Movies Scheduled for the Week of 10/30 - 11/5

Can't believe it's almost November. Here's some of the movies that are coming out this month:

November 2
- Five Star Day (limited)
- The Other F Word (NY; LA release: November 4)

November 4
- A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (3D/2D theaters)
- Charlotte Rampling: The Look (NY)
- Killing Bono (NY; LA release: Nov. 11)
- The Last Rites of Joe May (limited)
- The Son of No One (limited)
- Tower Heist
- Young Goethe in Love (NY, LA)

November 9
- J. Edgar (limited; wide: Nov. 11)

November 11
- 11-11-11
- The Conquest (limited)
- Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (NY; LA release: Nov. 18)
- The Greening of Whitney Brown (NY, LA, limited)
- Immortals (3D/2D theaters)
- Into the Abyss (limited)
- Jack and Jill
- London Boulevard (limited)
- Melancholia (limited)

November 16
- The Descendants (limited)
- Tomboy (NY)

November 18
- Another Happy Day (limited)
- Garbo: The Spy (limited)
- Happy Feet Two (3D/2D theaters and IMAX 3D)
- The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch (limited)
- In Heaven, Underground (NY)
- The Lie (limited)
- Rid of Me (NY)
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1
- Tyrannosaur (limited)

November 23
- A Dangerous Method
- Arthur Christmas (3D/2D theaters)
- The Artist (limited)
- Hugo (3D/2D theaters)
- The Muppets
- My Week with Marilyn (limited)
- Rampart (NY, LA; expands: Jan. 27)

November 24
- The Legend of Pale Male (limited)

November 30
- Khodorkovsky (NY)

Read more: ComingSoon.net: Movie Trailers, New Movies, Upcoming Movies, 2011 Movies, Films, DVDs, TV, Videos, Clips http://www.comingsoon.net/movies.php?year=2011&month=11#ixzz1cKAoyTqZ

We may not get most of these, but we do get a nice selection of movies to enjoy. Thanks to Big Fan Boy, I Heart Cinema and Red Carpet Crash we are able to attend with such frequency. Please visit their pages and let people know where you got your pass. Also stop by our group page on Facebook to post your comments and opinions (just no spam, ok?).

October 30 - November 5, 2011

Sun
10/30

12:00 pm
Puss and Boots
tba - Dallas

Mon
10/31

Tue
11/1

7:00 pm
Like Crazy
Angelika Dallas

7:30 pm
Tower Heist
AMC Northpark

Wed
11/2

7:30 pm
A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas
AMC Valley View

Thu
11/3

7:30 pm
The Son of No One
AMC Grapevine

Fri
11/4

Sat
11/5

4:30 pm
The Muppet Movie
Studio Movie Grill Lewisville

Wyatt Head Reviews Anonymous

Anonymous

This film has a powerful and great story that derives from all the emotions of sadness, love, and betrayal. This is called an attention keeper that does its job from the curtain rising to the curtain falling.

Anonymous

Director Roland Emmerich is best known for his action films like The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 and Independence Day. This time he tackles history mixing Shakespeare and English history. John Orloff's screenplay plays with the possibility that Shakespeare's 37 plays, 154 sonnets and poems were not written by him. The film puts forth the theory that the works were done by Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. The controversy started in the 19th century when people questioned humbled beginnings and obscure life with being a literary genius. Not only was the Duke suspected of being the writer, but also Francis Bacon, the 6th Earl of Derby, Christopher Marlowe and about 70 others.

During the later days of Queen Elizabeth I (Vanessa Redgrave) the Earl of Southampton (Xaview Samuel) brings his friend Edward the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans) to watch the works of the city playwrights in the city. Impressed by the power of the plays on the common people, he entrusts his work to playwright Ben Johnson because it wouldn't seem fitting for a nobleman to be associated with the theater. Ben doesn't want to put his name on someone else's work and Will Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) an opportunistic illiterate actor hears about how much money he can earn puts the play out in his name. Will gets accolades which vexes Ben. There's also the political subtext of using the plays to influence the audience as Tudors and the Cecil's battle over the succession of the unmarried Queen.

In flashbacks the story of Edward as a literary prodigy writes a play at the age of 9 A Midsummer's Night's Dream portraying Puck for the young Queen. After the death of his parents the ward of the Queen is sent to live with William Cecil, 1rst Baron of Burghley (David Thewlis) and long time advisor to the Queen. William as a Puritan is opposed to the arts as being the work of the devil and forbids Edward to write his stories and plays. He's later blackmailed into marrying William's daughter who also scoffs at his writing as a dishonor to her family. William's son Robert (Edward Hogg) a hunchback is jealous of his father's attention to Edward who is tall, handsome and intelligent. Edward also has a child from his affair with the young Queen (Joely Richardson) but is not told about it. The Queen apparently had other bastard children over the years, a secret that William passes on to his son before he dies.

The superb cast of actors, the set decoration and the costumes give the film some resonance. The story goes back and forth from modern day, to Shakespeare's time, to flashbacks, and back again. It's sometimes hard to keep with the cast of characters from the complicated nobleman titles while mixing real history with the fictional premise. The long running time goes quickly though as small snippets of the plays are show probably like they were performed back in those days. The controversy that the film as already generated will hopefully not keep folks away. After all it is just a movie not a revisionist history lesson. You may want to watch Shakespeare in Love as a companion piece.
(Review by reesa)

In Time

This interesting concept for a future world is reminiscent of the 1976 film Logan's Run where no one is allowed to be older than 30. Science fiction author Harlan Ellison thinks his short story “Repent Harlequin”, Said the Ticktockman is similar enough to warrant a lawsuit. Writer of the The Truman Show and the Gattaca also penned the screenplay and directed this feature about controlling the world population by controlling time by living fast, dying you and leaving a beautiful corpse.

