Movies This Weekend! 1/9/09

2009 made a bit of a bang at the box office as you can tell from our Weekend Wrap Up, but it felt weird because there were no new movies released.  However, it looks like the studios are trying to pick up right where they left off, with 5 movies going wide this weekend.  Will these films help make the beginning of the 2009 new movie season a success?  Let’s take a look:

Bride Wars - Rated PG, Directed by Gary Winick.

Weddings can bring out the best and the worst in people.  Bride Wars has been likened to the TV show Bridezillas, and if you’ve seen that, you should know what to expect!  Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway portray two best friends turned foes when they schedule their weddings on the same day.  This comedy shows what weddings can really do to your friendship if you let it happen!

Gran Torino - Rated R, Directed by Clint Eastwood.

Clint Eastwood plays a grizzled Korean war veteran who forms a friendship with a young Hmong man and his immigrant family.  Eastwood’s character refuses to move along with the times, holding onto ideals that have long passed, and staying in the same neighborhood despite the ever-changing demographic.  When his prized muscle car is nearly stolen as part of a gang initiation, Walt Kalwalski (Eastwood), must grapple with the realities around him, and the racism that he’s developed over the years.

Not Easily Broken - Rated PG-13, Directed by Bill Duke.

A relationship drama about a couple whose marriage is falling apart.  Based on Not Easily Broken: A Novel (aff) by T.D. Jakes.  Jakes also serves as a producer on this film.

Reader - Rated R, Directed by Stephen Daldry.

The story of Hanna Schmitz and Michael Berg.  Hanna has an affair with a young boy (Berg), with the two spending their short time together making love and reading literature.  When Hanna disapperas, Berg continues on with his life, but runs into her again about 10 years later.  However, she is on trial for her work as a S.S. guard during the war.  Berg is torn over what to do as he may know a secret that could save her life, yet feels that justice should be served.

Unborn - Rated PG-13, Directed by David Goyer.

Casey Beldon always hated her mother for leaving her as a child.  However, after strange and terrifying events begin to occur, she starts to understand why her mother left.  Beldon turns to her spiritual advisor Sendak, to try to make her nightmares stop.  With his help, Beldon uncovers a family curse that dates back to the days of the Nazis, a creature that can inhabit anything, and becomes stronger with each possession.  Her only hope is to close a door that has been pried open by someone who has never been born.

Joe’s Weekend Outlook

Personally, I think it’s a little early for a horror movie, and I feel that Bride Wars is actually the most appropriate movie for this time of the year.  However, the rating of the Unborn makes it a perfect weekend movie for the tweenage crowd, and the bane of my life.  I think you’d be surprised how much the rating of a movie actually makes a difference.  All I can say is, if you really want to see that movie, don’t go to a show around 7pm… it’s bound to be filled with plenty of high schoolers who are going to be obnoxious.

I’m gonna say Bride Wars makes #1… but that’s just my opinion.  What’s yours?

Don’t wait. Guarantee your seat before you go and avoid a sold out show. Skip the box office lines and buy movie tickets at Fandango.com.

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