New movies on the big screen this week are: Confessions of a Shopaholic, The International, Two Lovers, and Friday the 13th.  Confessions of a Shopaholic is a romantic comedy starring Isla Fisher as, well…a shopaholic. To be honest, that is about all I know about the movie other than the fact it opens on Valentine’s Day weekend. Fisher is usually quite good in most of the movies she’s been in and she should do a great job playing the lead in this one. No guarantees, but if you were forced to watch a romantic movie this weekend, this may prove to be one of the less painful ones out right now.

The International stars Clive Owen as an Interpol agent who tries to expose and bring down a corrupt banking corporation. The movie looks pretty good and Owen usually delivers when it comes to action thrillers. Word has it that the highlight of the movie is an all out shoot-out scene at the Guggenheim museum. Factor in the fact that this is one of the only action movies in theaters this weekend and it has all the makings of success.  Two Lovers stars Joaquin Phoenix as a young man torn between the girl his parents want him to be with and the girl he dreams of being with.  Even in awful movies, Phoenix is still really good.  This film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow so it may be worth watching for her and Phoenix alone. 

Friday the 13th….not much can be said about this film that isn’t known already. This is a remake of the original film with a fresh breath of life from mega producer/director Michael Bay.  Buzz about this movie is pretty positive overall and if the re imagining is as fresh as Bay’s revisiting of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, this film should be a huge success.  The series was long overdue for a remake as it became more of a parody of itself with each sequel. Bay’s recreation may be just the shot in the arm that the franchise needs to infuse the sense of terror and menace so prevalent in the early films of the series.

DVD

New DVD’s this week are Nights in Rodanthe, W, and Miracle at St.Anna.  I posted a review for Nights in Rodanthe, so check it out for more info on that movie. W is the biographical Oliver Stone movie about the life of our most recent president, George W. Bush. Regardless of what your opinion is of his presidency, the movie on his life actually seems pretty good. I haven’t watched it for myself, but from what I heard it portrays him in an honest and sincere light, humanizing W far more than any of his public blunders ever could. 

Miracle at St Anna is a Spike Lee joint about four WWII African American soldiers who get trapped in a small Tuscan village while trying to save the life of a young boy. The movie stars Derek “Antoine Fisher / Booby Miles” Luke who consistently delivers great performances. I’m interested also in seeing Spike’s take on WWII, as he does an excellent job of addressing and focusing on issues that would otherwise go unnoticed by most moviegoers if not for his keen eye.

GAMING

Yet another slow week as far as gaming goes. Coming out on the 17th is Grand Theft Auto: Lost and the Damned.  This is downloadable content for the xbox360 version of Grand theft Auto IV. The dlc is actually an entire story mode in and of itself and the download is a whopping 2g. It promises an entire  “campaign” of all new missions and characters set within the confines of Liberty City. Players assume the role of Johnny Klebitz, a member of the biker gang “The Lost”. GTA fans will be all over this one as it seeks to extend the life span of an already robust gaming experience in GTA IV.

Also out on the 17th is the hotly anticipated Street Fighter 4. This game seeks to push the boundaries of fighting games as we know them. Sticking to the classic 2d style of the original SF games, this one propels the graphics light years into the future as it features beautifully rendered cell shaded art and it incorporates 3d backgrounds.  The action is fast and frantic and at the same time the gameplay looks solid. this one is sure to eat up tons of time across the world and the best part is that you don’t have to keep pumping quarters into your tv to keep the action going!

That’s really all there is going on right now. Pretty slow week, but next week should be better. There’s the week in entertainment so until next week- that’s a wrap!