Weekend Movies: Hollywood Takes a ‘Holiday’

Did you really think that someone had the stones to go up against the almighty ‘Thor’?!

The Best Man Holiday‘ is the sole wide release this weekend, but it certainly doesn’t stand a chance of winning the box office battle with the God of Thunder. I’d seen the trailers for ‘Best Man Holiday’, but didn’t have a clue that it was a sequel until I started researching releases for this post. Who knew that there was a 1999 movie titled ‘The Best Man’? I surely didn’t. This 14-year-later follow-up reunites the characters for a Christmas vacation in which they realize that their friendships are still just as strong as their rivalries.

The next widest release is the 15-screen debut of ‘Charlie Countryman‘, a risky and insane-looking little romantic thriller. Shia LaBeouf plays an American tourist who falls head over heels for a Romanian girl (Evan Rachel Wood) and must survive her psychotic ex (Mads Mikkelsen). Ron Weasley and an Inglourious Basterd also co-star. ‘Countryman’ appears to have the potential for greatness, but also appears to have an equal chance at failure. Personally, I’m dying to see it.

Alexander Payne’s new dramedy ‘Nebraska‘ debuts on four screens. The black & white father/son road trip film stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte. Dern plays an 80-something who believes that he’s won $1 million from a Clearing House piece of a junk mail. The fine print says that the cash prize must be picked up from an office in Nebraska, so he’s determined make his way from Montana to retrieve it. Because he simply won’t give up, his son (Forte) decides to drive him there just to prove him wrong. The laughs of ‘Nebraska’ may not come immediately, but they eventually show up in a very whimsical way.

After Hurricane Sandy rocked New Jersey last December, a grand scale benefit concert was held to raise money for the victims. You may remember the event, which was televised on many big networks. Filled with great musical acts like The Who, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Coldplay and Roger Waters [Ed.: Coldplay? I thought you said these were great musical acts! -JZ], the R-rated documentary ‘12-12-12‘ also follows what happened offstage that night. As a fan of the music, I’m interested. I certainly hope that the film shows Brian Williams flubbing the name of one of The Who’s band members, as he did from the live broadcast. (Williams said that Keith Moon was playing with them that night, but Moon has been dead for 35 years.)

1 comment

  1. Josh, despite constantly being quoted a line from ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ every time that I admit it, I’ll never hide my love of Coldplay – with the exception of their last album, which was utter crap.

    Nice editor’s comment, though. 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *