I considered scrapping today’s edition of Weekend Movies simply because 99% of moviegoing audiences already know what opens this weekend. I decided to go through with it anyway so that I could tell you about the little movies quietly slipping into theaters behind the Caped Crusader. Independent filmmakers and distributors know that they don’t stand a chance this weekend, so (according to Box Office Mojo) only two indie flicks are bothering to open today.
It’s finally here, folks, the final chapter to Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ series. Following the movie’s title, theme and promotional text, Christopher Nolan has “risen” to make ‘The Dark Knight Rises‘ a truly epic (and I don’t use that word lightly) final chapter to his Batman trilogy. The story is bigger, the action is bigger, the emotions are bigger. Even the film is bigger, featuring more than 60 minutes of shot-on-IMAX footage and a 164-minute runtime.
Nolan and company have kept a fairly tight lid on the story of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. The trailers have shown amazing visuals and huge events that leave you puzzled as to their order within the chronological story. What is Bane doing in Gotham? Why is Batman retired? What character does Joseph Gordon-Levitt play? Are the supposed script leaks true? Can Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman erase the awful memories of Halle Berry? All of these questions and a whole lot more get answered – and if I may interject my opinion – in the best possible way. (You can read my review here.)
Only two indie movies dare open against ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. First, we have the sensual romantic comedy ‘30 Beats‘. The film follows ten horny New Yorkers who relieve their sexual frustrations with one another – hopefully not at the same time – during an intense inner city heat wave. I think I can already predict the outcome of the movie: syphilis.
The other indie opener is the French romantic drama ‘The Well-Digger’s Daughter‘. This remake of a ’40s film of the same name is about a hard-working father whose oldest and dearest daughter gets into to trouble with another boy from the village. This period piece is set in the same pre-World War II time as the original.
The question is this: How much money will ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ make this weekend?
Julian
But why open on the same day as “The Dark Knight Rises”? Seriously, even as an indie film … why even bother? You know you won’t stand a chance. It’s like Uwe Boll vs. Spielberg back in 2008 (haters will now say that Boll’s “Postal” was actually better than the alleged borefest “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”). I would never, ever, in my right mind go against “The Dark Knight Rises” … and neither should these movies.
Josh Zyber
There are a percentage of viewers out there who have no interest in comic book movies or summer blockbusters. The art house theaters not playing The Dark Knight need something to screen this weekend too.
Jon D
I don’t like KOTCS, but not even in my worst alchohol fueled haze would I consider it worse than Postal. Maybe on the same level…..