Justin Timberlake plays Will Salas a hard working young man whose real age is 28. In this world everyone is embedded with a technology that keeps you at the physical age of 25. Your time is implanted in your forearm and you are automatically given 1 year which activates on your 25th birthday. Time is then used as payment and wages. You can accumulate time if you have a good job, and keep your bills down. His mother Rachael (Olivia Wilde) has just turned 50 but she doesn't look any older than her son. Will sees a guy at the local bar spending time frivolously. He's got 100 years on him, and people in this poor part of town are looking to take it like the gangsters called the Minutemen run by Fortis (Alex Pettyfer) who at 75 real years is constantly harassing the poor in the time zone. Will helps the guy as they take off running with the Minutemen in pursuit. His name is Henry Hamilton from New Greenwich the wealthy part of town. He explains to Will that people should not be immortal. That living so long is not natural especially since a long life is only allowed to a small percent of the population. While they are sleeping, Henry transfers his century of time to Will, then lets his clock run out on the bridge of the river. Unknowingly Will is accused of murdering Henry for his time. He hoped to surprise his mother, but he's too late her clock ran out. Angry he decides to make the powers that be pay by going to the seat of power in New Greenwich. But now he's got the Timekeepers on his tail. Timekeeper Leon (Cillian Murphy) has been policing time crimes for over 50 years. The police are given a small time payment each day so that thieves can't steal from them. He also has Fortis and his gang after him too.

During his first time in the big city with lots of time to spend, he ends up at the local casino where he wins a thousand years from Phillippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser) who controls the time banks. He also meets his beautiful daughter Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried) a bored rich girl who is rebelling at her father's tight control of her life. When the Timekeepers catch up with Will at the Weis party Will ends up using Sylvia as a hostage. From this point all hell breaks loose as everyone is chasing time and Will wants to help the poor find time.

Yes, the movie is filled with “time” references. There's the element about the rich keeping the class distinctions by controlling the wealth a universal theme of us against them. The story is Robin Hood and Marian with a touch of Bonnie and Clyde stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Justin does a credible job as the normal guy who just wants justice, but the chemistry between the two is pretty non existent. Their scenes together outside of the action scenes are flat and wooden. The range of emotions that should be expressed from being a hostage to being an accomplice should be more than just a pouty face. Cillian Murphy steals most of his scenes as the single minded Timekeeper who wants to maintain the balance of the world which looks like Los Angeles. What's disturbing in this is the bodies just laying around when your time runs out and no one bats and eye. The fact that Will is the only one trying to change the status quo doesn't bode well for this future scenario.
(Review by reesa)

Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson wrote the Rum Diary back in the early 1960's but put it away for about 40 years before it was published in 1998. The context of the story comes from Thompson's personal experience as a writer for a sports newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico set in the late 50's. Director/writer Bruce Robinson sets the tale in 1960 when Hunter's fictional character Paul Kemp from New York comes to Puerto Rico as the only applicant to the newspaper that has seen better days.

Johnny Depp plays his alter ego of Hunter S. Thompson as Paul Kemp. An alcoholic writer of novels that hasn't found his voice. The editor Edward j. Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) gives him a writing assignment doing horoscopes and reporting on the proliferation of bowling alleys on the island. He rooms with the newspaper photographer Bob Salas (Michael Rispoli) and the temporarily fired oddly eccentric Moberg (Giovanni Ribisi). His future at the failing newspaper is not going so well, so when an offer to write comes from real estate mogul Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) but the content needed aims to dupe the public and Kemp questions if this is legal. Sanderson blackmails Kemp to do the job when he gets into a bit of a police problem with Salas. The job also gets him closer to Sanderson's beautiful girlfriend Chenault (Amber Heard) who Kemp met one night when she was skinny dipping in the ocean. Kemp keeps trying to break out the story about the corrupt hotel building but the editor just shut down the office.

The filmmaker had been sober for six and a half years when doing the screenplay but was suffering from writer's block. He started drinking a bottle of booze a day until the script was finished. He quit again while filming the movie, but one hot day he started drinking Corona's. He quit again after he was out of Depp's environment. The movie is basically one of excess with Kemp constantly hungover. The chaotic adventures that befall him include cock fighting, LSD dropped into the eyes, running from the locals while spitting fire from moonshine and messing with his bosses girlfriend. There are some really nice vintage vehicles and great costuming for the era. The dialogue and situations are funny and idiotic at times. Depp shows off his usual competence in his friend Hunter S. Thompson sort. The supporting cast play out their one note character quirks as the ambitious smarmy business guy, the jealous boyfriend of the sexy wild child, the drunk crazy writer, the typical brash loud American in a foreign land. It's all easy to read and enjoy but by the end of the movie the whole it doesn't amount to anything.
(Review by reesa)

Puss and Boots

The director Chris Miller of Shrek the Third and probably the worst of the trilogy is back at the helm of Puss and Boots produced by Guillermo del Toro and written by Tom Wheeler. Antonio Banderas is back as the overly confident orange tabby that knows how and when to play the cute kitty card. In this prequel to the Shrek series, it tells the story of Puss and Boots background as a thief and how he saves the world.

Puss and Boots is a lady killer and is being run out of town by the owner of the happy feline. He walks into a bar and has to endure a slew of kitty jokes. They propose they turn him in for the reward, but he impresses them with his fighting skills. Times are tough and he needs a job. He's told of the notorious outlaws Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris) who have stolen some magic beans that is a gateway to a giants' castle in the sky with a goose that lays golden eggs. Jack and Jill are a nasty pair, although Jack is pressuring Jill to start a family. There is someone else trying to steal the beens too. Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) who wears a full body leather costume and can best Puss and Boots in a fight. His childhood friend Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) is back in town after their falling out years ago. Puss and Boots wanting to straighten out his thieving life was manipulated into committing a crime by Humpty and a Puss and Boots leaves his friend to get caught while he escapes. Now out of prison, he wants in on the job and getting a second chance at their friendship.

Does anyone think it's odd that the main characters of of a movie aimed at children are thieves? Although the main gist of the story is about friendship, betrayal and redemption, the characters do steal things that don't belong to them. There's also some adult types of innuendo's that will go over kids heads, and maybe bordering on inappropriate. Puss and Boots still displays the cute kitty bits and it's incorporation into the character actions are pretty funny. Declawed Softpaws by Salma Hayak lacked chrisma as a cartoon voice. Zach Galifianakis's Humpty Dumpty's good and bad egg is annoying like Rumpelstiltskin was in Shrek. Kids may love it, but parents prepare to take a snooze through parts of it.
(Review by reesa)

Movies Scheduled for the Week of 10/23 - 10/29

Stuff happens, dates, times and locations change on our screenings. One has to learn to go with the flow. The screenings are free and in these hard pressed times beggars can't be choosers. It would be nice if there was a system for informing us before we make our weekly movie plans. We at Dallas Movie Screenings do our best, but we can't catch them all. We rely on our membership to help each other out and we greatly appreciate your efforts.

