Opening This Weekend!!

[animatedude]

 

check out the new website design! lol,finally they change it,after like what? 8-9 years,maybe 10 years.?

http://www.bahraincinema.com/

i love it! it says "Inglorious Basterds" is playing next Thursday!

[animatedude]

and they have http://www.bccmovies.com/html-nowshowing.asp updated too! eid releases are:

DISTRICT 9,ONG BAK 2 and BANDSLAM.

[ayaa1977]

It is a better design, way better than the old one. Not mind-boggling but substantial nevertheless. I kinda like it!

[ak]

Figure out a more suitable title for this thread, then revise please. Thanks.

[theoddball]

Figure out a more suitable title for this thread.

"The A.D.D. Thread"

[ayaa1977]

Figure out a more suitable title for this thread, then revise please. Thanks.

I am planning on reporting the weekend releases on this thread every week. So may be a moderator would kindly move the last portion between me and Animatedude to the topic "Off to Bahrain" on Random House.  

[ak]

Oh, don't get me wrong -- I don't mind you two chatting about Bahrain cinemas and local releases at all. It's just that *Opening This Weekend* title does not give the correct impression; plus, opening where? In the States? In the UAE?

[ayaa1977]

No you are right, I usually wander a lot in my everyday conversation that I forget where did I start. My point is, I think your concern is legit but I can't merge threads. that is why I asked for a moderator help. We already have a thread about Bahrain, more than one in fact, "Off To Bahrain", "Off To Bahrain part Duex" and "Back from Bahrain". So some housekeeping and moving the conversation there is not such a terrible idea.

As far as the thread concerned, I started it to reflect on the US releases but the next week it evolved and I thought I would report on both US and local releases, that is why I changed the header from "Opening This Weekend in the US" to the current header.

[ayaa1977]

This is a busy weekend of the US theatre, we have a two Sci-Fi films face-off. Pandorum and Surrogates. Both films are getting more negative reviews than positive by now, but even the negative reviews are not totally dismissive of them. The two films are likely to tab on the same audience and that might hurt them financially. There is also Paranormal Activity a horror film made back in 2007 and is finally getting limited release, this film stands now at 91%@ RT which is unheard of for horror films.

The widest release this weekend is a musical remake of Fame, this is one is brutally attacked by critics and getting 29%@RT as of now. Two dramas are opening to solid reviews, Coco Before Channel staring Audrey Tautou, and The Boys are Back staring Clive Owen, both stand 65%@RT. Also in limited release the latest Michael Moore offering, the documentary Capitalism: A Love Story which is getting a very good mark, a 74%@RT.

Five films opens this weekend in Dubai, the most anticipated Inglourious Basterds, The critically dismissed yet huge success Rom/Com The Ugly Truth, a Scottish thriller New Town Killers staring Dougray Scott that got mixed reviews, the latest Ashutosh Gowariker's vehicle What's Your Raashee? which is getting mostly unfavorable reviews, and who can blamed anyone react negatively to a 211 min romantic comedy? And
also opening an Egyptian drama Sayyad Al Yamam or The Doves Hunter. 

Hopefully you guys will stop being so lazy and give us a review or more for one of these latest releases.   

[ayaa1977]

Paranormal Activity is all the buzz this weekend. Some say that it is The Blair Witch Project of this decade, I hope they mean the phenomenon not the film, because I didn't like The Blair Witch that much. I've read somewhere that Spielberg was scared shitless by watching a DVD copy of it at his home.

[fizz]

The Paranormal Activity trailer is so fucking gimmicky I don't feel like watching the film now.

[ozzylogic]

The Paranormal Activity trailer is so fucking gimmicky I don't feel like watching the film now.

It's for the OMG crowd.

[ayaa1977]

Not much activity this weekend on the US front as there is only one wide release the comedy Couples Retreat, which is absolutely banned by critics. Only 10 positive reviews out of 82 on RT which gives it only 11% on their meter. Such a shame because the cast is stellar: Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Kristen Bell, etc. The limited releases scene is somewhat brighter. There is the British Biopic The Damned United staring Michael Sheen that is getting 90% approval from the critics, also opening the critically acclaimed Education which is already getting so much Oscar buzz for its lead actress, the newcomer Carey Mulligan, also opening Chris Rock's documentary/comedy Good Hair which stands at 93%@RT.

Nothing looks thrilling this weekend compared to last weekend's Zombieland which did great business, and all the eyes on next weekend when Where The Wild Thing Are opens

In the UAE market 4 films open this weekend. The generic slasher horror Sorority Row which flunked at the US box office and banned by critics (25%@RT). Bruce Willis's Surrogates also opens this weekend after a disappointing start in the US and not so great critical consensus (40%@RT). The other two films are The Time Traveler's Wife staring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams which was banned by two third of the critics but did an Ok business at the box office, and the Egyptian drama Mekano.

[kaytee]

The trailer for Good Hair was pretty funny.

[ayaa1977]

Opening this weekend in the US one of the most anticipated film of this fall; Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, and according to its Tomatometer, critics are digging this adaptation of the beloved children book, as it stands at 68%. Also opening this weekend the thriller Law Abiding Citizen, which is a revenge tale of a man, played by Jerald Butler, who wants to avenge the murder of his family after the law fails him when the prosecutor, played by Jamie Foxx, strikes a plea deal with one of the killers. The critics totally dismissed this film as it is only getting 16% on the Tomatometer. The third wide release is yet another remake of a cult classic, this time the 1987 horror film The Stepfather, unsurprisingly this one wasn't screened for critics and so far out of for reviews three are unfavorable and it got only one Fresh Tomato. However, this kind of low budget horror remakes are critic-proof, it will probably make its money back no matter how little it gets in its opening weekend.

On the limited release scene, New York, I Love You, the American answer to Paris, Je T'aime, opens and it is mostly getting unfavorable reviews as it stands at 44% on Tomatometer, and 52% at Metacritics. The consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: "Like many anthologies, New York, I Love You has problems of consistency, but it isn't without its moments".
Also opening the 70's Blaxploitation homage/parody Black Dynmite, which played well on Sundance and it seems that critics like it too as it stands at 83% on Tomatometer.

On the local scene in the UAE, this Diwali is packed with 9 new releases. Julie and Julia which played well critically and commercially in the US when it was released in the late summer, finally arrives here with much praise to Meryl Streep's portray of Julia Child. District 13 Ultimatum, the sequel to the 2004 French hit District 13, opens also this weekend, alongside Gamer, the Neveldine/Taylor directed thriller, Battle is Seattle Stuart Townsend 2007 debut directorial film which is inexplicably is getting a theatrical release in here even though I don't thing anyone cares. The infamous Robert Rodriguez's Shorts opens in the local market to compete with the classic Toy Story 1 3D, which opens here after a very good run in the US Box-office for last two weeks, but with a little twist; in the US the played Toy Stoy1 and 2 3D back to back and the viewer had to pay for one film only, where in here they are released separately for a double dip.
One Egyptian movie is released the drama Ayam Saaba (Difficult Times), and three Bollywood films face off on this Diwali, The Drama Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna, the Thriller Blue, and the Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu, and Sanjay Dutt starer comedy All The Best which looks like Golmaal only with car crashes and a bigger cast. We shall see how does that translates, but the theme song is really tacky and not appealing.

Now we'll have to wait for your report from the ground, what did you see and what did you like. You guys are growing more lazy lately as less and less reviews comes from you. Well, I know that we can count on Sandeep at least to produce reviews for the Hindi films.