Last Saturday, while almost every film blogger this side of Jeffrey Wells was sitting in a crowded theater in Austin, Texas, waiting for Joe Swanberg’s Alexander the Last to unspool before them, we were curled up on our couch in Astoria getting ready to do the same thing. The film premiered simultaneously at the South by Southwest Film Festival and on cable boxes around the country via IFC Festival Direct, an innovative idea that offers smaller festival films to home viewers at a price cheaper than a regular movie ticket. If this On Demand option is truly the wave of the future for independent film, we’re thrilled—we may never have seen Alexander the Last had it not been available at the push of a button. We only wish more movies started to do this! Meanwhile, for you traditionalists, three high gloss films hit theaters today, each hoping to take the box office crown. Here’s a handy guide to the weekend releases.
Duplicity
What’s the story: Julia Roberts makes her comeback (that isn’t really a comeback since she never left) as a sexy ex-CIA agent working with an equally sexy ex-MI6 agent (Clive Owen) to scam a couple of huge corporations out of hella money. Personally, we think Duplicity is the must-see event of the spring; a light and frothy romantic caper dressed up by Michael Clayton director Tony Gilroy to look like the latest from Steven Soderbergh. Still, those expecting major financial returns should temper their expectations ever so slightly. Julia Roberts might still be “Julia Roberts,” but Clive Owen has never been George Clooney.
Who should see it: George Clooney.
I Love You, Man
What’s the story: The Judd Apatow Movie That Isn’t. Despite its many Apatovian hallmarks, I Love You, Man actually comes from the witty mind of Meet the Parents writer John Hamburg. Paul Rudd stars as a straitlaced guy who, upon his engagement, realizes he doesn’t have any male friends to be his best man. Enter Jason Segel as a Rush-loving ne’er-do-well tasked to the challenge. The “bromantic” comedy (gosh, we hate that term) has earned mostly solid reviews, and we’d be lying if we said we didn’t think it looked pretty hilarious. Still, part of us feels like we’re coming close to a time when the well of developmentally arrested man-children will finally run dry. Hopefully it doesn’t here.
Who should see it: Seth Rogen
Knowing
What’s the story: Directed by Alex Proyas (I, Robot), Knowing stars Nicolas Cage as a teacher who digs up a time capsule at his son’s school, only to find a piece of paper that correctly anticipated every disaster from the last fifty years. Worse, it even predicts the upcoming end of the world! As if to drum that point home, the trailer is filled with plane crashes, subway derailments, nuclear explosions and some truly frightening shots of Mr. Cage’s hairpiece. (Scary!) If you’re one to put stock in box office tracking, Knowing is in line to take the top spot this weekend with as much as $25 million in box office receipts. But do you actually know anyone who plans on seeing this? Us neither.
Who should see it: Francis Ford Coppola.
