Don’t expect a repeat of last weekend’s relatively big box office numbers. This first week in February is a wasteland, and unless you’re venturing out to catch some of the newly Oscar nominated movies widening out to capitalize on their Academy Awards attention, then it’s also a great time to simply stay home. It’s Super Bowl weekend, and Hollywood knows that someone else has already captured your attention. Make some nachos and root for the commercial of your choice to win.
Here’s our weekly look at what’s opening in a cinema near you:
Sneak Preview
Though the trailer for Paul Walker’s Eight Below features sled dogs fighting dinosaurs, there’s really not a good reason to see anything with Mr. Fast and Furious in it. Contrary to the bought and paid for views put forward on another site this week, we don’t hate him because he’s pretty. We hate him because he’s the cinematic anti-christ. Still, if Paul Walker is your thing, and you’re not ashamed of it, then Eight Below gets a sneak release this Saturday for a single showing. Check it out if you love beautiful animals and think you can fight through Mr. Walker to see them.
Expanding
With this year’s Oscar nominees announced on Tuesday, it’s time for the nominated movies to expand out wide enough so that people can actually see them. Munich, Capote, Good Luck, and Good Night, and Mrs. Henderson Presents are all Academy Award nominated films going wider this weekend. They’ll probably overshadow some of the newer releases expanding for reasons other than Oscar whoring. Anthony Hopkin’s World’s Fastest Indian for instance looks pretty intriguing. The film goes to a slightly wider release of 114 theaters this Friday, and it’s probably the widest release the speedy little indie will get.
Limited Releases (Opening in fewer than 500 theaters.)
A Good Woman gets a 35 theater release to try and resurrect the vanished career of Helen Hunt. It co-stars Scarlett Johansson in the story of a 1930’s Manhattan socialite befriending a young couple and getting wrapped up in a story of seduction and complicated innuendo. Usually you’d expect a movie with both Scarlett Johnasson and Helen Hunt to get at least a little buzz, but so far this one has none. So the limited we’re most interested in here at Cinema Blend is the horror movie Tamara. It’s being billed as a cross between Carrie and I Know What You Did Last Summer, which doesn’t exactly sound good. But the film’s writer and director gave us an interview earlier this week, and we’re easily suckered in. Tamara looks inexplicably cool.
When a Stranger Calls (Opens in 2,999 theaters.)
When a Stranger Calls is a remake of a horror movie that’s become almost so cliché that just the thought re-watching it with a different cast induces groans. If they’re going to keep their audience from falling asleep, they’d better find some new twist on the harassing phone call genre, and by new twist I’m not talking about the use of modern cell phones. It’s the worst idea for a horror film remake since The Fog, which probably means that it’ll make a heck of a lot of money. Sheep. You’re all sheep.
Something New (Opens in 1,266 theaters.)
It’s a weak weekend, otherwise there’d be no reason to bother seeing Sanaa Lathan’s interracial dating rom-com Something New. But when you’re battling a retarded horror movie like Stranger, well you win almost by default. In its favor Something New has Sannaa Lathan, who distinguished herself in Alien vs Predator as being the thing in the film that least sucked. She was a little miscast there, but Something New seems to better suit her sensibilities, and she’s being given a chance at a leading role where she won’t have to play second banana to battling genre staples. The movie looks smart, genuine, and full of all that gooey, mushy romantic stuff everyone secretly likes. Give it a chance.
Still In Theaters and Worth Your Time: The Chronicles of Narnia, King Kong, Walk the Line, Munich, The Matador
