This Week in Film: “Violence is the Reason to Watch”

January, 04, 2011 , by Isaac Weeks

Welcome to the first edition of This Week in Film, where Isaac Weeks highlights special screenings at local indie theaters, notable movies on television, and, since we're all slaves to our queues, the newly available on Netflix Instant.

Have an idea for how this column can evolve? Be the New Raleigh reader you are and let us know in the comments.

In Theaters
There is a grand total of one major new release in theaters this week, but when something of this magnitude is on the calendar, the other studios are wise to give up on winning. That's right, Nic Cage is back in all his crazy glory in The Season of the Witch. A pair of 14th century knights are given the task of transporting a suspected witch to a monastery, where monks will find out if she is the cause of the Black Plague. Ron Perlman is Cage's knight partner and Christopher Lee appears as a Cardinal. Other than that all signs point toward miss.

Special Screenings
Raleigh's oldest film society continues its monthly presentation of classic cinema at The Rialto with director Andrei Tarkovsky's 1962 classic, Ivan's Childhood, the story of a 12-year-old boy who escapes a prison camp during World War II. Ivan is adopted by a Russian Captain and begins spying on the Germans, passing between the two lines unnoticed—for a while. Winner of the Golden Lion Award at the 1962 Venice Film Festival, this film will screen on Sunday, January 9th, at 7pm. Membership is required. Visit the Cinema, Inc website for more details.

On DVD
Depending on how you look at it, today is either a huge release day for some somewhat big name titles, or the studios figure they'll con people out of gift card cash early with an avalanche of crap. First up we have Danny Trejo playing against type in Machete as a grizzled assassin out to take down the organization that set him up, led by Robert De Niro. Steve Carell and Paul Rudd test your love for them by starring in Dinner for Schmucks, with Rudd playing an exec who invites Carell to his boss's dinner to make fun of losers. This sounds like something straight out of the 80s and starring the two guys from Weekend at Bernie's. Last, we see the release of the controversial documentary Catfish. Whether you think the film is a true documentary or a contrived piece of fiction (I believe the former), Catfish was one of the most buzzed about films of 2010. Spare 90 minutes and be amazed at the suspense created by a rather young crew.

Notable Films on TV

Deliverance 9 p.m. Wed. Jan. 5th, CMT
I honestly never expected to open this column with a film being shown on CMT, and yet here we are. Deliverance is a great example of the type of film that this section is designed to highlight: a classic that everyone knows, yet no one has watched a second of. A group of big city businessmen go on a backwoods river-rafting trip that quickly turns violent. Finally add another entry to your man rape ourvre besides The Shawshank Redemption.

The Quick and the Dead 8 p.m. Thur. Jan. 6th, AMC
AMC will edit this film of any bad language, but the violence is the reason to watch, and since we live in America no one will take the scissors to the gunfights. The Quick and the Dead is one of the most criminally underrated flicks of the '90s. Sharon Stone isn't winning any awards as the lead, but Sam Raimi directed this when he still thought making movies was fun, and Gene Hackmen bolsters it with one of the best villain performances on film. With an insanely young Leo DiCaprio popping up among a cast of a thousand character actors in the gunslingers' tournament of death, this is a fun movie.

True Grit 8 p.m. Sat. Jan. 8th, AMC
You've been telling everyone for weeks how much you prefer the new Coen brothers film to the original, yet we both know you can't tell John Wayne's True Grit from The Green Berets. Here's your chance to prove me wrong. If you've ever wanted to hear a young Robert Duvall call an old John Wayne a fat man, catch it on AMC Saturday night.

A Bug's Life 8 p.m. Sun. Jan. 9th, ABC Family

Hey, it's the Pixar film you HAVEN'T watched! Remember how amazed you were that Pixar would cast Patton Oswalt as the voice of the main character in one of their features? Dave Foley is the star voice of A Bug's Life. That would be like if they cast, I don't know, Nathan Fillion today. Foley stars as the voice of Flik, an ant out to recruit bugs to help save his colony from evil grasshoppers led by Kevin Spacey.

On Netflix Instant
Among the films newly available to Netflix streaming this week is a personal favorite, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Paul Newman stars as Brick Pollitt, a former football hero nursing an alcohol problem, a bad knee, and unresolved feelings for his dead best friend. This film stars a host of actors that would later go on to play claymation snowmen or sell cheap perfume, but here everyone is at the top of their game. Last year's An Education also appears on Instant Netflix, giving everyone a chance to catch Carey Mulligan's star-making turn as a 1960s London teenager who falls for an older American, played by Peter Sarsgaard. Sarsgaard should have been nominated for this, as you never know if he's going to propose or throw her into the trunk. Finally, we have 2002's Insomnia. Screw the Batman and Inception fanboys, THIS is Christopher Nolan's best film. Featuring both Al Pacino and Robin Williams' last great performances, Nolan showed everyone that he could handle himself on a big budget set with real movie stars.