Don't forget the In Time pass for the Thursday screening is available in the file section of the group page. This was a pass given to our group so please use it and let them know we are a willing audience so we can get more pass offers.

It's fairly obvious that the people who constantly respond to the group when passes are offered do not read the weekly tirades about misbehaving. No matter what, people get excited when a pass if offered, hit that reply key, and boom they get deleted. Oh well, you've been warned.

October 23 - 29, 2011

Sun
10/23

Mon
10/24

6:30 pm
Food Matters
Studio Movie Grill Dallas & Arlington

Tue
10/25

7:00 pm
Puss and Boots
tba - Dallas

7:00 pm
In Time
AMC Northpark

7:30 pm
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Magnolia

7:30 pm
Rum Diary
Angelika Dallas

Wed
10/26

7:30 pm
Rum Diary
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

10:00 pm
Horror Remix: Zombies 2
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

Thu
10/27

7:00 pm
In Time
Cinemark West Plano

7:30 pm
Anonymous
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

7:30 pm
Inception: The Imax Experience
Highland Village

7:30 pm
Tower Heist
Southern Theaters AmStar 14 - Dallas

10:00 pm
Horror Remix: Zombies 2
Studio Movie Grill Arlington

Fri
10/28

Sat
10/29

Parnormal Activity 3

The new Paranormal Activity is sitting fairly high with most critics and audiences right now. Which leaves me with one big question. Why? What is it about this and the other 2 films that make this the horror film series that aligns the critical community and general audiences so much that the others have not seemed to do. This is a serious question because I do not understand. I have seen all 3 of these films now and read how frightening they were many times. However, I’m having a hard time matching the reaction to the film I’m watching.

We have 3 movies with plots that are exactly the same. In this one (just like the others) something strange appears to be going on in the house and the man of the house decides that he is going to film the house constantly to catch what’s going on. That’s it. Oh, and it’s 1988 (which makes me wonder why the camera was in high definition). I can give this one a bit more credit for having a little humor, but that’s about it.

Watching these films I am more self aware that this is a movie than almost any horror film I’ve ever seen. I give it credit for it’s low budget roots, but honestly this whole thing boils down to the kind of silly horror cliches and camera tricks that I would play around with when I was 10 years old. Scenes that literally involve a camera going back and forth like watching surveillance camera footage as a security guard. The trick behind the scenes is somebody suddenly appears by walking into the frame and then when we come back almost 30 seconds later they are inevitably closer to the victim. Another gag involved a light getting brighter and we had to wait for the camera to keep coming back to see how bright the light gets.

Most of this is really simple stuff that any child with a camera could do with their friends on a Friday evening. So, why do I want to pay $10 to go see something that I can easily do myself. The answer is “I don’t.”

There was a lady I talked to after the film that said I kept thinking that something was gonna happen with that fish tank. I told her that says a lot about the film that she spent half of a major motion picture staring at a fish tank waiting for bubbles to do something. As a matter of fact, that is the best wait to describe this film. You spend most of the running time staring into corners waiting for something to happen.
(Review by Nathan Ligon of Thank You for Watching)

The Three Musketeers

Alexandre Dumas serialized novel set in the 17th century was written in 1844. It's been immortalized in movies, musicals, TV series' and animated films. A favorite version is from 1973 by Richard Lester with Richard Chamberlain, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay and Michael York. Charlton Heston was Cardinal Richelieu, Fay Dunaway was Milady de Winter and Rachel Welch was Constance. The Lester film too a fresh and funny approach to story. Paul WS Anderson's view of the story keeps the plot to retrieve the necklace, but adds some wild and over the top effects and fight scenes. It's like Sherlock Holmes, loud, outrageous and utterly forgettable although you will have a good time.

Percy Jackson's Logan Lerman has the plum role of the young D'Artagnan who leaves his small town in France to join the King's Musketeers following grandfather's footsteps. He runs into the three remaining ex-Musketeers who are still smarting from the betrayal of Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich) who was Athos' (Matthew Macfadyen) lover a year ago. Basically without a cause the Musketeers are without a reason to exist. D'Artagnan challenges Athos to a duel at noon, then a confrontation with Porthos (Ray Stevenson) schedules a duel at one, and Aramis (Luke Evans) crosses paths with the young man who gets to duel him at two. Amused at the over confident young man, they are stopped from their fight by Cardinal Richelieu's (Christoph Waltz) guards. D'Artagnan begins to take on the 40 men with swords and soon the other's join in when they witness his fighting abilities. D'Artagnan catches the eye of the Queen's maid Constance (Gabriella Wilde) and is immediately smitten.

Richelieu is basically running the government for the young weak dandy King Louis XIII (Freddie Fox). He wants the king to punish the Musketeers for the humiliating loss, but the king is too impressed by their fighting skills. Richelieu with Milady de Winter plot to make it seem like Queen Anne (Juno Temple) was exchanging love letter with the English Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom). It's up to Milady to plant the letters and steal the Queen's diamond anniversary necklace to plant on the Duke. Richelieu in the meantime tries to manipulate the king into holding a party and asking the Queen to wear the necklace after Louis finds the letters thinking his wife is cheating one him.

Loud, busy, chaotic with non stop action in 3D keeps this big budget retelling of the classic tale moving along with a plot that involves Leonardo DiVinci plans for flying war machines which are blimps with a sailing ship underneath. The steam punk machines not only have lots of weaponry but everyone fights with swords and black powder handguns. The costumes are beautifully realized and just wished there was time to enjoy them. There's a little bit of Pirates of the Caribbean with a skeleton figure head and the battle of the air ship. There's Orlando Bloom playing a bad guy with such relish you are waiting for him to twist his mustache and sneer. Waltz's power hungry Cardinal doesn't present such a evil force and more like a micro managing office tool. Mads Mikkelsen as Richelieu's Captain Rochefort manages to give his villain some threat. Anderson spends too much time on his wife Milla while she preens and fights. The three older Musketeers are well done, but don't seem to have much time on screen as the title would suggest. Lerman handles the action scenes well, but he looks too contemporary for a period film. Plus that haircut is really distracting.

Written by Alex Litvak and Andrew Davies the characters lack any form of conversation what doesn't involve some sort of posturing. The dialogue is only there to set up the next action scene. It's like been created for people who don't want to worry about plot, motivation or emotional connection with the characters. So for a movie afternoon of mindless diversion this is ok, but would recommend renting Lester's 1973 classic if you want to see something really special.
(Review by reesa)

Texas Killing Fields

Southeast of Houston, near League City, TX, the bodies of four young women were found in an abandoned oil field between 1983 and 1991. Since the 1970's almost a couple dozen women have gone missing or murdered. The muddy dumping ground has earned the title the Killing Fields where as one of the characters in Ami Canaan Mann's film describes it as “this place is nothing but chaos, even God don't come here”.

