Popcorn Pick 10-8-10

Two new releases this week, both look unsatisfying: Life As We Know It, starring Katherine Heigl and Transformers' Josh Duhamel, is a romantic dramedy about a mismatched pair assigned to take care of a baby girl after the parents pass away. Fans of Heigl will surely flock in droves, but the film is utterly predictable. The other new release is Disney's Secretariat, with Diane Lane and John Malkovich, about an underdog racehorse who won the Triple Crown. Unique in that racehorse movies are rare these days, but they're rare because no one cares.

So I'm gonna choose an old movie that you may have missed these last few weeks. If you saw Gone Baby Gone, you know Ben Affleck is a competent director, even if you're not a fan of his acting. He follows up that brilliant crime drama with what appears to be another one: The Town, set in his native Boston about a band of bank robbers, one of whom falls in love with a young teller they kidnapped and wants to go straight. The glittery, awards-friendly cast includes Affleck himself, Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), and Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona). Affleck also co-wrote, making it his brainchild.

Popcorn Pick 10-1-10

It's the Facebook movie! By that, of course, I mean The Social Network, the highly-anticipated film about Mark Zuckerberg, the kid who created the hugely popular website Facebook and ended up entangled in a legal battle after his friends claim he stole their ideas. People will tell you over and over again that the movie isn't actually about Facebook, but the average viewer won't listen or care: the movie looks awesome anyway. And surprisingly enough, it's also generating a lot of Oscar buzz, surely the first Facebook-themed movie to do so. It's directed by David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing). The cast includes Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland), Andrew Garfield (the guy set to be the next Spider-Man), and Justin Timberlake.

Popcorn Pick 9-24-10

Anyone tired of zombie movies or dumb actioners looking for a good financial drama, your saving grace has arrived. The long-awaited sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is finally in theaters, 23 years (!) after the original. Michael Douglas returns to the role that won him an Oscar, Gordon Gekko, fresh out of prison and eager to get back into the trading game. Shia LaBeouf plays against-type as a young hotshot stockbroker engaged to Gekko's estranged daughter. Making a follow-up to such a classic is a daunting task and I find it difficult to think it will be as good, but it may at least be worthy. Oliver Stone is also back in the director's chair; the cast also includes Carey Mulligan (An Education), Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men), Susan Sarandon, and Frank Langella.

Popcorn Pick 9-17-10

Is the devil among us? Apparently, as evidenced by the new horror movie being released today, called... Devil. Evidently the king of all evil likes to reside in crowded elevators, playing on people's fears and suspicions and driving them to terrible acts. It's even worse than when someone farts. The story follows five strangers stuck in an elevator as weird things start happening and they come to the conclusion that one of them must be the devil himself. It's being advertised as an M. Night Shyamalan film, but the famous director really just writes and produces this piece. The director is a no-name, as is most of the cast, which is smart- it allows the viewers to focus on the story, which promises suspense and mind-bending intrigue. Whether or not it delivers has yet to be seen.

(Also out this week, check out The Town, an Oscar hopeful directed by and starring Ben Affleck [Gone Baby Gone], about a Bostonian bank robber trying to change his ways after he falls in love. The film also stars Jeremy Renner [The Hurt Locker], Jon Hamm [Mad Men], and Rebecca Hall [Vicky Cristina Barcelona]. Looks to be one of the better dramas out this season.)

Popcorn Pick 9-10-10

Still waiting for those good fall movies to come out. While you wait, enjoy Resident Evil: Afterlife, the fourth film in the franchise based on the popular video games. Milla Jovovich returns to kick some more zombie ass and jump off of really tall buildings and other cool stunts. But this time it's in 3-D, so it's different. For fans of the series only, for everyone else it's just another zombie movie with hot chicks. Speaking of, the cast also includes Ali Larter (Heroes).

Popcorn Pick 9-3-10

Nothing really exciting this week, but this Pick will probably be worth a good laugh or two. The last-minute summer comedy Going the Distance stars real-life couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long as a couple who decide to start a long-distance relationship. This theme of love and trust is very common in real-life but strangely rare in the movies, so I'm excited to see if this offers a fresh take on the romantic comedy genre. The PG-13 concept is surprisingly, rated R, due mainly to the promising supporting cast, which includes Christina Applegate, Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live), Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), and comedian Jim Gaffigan.

Popcorn Pick 8-27-10

This time of year is so awkward for movies. We're right between summer and fall, all the big blockbusters have already come out, and all the big fall movies are being kept for Thanksgiving. Now all we're getting are the seasonal rejects that just needed a release date. I can't bring myself to recommend any of the new releases coming out, be it the lame heist thriller Takers or the no-buzz horror The Last Exorcism. However, there is one film coming out that I can suggest because it's not a new release, but actually a re-release.

Avatar: Special Edition features 9 additional minutes of never-before-seen footage that add on to the story and of course the lush visual imagery of this already-impressive film. That's right: the Oscar-winning sci-fi epic that went on to become the biggest movie of all time is being re-released exclusively in 3-D and IMAX 3-D with new scenes. The project was personally overseen by James Cameron and is only out for a limited time. This will be released on DVD, except that version will have 16 additional minutes, which means that by the end there will actually be three different versions of the film. Obviously this won't make a big mark on the box office, being that the film originally came out less than a year ago, but if you were a big fan, and you didn't mind its very long running time, this is a chance to see it on the big screen one more time.