Hitting movie theaters this weekend:
Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star - Nick Swardson, Don Johnson, Christina Ricci Contagion - Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law Warrior - Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton
Movie of the Week
Warrior
The Stars: Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton The Plot: The youngest son (Hardy) of an alcoholic former boxer (Nolte) returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament -- a path that puts the fighter on a collision corner with his older brother (Edgerton). The Buzz: The world is pretty big, and there are a lot of folks out there busy populating it, so I guess it stands to reason that similar stories would crop up, even if they're both insanely inspirational in their against-all-odds/too-good-to-be-true essence. I am, of course, nodding to the obvious similarities between last year's (phenomenal) The Fighter and this year's (lamely titled) Warrior. From what I've heard so far, the latter is also a good film, though it's got its work cut out for it, if it wants to reign supreme over The Fighter. Both films are inspired by true events, and both hinge on brotherly love. Both feature broken families, and both feature attractive blue-collar girls standing in their underwear (in natural light) nagging their respective beaus to quit fighting already. I feel like Warrior could be a really good film, but I also feel like I've seen it before, yeah, like just last year, and Christian Bale won an Oscar or something? Yeah.
I was curious, so I did some digging and discovered there have been 13 major motion-pictures entitled The Fighter, and 8 major motion-pictures entitled Warrior. I suppose Warrior wins the battle for most original title then -- kind of.
Total change of subject but...who the hell is Bucky Larson and how did this happen? I suppose the more appropriate question here is: Who the hell is Nick Swardson? My mind is screaming a million question marks. The movie poster for Bucky Larson makes me wish that Micky & Dicky and the Conlon Bros., all of 'em, could magically interrupt Born to Be a Star, if only for moment -- I can imagine four of the most impressive right hooks ever thrown in the history of cinema, all landing beautifully on the chin of Bucky. Yeah, that poster makes me want to punch-punch-punch -- I'm stony-faced in my seriousness here. Ugh.
Every Friday we'll have new reviews of the latest films. TSR's complete Film Review Database
New Blu-ray and DVDs released this week:
Assassination Games (DVD) - Jean-Claude Van Damme, Scott Adkins, Kevin Chapman The Caine Mutiny (BD) - Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson Carmel (DVD) - Josh Hutcherson, Hayden Panettiere, Lauren Bacall Creepshow 2 (DVD) - George Kennedy, Lois Chiles, Domenick John Dressed to Kill (BD) - Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen The Entitled (BD/DVD) - Ray Liotta, Dustin Milligan, Kevin Zegers Everything Must Go (BD/DVD) - Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall, Christopher Jordan Wallace Hanna (BD/DVD) - Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (BD) - Doug Bradley, Ashley Laurence, Imogen Boorman The Hills Have Eyes (BD) - Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, John Steadman House (DVD) - William Katt, Kay Lenz, George Wendt House II: the Second Story (DVD) - Arye Gross, Jonathan Stark, Royal Dano In Name Only (DVD) - Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Kay Francis Scarface [Limited Edition] (BD) - Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer Scream [Five Film Set] (BD) - Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette Straw Dogs (BD) - Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan United 93 (BD) - David Alan Basche, Olivia Thirlby, Liza Colón-Zayas Vidal Sasson: the Movie (DVD) - Mary Quant, Ronnie Sassoon, Vidal Sassoon
Blu-ray/DVD of the Week
Hanna
The Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana The Plot: A 16-year-old (Ronan), raised to be the perfect assassin, is tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent (Blanchett) and her operatives. The Buzz: What was most exciting about this film, for me, was the original score by The Chemical Brothers -- totally infectious and awesome. I thought the acting was good too -- Ronan, Bana and Blanchett all brought their A-games to this mildly interesting tale. If I'm honest, the film never really grabbed me -- though I did go in with rather high expectations. I found myself waiting for exciting things to happen (which they kind of never did). Ultimately, the story here is more about how Hanna copes on her own, without her father, how she learns to function as a semi-normal person amidst a completely abnormal human tale. Hanna is a good film for sure, but it's not as amazing as I'd hoped. I am looking forward to checking it out again, now that my evil expectations will have far less punch.