Hitting movie theaters this weekend:
Drive Angry - Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner Hall Pass - Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate Shelter - Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jeffrey DeMunn (limited)
Movie of the Week
Hall Pass
The Stars: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate The Plot: A married man (Wilson) is granted the opportunity to have an affair by his wife. The Buzz: I'm happy to see, after a four-year hiatus, the Farrelly Brothers are back (Dumb & Dumber, There's Something About Mary, Shallow Hal) -- it's also nice to see Owen Wilson back to his regular Hollywood hard-working self. I didn't think the red-band trailer for Hall Pass was as funny as the green-band, but I am still holding out hope that the Farrelly's and Mr. Wilson are as good a match-up in reality as they are on paper. The supporting cast looks solid, with Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate, Jenna Fischer, Richard Jenkins and Stephen Merchant (of Gervais-related fame). Model/Actress Nicky Whelan is easy on the eyes too, and if the Farrelly's are up to their standard shenanigans, they're likely to throw her into all the ideal and appropriate outfits/poses/situations. Hall Pass looks to be standard Farrelly fare, and for Farrelly fans, likely a happy addition to their comedy canon.
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:
48 Hours (BD) - Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, Annette O'Toole 9000 Needles (DVD) - Directed by Doug Dearth Alien Vs Ninja (BD/DVD) - Mika Hijii, Ben Hiura, Shûji Kashiwabara Due Date (BD/DVD) - Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan Fish Tank: The Criterion Collection (BD/DVD) - Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender Get Low (BD/DVD) - Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek Killshot (BD) - Thomas Jane, Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke Last Train Home (DVD) - Changhua Zhan, Yang Zhang, Suqin Chen The Last Unicorn (BD/DVD) - Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury Memento: 10th Anniversary Edition (BD/DVD) - Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss Mesrine: Killer Instinct: Part 1 (BD/DVD) - Vincent Cassel, Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu Psych 9 (BD/DVD) - Sara Foster, Cary Elwes, Michael Biehn Senso: The Criterion Collection (BD/DVD) - Farley Granger, Alida Valli, Heinz Moog The Stieg Larson Trilogy (BD/DVD) - Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Ewa Fröling Sword of War (DVD) - Rutger Hauer, Raz Degan, F. Murray Abraham Sweet Smell of Success: The Criterion Collection (BD/DVD) - Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis Two in the Wave (DVD) - Anouk Aimée, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Charles Aznavour
Blu-ray/DVD of the Week
Due Date
The Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan The Plot: An expectant dad (Downey Jr.) and his unlikely travel companion (Galifianakis) race cross-country in hopes of making it home for the birth of his first child. The Buzz: Like many wines and cheeses before him, writer/director Todd Phillips has aged well. With Road Trip, his directorial debut, he made a film just funny enough to facilitate the production of his 2nd film, the far superior, Old School. From there Phillips helmed Starsky and Hutch, which was respected well enough, for what it was, before taking a major misstep with School for Scoundrels. Phillips bounced back big-time from his first flop, with 2009′s The Hangover, which brought in $277 million at the box office — a mere $260 million more than School for Scoundrels.
Coming off the major success of The Hangover, coupled with the magnetic star power of Robert Downey Jr., I expected Due Date to do pretty well at the box office, and it did, rounding out its stay with a respectable $100M domestically. The film received rather mixed reviews, and came across as a bit of a disappointment to many, but it does have its fair share of hilarious moments, and is worth checking out, as long as one doesn't have too high of expectations going in.
Check out our reviews of these movies and more ... TSR's complete Film Review Database