As I mentioned yesterday, I haven’t seen a lot of this week’s new movies, so I’m doing a lot of backfill. Bear with me, it’s been hectic around here.
“Big Momma’s: Like Father, Like Son”: Martin Lawrence is back in the fat suit, and he’s bringing poor Brandon T. Jackson with him. No press screening; someone else will be catching this today, as I am boycotting the franchise until they bring back Paul Giamatti. You’re with me on that, right?
“I Am Number Four”: Alien teenager marked for death! Many special effects! Also, Timothy Olyphant! Glenn was unimpressed.
“Lemmy”: The legendary lead singer of Motorhead gets his own ride-along documentary, playing at the Royal this week. Carla offers her qualified approval.
“Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune”: The life and politics of the late British rocker are explored in this documentary, which I’ve been keen to see since reading a glowing review in Mojo (or possibly Uncut) over Christmas. Susan liked it, too.
“Small Town Murder Songs”: Ed Gass-Donnelly, whose “This Beautiful City” was not one of my favourite movies, returns with a murder mystery set in Northern Ontario and featuring Peter Stormare as a cop. Rad says it’s “self-conscious to a fault”, which is exactly how I felt about “This Beautiful City”.
“Unknown“: Jaume Collet-Serra does his best to put “Orphan” behind him with this slick mid-range actioner that not incidentally allows Liam Neeson to beat up Berlin in search of his identity, which has been … well, you know, taken. My review will be online later this afternoon, but you want the gist? It’s surprisingly okay.
“A Wake”: I caught Penelope Buitenhuis’ improvised drama last year when it screened at the Female Eye Film Festival, and liked it a leeeeetle bit more than Susan does this week, mostly due to the strong work from Martha Burns, Tara Nicodemo and Graham Abbey. But it won’t lose anything on cable, where you’ll find it soon enough.
Oh, and I forgot to post this yesterday — a chart thingie about conspiracy movies that was supposed to run in this week’s NOW, but got bumped for space. Do enjoy.
“a chart thingie about conspiracy movies that was supposed to run in this week’s NOW, but got bumped for space.”
Bumped for space? Yeah right, that’s what THEY want us to think! 🙂