Weekend Movies: ‘The Avengers’ and a Bunch of Little Movies That Aren’t ‘The Avengers’

I’ve heard many people, geeks and non-geeks alike, compare this weekend to being a child on Christmas Eve. Because of the insanely huge hype behind this weekend’s single nationwide opener, only five small indie movies dare open against it.

Unless you’ve been held captive in a cave by the Ten Rings, you’re probably more than aware that ‘The Avengers‘ finally hits the big screen today. Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America join forces with Hawkeye and Black Widow to create a superhero team that must stop Loki from destroying Earth. Joss Whedon directs, and don’t leave your seat until the final credits are over. Get ready for summer to be kicked off in a very big way. Few blockbusters this summer will match the popcorn fun of ‘The Avengers’.

The widest of the limited openers is John Madden’s ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel‘. The ‘Shakespeare in Love’ director has reunited with several of his former cast members for this dramedy about a group of British geezers who venture to what they believe is a newly remodeled hotel in India, only to find that in reality it’s just a dump. Of course, it doesn’t take long for their new place of residence to grow on them. Starring Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Dev Patel, ‘Marigold Hotel’ appears to be quite charming.

Next up is ‘A Little Bit of Heaven‘. This romantic dramedy sounds like a Hollywood version of ’50/50’. Kate Hudson plays a wild child whose life is turned upside down when she’s diagnosed with cancer. Her perspective on life is immediately changed and she meets a love interest – Gael García Bernal. The awesome supporting cast includes Peter Dinklage, Lucy Punch, Romany Malco, Kathy Bates, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosemarie DeWitt and Treat Williams.

If a Miley Cyrus movie is opening and nobody knows about it, does that mean that her movie career is dead already? I guess we’ll find out on Monday when we see where her new movie ‘LOL‘ finishes. If she’s trying to get serious roles, she’s sure going about it the wrong way with ‘LOL’, a high school romantic comedy about a girl who gets dumped, but soon learns that her long-time male best friend really likes her. OMG, I wonder what will happen in this POS!! The movie somehow co-stars Demi Moore, Ashley Greene, Thomas Jane, Gina Gershon and Jay Hernandez.

TV’s Emily Deschanel and Jason Ritter star in the comedy ‘The Perfect Family‘. The mother of a dysfunctional family (Kathleen Turner) is nominated for an award within her Catholic congregation and tries proving to her peers that she has a perfect family, when in reality they couldn’t be more opposite.

The last of the limited openers this weekend is ‘First Position‘. This documentary follows six young dancers as they prepare for and compete in one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world, the Youth America Grand Prix. I’m no dance fan, but I’m interested because I want to see if the ballet world as portrayed in ‘Black Swan’ is real. If so, my girls are forbidden from ballet!

4 comments

  1. JM

    Will ‘The Avengers’ be watched by a higher percentage of the US population than ‘Dancing With The Stars’?

    Will it be watched by more people than The Super Bowl?

    Has ‘The Avengers’ created a reality distortion field?

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