The List!

It's been nearly a week since I've seen a movie and I'm starting to go through withdrawal. Fortunately, Hollywood has seen fit to slam me with too many all at once, including a clear Oscar contender(Up in the Air), a tense drama involving an awkward love triangle(Brothers), and one film that probably should've stayed in the direct-to-DVD market(Transylmania). Let's have at it then.



We are truly in the Oscar season, folks. Not only has Jason Reitman's Juno follow up received tons of Best Picture buzz, but star George Clooney is almost a shoe-in for a Best Actor nom. He stars as Ryan Bingham, a guy who travels around and finds a nice way to fire corporate employees for huge companies. He lives his life out of hotels and airports and is happy being completely relationship free...or is he? One of the reasons I'm looking forward to this so much is that I hope it gives co-star Anna Kendrick(The Twilight Saga) a chance to break out from some of the lame ass roles she's had since I first noticed her in 2003's teen musical, Camp.



If any director is going to remake Susan Bier's Danish film, Broder, Jim Sheridan(In America) is the man to do it. Jake Gyllenhall and Tobey Maguire play a pair of brothers who couldn't be more different. When one is presumed dead while fighting in Afghanistan, the other becomes a little too cozy with his brother's wife, played by Natalie Portman. That's a pretty impressive cast of young talent....and Jake Gyllenhall. The story takes many of it's themes and elements from Homer's The Odyssey(one of my favorite tales), so expect a clash of epic proportions when the brother presumed dead comes galloping back home. The trailer gives away far too many precious details, but I'm hoping there are still some surprises left to be discovered.



Remember when Laurence Fishburne was a serious actor? I mean, the guy played Othello for pete's sake and was once considered one of the best actors working today. Now he's on CSI and is a friggin' security guard in a throwaway action flick. I would've preferred director Nimrod Antal use this machismo laden cast for his next film, Predators. With Jean Reno, Columbus Short(the new African-American everyman hero), Matt Dillon and a host of other recognizable yet slightly cheesy actors I'm expecting this to be brimming with mindless action and spotty dialogue.



Let's be honest here, this is Dorm Daze 3. Ok? They're trying to hide it and repackage it for a theater audience that probably has no idea these characters have been in two other abysmal straight-to-DVD "comedies". Why bother? The fact that this was filmed entirely in Romania leads me to believe that they have some sort of budget to play around with this time, and this being the third effort means there must be something of a devoted fanbase for this crap. Me, I've seen both Dorm Daze films and they are the comedic equivalent of a spike through the cerebral cortex. The best I can say about them is that they are remarkably consistent in their mediocrity, but there's plenty of hot babes to look at. Unfortunately, Danielle Fishel, who most will remember a Topanga from Boy Meets World fame, is nowhere to be found. What, does she think she's too good for Dorm Daze now?

If there's time...



I don't know much about Claire Denis' 35 Rhums(35 Shots of Rum) except that it's receiving rave reviews from the various festivals it's been a part of. It takes place in an apartment building in Paris, I believe, where the tenants all appear to be a little too close to eachother. That's about all I know, but I'm intrigued. Hopefully I'll have time to check it out.



I'm afraid I'll spend too much time wondering who in the name of pete Robert Deniro could've mated with to produce unnaturally good looking kids like Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and Sam Rockwell. Helen of friggin' Troy? Otherwise, this looks pretty brutal, but I can sense that I'll be seeing it sometime in the near future(code for "my girlfriend wants to see it, hence I'm seeing it"). Based on the 1990 Italian film of the same name, Deniro plays a widower who takes an impromptu trip to visit each of his kids, only to find out that things aren't quite as perfect as they've been letting on.

No..no...a thousand times no...

Everybody's Fine should have a poster sitting right here. But alas...

John and I will be checking out Clint Eastwood's Nelson Mandela biopic, Invictus, on Monday. So expect to hear that on the next episode of the Punch Drunk Podcast, which we should be recording this upcoming Tuesday. Remember to send those questions and comments to punchdrunkcritics@yahoo.com!