The List: 2/5/10

Assuming we're not snowed under for the rest of our lives, this is a good week to get out and take in a bunch of really good flicks. Why? Because the Oscar nominations were dropped a few days ago, which means all those multiplexes which ignored these great films during their initial runs have finally decided to grace you with their presence. For those of us who spend 90% of their "free" time at the movies and have seen everything already, it's just another week. The best stuff, like Frozen...or Red Riding(we really need to post the awesome trailer)...isn't in the area yet. Not even District B13 Ultimatum, the sequel to the best action flick in years, is here yet. You'd think we were living in some eyeblink town, and not capital of the free world.

Call me crazy, but I think the marketing department put way too much stock in hyping this film as being "from the director of Taken". Sure, people loved Taken. But does this look even remotely like that fast paced thriller? No. Neither John nor yours truly had a lot of love for this, although our reasons differ. What I do know is that if I never see that chromed nugget of John Travolta's again it'll be too soon.

So which one of these two dies at the end? Is it the manhunk Channing Tatum, or the always appealing and super talented Amanda Seyfried? Dear John is an adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, about two unfairly attractive youngsters who fall in love. Awwww. Only problem is, he's a soldier. So you know his butt's gettin' shipped out sooner rather than later. No working behind a desk for this guy. Chances are it's him who bites the dust, and I'm already imagining a scene where the casualty notification officer knocks on her door. I was a big fan of The Notebook, another Sparks novel brought to the big screen, and Lasse Halstrom(What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules) is a ballsy choice for director. I don't need to be dragged into this one. In fact, I'm betting it's a hell of a lot more enjoyable than watching John Travolta overact for 90 minutes.

Call me a sucker for gritty coming of age flicks, but Fish Tank might be the film I'm most anxious to check out this week. Earning rave reveiws and awards while on the festival circuit last year, Fish Tank is the story of an angry, emotional, 15 year old girl living in a housing tenement in Essex. She gets made fun of for being a loner by the rest of the kids her age, and her mom might as well not exist at all. Based on what I can see from the trailers, I'm suspecting something might be going on with her and her mom's new boyfriend, played by Inglourious Basterds' Michael Fassbender.

The main reason I want to see this period piece about Leo Tolstoy is that it will mark another year in which I've seen every single Oscar nominated film, with the exception of the foreign ones that never played here. Whether or not this film is any good is another story. It's certainly well regarded, earning numerous Independent Spirit Awards as well as Oscar noms for it's cast(including Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer), but it just looks like a bunch of people shouting at eachother. And not about anything particularly interesting. The saving grace might be Kerry Condon, who I've been raving about since Unleashed and her stint on HBO's Rome.