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To see or not to see...

By Arlana Pathammavong

As the weekend quickly approaches us, and rainy or cold days serve as some of the best movie days, I thought what better time than to leave my movie tracks.

For those of you with an open shedule this weekend, wondering what to see or not to see, I suppose it all leans on what kind of mood you will find yourself in.  So I have broken it down for you piece by piece, movie by movie with hopes you find a direction to travel.

The Top 10 Box Office hits for this past week hold a variety of movies for any interest and pleasure, some being...

Watchmen, starring Malin Ackerman, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, and Carla Gugino.  Directed by Zach Snyder and written by David Hayter and Alex Tse.  MPAA rated this movie R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language. 

Watchmen can be considered another "superhero" movie full of complexities, mysteries and adventure.  IMDb describes Watchmen's plot set in "an alternate vision of the year 1985, the murder of an ex-superhero causes a vigilante to look into the matter, an investigation that reuinted him with his surviving old colleages -- all of them former superheroes themselves -- and gradually unveils a conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future." 

Sounds like it has great potential to be one of this years top superhero movies to compete with, but at a running time of 2 hours and 43 minutes, I can't help but think that may be too much time for a dark, mysterious movie.  I enjoyed "The Dark Knight", but many people felt that it was about a half hour too long.  So maybe its just a trend of superhero movies to run over the 2 hour mark.

User rating on IMDb - 8.2*'s out of 10. 

Although, while on the track of lengthy movies.  I did just recently see, "He's Just Not That Into You" - starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connely, Ben Affleck and Scarlett Johansson.  Directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Abby Kohn and Mark Silverstein.  MPAA rated this movie PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language. 

I'd say this movie is a decent film.  Its a romantic comedy based on an interconnected group of Baltimore singles and one married couple.  I found the film to be full of some very true and some far fetched comparisions to the male and female interactions we all so commonly deal with in real life. But for the most part, although slow at parts, found it witty and true in many regards.  This enabled the audience at the theatre to laugh out loud at many parts and look at their partners in simple awe that, "whatever happened in the movie at that point was quite possible to have happened once or twice in their own relationships."  I find that movies that an audience can relate to on a personal level, whether rated good or bad by critics, are movies that a lot of people favor. 

User rating on IMDb - 6.5*'s out of 10. 

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this movie for children, as there is no common interest to a younger generation.  But for a children's movie, I do recommend checking out -  Coraline (animated) - A story based on a young girl's journey through a very unique and unusual parallel world that she finds in the new house her and her family just moved into.  Starring Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman.  Directed by Henry Selick.  MPAA rated this movie PG for thematic elements, scary images, and some language and suggestive humor. 

User rating on IMDb - 8.2*'s out of 10.

If those movies don't interest you, there are many others to choose from that are out or opening in theatres this weekend.  Some featured movies opening this weekend are: (To read more details, please click on the movies listed below.)

Race To Witch Mountain: Starring Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino and Anna Sophia Robb.

Sunshine Cleaning: Starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin.

The Last House On The Left: Starring Garret Dillahunt, Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn. 

For local theatres and showtimes, check out the following cities. RochesterBuffaloBatavia
 

Tasia Boland

Hi! This is just an idea, but I was thinking it would be interesting to do movies in the Red box. It seems the Red box is a great saver in times like today. My husband and I barely go to the movies anymore and just wait for the dvd to come out. It could be helpful for those who do this, but then again, I don't know if many people wait like we do! Anyways, just an idea and nice reviews!

Mar 11, 2009, 10:37pm Permalink
Arlana Pathammavong

I have some reviews almost ready for some recently watched dvd's and some suggested to watch released on dvd. I'll post it in the next day or so, so keep your eyes out!

Mar 11, 2009, 11:31pm Permalink

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