Choosing the best medium (Out this week - 07/09/12)

I am acutely aware I am late posting, I simply got caught up with other stuff yesterday and didn't have the opportunity to look through this week's releases, which is a shame as from the outside it looks likes a vital and exciting week with fascinating costume dramas from the 20th and 19th centuries as well as a independent comic book feature and a semi-return to form from a much maligned comedian. Not that my choice of film of the week can come as a surprise to anyone, it looks utterly gorgeous, features incredible artistic choices and comes from one of the most exciting British directors working today. The RLAG film of the week is Anna Karenina.



Last weekend Total Recall did indeed smash it's way to the top with the additional 5 days of previews for The Watch proving utterly fruitless when it arrived DOA. This weekend is a bit of a dilemma. Amazingly Anna Karenina has the largest opening with 419 cinemas, and there's certinaly plenty of fanboy hype for Dredd but I think Lawless with it's rising star cast and effective and ubiquitous marketing presence will take the top spot.

Anna Karenina

Joe Wright apparently decided to film Tolstoy's epic love story(s) in a theatre for budgetary reasons however just watching the trailer and reading the reviews proves this was a profound and vital choice underlining the themes of society as show and the formality of the rules of Russian etiquette.

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That has to be one of the most gorgeously presented trailers of the year, making the film a must-see experience.

Lawless



John Hillcoat directs from Nick Cave's screenplay in a return to the partnership that created the superb Aussie Western The Proposition and if this country gangster pic doesn't quite hit those dizzy heights there's no shame in that. Tom Hardy and Shia Labeouf are the stars likely to bring in the punters, ably supported by eyebrow-challenged Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain and Gary Oldman.

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That's My Boy



OK, I accept in theory the injustice of a Adam Sandler movie getting 4 blobs, effectively meaning it could have been film of the week on at least one occasion. Furthermore the trailer in no way makes me want to see this movie. However the reviews on this side of the pond has talked about how the loser father plot is closer to the on the knuckle Sandler movies of his early career and less like the crap he's recently been making and that should be applauded. Plus Susan Sarandon and James Caan have minor roles and they're always worth watching.

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Debbe: Mir cin Vakasi



Turkish found footage horror movie with some arresting images, and suitably wide eyed acting, but lets be honest it looks like a rip of hundreds of other found footage horrors. Did anyone else think of Paranormal Activity watching this trailer?

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Dredd



The ultra-violent comic book finally gets the adaptation it deserves with Karl Urban wearing on the iconic mask (and not taking it off) and Lena Headley as the "slow-mo" drug pushing big bad. It's a shame the plot device of taking out a tower block seems so similar to the martial arts classic The Raid but them's the breaks.

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Love



Poetic looking sci-fi indie in the vein of 2001 or Solaris that probably deserves a much bigger audience than it's going to get. Gunner Wright is the astronaut isolated on Space Station Mir slowly questioning his sanity in William Eubank's debut film, marking him as a talent to watch.

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Night in the Woods



Talking about found footage horror knockoffs does this British flick, starring rising star Scoot McNairy and a couple of other disposable 20 somethings as they frolic adulterously around Dartmoor before a mysterious hunter comes after them resemble a certain Blair witch to you?

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Raaz 3: The Third Dimension



The third installement in this popular Hindi horror franchise which uses the odd connection of possessed women to link the films. It doesn't have a massive opening but it should do please the faithful.

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Tabu



Portuguese movie that sits firmly within the arthouse bracket with two seemingly unconnected storylines about a devout woman in modern Lisbon and a pop band covering the Everly Brothers in 1960's Mozambique. It won the FIPRESCI prize at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival for it's imaginative and unique contribution to cinematic art.

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When Pigs have Wings



Random comedy about a struggling fisherman who's life takes a turn for the bizarre when he finds a live pig in his net. With gross-out humour played against real-world religious and political strife this looks like a fascinating project.

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Ajj de Ranjhe



Punjabi film that supposedly satirises the relationship between the police and the youth of modern cities. Still it's a pretty cast and probably involves a few nice tunes.

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St. Georges Day



I'm not sure I completely understand the marketing strategy that sees this date specific London gangster flick opening 5 months off from the feats day it's named after but given it's unimaginative plot revolves around football hooliganism, one last heist and strip joints I'm guessing they were happy to see the inside of a cinema.

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