Based on the notorious killing fields cases, the story follows transplanted Detective Brian Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his tightly wound partner Detective Mike Sounder (Sam Worthington) as they investigate a murder of a young woman in Texas City. Mike's ex-wife is Detective Pam Stall (Worthington's spy “wife” in The Debt Jessica Chastain) also investigating a case similar to theirs a missing young woman and asks for Brian's help. As Brian and Mike check for the identity of their murder victim it which takes them to the local pimp and his stable of women. They mention a white guy with lots of tattoo's who is at that moment checking out Little Anne (Chloe Gace Moretz) a local kid of Lucy a druggie prostitute whose kicks the kid out when she's entertaining. Mike clashes with one of Lucy's clients, a new guy in town who works at the oil fields and Lucy's son who are partying at Lucy's poor white trash house when they bring Anne home. Brian a deeply religious man who prays over the victims brings Anne to his house to have dinner with his wife (Annabeth Gish) and his family. Mike lives alone with his dog. Pam is tough as nails being a woman detective in Texas. Somehow all these loose ends intersect in this dark gloomy rain soaked ripped from the headline procedural.

Written by Donald F. Ferrarone the story is doom and depression. Mann (who is the daughter of Michael Mann) artfully focuses the camera on pores of people's faces and the patterns found in the dry and unyielding landscape. It feels like the movie is in black and white the cinematic underbelly of the world which dominates these detectives on their journey to find the killer.. It's too bad the pacing and editing are so wildly all over the place. We are given what could be interesting characters with no back stories to make us care what happens. Witnesses, clues, red herrings are thrown out there without explanation or follow through. Scenes are confusingly cut from one thing to another making it difficult to follow. There's no complaint about the able actors, even Worthington' Australian accent manages to be manipulated into an aggressive southern drawl. The last act which includes a car chase is exciting but the ending is wrapped up too neatly. It's a safe bet that this will not help tourism in Texas.
(Review by reesa)

Margin Call

A small army of “downsizers” march into a Wall Street Investment bank quietly tapping on shoulders asking them to step into another room. From there they are offered a severance package then escorted by security from the building with their careers in box. One of those escorted had been with the 107 year old firm for 19 years. He accepts their verdict grudgingly but tries to tell them he's been working on something that needs to be explained and followed through. He's quickly reminded that someone will take care of it. Plus because of his position and his access to highly sensitive information his cell phones will be turned off immediately. Before he leaves he hands a jump drive to his co-worker with an ominous warning to be careful. The big sales boss is more concerned with his dying pet dog then the slaughter happening outside of his office. Gathering the remaining employees with a pep talk he applauds those who survived the day. Three out of seven from the world wide company had fallen under the ax this day. Only 33 are left in his trading room.

Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) works on the program written by his Eric (Stanley Tucci) the ousted risk manager finishing the calculations. What he finds is so disturbing that he call his co-workers back from their celebration of not being let go, Seth (Penn Badgley) the Jr. Analyst and Will (Paul Bettany) his new boss taking over for Eric. They quickly call in Sam (Kevin Spacey) the office boss who then calls his boss Jared Cohen (Simon Baker) and other department directors. It's 2:30 am they are assessing the damage outlined in the report prepared by Peter whose analysis is taken seriously by Jared when it's revealed he has a doctorate in rocket science. The CEO John Tuld (Jeremy Irons) arrives by helicopter with the board shortly afterwards. The traders have to bide time while waiting for the big wigs decide their fate including Eric the author of the program putting him on hold until the situation is fixed so word doesn't leak out. Eric's boss Sarah Roberston (Demi Moore looking like she did in Disclosure) tells the CEO she tried to tell them they were in trouble and she ends up as the sacrificial lamb with a promise that she will be given a generous parting package.

First time feature director JC Chandor wrote the feature after his own experiences during the financial meltdown of 2008. His father worked at Merrill Lynch for almost 40 years. Produced by Zachary Quinto, they were able to attract a very impressive cast for the short 17 day shoot. Most of the action takes place in the office within 24 hours. They see the writing on the wall and the tension of how one little mistake could cause serious damage to world stock market. The dialogue doesn't bog down with math and speculative trade speak, but the urgency and fear is neatly portrayed. The callousness of the bosses letting people go to the CEO cavalier attitude of just making sure the company survives without a thought for the companies and employees put out of business from this crisis is a reminder of the selfish rich billionaires who are controlling our world. Despite the big name cast and the decent performances there's no real outrage. This neighbor hood is peopled with guys in suits who only care about how much money people make each year.
(Review by reesa)

The Mighty Macs

This the classic underdog story about an unknown women's basketball team fighting their way to win the first national championship is based on the true story of Pennsylvania's Immaculata's College. In 1971 women were still finding their place in the work place when marriage was considered the status quo. When Cathy Rush went for the position of basketball coach for an all women's Catholic college, she was the only one who applied. The school didn't even have a gym and they pay was $450 for the season.

Carla Gugino plays Cathy, a former basketball player who recently got married to Ed (David Borenaz) an NBA coach who is not too happy about her new position, but understands her passion for the game. Mother Superior (Ellen Burstyn) just thinks of the basketball team as a way of keeping the young women active and not thinking about boys. She lets Cathy have full reign over what happens in practice, but puts her foot down when Cathy uses boys to practice with the girls. Cathy has many obstacles to overcome from recruiting players, to practicing in an an unused rec hall, to getting funding for her team when the college is considering closing it's doors. It's Cathy's enthusiasm and dedication that keeps the young women rallied. Players drop like flies when they realized how much work is being demanded, and some of the moves are considered “unladylike”. She recruits Sister Sunday (Marley Shelton) who is having some moments of doubts about her calling and had been assigned chapel duty, which means cleaning the church. She doesn't agree with some of the Cathy's radical teaching methods, but is impressed how the young women begin to start thinking like a team. They have to use gyms from other schools to play their home games, but slowly they start to show improvement. To raise money to fly to the games they have to sell hand lotion the nuns seem to have boxes of in storage. The team goes for virtually unknown to winning the first national college championships. It's hard to tell a story when you know the ending. But the Mighty Mac manages to take you through the various stages of the teams development that can wring a tear from your eyes during the final games. There's going to be a lot of comparisons to Hoosiers and Sister Act, but the movie stands alone on it's performances in portraying the gumption to win.

