Opening This Week (21 – 27 Mar, 2011)

The box office winnings were surprisingly smaller than the previous weeks. I like to think that is because of March Madness, but stil I expected a little bit more to happen than Limitless taking the weekend crown with $19 million, beating out Rango which took in $15.3 million and Battle: Los Angeles that dropped significantly to $14.6 million. Hopefully, the box office woes won’t continue as there is at least one potential blockbuster in the lineup for this week:

Sucker Punch

Rated: PG-13

Starring: Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens

Director: Zack Snyder

Synopsis from IMDB: A young girl is institutionalized by her wicked stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the facility.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: Zack Snyder has a knack for visual flair and I could just watch the trailer for this film over and over again. I hope he is able to match that with a smart and cohesive script. While I could see this as a special effects driven project that tailspins into mass confusion, I have faith that Snyder will pull it all together. If not, I could probably just watch this on Blu-Ray with the sound turned off and still enjoy it.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Rated: PG

Starring: Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Robert Capron

Director: David Bowers

Synopsis from RT: In this sequel to 2010’s surprise hit, Greg Heffley, the kid who made “wimpy” cool is back in an all-new family comedy based on the best-selling follow-up novel by Jeff Kinney. (Kinney’s Wimpy Kid” series has thus far sold 42 million books.) As he begins seventh grade, Greg and his older brother – and chief tormentor – Rodrick must deal with their parents’ misguided attempts to have them bond.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: I’ll admit I don’t know a whole lot about this film series, or the series of books upon which it is based, but it doesn’t look like anything special. The laughs that they go for in the previews have been done more tastefully by other kids fare and doesn’t seem to offer anything new.

LIMITED RELEASES

Peep World

Rated: Unrated

Starring: Michael C. Hall, Sarah Silverman, Rainn Wilson, Ben Schwartz

Director: Barry W. Blaustein

Synopsis from IMDB: On the day of their Father’s 70th birthday party, four siblings come to terms with the publication of a novel written by the youngest sibling, that exposes the family’s most intimate secrets.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: The cast looks strong and the humor seems to be derived mainly from the script and not from sight gags. I would probably try to track this one down on DVD when it comes out.

White Irish Drinkers

Rated: R

Starring: Karen Allen, Stephen Lang, Nick Thurston, Peter Riegert

Director: John Gray

Synopsis from IMDB: Brooklyn, 1975: two brothers looking for a way out of their working-class neighborhood make a pact to rob a local theater on the night of a Rolling Stones concert.

Trailer:

Chris’ Take: This looks like The Town, but the location has moved to Brooklyn. Anyway, it looks like a decent heist film, but the early reviews have been mixed.

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.