New on Netflix – December 13th and December 20th
December 15, 2011
Pre-Christmas Movie Stupor
As the holidays creep (or race) up on us, there is no better time to sit back, relax and chill with some flicks. Netflix, that is. Even in the middle of the ho-ho-hos, we movie junkies still need our movie fix and as always, Netflix has a few goodies in store over the next 2 weeks. As always, you can find release dates for all of 2011 at Everything Netflix.
December 13th
Larry Crowne (romantic comedy, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts) – This looks sappy and ridiculous and I’ll see it as soon as it reaches my mailbox. Sometimes I’m a sucker for sappy.
Fright Night (horror, Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell) – This was totally off my radar. I’m not really big on horror remakes, but I am big on Colin Farrell. Stays on the queue!
Kung Fu Panda 2 (family animation, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie) – I like you Jack, but I’ll never see your family animated film. Sorry.
Freerunner (action, Sean Faris, Danny Dyer) – A movie about urban freerunning – not an activity with which I’m familiar. It’s sort of Running Man-ish in premise. Looks cool.
The Dead and the Damned (horror/western, David A. Lockhart, Robert Amstler) – Cowboys and zombies, yessir!
Circumstance (foreign drama, Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy) – Forbidden Iranian Love.
Monica & David (documentary, Alexandra Codina) – A documentary about an engaged couple with Down Syndrome.
December 20th
Love Begins (romance, Abigail Mavity, Nancy McKeon) – Sniff. Sniff. Does this smell like Lifetime Original Movie to anyone else?
Warrior (sports drama, Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton) – Who could imagine that Mixed Martial Arts and Family Dysfunction would go together? Everyone? That’s what I thought.
Margin Call (thriller, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany) – Love the cast! Add in Zachary Quinto who rocked Spock in Star Trek 2009 and is currently rocking my world in American Ghost Story and I will indeed watch a thriller about the financial crisis.
Colombiana (thriller, Zoe Saldana, Jordi Molla) – Hot Chick Assassin.
Catch .44 (action, Bruce Willis, Forest Whitaker) – John McClane takes on rural Louisiana.
Blackthorne (action, Sam Shepard, Stephen Rea) – Sam Shepard imagines a life for Butch Cassidy after the Bolivian end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Burke and Hare (comedy, Simon Pegg, Andy Sirkis) – Directed by John Landis – I never heard of this. Why did I never hear of this?!? John Landis, he of Animal House and Blues Brothers, brings us this British comedy with the super-funny Simon Pegg. Hell yes I’ll watch!
Midnight in Paris (comedy, Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams) – Directed by Woody Allen. I will never see it.
The Tempest (drama/fantasy, Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones) – I love Helen Mirren enough to see anything in which she appears.
And there you have it. Not a whole lot going on, but I’m looking forward to Margin Call, Burke and Hare and, embarrassingly, Larry Crowne – after which I will be forced to watch Fright Night to cleanse my sapped up palate. Now, since it is the seasons for shopping, our choice of what to buy this week is more important than ever. What says “Holiday Cheer” more than a happy, popping fire in the fireplace? How about a happy, popping fire that you don’t have to light, tend or put out? That’s right, folks, this week we’re buying the Happy Holiday Hearth! Oh, technology, we love you so.
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New on Netflix – November 29th and December 6th
November 29, 2011
Our Idiot Help
So much good stuff coming out on Netflix in the next 2 weeks! After eating myself into a stupor over the long weekend it’s time to get back into my rigorous exercise routine of consuming as much visual media as is humanly possible. It won’t get rid of my Thanksgiving Food Baby, but it will definitely distract me long enough to polish off any and all left-overs. There are some movies here I’ve been waiting for a long time to see – let’s take a look! As always, you can find all of the 2011 release dates (and more!) over at Everything Netflix.
November 29th
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (drama, Bingbing Li, Gianna Jun) – Friendship in 19th century China. Based on the novel by Lisa See.
