Weekend Movies: A Grim Forecast

So far this year, the domestic box office has been up 14.6% over last year. This weekend might change that.

Last week, ‘The Vow’ taught us the box office power that romance flicks can have on female moviegoers, but I doubt that ‘This Means War‘ will have the same results. Starring Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as two secret agents fighting over the affections of Reese Witherspoon, the content of the movie contains conflicting elements of crude R-rated comedy, mild PG-13 comedy, action flick, rom-com and bromantic comedy. Director McG has outdone his previous works in stupidity.

Nicholas Cage returns to the big screen as the flaming Marvel Knight in ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance‘. Not screened for press, I don’t expect greatness from this sequel, but considering that it’s made by the ‘Crank‘ guys, it’s sure to be wildly out of control. Too bad they weren’t allowed to make it with an R-rating.

Disney brings another Japanese Studio Ghibli film to English speakers with ‘The Secret World of Arrietty‘. While Hayao Miyazaki did not direct this ‘Borrowers’ adaptation, he co-wrote the story and produced. This G-rated flick is fit for everyone. It has comedy, suspense, action and great big heart.

Weinstein’s Oscar contending documentary ‘Undefeated‘ is opening (again) this weekend. The film follows an underdog football team, the Manassas Tigers. When they’re hired as a practice team for a bigger school, their coach helps them achieve success.

Thin Ice‘ (aka ‘The Convincer’) is a title I hadn’t heard of, but with a cast like this, I should have. Greg Kinnear, Billy Crudup, Alan Arkin and Lea Thompson star in this crime drama about a blackmailed insurance agent trying to get out of town. I can’t find much on ‘Thin Ice’, but if it’s at all like ‘The Ice Harvest’ (which it sounds like), then I’m in.

Documentary ‘Putin’s Kiss‘, which just played at the Sundance Film Festival, is about a girl who works for Russia’s youth organization and a well-known journalist who claims the group is the new version of “Hitler’s Youth.” That’s about all I know about that one.

4 comments

  1. CK

    Any mild interest that I might have had for Ghost Rider just flew out the window with “made by the ‘Crank‘ guys”. I guess they wanted a sequel to a movie that could be improved upon even by accident.

  2. Brian H

    The Spirit of Vengeance is good fun. Supernatural motorcycle flame hero demon kicks ass is Europe. Plus the highlander shows up in an all important minor part.

    There are some movies where the audience wonders, “when are they going to get to the firework factory?”. In the Spirit on Vengeance, they get there early and often. Too bad they missed that concept in the first Ghost Rider movie.

    Best parts not involving hellfire and bad guys distingrating has to be nic cage(Johnny blaze blue) trying to contain his “on-fire” self.

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