Cathy Rush went on to winning more championships for Immaculata which managed not to close down. The school eventually turned co-ed and today is still thriving. Some of the women on the team became coaches after graduation. Interesting footnote is that one of the team players Katie Hayek who played Trish, was a former University of Miami shooting guard and theater major. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma as shooting began and had worked while undergoing chemotherapy. Her tenacious spirit is like this film of overcoming against all odds. It's also a reminder of how far we have come in women's equality in the past 40 years, something today's young women take for granted. Like women being taken seriously for playing sports outside of Olympic events is inspiring and that kind of story will never get old.
(Review by reesa)

Movies Scheduled for the Week of 10/16 - 10/22

OK, kids, it's reesa the moderator like a broken record reminding y'all that if you wondered why you didn't get that pass it's cause...duh...you sent it to the list. Also sending multiple emails to the list asking for that same pass don't fly, they get bombed before they leave the runway. Of course you could solve the problem of getting that pass by actually entering the contests. The movie partners have been more than generous making sure you get those passes. Go to their websites and Facebook and give them the love. Some passes are also available through the group, which will be posted to the file section of the group pages. Nothing is more frustrating when someone asks for a pass that you can print through this group. Hello? Really? You are on this list and you didn't see that notice? Yada yada yada the same old story, but some folks out there just don't seem to get the gist, so thanks to all you patient subscribers that have to listen to the complaints. It would...should go a lot smoother if everyone paid attention.

And don't forget the designator in your subject line: Wanted, Offer, Trade, GOFOBO Live.

October 16 - 22, 2011

Sun
10/16

Mon
10/17

Tue
10/18

7:30 pm
The Mighty Macs
AMC Valley View

10:00 pm
Parnormal Activity 3
Cinemark West Plano

Wed
10/19

7:00 pm
Tower Heist
tba - Dallas

7:30 pm
Texas Killing Fields
Angelika Dallas

9:00 pm
Parnormal Activity 3
AMC Northpark

Thu
10/20

7:30 pm
The Three Musketeers
Cinemark West Plano

Fri
10/21

7:30 pm
THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE
Rose Marine Theater

Sat
10/22

11:00 am
Puss and Boots
Cinemark West Plano

The Thing

If you are a fan of the 1982 The Thing which benefited from more advanced special effects than in the early 50's version. Finally the writers decided to add women characters to the mix. The lead being Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) in the Kurt Russell role. This is intended to be a prequel to the earlier version but the screening was filled with rabid fans eagerly awaiting it. Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr and written by Eric Heisserer and Robert D. Moore the film drags in many places and by far the best performances is by The Thing itself, who is vastly visually improved via effects is still eerily creepy.

The earth opens up to swallow some researchers who discover the frozen Thing and it's spacecraft buried deep within the ice. Of course this first proof of alien life is treated as scientists will...they must bring it up and study it for fame and fortune and "science". It proceeds to infest and imitate pretty much everyone at one time or another. Including the dog. It's "stop it from leaving and getting away at all costs” results in a lock down quarantine. Uninspiring performances from characters who looked bored at times and consequently bore us with all their "how will we survive this and destroy it without dying?" chatter drags the film down. Creature/human encounters are the only saving grace. Those sequences are horrifying and explicit but hardly terrifying. Basically it is the 1982 film presented as a prequel. Same story twice just a slight change of characters. The fans were pleased and they applauded the ending. Stay for the credits to see the segue to Part II materialize. Not bad but not great, it is simply visually interesting.
(Review by Cheryl Wurtz)

Footloose

Kevin Bacon's iconic angry dance in the warehouse is probably burned into the brain cells of everyone that grew up in the 80's. Kenny Loggin's song from Footloose still gets everyone hopping and fist pumping. In Hustle and Flow's Craig Brewer”s version the infectious music is redone by various up and comers with Blake Shelton redoing the infamous title song. The screenplay by Brewer and Dean Pitchford integrates the small community of Bomont, GA with a more ethnically diverse population.

Three years have past since the accident which claimed the lives of five teenagers coming home after a dance party caused the town council to outlaw dancing and loud music. Former Justin Timberlake back up dancer Kenny Wormald doing the Kevin Bacon role of Ren MacCormack a transplant from Boston who comes to live with his aunt and uncle after his mom dies. Like any big city kid dealing with the boonies he's got an attitude, but he's determined to make the best of it. He fixes up his uncle's old VW Bug then drives around town with his Ipod playlist blasting. The local cop gives him a ticket for disturbing the peace which Ren considers another small town annoyance. He catches the eye of the daughter of the local preacher Rev. Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid). But pretty Ariel (Julianne Moore) is a wild child with only a passing curiosity for him. She's got a stock car racing boyfriend Chuck (Patrick John Flueger) a typical redneck who treats her like a party girl. Chuck seems to be the only villain in the story as the high school population don't seem to have any warring cliques of racial or social classes. Even Ren's first confrontation with a student starts angry but it's quickly dispelled. Ren quickly makes friends with farm boy Willard (Miles Teller doing the Chris Penn part) who is on the football team. The team takes him to the local Starlite Diner where the kids gather and the local proprietor keeps a watchful eye out for the cops so the kids can play music and dance. Ren wants to challenge the ban on dancing so the seniors can have a prom. This pits him against the Rev. Shaw and the council.

The yellow VW bug, the skinny ties, the warehouse dance and some of the other dance sequences are still intact and unlike Bacon Wolmald doesn't use a dance double. Wolmald may be from Boston in real life, but his accent in the movie seems to come and go. As the defiant daughter, Julianne Hough keeps those red cowboy boots and shows that she's more than just a country singer and dancer with the stars. The two newbies light up the screen and it helps that they are surrounded by seasoned actors like Quaid, and Andie MacDowell. As in the first movie the character of Willard is the scene stealer and Miles Teller of Rabbit Hole proves he's also game.