Water for Elephants (drama, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson)- Based on the novel by Sara Gruen, this one was ruined for me by Witherspoons relentless diatribes about how gross Robert Pattinson was during filming. Really Reese? That’s how you promote a movie?
Our Idiot Brother (comedy, Paul Rudd, Emily Mortimer) – I’m so excited. I’ve been waiting for this to come out. Top of the queue!
The Nutcracker: The Untold Story (family drama, Elle Fanning, Nathan Lane) – A modern retelling of the holiday classic.
Crazy, Stupid, Love (comedy, Steve Carell, Julianne Moore) – Horrible, Wretched, RomCom. But I’ll see it anyway – it has Steve Carell and I can’t help myself.
Beginners (dramedy, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer) – Another one I’ve been waiting for – this one seemed to take forever to get to DVD! Son learns life lessons from elderly father.
30 Minutes or Less (action comedy, Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride) – Friendship and bank robbery. Meh.
The Future (drama, Miranda July, Hamish Linklater) – I’ve read the descriptions for this and I still don’t quite understand it – something about people knowing the future, disconnecting from the internet and quitting their jobs. I’m intrigued enough to leave it on the queue.
5 Days of War (drama, Rupert Friend, Emmanuelle Chriqui) – A fictionalized account of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. Quite good.
Needle (horror, Travis Fimmel, Michael Dorman) – Australian Voodoo Horror!
Becoming Chaz (documentary, Chaz Bono) – The story of how the daughter of Sony & Cher became the son of Sony & Cher. I find him interesting enough to want to see his story from his own perspective. This one stays on the queue.
Kidnapped (foreign horror, Fernando Cayo, Ana Wagener) – Suburban couple attacked in their own home – sounds a lot like a plot remade over and over and over. But this time in Spanish!
Seven Days in Utopia (drama, Robert Duvall, Melissa Leo) – A golf movie. Even Melissa Leo can’t get me to buy into that.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (documentary, Werner Herzog) – A look at the Chauvet Cave paintings in France.
December 2nd
Friends With Benefits (romantic comedy, Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis) – I like Justin Timberlake. I like Mila Kunis. Why did they have to make this? WHY?
The Smurfs (family, Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays) – I like Neil Patrick Harris. I like the adorable Jayma Mays (from Glee). Why did they have to make this? WHY? Okay, it’s animated and for kids – I will forgive them. Justin and Mila have to earn back my trust.
December 6th
Jig (documentary) – It’s the Irish Dance Championships!
The Help (drama, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard) – Adapted from the excellent novel by Kathryn Stockett, this is a good flick. I don’t think it’s Oscar caliber, others disagree.
The Change-Up (comedy, Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman) – Magical body swapping. Is this 1985? I’m really getting annoyed at my fave actors, here. I’m talking to you, Jason. I’ll see this, but I’ll hate myself in the morning.
Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure (family, John Cleese, Munro Chambers) – Christmas dogs. Sigh.
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 (drama, Taylor Schilling, Grant Bowler) – Well, if you need more Ayn Rand in your life, I suppose so. I’ll pass.
A Christmas Wedding Tail (romance, Jennie Garth, Brad Rowe) – More Christmas dogs? Really?
Point Blank (foreign action, Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem) – Nurses, hospitals and hostages. In Paris.
Life, Above All (foreign drama, Khomotso Manyaka) – A South African drama about a young girl shunned after her family becomes ill. This looks fabulous – it stays on the queue.
I’m quite excited about these offerings. Well, some of them. I will not be partaking in any Christmas dogs, than you very much. But now is the time to decide the most important thing – what should we buy this week? It’s the season for shopping, of course, but it’s always the season for shopping here at New on Netflix. Since the world has gone insane and using pepper spray in Wal-Mart is now a way to get a bargain, let’s do something special to celebrate the season. One of my favorite things is non-traditional but still traditional (that makes sense somehow) Christmas music, and one of my favorite albums is Bruce Cockburn’s Christmas. Let’s buy that! Listen to some clips – it’s fab.
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A Forgotten War
November 28, 2011
Where were you?
