Weekend Movies: Wolves, Ledges and Katherine Heigl

The odd thing about this weekend’s releases is that the movie with the thinnest plot is almost certainly going to be the most entertaining of the bunch. Let’s be honest, watching Liam Neeson fist-fight a pack of wolves in the Alaskan wild sounds a lot more entertaining than any Katherine Heigl or post-‘Avatar‘ Sam Worthington movie. (Yes, I find ‘Avatar’ entertaining.) The only thing more interesting would be a movie where Neeson fist-fights a pack of Heigls and Avatars.

I have no idea how ‘The Grey‘ can fill 117 minutes with man versus wild action, but I’m sold. I’ve got to see this movie now. One image from the trailer shows Neeson taping shards of glass to his knuckles so he can better destroy the wolves. Honestly, that’s all I needed to see to take interest in it. Here’s to hoping Joe Carnahan (‘The A-Team‘) makes another mindless crowd-pleaser.

Sam Worthington and his terrible American accent return to the big screen in a new heist film of flop-worthy proportions. In ‘Man on a Ledge‘, he plays an escaped convict trying to prove his innocence by distracting New York City police while his brother pulls a caper that will reveal the supposed truth and set him free. Get ready for another uneven Summit Entertainment release.

I cannot think of Katherine Heigl without this Onion video coming to mind. Her new film ‘One for the Money‘ makes me laugh because – like her other films – the title reveals absolutely nothing about the film itself. I pride myself in not having seen the trailer and not having to see the movie since it wasn’t screened for press this week. The synopsis makes it sound exactly like ‘The Bounty Hunter‘. Basically, a female bounty hunter must track down a former romantic partner. Stupidity ensues. The movie stars mostly no-names, and any actors you might recognize either have no dignity or need grocery money.

Albert Nobbs‘ expands wide this weekend, as does ‘The Descendants.’ Now that the Oscar nominations have been announced, it’s time for the small films to expand wide and for you to play catch-up. Get going!

7 comments

  1. EM

    I’ll be doing the small-film catch-up. As I mentioned recently, The Artist is finally opening locally. I plan to see it Saturday afternoon.

  2. Mrs. Z is very depressed about One for the Money. The movie is based on a very popular book series that she likes. But, obviously, it looks awful. In her words, “Katherine Heigl ruins everything.”

  3. JM

    ‘One For The Money’ is the most anticipated movie of 2012 according to everyone I know in real life.

    Obviously your wife has never read the Stephanie Plum books. The author, Janet Evanovich, created the series to be ‘Seinfeld’ meets ‘Midnight Run.’

    The movie was made for cheap, purely for the fan base, and to work as an advertisement to lure more people into the 18-book series. We’re talking about an author bestselling enough to earn $12 million per novel.

    In terms of filmmaking, it looks like a lipstick indie. From a TV director and the screenwriter of ‘Goodnight, Vagina.’

  4. Brian H

    Go see the Grey, unless you dislike Liam Neeson. It is more sentimental than the previews, but it matches some character development/effective chatectrrization with a simple plot and excellent backdrop.

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