Opening This Week (28 Feb – 06 Mar, 2011)

This past weekend proved quite a success for K.N.O.T.S., Nic Cage’s $50 million dollar exploitation film (on more than one level) raked in a measly $5.3 million, which is less than Season of the Witch, again proving that Cage may not be as bankable as some predict. The weekend was topped by Gnomeo and Juliet ($14.2M), continuing a nice little run during the weak February film season. The Farrelly Brothers’ new comedy, Hall Pass (13.4M) came in second, with Unknown ($12.4M) coming in third.

Here’s what we got coming out this week:

The Adjustment Bureau

Rated: PG-13

Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, John Slattery, Terrence Stamp

Director: George Nolfi

Synopsis from IMDB: The affair between a politician and a ballerina is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: While the film looks exciting, my guess is that it will be merely entertaining without providing anything new to the thriller/conspiracy genre. It is based on a Philip K. Dick novel, which could bode well for its structure, and his stories have a pretty high success rate.

Well....for the most part.

Plus, the cast is pretty solid, so it has a lot of things going for it. Early in the week, it has a 67% on RottenTomatoes, which will probably change throughout the course of the week, but the question is which way will it go?

Rango

Rated: PG

Starring: Johnny Depp, Abigail Breslin, Isla Fisher, Alfred Molina

Director: Gore Verbinski

Synopsis from IMDB: A chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: While the production of the film looks interesting, the plot does not. In fact, the main character sounds downright irritating and his face looks like it was taken from the movie poster for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I don’t expect much out of this one, but I’m sure it was a lot of fun to make.

Beastly

Rated: PG-13

Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris, Mary-Kate Olsen

Director: Daniel Barnz

Synopsis from IMDB: A modern-day take on the “Beauty and the Beast” tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: Well, I guess the Twilight crowd needed something to tide them over until Red Riding Hood, another adaptation of a fairy tale. I am still not sure whether I would want to see this emo version of Beauty and the Beast, or Beautician and the Beast.

 Take Me Home Tonight

Rated: R

Starring: Topher Grace, Dan Fogler, Anna Faris, Teresa Palmer

Director: Michael Dowse

Synopsis from IMDB: Follow an aimless college grad who pursues his dream girl at a wild Labor Day weekend party. He, his twin sister and their best friend struggle with their burgeoning adulthood over the course of the night.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: This looks like a run-of-the-mill comedy, but there is something endearing about it to me. I don’t think it will be anything spectacular, especially with Dan Fogler as one of the stars, but maybe it is the 80’s soundtrack bringing back memories of The Wedding Singer that attracts me to this film.

Limited Releases

I Saw the Devil

Rated: Unrated

Starring: Byung-hun Lee, Min-sik Choi, Ho-jin Jeon

Director: Ji-woon Kim

Synopsis from IMDB: A secret agent tracks a serial killer who murdered his fiancée.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: While this does look pretty badass, it doesn’t look like anything we haven’t seen in every other revenge flick. Still, it looks like it could be the best action film released in the U.S. so far this year.

Bereavement

Rated: R

Starring: Michael Biehn, Alexandra Dadarrio, John Savage

Director: Stevan Mena

Synopsis from IMDB: The horrific account of 6 year old Martin Bristol, abducted from his backyard swing and forced to witness the brutal crimes of a deranged madman.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: The premise for this film is pretty disturbing and it looks like it is in the torture porn genre, but it is hard to tell. I would be interested in seeing this for the exploration of the psychological trauma this 6 year old kid would suffer in his later years. The film has a 7.5 on IMDB, but the RottenTomatoes reviews are mediocre. Probably a Netflix rental, but there is no rush.