Where was I during the summer of 2008? I have no idea, but my best guess would be sitting in my comfortable living room watching the Olympics on TV. The people of Georgia (the country, not the state) were not so lucky. They were busy having a war.
The amazing thing about the world we live in today is that there is news and information everywhere, yet events like an entire war can still pass us by without a blink. Chalk it up to a press and governments willing to pander to the Russian aggressors, our own apathy or just too much information but the truth is that people were dying and nobody cared.
Renny Harlin set out to remedy that in the film 5 Days of War, documenting the Georgian version of the events of the summer of 2008. Lots of action, sympathetic characters and beautiful cinematography help him tell the story, which will be coming out on DVD on November 29th. You can read my full review here.
I love movies – they can be anything. Light, funny, dramatic, romantic or a way to document parts of history that might otherwise be buried forever. Well played, Mr. Harlin, well played.
A Guest Review of Hugo
November 28, 2011
It’s not me, it’s Steve
Once in a while, someone comes along who loves or hates a movie with such passion that I ask them to be a guest reviewer here on Movie Rewind. It’s also really nice when the movie in question is one I have yet to see. You get a review, you get a new reviewer and I get to whet my appetite for a great new film.
Today, the film in question is Hugo. I have to admit that if not for Steve McCall, our guest reviewer du jour, and his wife Melissa I would never even have considered seeing Hugo in the theater. It’s in 3D and I generally assume that 3D will suck with its gimmickry. It’s a family movie, which I generally assume I will sleep through. And the kiss of death – it’s directed by Martin Scorsese, for whose work I have an unreasonable dislike. And yet…they loved it. And I trust them. They’re grown people like me, they like a lot of the things I like, they’re smart and witty and articulate. I pretty much just want to be them. What to do, what to do???
If you’re me, the thing to do is ask Steve to write a review to find out just what is so great about Hugo. And write one he did, a masterful review that will get my lazy butt into a theater seat to view this fantastical film. Go ahead – read it. See if it doesn’t make you want to drop what you’re doing and lose yourself in 1930′s Paris for a while. I know that’s what it does to me. Hugo, take me away!
A big thanks to Steve for writing this review – hopefully I can convince him to do another someday. And, as always, please enjoy the obnoxious multitude of links to the review itself. I’m nothing if not consistent.
I’m Thankful I’m Not These Guys
November 23, 2011
The Way Back will make any family holiday look perfect
Just in time for Thanksgiving, how about a movie about people suffering unimaginable hardship? While contemplating your Uncle Fred snoring and farting off his Thanksgiving dinner or your teenager’s denouncement of eating turkey as inhuman it’s nice to be able to relax and watch some movie people’s pain and angst. So I give you The Way Back.
The Way Back tells the story of a group of men escaping from a Russian gulag in Siberia in the early 1940s and walking – yes, walking – to India and freedom. Incredible cinematography, beautiful and forbidding vistas and some really great performances contrast with the heat, cold, hunger, fear, thirst, exhaustion and various physical maladies as the group makes its way slowly across vast expanses. It’s really quite the spectacle and will make you undeniably thankful for however you may be celebrating Turkey Day. At least you aren’t doing it starving to death in the desert. Hopefully.
The movie isn’t all perfect, though. Despite being beautifully acted by Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan and Jim Sturgess and beautifully directed by Peter Weir there are a few things you should know before watching. Important things that may make or break your enjoyment of the story. You can find out what they are in my full review, which you can find here.
Yes, I really am that mean – you have to read the review for the juicy tidbits. That, and my usual shameless link pimping in this post, are my Thanksgiving gifts to you. Eat, drink and be merry! And stay out of the Gulag.
Coming Soon – Dirty Girl
November 22, 2011
Never heard of it!
Nope, never heard of the movie Dirty Girl. But thanks to the good folks at Anchor Bay it’s now coming out on DVD if you, like me, missed its run in theaters. Actually I don’t even know if it had a run in theaters, but still – coming out on DVD on January 17, 2012.
