Monday, January 14, 2008

Another First-Third Movie Preview: Part One

But this one is for 2008. . .

I know I have posted a lot about movies recently (seeing that 3 out of my 4 posts so far in this new year were the three parts of my BEST MOVIES OF 2007 series - which was completed here. . .) but maybe I'm trying to lean towards that over, ya know, the goings-on of my life. Not that I won't still cover that - -

But I'm kinda on a roll here with this movie thing, so I'm gonna keep it up!

Anyway. . .

Last year's FIRST-THIRD MOVIE PREVIEW contained fifteen movies and I only saw 8 in the theaters and only one more once it came out on DVD. So I looked at the release dates for the next four months and I realized that there quite a few movies coming out that I have no desire to see at all. I could have done 15 again, but 5 of them were really just fillers anyway.

So I'm going with 10 this time around and I'm sticking to it, seeing that I'll probably end up seeing closer to 7 or 8 anyway. . . but here we go:

10. DOOMSDAY (March 14)

There isn't much out there plot-wise that I can really follow (this is why I think trailers are really what convince me to go to a film and not the people involved) but what I do know is that this is the new film from director Neil Marshall who directed the British horror film THE DESCENT, which is one of the best horror films of recent years. The film involves a virus, which of course has been done many times, but I'm interested to see how Marshall handles it all and how he can possibly re-invent the genre like he did the "creepy cave" horror in the previously mentioned film.

09. RUN FATBOY FUN (March 28)

Previously mentioned in my last movie preview, the directorial debut of David Schwimmer of "Friends" fame stars Simon Pegg of both SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ as a guy trying to remake his life in order to win back his ex-girlfriend (Thandie Newton, of CRASH). I love the cast (which also includes the always-funny Hank Azaria) and the premise and I will absolutely support Dr. Ross Gellar in his pursuit of directing.

08. 21 (March 28)

A card-counting tale in Vegas that does not feature a guy called Rain Man. . . although I'm willing to bet that there is a joke in here about that movie! Kevin Spacey plays a teacher who encourages a group of students (one of which is brilliant at mathematics) to head to Las Vegas to make enough money to pay for their college education. Now, of course, they succeed, and what are their prevailing thoughts once they start rolling in the dough. . . That's where the drama kicks in, I suppose. Anything involving gambling has me interested (except for the looks-awful Matthew Mcconaughey movie TWO FOR THE MONEY from a few years ago) and definitely anything with Kevin Spacey gets me excited, so I'll probably be checking this one out in theaters!

07. THE ROCKER (April 18)

What appears to be the first starring vehicle for The Office's Rainn Wilson (that's Dwight for those who don't know) is attracting by plot alone. It seems to be a bit like SCHOOL OF ROCK but without the substitute teacher thing. I'm looking forward to a trailer just to see the type of funny that it's gonna bring - meaning if it will be more dumb like Adam Sandler (who has regressed in my mind) or smart (like the recent Apatow films or even the previously mentioned SOR). Either way, I gotta get my Shrute-fix somehow and with no new Office episodes, this may be the only way!

06. CHARLIE BARTLETT (February 22)

This film was supposed to come out last August (this seems to be a trend with a lot of these movies, and will actually continue with two more on this list) and I have only gotten more excited as the time has gone on. Anything with Robert Downey Jr. of course has me ready to watch (a tangent: KISS KISS BANG BANG has been on HBO a lot lately and the more times that I see it - even though I own it, I watch it every time it's on - the more I absolutely love it! It is certainly in my top 5 films of all-time and just might be penned in - instead of penciled - to the number 2 slot shortly!) and the plot itself is quite funny. Briefly, it's about a spoiled high schooler who uses his personal psychiatrist to learn how to provide his own evaluations to kids at the new high school he is attending. He becomes popular through his sessions and the prescription drugs he begins to prescribe. A weird funny, if anything.

I'll be back with numbers 05-01 tomorrow! Enjoy!

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