Weekend Update: February 18, 2010

This weekend Shutter Island comes out, and it’s about darn time. The Martin Scorsese picture was bounced around on the movie schedule, first meant to show up in theaters last fall, Oscar bait. But big studio Paramount started muttering about bottom lines and marketing costs, and sent Shutter off to open up in February, hoping to pull some gold out of the late winter movie doldrums. This could work, since no other big ticket films are opening this weekend, and some folks are betting that Marty’s thriller could pull out a record breaking box office weekend. That would be cool.

Meanwhile, the critics who have seen the film have been complimentary, and not: the New York Times A. O. Scott didn’t love it, but some guy in North Carolina thought it was the best movie ever. Most of the rest are somewhere in between. Not much else to go on at this point.

But if you’re a film lover, and especially if you’re a Scorsese film lover, you’re going to see this movie. Soon, like tomorrow.

For the rest of you, if you’re not interested in a drama/horror/suspense/mystery/thriller rated R for disturbing content, there are still some of those romantic comedies around, like Valentine’s Day, and it’s not too late to catch some of the Oscar nominees in theaters – look for Crazy Heart, The Blind Side, and Up in the Air, all still playing at a theater probably not too far from you. Oh, and Avatar is still around but, has anyone not seen Avatar? I mean anybody who wants to go?

There is also some fun to be had on DVD. Check out Amreeka, the warmhearted, thoughtful story of a Palestinian woman who moves to America with her teenage son just after the US invades Iraq. Or In the Loop, a very funny satire about high level government strategizing (or lack of it) featuring whip smart dialogue and James Gandolfini. And if you just want to have some fun, and you don’t mind a little zombie gore, check out Zombieland starring Woody Harrelson as the baddest zombie slayer ever. It’s a good movie. Really.