Happy Weekend Everyone. Make Good Choices.
Friday, August 23, 2013 at 12:39PM 
I've been struggling with a thrown back this week but I hope to be up to my best speed again soon since I know the posting has been a bit thin of late. Fall Movie Season is just a week or so away but in the meantime there are plentiful beautiful choices for moviegoing pleasure. So make good ones.
NEW YORK & LA
If you live in or driving distance near one of the two top film markets, make it your top priority this weekend to see Short Term 12. It's an absolutely beauty (interview & review forthcoming). Indies tend to go wider faster if they have strong per screen averages and everyone deserves a chance to see this one at their local theater. Get to this early since you'll want to share in the thrill of discovery and play missionary for it as shamelessly as I'm doing now. (I can't stop recommending it to people, even near-strangers! Especially people who I think would never go see something like it and the last time I did that was, jesus, I dont know... Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon?) The point is this: Get out there and support strong filmmaking that doesn't involve visual effects and multi-gazillion dollar P&A budgets or our cinematic culture will be reduced to endless loops of "who'll play Batman next?".
(I also hear really good things about Una Noche but can't vouch for it personally just yet.)
EVERYONE ELSE
This weekend stars the wide release of Blue Jasmine but people with good taste who've already seen it will probably be hitting The World's End from the team that brought you the hilarious genre-riffs Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I'm seeing it tomorrow. One of my friends who only sees two or three movies a year and almost always under duress (I know!) calls me up and says "so there is this movie I would like to see..." I practically passed out from the shock.
STAYING IN?
Make sure to instant-watch Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969) in time for Wednesday night's penultimate Season 4 Hit Me With Your Best Shot episode. It's also your last chance to watch Oscar's Supporting Actress nominees of 1952 before The Smackdown on August 31st. So queue up: Singin in' the Rain, Come Back Little Sheba, The Bad and the Beautiful (just discussed), Moulin Rouge, and With a Song In My Heart so that you can enjoy the conversation even more and vote in the parallel reader ranking. Joining me on the panel next Saturday will be Nick Davis (Nick's Flick Picks), Matt Mazur (Pop Matters), and Brian Hererra (Stinky Lulu herself!) Next month's Smackdown year will be announced very soon.
Reader Comments (8)
And if you like horror films, You're Next is very good. A bit heavy-handed in its foreshadowing but that's a trope of home invasion horror. Great acting, clever screenplay, and violence that actually shocks the audience.
But see Blue Jasmine first.
I wanna see Short Term 12 as well. Has this not been the best year for indie films so far. I want to see aint them bodies saints as well. Every indie film has amazed me this year and all the summer movies have dissapointed me except pacific rim. God bless independent cinema!!
David Lowery, the director of "Ain't Them Bodies Saints," is offering folks a challenge. He wants people to pay to see his film, "Short Term 12," "Drinking Buddies," and "You're Next" over a single weekend, and as a prize you will get a document from an investigation file from his film, a soundtrack to "Short Term 12," and I think something else. While supplies last!
Here's the link to his blog where he offers the challenge: http://www.road-dog-productions.com/weblog/
Sorry to hear about your back, that's a tough break. I hear heating pads work well.
I won't be able to catch them this weekend, but will hopefully get to see both Blue Jasmine and The World's End sometime next week.
I completely agree, Nat. Short Term 12 is at the top of my list so far! It's as close to a perfect little film as can be. and YES, indies are killin it this year, in my opinion. Blue Jasmine, Fruitvale, Short Term, Frances Ha, etc...a strong year so far.
Bless your heart, Nat. And bless you for what I truly hope was a not-so-veiled "make good choices" reference to Freaky Friday (2003), which celebrates its 10th anniversary of glorious existence this month. (God, I love Jamie Lee Curtis in that movie!)
In the spirit of (hopefully) good choices, I'll be seeing Twenty Feet from Stardom and The Spectacular Now. May they deliver...
Go see The Grandmaster! It may not be receiving the raves that Wong Kar Wai movies are used to, but at the very least the visuals are amazing. And I thought the story was plenty good too, plus Zhang ZiYi is very good.