What To See Next

Check out the films below — and check out our blog around 9 a.m. every Friday morning, for our recommendations on What-To-See-Next that weekend.

You can also find superb recommendations here on What-To-Rent-Next, if your broken leg or the ingestion of toooo many turkey drums keeps you indoors that weekend.

Post us a comment about what *you’re* seeing this weekend.
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“Juno”
(Ratings: 3 by Al and 9 by Caryl) (In our reviews, “1” is Best and “30” is Worst.)
If you’re up for something a tiny quirky but VERY good, do not miss seeing “Juno.” It’s the best film out there right now. “Juno” is a sweet comedy about teenage pregnancy. It’s VERY well done and features SUPERB comedic and dramatic performances by Ellen Page, Allison Janney, Jason Bateman, and also, Al believes, J.K. Simmons and Michael Cera. We’ll perhaps talk about it more later, here on the blog.

“I’m Not There”
(Rating: 3 by Al)
An outstanding true-life fantasy about Bob Dylan, the poet for our times. Covering six distinct segments of Dylan’s life, and fillt with oodles and oodles of Dylan music, “I’m Not There” is a true feasting of one filmmaker’s whimsical view of Dylan’s life. We’ll perhaps talk about it more later, here on the blog.

“Starting Out in the Evening”
(Rating: 6 by Al.)
Some few of us have wondered what happens to the talent of a writer has one New Year after another ticks by. Here’s a film that offers one possible answer: the writer takes a licking and keeps on ticking. In the film, Leonard Schiller has written two well-done novels 30 years ago, and has been looking to finish his new book for the last 10 years. His 40-year old daughter dances lovingly around him, and a 20-something literary commentator is in love with the writer he permaybe used to be. A quiet and somewhat somber film, probably of more interest to writers than to shoe salesmen. We’ll perhaps talk about it more later, here on the blog.

“The Kite Runner”
(Rating: 9 by Al, and not scene [sic] yet by Caryl)
You know, this just ain’t really that interesting of a movie. There is a reasonable amount of dramatic tension flowing through film regarding how the easily-rich Afghan refugee in America is ever going to redeem himself for the heavily cowardly act(s) he committed during his childhood. The early parts of the film are convoluted serpentines, however. The hero’s redemptive act is a total cartoon in that 99.7% percent of the people in our hero’s situation would be slaughtered before they could achieve redemption. Some nice little pieces of business, however. See our earlier review on this blog.

“Charlie Wilson’s War”
(Ratings: 4 by Caryl and 18 by Al.)
Caryl loved this movie, and will probably see it again. She called it an interesting story, with very well-written dialogue, and very nice acting performances by Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Al, OTOH, couldn’t wait to get away from this thing; he found it boring and without a twit of dramatic tension. The movie is “based on a true story” of how America covertly meddled into Afghanistan to help the Afghans fight the Russian invasion. The difference in political leanings between Caryl and Al probably accounts for their profound difference in ratings of this movie. Caryl’s view of the movie is more likely to be more accurate. We’ll perhaps talk about it more later, here on the blog.

“August Rush”
(Ratings: 18 by Caryl, and a pass by Al.)
Caryl called this “a fairy tale that shouldn’t be a fairy tale,” and, further, callt it “a totally unrealistic” movie. She didn’t have much else to say about it…and you probably shouldn’t rush out to see it.

“Margot at the Wedding”
(Ratings: 20 by Caryl, and Not-Seen-Yet by Al.)
Caryl’s review of this film was brief and to-the-point: “Awful, awful, awful! An embarrassment to all the actors in it! Dumb! Stupid!” Al, OTOH, has not seen this film yet, but longs to because of other projects Nicole Kidman has done[1.], and in spite of other projects Joe Black has done[2]. Caryl says “Avoid it!” We’ll perhaps talk about it more later, here on the blog.

STUFF NEITHER CARYL NOR AL HAVE SEEN AS OF THIS MORNING, BUT WHICH ONE OR BOTH OF THEM THINK might BE WORTH A LOOK-SEE…
—“The Savages” (Al, for the performances of Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman.)
—“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (Caryl & Al, possibly, for Johnny Depp and the music of the musical.)
—“Romance & Cigarettes” (Al, for its deep listing of actors, including Kate Winslet, Christopher Walken, Susan Sarandon, James Gandolfini, Steve Buscemi[!!!], and more.)
—“Before the Devil knows You’re Dead” (Actually, Caryl and Al *have* seen this, and recommend it for the story and acting that we’ve written about in a review on this blog.)
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[1.] “Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus” springs into Al’s mind.
[2.] “Nacho Libre,” a movie of which Al has *only* seen the trailers, pops into his waking nightmares.