Friday, December 7, 2007
Multiplex Madness: This is Oscar season?
Posted by Jeff in atonement, movies, the golden compass
Here’s the lowdown on what to expect this weekend for your $14.50 + popcorn:
Opening This Week
If you’re trying to please your girlfriend:
Atonement
(RT score: 85%) It’s the age old story: boy loves girl, girl loves boy, little girl loves boy too so she frames him for rape and sends him off to prison/war. Remember what Pearl Harbor taught us, guys, though a movie with war in it usually has some pretty awesome explosions, there’s an even better chance of whiny British-accented bullshit.
If you’re trying to please your 8-year-old girlfriend:
The Golden Compass
(RT score: 43%) If you’re like me, the last time you saw Daniel Craig he was strapped to a seatless chair, busy having his nether regions whipped by a bad guy. Don’t worry, there shouldn’t be anything as cringe-inducing in this adaptation of Philip Pullman’s most excellent young adult His Dark Materials trilogy, other than pallets of dense, rushed exposition.
What You Should Probably Go See Instead
No Country for Old Men again, but pay attention to those Tommy Lee Jones monologues this time. Well, at least the first one. And probably the one with his cousin or whatever. That last one, though, take it or leave it.
Wordy Movie Reviewer Joke of the Week
Among other things, I would have liked to spend some quality time with Lyra’s friend and protector the warrior bear Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Mr. McKellen), a gorgeous creature whose ferocity is, alas, tempered by his resemblance to some familiar cuddly polar bears. It is, I discovered, hard to keep your mind off the concession stand when you are waiting for Iorek to offer Lyra a Coke.
Manohla Dargis’ review of The Golden Compass in the New York Times.