While the mainstream releases this week are relatively lackluster, being led by the remake The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 will do that, their is some interesting Indie fare showing around town. The Oak Street and the Mall of America theatre are showing Valentino: The Last Emperor, Departures opens at the Edina and the documentary Enlighten Up! opens at the Lagoon. But the movie that intrigues me the most is opening at The Uptown, and that is Away We Go. Directed by Sam Mendes, written by Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida, and starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. Now while I’m not a huge Mendes fan, I am a big fan of Dave Eggers, so this movie should be, relatively, right in my wheelhouse. The problem is, the marketing for this film is freaking terrible. Especially that damned trailer, which might as well be nails on chalkboard. But I’m doing my best to ignore the “quirky” marketing materials and instead simply judge the film on its own merits. Hopefully you will as well.

As for DVD releases, wow, what a pile. Seriously. When your big release is a relatively awful Friday the 13th reboot, you know you have a weak release week. But their is a film that I know next to nothing about, but thanks to a brilliant viral marketing campaign, which includes a video of Gary Oldman, Bas Rutten and Bono trashing the film, has me interested in watching it. That film being The Perfect Sleep.

As always trailers are after the break!
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It isn’t often that I get to force Anna to watch something she has no interest in. Typically I have to find some way of piquing her interest or there simply is no way she will go. Take Midnight Meat Train, for example. While she isn’t averse to gore or horror films by any means, trying to talk her into driving 20 minutes to one of the worst areas of town to watch a film that might be terrible wasn’t an easy task. But after informing her on the treatment the film was receiving from Lionsgate, she became interested enough to see if the movie really deserved to be stashed away in the far reaches of the metro area. Of course after watching it we both realized why the film isn’t getting a wide release, but you have to give her credit for making the effort. (more…)

So here we are again and I have nothing to recommend for theaters this weekend. Hancock blows, I could care less about Kitt Kittredge and … wait a moment! Gonzo:The Life and Work of Dr Hunter S Thompson comes on this weekend. Go see that post haste. Whether you want to ingest three or four rogue narcotics and a bottle of ether before you watch it is entirely up to you.

DVD releases aren’t much better. The abominable The Ruins is the major release, and I can’t emphasize enough how much I hate hate hated that movie. Please don’t rent it or borrow it or, grrrr, buy it. It’s Little Shop of Horrors, but totally taking itself seriously.  Hopefully that blatant and unmarked spoiler totally ruined the film for you.

But their are several Independent releases coming out on DVD this week that might be interesting. The Tracy Fragments is a tiny Canadian (I think, don’t hold me to it) film that stars uber-annoy Ellen Page as some sort of smary, sassy, super intelligent girl who is always three or four steps ahead of every adult in the world. Well, it might not be, but since she’s played that role in every other film she’s been in I feel pretty comfortable on pigeonholing the film straight away.

Also out is the film Chop Shop, about a small boy living in the slums of New York. Don’t know much else but it has garnered some huge praise in spite of its very limited release.

And last, but certainly not least, is the documentary Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten. It covers Strummer’s life before, during and after The Clash as told by a gaggle of people much cooler then you plus Bono.

As always trailer are after the break!

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