Results tagged “newreleases”

8pm, 18+, $14

Boston just had its first 70-degree day, and with the warmth of spring comes the magic of prom. In this case, however, prom isn't so much magical as murderous. Gasp! Opening this evening is Prom Night, a probably-not-so-Hitchcockian thriller we expect will be centered on lots of shots of a scantily clad, excessively frightened Brittany Murphy Spears Snow (it had to be one of those). The real horror of this genre is its tendency to drift toward the formulaic. More promising (if barely) is Street Kings, a cop thriller genre film that at least has Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie (swoon!), and Jay Mohr--all of whom we like individually, though we're not sure the Street Kings script will give them anything to work with. Critic Bill Clark "was halfway expecting Leslie Nielsen to make a cameo appearance as the coroner," and David Nusair concurs: "Street Kings ultimately comes off as an irresistible throwback to the unapologetically over-the-top actioners of the 1980s." Did we mention Keanu Reeves plays the main character? Talk about irresistible!

Ah, Drillbit Taylor. It sounds like the name of a strapping young man, ready to take on America with just the shirt on his back, the heart in his chest, and the drillbit in his hand.... ahh, who are we kidding? It sounds like the name of a crappy movie that's nothing more than an excuse for Owen Wilson to get paid millions of dollars thanks to millions of Americans inexplicably willing to waste their money on his crooked-nosed face. Let's just hope people pay cash for this film and don't use it to further contribute to any misunderstood credit crisis that may exist.

I Am Legend raked in the money, as expected. The public loves Will Smith, they love special effects, they love cute dogs, and I Am Legend gave audiences what they wanted. Peter Keough at the Phoenix went so far as to say that the dog in I Am Legend was his "favorite animal character of the year." As a result, the movie made an obscene $76.5 million on its opening weekend. Believe it or not, the kids and the stoners wanted to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, which made $45 million.

The 2008 Golden Globe nominees were announced yesterday, and to nobody's surprise, they skewed heavily toward the period drama Atonement. Charlie Wilson's War, No Country for Old Men, American Gangster, and Sweeney Todd all emerged with at least 4 noms each.

This big movie news this weekend is The Golden Compass, the adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel of the same name. The first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass tells the tale of the "orphan" Lyra as she and her polar bear Iorek (voiced by Gandalf--er, Ian McKellen) embark on a journey to rescue Lyra's friend Roger from his kidnappers. We hear the movie's anti-religious themes have been played down (maybe thanks...

Tuesday 9/5