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I almost want to skip this week since next week is all I care about. BUT. I’m here for you guys. And those actors who don’t help with the marketing budgets of indie movies. Or something.

Movie I’m Most Interested In:

Apparently everyone is afraid Dark Knight Rises will open and their film will be instantly forgotten, relegated to the seedy and empty third and fourth run theatres by Chris Nolan sneezing. Okay well, one brave movie is having a go, and it stands a chance to stand firm in the gale winds of Nolan’s sneeze – likely because it is for kids.

Ice Age: Continental Drift – The fourth (!) in the series following lovable prehistoric animals (or motley crew anyway) has our furry heroes dealing with the breakup of Pangaea and encountering that easy villain, a band of pirates. Incidentally, Peter Dinklage of Game of Thrones fame, whose filmography does not seem to have an end, is the voice of the leader of the pirates. For added fun, we get to meet Sid the sloth’s family and learn that his grandma has not taken a bath in years. The apple does not fall far from the tree. The addition of Drake and Nicki Minaj as voices of Manny the mammoth’s family shows the film is hip and cool and down with the homies. Or something. But the addition of Nick Frost’s voice worked on getting my interest up.

Wide – 07/13/2012

Reread the first paragraph under Movie I’m Most Interested In, please and thank you.

Limited

[The first Sundance Film Festival was held in Utah in August 1978 in effort to bring attention to films created by American artists outside of Hollywood. Several films were selected to be featured, among them was Deliverance, the 1972 thriller most famous for its male rape scene.]

Easy Money – Finally coming to the US two years after its initial release in producing country Sweden, this film is said to have been the launching pad both for the star and the director. It is also possibly Sweden’s first international quality gangster thriller. As a general fan of said genre, the more the merrier I say. The Guldbagge award is given by the Swedish Art Institute (presumably their version of Oscars?) and this little film earned three of them.

Red Lights – An interesting cast for a Spanish (as in Spain) made film, this film centers on Sigourney Weaver and Robert DeNiro who investigate paranormal activity. In this instance, they are taking a further look into Cillian Murphey’s character, a world renown psychic whose toughest critic mysteriously passed away. Elizabeth Olsen also appears and I wonder if she finds these types of stories interesting, given that 3 out of 5 movies in release have some element of paranormal/paranoia. Either way, glad to see an Olsen that looks like she eats sandwiches.

The Obama Effect – Full of “Oh that guy, where else have I seen him!” actors, this little indie is exactly that. I rarely see such a sparsely filled out imdb page and there seems to be no critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. The story is said to focus on a middle aged insurance salesman who becomes obsessed with then campaigning Obama and fervently works to help get him elected. The kicker is that apparently the passion for change eventually bleeds the true meaning into his life and the salesman starts where change truly begins – himself. Though not too fond of Obama, the actors are all great and the story seems interesting. I just might check it out.

That’s all for this week, tune in next week same nerd-time, same nerd-channel to see our heroine battle extreme excitement to attempt to put together a coherent post (not likely.) In the meantime, have an awesome week!

It begins! I’m off Facebook so I own my own words now but I’m certainly in transition. Bear with me, pretty please. Also I should warn you, it is my intention to have ads on my blog soonish so don’t expect an ad free zone. It’ll be worth it though, I promise.

Movie I’m Most Interested In:

Battleship. Like I said about Dark Shadows (I know, everywhere but where it counted,) if The Avengers wasn’t as mind blowingly amazing as it is, these movies would stand a better chance of making more money and being more popular. As it is, unless I find myself twiddling my thumbs and bored, I doubt I’ll be seeing Dark Shadows or Battleship in the theater. Either way, this one stars Taylor Kitsch who was positively wonderful in John Carter (you really should see that one if you haven’t yet, it’s quite good) and, of all people, Rihanna. Another Skarsgaard (I can’t do that little thinger over the a for proper spelling) is in it as well, this one is the eldest son of Stellan who gave us the history of Norse mythology in Thor and reminded us that Loki is Thor’s brother in Avengers. He also gave us the portal through which the Chitari attacked. Maybe he’s not so awesome after all (just kidding, I generally like both of them and would love to see them do something together.)

Wide – 05/18/2012

[When adjusted for inflation, Gone with the Wind remains the highest grossing movie of all time domestically. Its adjusted gross earnings are just over 1.6 billion dollars.]

What to Expect When Expecting – The “worst case scenario preparation story” .. thing. Or so I heard. The trailer seemed to emphasize the preparation for fathers to be rather than tips for women, which, rather than encouraging males to attend might push them away, especially if squeamish about children in general. Current fathers will probably love it.

The Dictator – Though actually released yesterday (05/16/2012) this is still its first weekend out. I’ve seen a few amusing moments and there are funny outtakes during the first part of the credits (nothing after the credits, please exit the theatre so we can clean) but it is Sasha Baron Cohen, the man who pushed all of homophobia’s buttons with Bruno. Keep that in mind when deciding if this is your type of humour.

Limited

[ Oddly, Wrath of the Titans is gaining 95 screens this week. 360 screens, that counts as limited release right? Wink.]

Hysteria – Okay so back in the day (late 1800s as I recall from advertisements) a woman could be diagnosed with hysteria and the recommended treatment – I’m not kidding – was sex. So, in the name of science, or perhaps medicine, Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville patented the first electromechanical vibrator. Incidentally about 20 years after this, a company patented the first electric vibrator. This made the device the fifth domestic appliance to be electrified. Anyway. This movie aims to spin its own yarn of how Dr Granville’s device came to be with the aid of Maggie Gyllenhaal. Good luck finding this playing on a local screen, however.

Elena – With 4 awards and 3 more nominations, it is certainly a film fest darling. A rather odd premise – a docile housewife is told she will not be inheriting any of her husband’s estate when he passes which causes her to come up with a plan to change that, may be explained by the movie in fact being Russian made. I keep getting surprised at how many countries are in the movie making business. I shouldn’t be, but I am.

Crooked Arrows – Superman Brandon Routh seems to at least still be finding work after the fiasco of Superman Returns, which is a nice thing because it wasn’t really his fault. That said he’s not even the fun part about this movie. It’s about a lacrosse team. Not the usual ivy-league expected team, however, a Native American lacrosse team. Our friendly neighborhood werewolf Gil Birmingham also stars (don’t ask how I know he’s a werewolf. Just don’t.)

Despite this being the third weekend of release, The Avengers is still on around 600 more screens than any other movie this weekend. Fairly certain it will still take the weekend.

[I wrote several posts on Facebook before launching a dedicated blog. Due to FB’s questionable stance on content ownership, I’m moving all posts here.]

[I wrote several posts on Facebook before launching a dedicated blog. Due to FB’s questionable stance on content ownership, I’m moving all posts here.]