You know, I'm hardly opposed to the notion of films that openly advocates religious belief; I just wish they didn't all appear to be absolutely terrible. Even the hilariously inept-looking Fireproof would resemble Citizen Kane next to the trailer for Suing The Devil, though. It's only gonna be in five or so theaters, for some reason I can only speculate about. I presume Satan himself is trying to cover it up out of sheer embarrassment.
If you're in the mood for actual entertainment, though, the three wide releases this weekend are Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark, Colombiana, and Our Idiot Brother. None of them seem to scream "SEE ME ON FRIDAY NIGHT OR ELSE," but we'll wait for Alex to tune in on Our Idiot Brother. Hopefully it's better than Colombiana, which we'll have a review of shortly. We're going to do our darnedest to get a review of Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark up as well this weekend, so stay tuned...
 | 1. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark This wins the race for the most screens among the new releases this weekend, and I'm guessing that the lure of an R-rated scary movie that's not filled with gore will draw people in. I just wish it looked scarier than the trailers lead me to believe. Critical reactions are mixed at the moment (as of this writing, it's the lowest on Rotten Tomatoes of any of these films), but we'll try to hit it up sometime this weekend and post a review. |
 | 2. Colombiana Luc Besson + Lady Assassin has worked well before, as in the wonderful La Femme Nikita, but this apparently wasn't screened widely for critics, an always-worrisome situation. The few that have seen it have mixed things to say, but we'll let you know in the morning how it goes! |
 | 3. Our Idiot Brother Aw, Paul Rudd! Who doesn't like him? What a weird career the guy's had; I can't name anything he did between Clueless and Anchorman (a near ten-year gap), but he's been coming on strong ever since. Remember when he did that whole "SLAPPIN DE BAAAASS" thing? That was great. |
 | 4. Brighton Rock Helen Mirren's basically in everything now, huh? She lose all her money in a Ponzi scheme or something? She's working more than Nicolas Cage lately. (Limited) |
 | 5. Redemption Road This kind of movie title always makes me wary, but then the "A Film By Mario Van Peebles" kind of seals those trepidations up. Can you name anything the man has made since New Jack City? I didn't think so. (Limited) |
 | 6. Suing the Devil This movie looks HYSTERICAL. The notion of putting the devil on trial, and then having him actually show up, could be played for laughs...but the trailer makes it look as though whatever comedy is actually in the film is almost entirely unintentional. (Limited) |
 | 7. Higher Ground Vera Farmiga's directorial debut sees her character struggling to retain her spirituality in a community of tightly-knit religious folk. Or so Wikipedia tells me. (Limited) |
 | 8. Circumstance Iranian lesbians? Sure, I'll buy that. For a dollar. (Limited) |
 | 9. Chasing Madoff A look behind the ten-year investigation that ultimately led to the downfall of Bernie Madoff's fraudulent investment corporation. (Limited) |
 | 10. Buzzkill A second-rate writer sees his car, and the only draft of a screenplay, stolen by a serial killer. Boy that does seem like a wacky setup for an indie comedy! (Limited) |
damn I'm no surprised Tom Seizmore is in that Devil movie but Malcom Macdowell not so much. Still good casting on that front. That trailer had me sort of interested and than it all just went to hell.
I smell a "Suing the Robot Devil" episode of Futurama in our future.
That I hadn't heard of Our Idiot Brother until a couple of days ago is probably not a good sign, but it's gotten decent reviews. I like most of the cast (Paul Rudd, Rashida Jones, Elizabeth Banks, and Adam Scott). I'd go see it if we lose power because of the hurricane.
MARIO VAN PEEBLES.
I've been pretty excited for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark for a little while (unlike Rorie, those trailers make me wanna shit myself) but the mixed reviews are kind of disappointing and my girlfriend's too scared to see it so I'll probably just check it out on Netflix. Same with the other 2 wide releases this week, unless we all lose power from the hurricane, in which case I might see Our Idiot Brother cuz c'mon, it's Paul Rudd
That Suing the Devil trailer was something else...
i think any comedy in that trailer is just malcom macdowell being...malcom macdowell, which is never a bad thing!
Oh for the love of all that is holy, Michael Clark Duncan should NEVER smile like that ever again. Super creepy.
BADASSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Sort of weird that I know this, but Paul Rudd was in Romeo + Juliet.
@Ghostiet: Is it just me or is that tagline a 99% rip-off of Robocop's tagline?
I was referring to a film by Van Peebles, titled "Badasssssssss".
But yeah, you're pretty close, Robocop's is "Part Man, Part Machine, All Cop".
I don't think I'm going to end up seeing any of these...