Dirty Girl takes us to 1987 Oklahoma where Danielle (Juno Temple) is the Dirty Girl. She dresses slutty, asks pointedly sexual questions and eventually gets herself placed in a “special” class where she meets shy, overweight Clarke (Jeremy Dozier). The two decide to make a run for California after Danielle’s home life takes a turn to which she vehemently objects.
Basically a coming of age story featuring the two young actors, Dirty Girl sports a great adult cast in the roles of the various and sundry parents and parental figures. William H. Macy and Milla Jovovich appear as the adults in Danielle’s life and Mary Steenburgen and Dwight Yoakam those in Clarke’s. It’s hard to imagine Jovovich playing a teenager’s mom, but there she is.
If you’re a fan of coming of age stories, teenage rebels and misfits and the parents that fail them, this might be one for you. Let’s take a look at the trailer.
Awards Show Manic Depression
November 21, 2011
Oscars and Globes make me bipolar
Why, you ask? I’ll tell you. It’s the hosts. Back and forth and up and down – I’m happy, I’m sad, I’m…dizzy. But it looks like the dust has settled for the main shows this year – the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes both have hosts. But how do we feel about those hosts? Let’s find out.
The Depressive
This honor goes to Billy Crystal as host of the Oscars. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Crystal and enjoyed his schtick when he hosted the show 172 years in a row. But after Brett Ratner stuck his giant foot in his mouth, causing his
Billy Crystal...stepping up to the plate
withdrawal as producer of the show and Eddie Murphy’s immediate bail I was hoping for some fireworks. My initial misgivings about Murphy hosting had given way to anticipation – maybe he was going to bring some zing to the proceedings.
When it all fell apart I was disappointed, but also excited to see what such chaos might bring to the broadcast. Surely things would be different now! They had to get a producer and a host in such a short time! Oh, the glorious anarchy of it all!
Alas, it was not meant to be and my dreams of an Oscar broadcast that broke the mold were dashed. Brian Grazer stepping in as producer made me nervous, but Billy Crystal stepping up to the plate as host sealed the deal – it’s going to be the same old, same old. Sigh.
It’s not that I don’t understand, I do. When in a pinch it’s always wise to go with the tested, the tried and true, the familiar. It’s definitely the most prudent move by the Academy. But it’s so safe, so boring, so depressing. I’ll still watch, and for the most part I’m sure I’ll enjoy. But in the back of my mind will be visions of the delicious, shocking chaos that might have been. The kind of chaos that would bring audiences flocking back to watch the fireworks at the Oscars.
Oh, well, maybe next year.
The Manic
I would never leave you all on such a down note. There’s good news to be had! After taking a beating last year for being, well, funny, Ricky Gervais has actually been invited back to host the Golden Globes! And he’s accepted! It wasn’t that NBC didn’t want him back, it was the Hollywood Foreign Press (whose show it is) that balked. They really didn’t like Gervais
Oh Ricky you're so fine...
picking on the stars in attendance at last years event. The stars agreed. They don’t want to be anything but fawned over at these public awards spectacles and Gervais simply didn’t provide the ass kissing to which they are accustomed. Boo-fricking-hoo.
Even my beloved Robert Downey, Jr. had his undies in a bundle over Gervais. While causing me some momentary cognitive dissonance I decided to stand firm for snark over celebrity. Downey and the rest need to grow up and realize that they are the most privileged of the privileged. The rest of the world watches them live large every single day while a lot of people in this country are worried about losing their jobs or their homes. Do we like to see someone have some fun at the expense of pampered celebrities? You bet we do!
Word is that the ‘industry’ (you know, the rich, famous people) feel that Gervais makes the show all about him, instead of being a proper celebration of the stars. Bullshit. Or not. I don’t care why he does the things he does – he’s funny and not concerned with celebrity brown nosing and I, for one, look forward to watching the show this year.
