This Week in Film: Produced by James Cameron

In Theaters

I've got good news for those of you with with a backed up Netflix queue: This week's new releases do not look stellar. First up we have The Roommate, starring future Oscar winners Minka Kelly and Leighton Meester. In this original story, one of the girls moves in with the other seemingly normal girl, only to find out she's CRAZY! The studio decided not to screen this for reviews, which is always a good sign.

Then you have Sanctum, "produced by James Cameron." Not directed by, not written by, not even STORY by, just, "Hey, he made a couple of phone calls for us, so we threw his name on it and gave him a producer credit." In this based-on-a-true-story story, a group of spelunkers discover the mother of all caves, only to become trapped inside. Kinda like The Descent, only without albino blind monsters. In other words, not as good as The Descent. Made with a non-famous cast, so don't go expecting to recognize any of the actors.

Finally, The Galaxy in Cary and The Colony in Raleigh will both be opening the acclaimed British dramedy Another Year on Friday. Directed by Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies), it follows the lives of an English couple (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen) and their friends over the course of a year as they realize they are entering old age. Hands down, this is the best you are going to get this week, folks.

Special Showings

The Carolina Theatre in Durham rolls out another installment of their Retrofantasma film series on Friday, Feb. 4th. They will be showing the all-time classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, followed by the 1976 cult classic The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, starring Jodie Foster. The show starts at 7 p.m., and as always, $8 is your admission for both films.

The North Carolina Museum of Art continues its Winter Film Series with the 1945 film noir Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde. A story of love that quickly becomes obsession, this is presented on a new Technicolor print from Fox. The screening will be held on Friday, Feb. 4th at 8 p.m. Admission is $5 to the public, $3.50 for members and students.

On DVD

The first two films I want to spotlight this week on DVD both feature award-worthy performances. In Never Let Me Go, children growing up in an English boarding school slowly discover their true destiny. This offers great acting by Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield, but Keira Knightley is truly heartbreaking as the final friend in the trio.

Conviction is the true story of Kenny Waters (Sam Rockwell), who was wrongly convicted of murder and served nearly two decades in prison before his sister (Hilary Swank) finally got the verdict overturned. Rockwell has had one of the best careers of the past decade, but his performance here is the cherry on top.

Also out this week is the criminally overlooked Let Me In. The surprisingly tender story of a bullied boy that befriends a young vampire girl who lives next door with her guardian was met with derision upon release because it was a remake of the beloved-by-movie-geeks Swedish import Let the Right One In. Hard to sell Swedish to the Blockbuster crowd, fanboys.

On Netflix Instant

It appears that Raleighites are vegging out on the couch this week, using Netflix instant to catch up on TV they may have missed in the past. We have a little local flair with Man vs Food: Season 1, which I hope everyone is watching for the episode on the Roast Grill in downtown Raleigh.

Next we have the classic Ken Burns: The Civil War. What, was everyone trying to sell Netflix to their grandparents? "No, seriously, they have stuff that you guys would like too!"

In closing, I would like to thank the residents of Raleigh, because while I was researching this week's list, The State: The Complete Series popped up and I had no idea it was even available. My prediction for next week: The Larry Sanders Show cracks the top ten.

 

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Entertainment , Other posts by Isaac Weeks.

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NCMA Roast Grill Colony Theater Galaxy Cinema Carolina Theatre

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