The New Wave: 2/18/11

I don't blame Liam Neeson for cashing in on his newly earned old man action hero status. The guy's earned it after years of always playing the nice guy in period pieces and dramas.  Plus, Unknown certainly has some talented folks involved with it, like director Jaume Collet-Serra(Orphan), Frank Langella, and Diane Kruger. I just hope he doesn't make too much of a habit out of starring in every movie vaguely Taken-esque that gets pitched his way. I'll be curious to know what fans of January Jones(Mad Men) think of her performance here. My review of Unknown can be read by clicking here.

Here's what's on your plate if you're I Am Number Four star, Alex Pettyfer:  Beastly, based on a teen romance novel; Now, a teen oriented thriller alongside Amanda Seyfried; and you're rumored for two more adaptations of teen series in The Seventh Son and The Mortal Instruments. Somehow this guy whose career started off with a fizzle in Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker has become Hollywood's go-to studly guy for the Gossip Girl set. Oh, and he even gets to date his I Am Number Four co-star, Dianna Agron. He nail Lady Luck or something? In case you haven't noticed, I'm saying very little about this movie. You can check out my review to find out why.

Full disclosure: I have never successfully made it through any of the previous Big Momma's House movies. There's only so much I can take of any guy all dolled up in lady gear(unless it's Sorority Boys, which I never get tired of). Why is it that when any of the principle culprits(Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Tyler Perry) pull this crap it's always as the fattest, nastiest heifer they can conjure. So will I be seeing Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son? Hell no.  Do I feel a little bad for Brandon T. Jackson getting caught up in the disaster orbit of Martin Lawrence? Yes.

National Geographic continues their series of big cat films(the best is 2006's Eye of the Leopard), this one following a mother lioness as she struggles to keep her young cub alive through the wilds of Botswana's Okavango Delta. With the lion population dwindling, ensuring their own survival is even more of a necessity.

If you liked The Stoning of Soraya M, then this one's probably for you. When We Leave is a tough German drama about the harsh, very real problem of honour killings perpetrated against women and children. A woman flees her oppressive marriage in Turkey along with her son and attempts to reconcile with her family in Germany. Only her arrival brings nothing but shame and turmoil, leading to a rash of poor decisions which could cost her life.  Selected as Germany's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.