The storyline of a town banning dancing and no one challenging it until Ren shows up seems a little far fetched. As much as they couched it with the preacher's righteous stance to protect their children the teens all manage to know all the latest dance moves. The dancing is more Step-Up but the quick-cuts don't let the viewer enjoy the talented cast do their moves. While a remake of a popular movie seems like another unnecessary production at least the result is fun and the music is still dance-able as it was in 1984.
(Review by reesa)

The Big Year

In competitive bird watching a “Big Year” is when individual contestants must identify as many species as possible and need to be prepared to invest a great deal of time and money. Directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) and written by Howard Franklin, the film is based on Mark Obmascik's book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession. The film is a story of how three men obsessed with “birding” embark on a quest for their personal best while trying to out-do each other.

Jack Black plays Brad who narrates the story of how he decides to go for doing a Big Year. He works for a software company and lives at home with his parents. His dad Martin (Brian Dennehy) is not too happy with life choices in life reminding Brad his marriage broke up because of his hobby. His mother (Dianne Wiest) is more supportive even lending Brad a credit card for his bird pursuit. To Brad, birding in his life, his passion. He even has a gifted ability to identify any bird by it's song. Stu (Steve Martin) the CEO of a major company also decides that this may also be his Big Year. He underlings are amused by his quirks, his wife (JoBeth Williams) takes a more tolerant and understanding tone letting her husband do what he needs to be happy. After all he's rich, stable and they live a good life. The current Big Year champion Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson) has already gone through two other wives before this third one who couldn't handle his obsession. Jessica (Rosamund Pike) was hoping that Kenny would stay home and commit to having a baby. So when he takes off for what he says his final stab at the record, she decides to rehab the house using a competitor contractor who happens to have a good looking son.

To accumulate sightings for one's bird tally, the birder needs to just see a particular species and keep a record of it. A picture while nice, is not necessary because the system is run on trust. Some even claim even if you hear the bird that would also count. There's even a phone number you can call where you can get information on what's been sighted so you can rush out there and see it yourself. Tracking the birds means hiking, climbing, traveling several thousand miles by car, foot, boat and plane. In between they return home trying to keep working at real life. Brad meets a fellow birder (Rashida Jones) who loves to make bird noises and he tries to mend his relationship with his dad who suffers a heart attack. Stu is reminded by his staff (Kevin Pollak and Joel McHale) that the company needs his face and input but he just wants to do this last adventure,

What had promised to be a hilarious film due to it's comic trio, it only turns out to be a slightly amusing look at guys getting excited about birds instead of sports, women, or superheroes. Yes, it's pleasant, has some beautiful scenery, and you learn more about birds than you wanted to know. But that's about it. If you find yourself actually looking at birds after this movie go check the Dallas Audubon at: http://audubondallas.org/ and good luck on your Big Year.
(Review by reesa)

Trespass

Director Joel Schumacher has added another action thriller to his already prestigious list of films that include Phantom of the Opera, The Client, and Phone Booth. Working again with Nicholas Cage, this ranks slightly better than their previous efforts together on The Number 23 or 8MM which frankly is not saying much. Written by Dead Like Me writer Karl Gajdusek, it pushes all the same buttons as other home invasion movies. Only this time there's besides Cage, Nicole Kidman and Liana Liberato as the harassed family.

Cage plays Kyle a seemly high powered fast talking salesman for the diamond trade with the impeccable suit and overly large glasses who is constantly on the phone. He's not home often so his wife Sarah (Nicole Kidman) is making dinner for the family which includes teen daughter Avery (Liana Liberato). Except Avery wants to go out and hang with her friends at a college party. Mom says no and busy dad says he agrees with whatever mom says. The sulky teen sneaks out of the house anyway jumping the fence in the woods. They have an enormous modern home in a private wealthy community with European style sparse furnishing, elite appliances, and an infinity pool. Sarah is supervising some renovations to part of the house. It's a lush life that needs a high tech security system. Sarah is bickering with Kyle over his lack of interest in her as he's constantly hustling clients when there's a knock on the door from the home security company that turn out to be extortionists who believe that Kyle has money and diamonds stashed somewhere in the house. The masked men huddle the terrified couple on the floor while yelling threatening bodily harm to get what they want. The female member of the invaders goes up stairs to smoke some crack and try one Sarah's clothes. Avery returns and she too is now held hostage. Kyle still refuses to give up the safe combination claiming there is no money or jewels. Not only that but one of the robbers tells Kyle that he came for his wife, that they are in love. Jonah (Cam Gigandet) is the good looking brother who set up the security system in the house and had engaged in lustful glances with Sarah. Ben Mendelsohn plays Elias the angry brother whose back is against the wall who will do anything to get the goods. There's also the muscle Ty (Dash Mihok) who is there to ensure the job is successful. Unfortunately their planned mission goes terribly awry when Kyle who suddenly starts to fight for his family.

Trespass is due to open in a very limited run at AMC Mesquite, before heading to VOD and DVD by next month. Maybe not quite good enough, the film does provide for some exciting moments and some interesting twists. The performances are about what one expect from everyone involved. At different points there are power struggles between the thieves as Jonah gets in the way of his brother using Sarah to manipulate Kyle. Kyle fighting back with his adrenaline fueled negotiation skills. Even Avery manages work over Ty's drugged up girlfriend Petal. There is some tense and graphic violence that is set to thrill. In a lot of ways it's just a by the numbers film with better production values.
(Review by reesa)

James Farmer Book Signing

"Click" on picture to expand

A TIME TO PLANT author James Farmer will be here in Dallas on for a Book signing:
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
7:00pm - 9:00pm
@
A Real Bookstore
113 Prairie Road
Fairview, TX 75069

James will be on GOOD DAY DALLAS on Wednesday morning.
http://www.jamesfarmer.com/

Movies Scheduled for the Week of 10/9 - 10/15

It's raining! Yea! Nice day for going to the movies without standing in a line. Or head over to Fan Days at the Irving Convention Center. Or as your moderator is doing hanging in front of the computer watching Asian movies for free at http://www.dramafever.com/

Thanks to all for curbing that first instinct to hit the reply button when responding to a pass offer. And tsk tsk to those who didn't. So if you are wondering why you didn't get that pass, check your send messages to see where you sent it. Sending it to the group is sending it to the moderator black hole where it's sucked into the vortex of doom and despair never to be seen again. If you truly, sincerely and desperately want to see the movie, then enter the contests on your own and/or send your request to directly to the person offering. NOT HERE!

DID YOU KNOW: If you don't want your mailbox stuffed with requests and offers from the group, you can always set your Yahoo Group settings to "No Mail" and just check the group directly for new messages and the check the calendar. Bookmark the group page and bookmark this group website for news and reviews.


