Only one new wide release this week, but a slew of limited releases including the buzzed-about Black Swan. (Updated: 12/1/10, 8:15pm: added Wes’ predictions and updated Consensus.)
Consensus
Below is a list of what we have come to a general consensus on. The number in parens represents the percentage of our contributors who agree with the statement.
The Warrior’s Way: None of us want to see this film (100%), so you can probably forget about Oscar consideration also (100%).
All Good Things: A split decision: two will see, one undecided and one won’t, but we aren’t certain it’s an Oscar contender (75%).
Black Swan: It’s a Must See, with our one reservation still likely to watch it (100%) and we are certain that this is a major contender (100%).
Dead Awake: We aren’t that interested (75%), but unified against its Oscar prospects (100%).
I Love You, Phillip Morris: A majority will watch it on DVD (75%), but think Oscar will ignore it (100%).
Meskada: No see (100%), no Oscar (100%).
Night Catches Us: We are mostly undecided (50%) with the other two not seeing it or seeing it on DVD if anything, and mostly on the side of no Oscar competition (75%).
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale: Split evenly between not seeing it and watching it on DVD (50%), but agreed it’s not for Oscar (100%).
WIDE RELEASES
| THE WARRIOR’S WAY | ||||
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ThoughtsUnless it’s directed by Ang Lee or Zhang Yimou, Asian martial arts films hold little interest for me. |
ThoughtsDoesn’t look like anything new. |
ThoughtsThis looks like a painful, by-the-books action film. |
ThoughtsWhile it’s never a good sign when studios decide not to screen a movie for critics, I have to pose the question: why would anyone want to watch this garbage when there are so many quality movies out in theaters right now? |
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LIMITED RELEASES
| ALL GOOD THINGS | ||||
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ThoughtsThe trailer doesn’t look great, but reviews seem to be favorable, so it might be worth a look. |
ThoughtsGood cast in true life murder mystery. I’m surprised this isn’t getting more buzz. |
ThoughtsGreat documentarians don’t always make great fiction directors, but with a great cast this film has promise. |
ThoughtsA nice cast, but it looks like completely pedestrian thriller. |
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| BLACK SWAN | ||||
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ThoughtsThis is one of the year’s best films, you owe it to yourself to check it out. |
ThoughtsNatalie Portman’s performance is said to be one of the year’s best. I’m anxious to see this one. |
ThoughtsI’m not a big fan of Darren Aronofsky, but the great buzz will force me to check it out at some point. |
ThoughtsI’m a huge fan of Darren Aronofsky’s work (“The Wrestler” is among my top 5 best films of the past decade) and the trailer ranks among the best of the year. Early reviews indicate that Natalie Portman’s performance might very well render the Best Actress race over, even before the year-end precursors are announced. It has to be considered a major contender in all the major categories. |
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| DEAD AWAKE | ||||
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ThoughtsAnother film that doesn’t look spectacular but could be mildly entertaining. |
ThoughtsLooks like a dozen other supernatural thrillers. |
ThoughtsA washed-up cast in a washed-up looking thriller. |
ThoughtsIt looks like it should’ve gone direct-to-DVD. |
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| I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS | ||||
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See the original
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ThoughtsNot a fan of Jim Carrey when he’s at his looniest, so I am probably not going to check this one out, even with strong critic support. |
ThoughtsI’ve already seen this on a Region 2 DVD. Similar in style and tone to last year’s The Informant! except that the main character is gay. Despite being based on a true story, Jim Carrey never makes it seem real. |
ThoughtsThe film looks entertaining enough, even if the buzz has worn off. |
ThoughtsIf it wasn’t for the gay subject matter, this would be dismissed as just another wacky Jim Carrey vehicle. The supporting cast looks solid (particularly Ewan McGregor), but Carrey just seems to be going through the motions. It might be worth a look on DVD, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it in theaters. |
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| MESKADA | ||||
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ThoughtsA little too generic and uninteresting for my taste. |
ThoughtsLooks terrible, but at least we know what happened to Nick Stahl. He’s starring in two of this week’s limited releases. |
ThoughtsHow does Nick Stahl have two films opening this week, both of which look exactly the same? |
ThoughtsJust like “Dead Awake,” it looks like a direct-to-DVD movie. Is it a coincidence that both films feature Nick Stahl in a starring role? |
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| NIGHT CATCHES US | ||||
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ThoughtsThe movie looks like it could be good, but I would wait to watch it on DVD. |
ThoughtsRacial tension drama set in 1976 Philadelphia with a strong cast looks interesting. |
ThoughtsA Sundance favorite that holds quite a bit of promise. |
ThoughtsIt honestly doesn’t look like my kind of movie. |
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| RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE | ||||
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See the original
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ThoughtsSometimes it’s nice to just sit down, relax and let your brain take a vacation with this kind of film. |
ThoughtsJust what we need, a Finnish horror film about the robbing of Santa Claus’ grave. |
ThoughtsThe exact sort of trite family fare that comes out this time of year and is forgotten about by New Years. |
ThoughtsIt’s received surprisingly great reviews (it’s actually the best reviewed new release of the weekend!), and while it certainly won’t be a blockbuster or an Oscar contender, there’s a very strong possibility that it will go on to become a future cult classic. |
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