Movies

Movies Opening Today - Fri Feb 22, 2008

There are only four wide-release films opening this weekend and two limited-release films.

Wide-Release Film Openings

In this category are Vantage Point, Be Kind Rewind, Charlie Bartlett and Witless Protection.

I’ve been seeing the trailers for Vantage Point a fair bit and it looks like it has the potential to be a blockbuster, with a fairly large number of well-known actors: Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Zoe Saldana, Eduardo Noriega. The basic premise is that the body double stands in for the U.S. president during a public address and gets shot at. But the real president can’t say anything because he’s supposedly dead. The story is told from five perspectives but involves eight witnesses who either saw or videotaped the assassination attempt.

My bets are on Vantage Point to take top box office this weekend, followed closely by either Charlie Bartlett or Be Kind Rewind (Jack Black, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Mos Def). I suppose it depends on how much draw Jack Black still has. I like him at times, but not consistently. The trailers look really weak. But the premise of this movie is rather interesting: Jerry (Black) destroys the video tapes in his friend’s store thanks to his brain becoming magnetized. So they plan to remake each movie.

On the other hand, Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Kat Dennings) also seems interesting from the trailers. Charlie (Yelchin), son of wealthy parents, goes through psychiatriatic sessions to get prescription medication for his fellow high school students who have the real symptoms he pretends to have.

Last is Witless Protection, starring Larry the Cable Guy. Um, yeah right. The only reason I’d watch this is because Jenny McCarthy is in it, but she looks like a freak. So no.

Limited-Release Film Openings

In this category are Possession (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and The Signal. Both are horror movies, but Possession is also tagged Drama/ Romance/ Thriller. Wow. Ambitious. Fact is, as much as I like Gellar, I can’t remember the last movie I saw her. Still, with a limited release, I’ll have to wait until this opens around here. Same for The Signal, which has an interesting approach: it’s told in three parts by three different directors. For that alone I plan to see it, even though the trailer hasn’t really shown enough to entice me.

For a full list of this month’s releases, please see Movies Opening in February 2008.