Wondering why I haven’t posted a new review in over a month? Well, since my review of Blue Valentine posted on January 12, here are the selections I have had to choose from at the movie theatre, along with their rottentomatoes.com score (% of positive reviews):
Season of the Witch (4 %)
The Green Hornet (46%)
The Dilemma (21%)
No Strings Attached (52%)
From Prada to Nada (20%)
The Rite (17%)
The Roommate (6%)
Sanctum (30%)
Just Go With It (19%)
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (70%)
The Eagle (37%)
Gnomeo & Juliet (55%)
(For comparison’s sake: True Grit: 95%; The King’s Speech: 95%; Black Swan: 88%; The Fighter: 90%)
While there may have been some of these with at least a modicum of redeeming value (Christoph Waltz and Natalie Portman classing up The Green Hornet and No Strings Attached, respectively), the pros just couldn’t outweigh the cons. And until somebody actually pays me to go to movies, there’s no way I work all week in order to spend my money on The Dilemma (Ron Howard? Really?).
Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t really great movies in the multiplexes. All the Oscar contenders are still playing and it pleases me to no end to hear that Black Swan just became the fourth Best Picture nominee to pass the $100 million mark (Toy Story 3, Inception and True Grit being the other 3). However, I saw all of these fine films, along with the other contenders, in December, so I’m just out of luck.
The good news about the dearth of quality movies released in January and early February? More people are actually going to see Oscar contenders—which explains the boffo box office for indie films The King’s Speech and Black Swan—even if it’s because there are no other viable options.
For me, however, it has been a dark and depressing time. Thankfully, though, this weekend there is finally a film that looks interesting enough for me to spend 2 hours and $15 on—Unknown— but even that is mainly because of its Berlin location. Hey, I’ll take what I can get.
One week to Oscar……and boy, do I need it.