October 9 - 15, 2011

Sun
10/9

Mon
10/10

6:00 pm
Sing Your Song
Angelika Dallas

7:00 pm
The Big Year
Cinemark West Plano

Tue
10/11

7:30 pm
The Thing
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

7:30 pm
Footloose
AMC Northpark

Wed
10/12

8:00 pm
Tower Heist
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

Thu
10/13

Fri
10/14

Sat
10/15

10:30 am
Johnny English Reborn
AMC Northpark

7:00 pm
Almost Famous
Strauss Center Winspear - downtown Dallas

Brighton Rock

Pinkie is a young gangster whose gang operates along the pier area of Brighton Rock. He's also a sick vicious sociopath. Based on the 1938 Graham Greene novel, but it's set in the 1960 era of English mods and rockers where clean cut teen gangs are causing mob scenes on motor scooters in the coastal town. The pier itself which is really from nearby Eastbourne with it's Gothic Victorian buildings is the scenic background of this dark, depressing story of ambition, crime, anger and desperately lonely love.

Sam Riley plays Pinkie Brown who has no qualms about murdering a gambler who owes him money. The confrontation is witnessed by a young waitress Rose (Andrea Riseborough) who works for Ida (Helen Mirren). Rose is a a bit of a mousy young woman who yearns to be in love. So when Sam comes to find out how much she knows about his involvement with the murdered man, he flirts with her. He takes her Catholicism seriously as the dread of the death penalty feeds his fear of hell and damnation. However it doesn't stop from killing his boss on his way to the top of controlling the gang.
Pinkie's actions get the attention of the criminal kingpin Colleoni (Andy Serkis) who maneuvers to take down Pinkie. Meanwhile Sam marries Rose so she can't testify against him. Sam basically buys her from her ogre of a father who she's unhappily been taking care of for years. She is oblivious to his cruel and vicious nature, but embracing that evil in a “us against them” mentality. Even when she buys her self a pretty dress to celebrate her becoming a woman on her wedding night, Pinkie's reaction would not have been accepted by any modern woman who an a ounce of self respect. Their sick and twisted relationship is the main focus of the film, which neither character is very sympathetic.

Director/writer Rowan Joffe who is the son of director Roland Joffe and actress Jane Lapotaire adapted the story from the the orginal film and the novel which was set in the 1930's. He wanted to emphasize the Catholic theme in the book. The dark colors, cloud covered skies and night settings give the film an overall noir look. The costumes and sets are beautiful and mask the messing and sometimes incomprehensible accents and narrative. The tragic relationship that Rose is pursuing, the unrepentant Pinkie, and underuse of Helen Mirren and John Hurt really enough doesn't help this depressing movie. Visually stunning, it's too muddled a mess for even late night TV.
(Review by reesa)

Wyatt Head Reviews The Way

The Way- This film represents the story of life in which all will eventually persevere in a path that leads to our peace and self-fulfillment. This is a movie that I believe should be shown to all ages of the audience because in every year of one’s life the lining guide is still there and is illuminated by films like these.

The Ides of March

The Ides of March was adapted from the 2008 play Farragut North written by Beau Willimon which was loosely based on the 2004 Democratic primary campaign of Howard Dean. George Clooney who also directed wrote the screenplay with Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon. The story of corruption, blackmail, extortion and seduction behind the scenes during a election campaign does not instill any trust in our country's political system.

Stephen Myers played with that cool silent presence of Ryan Gosling is the press secretary for the campaign of Governor Mike Morris running for President. Morris is the cool candidate. He says all the right liberal things that gets people fired up looking for change. Stephen believes in Morris and still gets full of hope during the speeches and debates. One of his jobs is making sure the podium, microphones and lights will show his boss off in the best way possible. As one of the close chosen circle of staffers he works with campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who keeps a tight control of information and the numbers during the Ohio primary. They work appeasing New York Times reporter Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei) who gets wind of little bits here and there keeping everyone scurrying to cover their bases. The lovely Evan Rachel Wood plays the young intern Molly Steams who seduces Stephen before revealing some sensitive news about Morris. On top of this Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) the campaign manager for Senator Pullman (Michael Mantell) pays a visit to Stephen hoping to steal him for his campaign. Confused and worried, he tells Paul about this offer. Paul paranoid, fires Stephen who swears he will make them all pay.

Tight, wordy, and smart, the film effectively shows the dedication of the volunteers and staff behind the scenes of a campaign while playing to every stereotype. Idealistic Stephen's philosophy is that he will do anything for what he believe in, while jaded Paul will do anything as long as he wins. Morris's numbers are not looking good, but he doesn't want to make back-door agreements with Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright) and his electoral votes in exchange for a cabinet position if he wins because it goes against his morals. Stephen won't take a job with the opposing side because he felt it was wrong. The machinations involving manipulations and compromising situations behind the scenes are disturbing as well as believable. As great as Morris sounds on TV and to the public there's a line he will cross if it means he will win. When Stephen discovers that line, he also pays the price of using it for his own gain and perhaps revenge.

After a summer of movies that rely on all action and flash, it's nice to find a film where you get to pay attention to the dialogue. It's really an actor's movie with excellent performances by Hoffman and Giamatti as the morally corrupt campaign managers. Clooney has the look of a presidential candidate, handsome, great teeth, and confidence. But this is Gosling's movie with his third great role of the year. It would have been nice to see these actors reveal more of their inner dilemmas. It seemed almost rushed to the end but it's still a good political drama, although not quite a great one.
(Review by reesa)

Real Steel

In this imaginary future, the boxing game has eliminated human punching bags and replaced them with huge robots. These are not the Transformer or Terminator cyborgs types. These are just machines programmed to perform in a wire roped rink with no hold barred. Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a former boxer who has become a small time promoter. He owes money to everyone because he keeps betting unwisely. He gets the news about his former girlfriend passing away when he is called to appear in court for the custody hearing on the 11 year old son he has never seen.

