The List!

I'm still hip deep into my Top 50 Films of the Decade, which is eating up far more time than I ever thought it would. Thankfully, living near DC and not getting half of the movies that are out everywhere else has left me with plenty of time to work on it. Last week I had A Single Man near the top of my list of movies to see, and being the half-assed speed reader that I am, I ran off to Shirlington theater to see it. Only to discover that what I actually was reading was A Serious Man, the Coen Brothers' film which I already saw. Fortunately they were nice enough to let me in to Me & Orson Welles, a surprisingly strong film which is bound to be in my 3 to see list on Sunday. The week before Christmas is typically weak for new releases. It's next week where the crap hits the fan. So there isn't much to chew on here, with one obvious exception...

Never let it be said that James Cameron is a man who rests on his laurels. The guy who has basically changed the way all filmmakers approach science fiction has decided now was the time to up the with what has to be considered his largest, and most risky, film to date. Ignoring the mammoth budget, which some say hovers anywhere from $300M to $500M, there's also the amount of damage this could do to his credibility if it's not a near universal success. Avatar's story seems fairly conventional on the face of it. The human race is set to invade an idyllic, resource laden world inhabited by a race of humanoids known as the Na'vi. Sam Worthington, who seems to be the new face of any start-up sci-fi franchise, is a paraplegic who is sent in to infiltrate the Na'vi, but begins to question his own actions. We'll be there to see this tonight, with full 3-D regalia, IMAX, and a room full of sweaty nerds. As is typically the case with over hyped films like this, my enthusiasm has come and gone, buffeted about the neck and shoulders with more trailers, clips, and images than I could ever hope to see. I'm tired of Avatar already, yet I trust Cameron to break me out of my funk.

Nobody makes Penelope Cruz look more beautiful than famed Spanish director, Pedro Almadovar. Broken Embraces is her 4th film with the award winning director, this time taking on the role of a call girl turned actress who falls for a blind filmmaker with a mysterious past. Almadovar's films are wonderfully melodramatic, bordering on lunacy at times, but Broken Embraces seems to have a different look. It resembles old school noir films, which has me intrigued.

If there's time...

I confess to not knowing very much about Queen Victoria. I know even less about her husband, Prince Albert, other than that there was a wrestler named after him and that it's also a euphemism for a body piercing in particularly...sensitive area. What I do know is that Emily Blunt is receiving her usual rave reviews for her role as the young, vivacious queen. She's an actress that has been remarkably reliable over the last few years so I trust she'll make this period piece worth the effort.

No......a thousand times no!!!

Of all the crappy shoe-horned contrived rom-com pieces of junk  this one beats all. I remember when there was a time that I liked Hugh Grant, but lately he seems content to sign on to anything with a female co-lead and any old schlocky premise. But to see him paired up yet again with old horseface Parker(the two were in Extreme Measures together) brings back bad memories and a distinct queasiness to my stomach. The two star as a couple who's marriage is on the rocks. On the verge of divorce, they are forced to re-evaluate their relationship when they are the witnesses to a murder and sent off into the Witness Protection Program. >sigh<  Not even Sam Elliot can make this palatable. Avoid at all costs!