film that really intrigues me is the new Tyler Perry movie.  I’ve been a pretty big fan of his movies in the past, and I think that this will have the same heartwarming qualities that have made his other films so successful.  Of course, this one doesn’t look to have Madea in it.. she’s one of my all time favorite characters!

Actually, looking back, Righteous Kill interests me just as much… scratch that, more than the new Tyler Perry movie.  I’m looking to have some action, so for me, that nudges Righteous Kill up just a couple notches over The Family that Preys.  The story behind Righteous Kill seems so interesting, and it’s something that could happen so easily in real life.  Nothing like a good police drama mystery.. and adding in two great talents in Pacino and De Niro make it that much better.

To cap off things… I’m not so sure about The Women.  They better hope they can grab some of the crowd that headed out to see Sex and the City, but having no TV base behind this film, as well as a weak advertising campaign (as far as I can tell), it doesn’t really bode well.  I know that I’m not getting dragged out to see it, so it can’t possibly be that good, right?  Feel free to prove me wrong!  If you’ve got a good review of it, I’ll link it up on this post.

What do you think folks.. did they do it right this week?

Images for this post were provided by Movie Poster dot Com.

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