- More Q&A screenings of Ballast at Film Forum this weekend.
Opening this weekend:
Happy-Go-Lucky, written and directed by Mike Leigh
Premise: A look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.
Playing at: Lincoln Plaza, Landmark Sunshine
I've said this before, but I'm a big Mike Leigh fan. Really looking forward to seeing this one.
Postive-ish reviews up at Screenhead and Time Out New York.
There are still tickets available for the screening with Mike Leigh that we posted about earlier.
Body of Lies, adapted by William Monahan, dir. by Ridley Scott
Premise: Based on Washington Post columnist David Ignatius's 2007 novel about a CIA operative, Roger Ferris, who uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan.
Playing at: All over the place.
Ol' Ridley has brought us plenty of classics, including Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator, but also a few real stinkers. (Cough, cough, Black Hawk Down, cough!) Which one will this fall under? I'm counting on a League review from Onyx to let me know...
RocknRolla, written and directed by Guy Ritchie
Premise: In London, a real-estate scam puts millions of pounds up for grabs, naturally attraction the attention of some of the city's scrappiest tough guys its more established underworld players, and others -- all of whom are looking to get rich quick.
Playing at: Village East Cinemas, AMC Empire 25, Loews Lincoln Square
Mr. Ritchie - will this be the film that finally re-sells me on your work? I need to go back and watch Snatch and Lockstock soon. My memory tells me they were great, but I may have just been thinking that because I was a teenager at the time.
P.S. - Rachel Getting Married was outstanding. Review coming soon.
What're you doing/seeing this weekend?
2 comments:
Black Hawk Down a stinker!? You're a lot like one of your scripts Zombie, genius in one moment and insane in the next.
What about Black Hawk Down doesn't smell like roses? You can't say it failed from a business standpoint. It cost 90 million and brought in about 110 million from domestic theaters. Tack on overseas, dvd, and who knows what you got. It helped sell god knows how many Mark Bowden books. It's the primary reason why we'll soon be blessed with Killing Pablo in 2009, which will be part of an insane run for Christan Bale that includes Terminator Salvation.
From a production standpoint it was awesome. I'll admit that there wasn't much room there to inject original story lines into true events, but so what. The true event was about the fiercest gun battle since Vietnam and that's exactly what Ridley presented us.
It's also one of those movies that's designed for a movie theatre, or a serious home entertainment set up. As an action lover, I was stunned (and blown away of course) by that movie in theatres. It's still one of my favorite movie going experiences. I could trade in my Dark Knight theatre experience. I couldn't do that with Black Hawk Down.
Guy Ritchie would have to pull out one amazing film to renew my faith in him. Or he could just do another genre film and I would be more than happy. Everyone talks about how great Snatch is but Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels is just a more fun and entertaining film. Maybe I'm just angry is gets overlooked in comparison. Regardless Revolver was an epic-ly bad watch and after reading explanations on it I found it just as difficult to get through. Here's to hoping he makes a return to form.
Usually I fall over anything Ridley Scott does but I can still admit where he has made missteps. If you dislike one of his movies, why don't you dislike one of his subpar works? White Squall, Black Rain, Someone to Watch Over Me. Has Anyone even seen A Good Year?
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