Labor Day marked the official end of the summer last weekend, even though Snakes on a Plane was pretty much the end of the summer movie season. Regardless of which marker you use, the summer is over and head honcho Josh Tyler thinks that means get gets a vacation. While he’s off hiking and exploring the mountains of Montana, I get to fill you in on this weekend’s releases.
Before I get to the actual releases, I should note Cinema Blend is covering the end of the summer in several different ways. Josh and Scott take a look at the summer Box Office as they make the Critics Last Stand while the Weekly Blend Audio Show will feature its End of Summer Wrap Up this weekend. Subscribe to the show now so you don’t miss it!
Expanding
The Illusionist continues its expansion trend and should be pretty much everywhere this weekend. Despite a mild response from critics I’m still hoping to get out to see it and, since it is pretty much everywhere now, I don’t have much of an excuse not to see it.
Limited Releases(Opening in fewer than 500 theaters.)
With summer over we’re even getting a break on the limited release side. Country music star Toby Keith’s Broken Bridges opens up on 86 screens while the Kiefer Sutherland musical documentary I Trust You To Kill Me will only show up on a single screen. In a contest between Keith and Sutherland, Jack Bauer wins every time, even if he is outnumbered 86 to 1.
The Covenant (Opens in 2,601 theaters.)
The trailer for The Covenant actually looked interesting in a Lost Boys way until the last thirty seconds. I have the feeling this is going to be a bad rip off of Lost Boys combined with The Craft and any other PG-13 teenage supernatural flick that’s come along recently. I guess the teenagers who don’t go to high school football games have to have something to go to, but you almost have to feel bad for anyone who resorts to this as entertainment, especially with the other movies coming out this weekend.
Hollywoodland (Opens in 1,548 theaters.)
Hard to believe we’re actually pushing a movie with Ben Affleck in it, but Hollywood serves as a reminder of how Affleck got into the public eye in the first place. Adrien Brody stars as a detective attempting to get to the truth behind the murder of original Superman actor George Reeves (Affleck). Response to early viewings of the movie has been incredible and the word “Oscar” has been thrown around more than once, and they don’t mean “the grouch”. If you see only one Superman movie this year, this is the one to see. Sadly, there’s a good chance it could be overshadowed by the blockbuster summer flick that all but bombed at the box office. Could Affleck’s time finally have come for opportunity beyond his friendship with Kevin Smith?
The Protector (Tom yum goong) (Opens in 1,548 theaters.)
Tony Jaa got notice last year in America for Ong Bak, which attempted to be visually impressive despite some shameful editing tricks. The Protector manages to avoid the problems of slow motion and recap shots, but stinks in the story department. While Jackie Chan does appear to toss the proverbial torch to Jaa, word is that Chan’s worst movie was better than this flick. Given the track record for imports I’d say something was probably lost in translation, but apparently it is even bad in its native Thai. See this one to enjoy the action, but not much else.
STILL IN THEATERS AND WORTH YOUR TIME: Snakes on a Plane, Talladega Nights, Invincible, Little Miss Sunshine
