Well, lookee here! It’s the first really good movie weekend of the year! Our false gods in Hollywood have not forsaken us after all!
I love two of the new releases: “The Adjustment Bureau,” a smart ‘n’ twisty sci-fi romantic thriller (?) starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt; and “Rango” (review at Cinematical), an endearingly bizarre cartoon starring Johnny Depp as a chameleon who goes to the Wild West. I would watch either of these movies again right now. MAYBE I WILL DO THAT VERY THING.
In limited release is “I Saw the Devil,” one o’ them bloody South Korean movies about revenge that are so popular right now in South Korea. I don’t have a review, but I saw “I Saw the Devil” at Fantastic Fest last September and was duly unsettled by its pursuit-of-evildoers-turns-you-evil story. Worth checking out, if that’s your thing.
Thus concludes the part where we talk about good movies. Also in wide release is “Take Me Home Tonight,” an ’80s-style (and ’80s-set) youth comedy starring Topher Grace, Dan Fogler, and Teresa Palmer. I got a few laughs out of it, but not enough to recommend it. They didn’t screen it until Thursday night; I may or may not write a full review.
I also got some laughs out of “Beastly” (review at Film.com), but those were unintentional. It is a stupid movie.
Big pile of stuff at Film.com this week. “Eric’s Bad Movies” dealt with “A*P*E,” a “King Kong” rip-off from 1976. “What’s the Big Deal?” tackled “Duck Soup,” which is perhaps the Marx brothers’ best movie. I also delivered the Ten Commandments of getting a film into Sundance (recycling a couple jokes from a very old column) and gave a preview of this year’s South By Southwest Film Festival.
I will be at SXSW! It starts next Friday. If you are also there, and if you see me, you should say hello.
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