Last year I actually missed the broadcast in a stupor of apathy. I didn’t care, I was saving my tolerance for fawning for the Oscars and missed the spectacle, seeing only bits and pieces later on. But not this year. I’m thrilled that NBC prevailed and that Ricky is coming back – I will most certainly be watching. I only hope that he’s not swayed by last years hooha into becoming a nice, tame host that the stars can pet and hand feed.
This year The Golden Globes is the awards show to watch. If I had to pick one I would choose the acerbic and unpredictable Gervais over the probably mildly amusing and safe Crystal any day of the week. Here’s to award show chaos – bring it, Ricky!
New on Netflix – November 15th and November 22nd
November 15, 2011
Short Days, Long Nights, New DVDs
It’s getting dark pretty early these days in the hinterland. As we hunker down and wait for the inevitable deep, dark winter it’s time to stock up on entertainment. Some books, some CDs and a whooooooole lot of movies. This is the time of year when I start to dig into the back catalogue of the Netflix queue and catch some of the releases I missed when I could leave the house without seven layers of outerwear. it’s also a great time to check out some new arrivals. So let’s see what we having coming up for new releases from Netflix in the next couple of weeks! As always, you can find all the 2011 Netflix releases over at Everything Netflix – so you can catch up, too!
November 15th
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (action, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz) – I can live without Orlando Bloom and 
Keira Knightly, just bring on my Depp fix!
Monte Carlo (comedy, Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester) – Wow, with that sort of star power I’ll avoid this like the plague!
Main Street (drama, Colin Firth, Orlando Bloom) – Wait, here’s Orlando Bloom! This time instead of swashbuckling he’s playing a cop in a decaying town looking at a drastic solution. It got horrible reviews.
Christmas Lodge (family, Peter Benson, Michael Shanks) – Again, I apologize. Christmas Crap is inevitable this time of year, even in DVDs.
Evil Things (horror, Laurel Casillo, Elyssa Mersdorf) – Bwahahahahaha….EVIL!
Master Harold…and the Boys (drama, Freddie Highmore, Ving Rhames) – Based on the play by Athol Fugard and set in apartheid era South Africa.
Flypaper (action, Patrick Dempsey, Ashley Judd) – Dr. McDreamy, action hero and romantic lead. I liked him better as Ronald the nerd in Can’t Buy Me Love.
Bellflower (drama, Evan Glodell, Jessie Wiseman) – A pre-apocalyptic quirky indie drama? You bet! It’s running 6.2 on IMDb, I’ll take a chance on it.
Griff the Invisible (comedy, Ryan Kwanten, Maeve Dermody) – Aussie office worker with super hero secret identity. Yawn.
The Tree (drama, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Morgana Davies) – A weird sounding little movie about grief and fig trees.
November 22nd
Super 8 (sci-fi, Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler) – JJ Abrams knows his stuff. I’m looking forward to seeing this one.
Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (horror, Terra Vnesa, Dean Armstrong) – Damn wrong turn. It gets ‘em every time.
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas (comedy, Tyler Perry, Tony Grant) – No, thank you. And really, this guy is going to play James Patterson’s Alex Cross? Seriously?
Sarah’s Key (foreign drama, Kristin Scott Thomas, Niels Arestrup) – I read the book, it’s great. Kristin Scott Thomas is perfect for the role. But it has subtitles. Will I ever see it?
The Green (drama, Cheyenne Jackson, Jason Butler Harner) – Julia Ormond co-stars in this drama about molestation accusations in a high school.
Making the Boys (documentary, Tony Kushner, Edward Albee) – A documentary about the making of the film The Boys in the Band.
The Family Tree (comedy, Hope Davis, Chi McBride) – Amnesia is funny! Actually, I like Hope Davis and Chi McBride – I’ll see this one.
Carjacked (thriller, Maria Bello, Stephen Dorff) – Never heard of it. Maybe I’ll see it anyway – Maria Bello rocks.
And thar she blows! I’m looking forward to Pirates, Super 8 and a couple of the indies – The Family Tree and Bellflower. Then, who knows? Maybe I’ll watch a few things I missed back in July. Now what should we buy today? I’m in the mood for a little movie merchandise. If we get tired of watching movies during one of these long cold nights, we should all probably play some Pirates of the Caribbean Monopoly! Awesome.
