Just going with it (Out this week - 03/09/10)

I would love to say that we're spoiled for choice this week, that there are 14 films of excellent quality and a wide range of styles and genres. Unfortunately most of them at first glance appear to be absolutely dreadful... I expect Dinner for Schmucks will just about win at the box office, but for film of the week I'm going for Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy



Bonded by Blood

British Gangster movie based on a real life quartet of drug dealers who were brutally murdered in Kent in 1995. Very sweary.

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Certified Copy

The run-in between French acting giants Gerard Depardieu and Juliette Binoche may have soured reception for her latest showcase but Kiarostami's first non-Iranian movie, about a gallery owner and a novelist slowly falling in love should stir all the right emotions.

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Cherry Tree Lane

I don't know if September sees the official start of the horror season but there's quite a few out the week, one of the most interesting is this Brit effort which sees a suburban couple hijacked by a group of hoodies intent of wrecking revenge for being shopped in for a previous crime.

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Chhevan Dariya

Punjabi musical celebration of marriage, oddly enough part US funded. Still not interesting enough though.

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Dinner for Schmucks

The original concept (from the French film this is ripped off from) is a competition to find the most annoying dinner guest and during the meal one of guests manages to ruin his hosts life. This American remake decides that having Steve Carell mug through supper is clearly not enough so opens the film up. Please avoid.

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Jonah Hex

Part Western, part gothic horror, part comic book adaptation of a lesser known property. Watch it for Megan Fox oddly soft focused throughout the movie, or because it flopped so badly in the states. Actually with a cast including Josh Brolin, John Malkovich and Michael Shannon I'm not completely turned off by it.

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The Last Exorcism

Horror movie two takes the traditional exorcism route, only adds a modern twist in the form of a fly on the wall documentary crew filming a con artist exorcist who on his last job actually comes across a real demon. It's had some good notices.

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Nandalala

For the fourth time I am mentioning this slightly offensive looking Bollywood road trip following a child and a man with learning difficulties try to find their lost parents. It's unlikely to be actually out this week either...

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Soul Boy

As in Northern Soul, the British derivative of the Soul music scene that flowered in the 1970's and forms the backdrop of this Stoke set coming of age drama.

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Splintered

This is the nasty horror movie, also from the UK - making it a bumper week for homegrown releases, that you probably won't be wanting to see at the muliplex. Unless you like sweaty chesty girls screaming for mercy.

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The Switch

Artificial Insemination has become the rather unlikely film trend for 2010 with Jennifer Aniston now following J-Lo in using the turkey baster for a different purpose. Jason Bateman reportedly steals the show as the neurotic best friend and Juliette Lewis also shows up.

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22 Bullets

Jean Reno has decided to go straight after a long career in the Marseilles Mafia, naturally they drag him back in by attempting to assassinate him. Then it turns into a revenge fantasy - I don't know if the 22 bullets refer to the times he's shot or the number of people he must kill for revenge.

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We are Family

Bollywood film, partly set in Australia (interesting trend there too), where a devoted mother and divorcee meets her ex husband new girlfriend and starts to take on her career orientated outlook - to hilarious results no doubt.

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Why did I get Married Too

Following the moderate success of Tyler Perry produced Precious back in January the writer/director and star of the Madea franchise has decided to release his first personal project here in the secular UK. Given it's a direct sequel and the Christian ethos isn't subtle I can't see it being a massive hit here. Cicely Tyson and Louis Gossett Jr. are among the supporting cast.

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