REEL WEEK: What’s Happening at the Movies
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Entertainment Editor
Huntington, WV (HNN) – How long will Avatar reign as #1 at the box office? It’s still expected to be a blue weekend with an action flick and a romantic comedy opening wide.
But, come Feb. 12, an ole’ werewolf may be the flick that knocks “Avatar” from the top spot.
EDGE OF DARKNESS: Mel Gibson returns to in front of the camera in this story of a man seeking revenge for the murder of his daughter. Gibson has not been on screen since 2002’s “Signs,” but “Taken” and “Law Abiding Citizen” have proved that the “Death Wish” revenge genre has ample support. Gibson plays a veteran Boston cop who watches as his daughter Emma ( Bojana Novakovic) is murdered in front of his house. Fellow detectives want him to believe that the bullet was meant for him. But, it seems Emma worked for a shady government corporation and the search for her killer pulls Gibson into a shadowy world where each ‘clue’ lends more credence to the secrets, scandals, corruption and cover ups which led to Emma’s demise.
WHEN IN ROME: Disney has a curve on the ‘wishing well’ tradition, but at the cinemas, the question is will Kristen (“Couples Retreat,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) have enough ‘star power’ to pull in beyond the targeted female audience. Actually, Kristen’s visit to rome has her ‘desperate’ for love, so instead of tossing coins into the well, she retrieves a few. That makes her more of a ‘hottie’ than she ever imagined. An industry trade publication has compared it to “Leap Year,” which has failed to catch on. It’s already out of most cinemas.
YOUNG VICTORIA: Bursting with award season preigree resumes, Jilian (“Gosford Park”) Fellowes, an Oscar winner, penned the screenplay which political intrigue and forbidden love as the teenage Victoria (Emily Blunt, Best Actress 2006 Golden Globe for “The Devil Wears Prada”) frets with a domineering mommy and other handlers scrutinizing her before she turns 18 and is eligible to assend the throne. Expect a Strauss waltz for her first dance with Prince Albert as she satin wearing queen eloquently dashes to her chosen lover.
NEXT WEEK
DEAR JOHN: A passionate kiss in the rain between Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum already has buzz. But will it be enough to take this modern wartime romance over the curse of 9/11? Here a soldier enlists and falls in love with a girl at a conservative college. He comes home on break and asks her to marry him, not intending to re-enlist. Then, along comes the planes, falling towers, and……
COMING SOON
WOLFMAN: Anthony (“Silence of the Lambs”) Hopkins stars in a re-make of this werewolf legend. Though absent from his ancestral home of Blackmoor for many years, aristocrat Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returns to find his missing brother at the request of the latter's fiancee, Gwen (Emily Blunt). He learns that a creature has links to an ancient curse turning people into werewolves when the moon is full. To save the village and protect Gwen, he must slay the bloodthirsty beast, but he contends with a horrifying family legacy.