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And Eddie Murphy is……..OUT!
November 9, 2011
I can’t keep up with these people.
Honestly. I was just coming around to the idea of Eddie Murphy as Oscar host. Initially, I was firmly opposed to the choice. But then I was seeing the previews for Tower Heist, thinking that it looked like the old Eddie might be back on
Eddie's happy! I'm sad.
form. A little less of the Daddy Day Care Eddie. A little more of the Delirious Eddie. I was starting to look forward to Oscar night, anticipating the possibility of some upheaval in the status quo.
Then Brett Ratner had to open his mouth. Now really, I have nothing against the man or his work but how stupid do you have to be to throw around incendiary words and graphic tales of your sexual exploits while promoting your movie? And how much more exponentially stupid do you have to be to do so 3 months before you’re scheduled to produce the Academy Awards telecast? I’ll tell you – really freaking stupid.
So Ratner stuck both feet in his mouth, promptly apologized, withdrew as Oscar producer and Murphy followed. Now they have no producer and no host. Terrific!
Think before speak, Brett.
Let’s see what they can put together on the fly to entertain the 50 billion (fine, that’s probably an exaggeration – I don’t know, I made it up) people who are going to watch and critique every moment of the show! Awesome.
Actually, even though it’s too bad that we won’t see Eddie have a chance to show his stuff, it’s kind of exciting. What ARE they going to do? The Academy must be a giant ball of bundled undies right about now. If there’s anything they have historically not liked, it’s unexpected complications. They like control. They like familiarity. They like their comfort zone. In searching for a way to draw more viewers to the broadcast they inadvertently set themselves up for the sort of last minute chaos that must make their sphincters clench.
So maybe this isn’t such a bad thing – maybe we’ll see some real spontaneity at this years Oscar broadcast. Wouldn’t that be a rare and wonderful thing?!? Or terrible? Who knows, but I’ll definitely be watching.
My Idiot Movie
November 2, 2011
Stupid is Funny!
Fine, so maybe that isn’t the most highbrow attitude in the world. But there are times when I love stupid. Usually I turn to Will Ferrell when I’m in that sort of mood, but not this time.
I almost saw Our Idiot Brother in the theater. I almost took my daughter, too. We both have brothers, we can relate. 
Unfortunately (for her) it’s rated R and I won’t be That Parent who brings a 14-year-old to an R rated movie. But I will let her watch it when it comes out on DVD on November 29th! So the real truth is that I just don’t want to be That Parent in public. I can live with that.
Paul Rudd stars in Our Idiot Brother as Ned, the family black sheep organic farmer who says exactly what he thinks and how he feels. His three uptight sisters (Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer) have their tidy worlds shaken up by his presence and presumably hilarity ensues.
When you actually put the word “idiot” in the title of your film, it’s clear that you aren’t going for subtlety. Director Jesse Peretz chose wisely by casting Rudd whose comic talents are fairly extensive but not the least bit understated. I Love You, Man, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Role Models – none of them the zenith of intellectual humor but all great for when you just want to laugh at people for a couple of hours without having to tax your weary brain. Just look at him on the DVD cover – how can you not love the long-haired Zen man in Crocs?
Hopefully Our Idiot Brother will hit Netflix the day it’s released for purchase (once again, November 29th). If not, I’ll wait. If you want all the bells and whistles that come with the DVD you’ll probably have to buy it – more and more often I’m getting stripped down “rental versions” without any extras. I don’t know that the extras are worth it just from their description – audio commentary with Peretz, a making-of featurette and deleted and extended scenes. I would really hope for a gag reel on a movie like this, but maybe the deleted/extended scenes will include some goodies.
Take a look at the official trailer and anticipate the stupidity with me. Even if all the best parts are in here, I plan to forget them before I see the movie. And then I plan to turn my brain to simmer and enjoy. Bring on the Idiot Zen, Mr. Rudd.
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