Charlie an ex fighter is not a sympathetic sort of guy. He brash, self involved, over confident and irresponsible. He gambles on his robots, and runs before they can come to collect. His girlfriend Bailey (Evangeline Lilly) is the daughter of Charlie's boxing coach and owner of the gym where she repairs the machines. Charlie has to show up at court to sign over Max (Dakota Goyo) to his mother's sister Jerusha (Hope Davis) a wealthy socialite. Except Jerusha's husband wants to go to Europe for the summer and Charlie extorts money to keep the kid until after the summer. Charlie needs the cash to get a new robot so he agrees. The angry precocious kid is not to happy with his father but he's also a huge robot fight fan. Charlie's new robot gets totaled after he ignored Max's advise. To get parts to build another robot Charlie breaks into a metal junkyard in the rain and Max unexpectedly falls down a muddy cliff. He's saved by the arm of a buried robot which Charlie tells him to forget about it, but Max unearths it on his own and brings it back. (How he manages to extract a 1000 lb metal robot from the mud and get him on a gurney is never explained). The robot who's name is Atom is an early generation machine that has some unusual programming. He also proves to be a good fighter. Soon father and son begin bonding in the process while traveling the US to the boxing matches. This takes them to fight the ultimate robot called Zeus run by corporate owners and high tech computer wizards.

Based on a short story called “Steel” by Richard Matheson the screenplay was written by John Gatins. Date Night's Shawn Levy directed with producer Robert Zemeckis and executiver producer Steven Spielberg. With that kind of juice behind this movie, it offers some excellent animatronic fighting robots. And instead of the usual heavy hardware films with nothing by confusing flying metal, Real Steel aims to be full of heart. The story of the dad and kid is first, foremost and blatantly obvious. The battle scenes are sure to attract the kids who will enjoy the acceptable violence because it's between pieces of mechanized metal and not people. Charlie does get beat up for his gambling debts endangering Max plus he's not all that great to his kid. Often times it's Max as the more mature of the two. Dakota Goyo is a charming young man who dances really well but the robot dancing sequences are pure cheese. Jackman slightly smaller Wolverine fit with an American accent plays the annoying Charlie. He worked his boxing form with Sugar Ray Leonard who also consulted on the robot fighting moves using motion capture. Production designer Tom Meyers robot designs were turned into 26 live action animatronic props with hydraulic neck controls and radio controlled hands. Technically the film is great to watch, The climatic battle managed to get the screening audience excited and involved. It's too bad the overall story doesn't live up to the real stuff.
(Review by reesa)

The Way

Tom Avery is an eye doctor in California who gets a call from Spain informing him that his only son had died in an accident while making a pilgrimage. Tom who had some issues with his grown child's restless nature and was reluctant when Daniel left to find himself. When he goes to Spain to bring the body back, Tom decides to take the cremated remains and finish the 450 mile walk of the El camino de Santiago leaving a little bit of ash along the way.

Written and directed by Emilio Estevez who started the project in 2003 after his son Taylor drove the length of the Camino with is grandfather Martin Sheen. Taylor met the woman who he would eventually marry. Sheen and Estevez took the film around the country offering Q&A's after the screenings. Estevez related on how he saw the parallels with the characters of from the Wizard of Oz in Tom and his traveling companions he meets along The Way. The story is a mediation of the life, loss, death and faith. It also serves as a travelogue featuring the beauty of Spain along the route of Saint James.

The Way of St. James or El Camino de Santiago is the route to the Cathedral of Santiago de compostela in Northwestern Spain city of Galicia where it is said the remains of Saint James are buried. Legend tells that St. James was taken to Iberian because his brother John spent some time preaching on the Peninsula. His body was supposedly lost at sea but washed ashore undamaged covered in scallops. The scallop shell is still used today as a metaphor for the Santiago pilgrims. The route has existed over a thousand years and one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times. Before that it was a Roman trade route called the Milky Way as travelers followed the Milky Way to the Atlantic Ocean. Today thousands of people people still travel by foot, bicycle, horseback, donkey and motor vehicles.

For Tom Avery (Martin Sheen) he seeks to understand why his son would want to go on such an adventure. Using his son's hiking gear he gets the Camino “passport” and sets off by himself. Since there are so many travelers most of the towns and villages along the route are friendly and helpful to the pilgrims who have scallops attached to their backpacks. He meets a Dutchman Joost (Yorick van Wageningen) who says he's walking to lose weight before he gets married. He is also selling weed to fellow travelers. Tom is not exactly ready for company, but Yoost is so easy going that he follows Tom without too much protest. Next he meets up chain smoking Sarah (Deborah Kara Unger) who claims she will end her cigarette habit on the completing the walk. She also calls Tom on shortcomings while hiding her own issues. Later they meet Jack (James Nesbitt) the blocked writer who they find ranting to himself in the big field. He becomes inspired by Tom's story and begins to find his voice again.

Estevez wrote the story with his dad in mind. They took the film crew by car along the route for the 40 day shoot while the actors walked approximately 350 kilometers during the filming. They also used the actual pilgrims and Roma Gypsies. The story may be fairly predictable with Tom the angry shell of a man who eventually finds clarity and peace, and Jack, Yoost and Sarah serving as the Scarecrow, the Lion and the Tin Man serving as his traveling companions doesn't really break new ground. The wordy exposition uttered like hard truths to be confronted then walked through can get tiresome. At least the spiritual message doesn't follow any particular path, just a universal belief of something greater than ourselves. Plus the gorgeous countryside makes one want to do this pilgrimage when one has a few months and the funds to accomplish it.
(Review by reesa)

Movies Scheduled for the Week of 10/2 - 10/8

Entering stage right pushing soap box to the center of the room. Awkwardly climbing on it addressing the movie group in a semi loud voice: "Will y'all pleeze stop hitting reply when someone offers a pass? If you send it to the group it will get you no where as those emails are dumped, trashed, obliterated. It just takes a couple seconds to reply directly to the person offering." Jumps off box with a loud thud. Waves goodbye, exits stage left.

There's a couple screenings that we don't have a theater location. Please write to the moderator directly if you happen to know where it is. Thanks!

October 2 - 8, 2011

Sun
10/2

Mon
10/3

7:00 pm
Real Steel
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

7:30 pm
Ides of March
AMC Northpark

Tue
10/4

6:30 pm
I CAN'T DO THIS BUT I CAN DO THAT
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

7:00 pm
Footloose
AMC Grapevine

7:00 pm
The Way
tba - Dallas

Wed
10/5

7:30 pm
Real Steel
Cinemark West Plano

7:30 pm
Real Steel
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

7:30 pm
The Way
AMC Northpark

10:00 pm
Dead Alive
Studio Movie Grill Dallas

Thu
10/6

7:30 pm
Real Steel
Cinemark 17

7:30 pm
Footloose
tba-Fort Worth

Fri
10/7

Sat
10/8

11:00 am
Footloose
Cinemark West Plano