'The Road,' 'Twilight' are must-sees
Posted: Monday, September 15, 2008 6:00 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under:
Movies
I can relate to last week's post by my co-worker Kurt. We have a 10-month-old daughter, Kelly, so getting to the movies is a rare occasion in my house. Since she was born in October of 2007, I've seen exactly four flicks in the theater -- "Juno," "Cloverfield," "Dark Knight" and "The Other Boleyn Girl." Hey, that's four more than many new parents I know.
I'm not that bothered by it, though. For one thing, the moviegoing experience has slowly become less comfortable at the same time the home-movie-watching experience has improved by leaps and bounds. With HD TVs, comfortable couches, and movies hitting DVD sometimes only months after they come to theaters, I don't feel deprived. Yes, sometimes I miss the communal experience of seeing a film in a big crowd, on the big screen as the director intended. But I'll get back to that in a few years.
There are, however, a few movies that I put on my mental "try to see these in the theater if at all possible" list. I may end up seeing these solo while my husband stays home with Kelly, or with him when we're visiting Kelly's eager-to-babysit aunt, but they're movies I feel would be better seen in a theater.
Dimension Films |
Viggo Mortensen tries to stay alive in "The Road."
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1) "The Road" (release date: Nov. 26)
Sometimes I still think about the chilling, creepy scenes in Cormac McCarthy's apocalyptic novel. I think every one of us occasionally worries about something -- a bomb, a plague, a war -- that takes away all our luxuries and sends us reeling out into a world we are completely unsuited for. We've seen this world before in everything from "Mad Max" to "28 Days Later," but something about McCarthy's sparse prose and heartbreaking descriptions -- and the sheer bleakness of his vision -- makes this one I need to see writ large on a movie screen. That is, if I don't stumble sobbing out of the theater midway through.
2) "Frost/Nixon" (release date: Dec. 5 in limited release)
Did you like "The Queen," with British actor Michael Sheen as British Prime Minister Tony Blair? Maybe you enjoyed "Good Night, and Good Luck," with David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow taking on Sen. Joe McCarthy? I loved both, and that's why I'm eager to see "Frost/Nixon," with Sheen as British talk-show host David Frost, who conducted historic post-Watergate interviews with former president Richard Nixon. My co-worker Paige saw the Broadway play and reports that it was spellbinding. Not sure if that dramatic power can translate to the screen, but if anyone can do it, my money's on Sheen as Frost.
3) "Twilight" (release date: Nov. 21)
Just in case the first two films made me sound like a snooty, pipe-smoking, leather-patches on the elbows type, here's my guilty pleasure. I've read two of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" novels, about a young woman and her vampire love, and I admit it, I'm hooked. No, they're not Shakespeare, but how boring would the world be if Shakespeare was all we had? Actors Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson aren't exactly how I pictured Bella and Edward, but I'm still eager to see their love story play out on screen. I shouldn't have any trouble getting my husband to stay with Kelly while I see this. It all but screams "chick flick."
Our Fall Movie Guide lists dozens more upcoming movies. Which ones are you already drooling over?
