What will you be watching this weekend? Life of Pi, The Walking Dead, Red Dawn, The Expendables 2, Dexter and The Duellists

Finally! The work week is over and you’ll have some free time to relax, crack a cold one, pop that corn and nuke some ‘chos all in the noble pursuit of cinematic entertainment! Every Friday we’d like to hear what everyone will be watching over the weekend, whether it be on TV, DVD and Blu-ray or in theaters.

So what’s on your movie agenda this weekend? Here’s what I’m thinking about watching…

IN THEATERS…

It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in the States (you crazy Canucks enjoyed your turkey last month) so that means theaters will be packed with families enjoying movies together or people who enjoy avoiding their families by going to the movies. Either way we’ve all got options to consider while we chow down on our umpteenth leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich.

When your stranded in the middle of the ocean in a lifeboat you are already having a pretty bad day … but when you factor in the fact that a hungry tiger is your shipmate and you’re running out of food then you really have to wonder how it could get any worse. So are the trials and tribulations of THE LIFE OF PI, based on the wonderful book of the same name and directed by Ang Lee I think this is a film that will be equal parts beautiful (the 3D visuals are supposed to be amazing) and existential. While there is some pretty brutal moments in the book it is still being touted as a good family film as well, as our own Chris Bumbray stated in his LIFE OF PI review, and it may also be a pretty good way to introduce the young’uns to the circle of life. Just kidding, that’s what The Discovery Channel is for.

If you’re looking for another family friendly option THE RISE OF THE GUARDIANS is both holiday themed and executively produced by Guillermo del Toro, so that’s a win-win right there. This flick brings all of the big names together; Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Sandman and an impish Jack Frost in a battle to save the children of the world from an evil menace. I’m sold on the voice casting alone for this animated flick; Alec Baldwin as tattooed Santa and Hugh Jackman as a boomerang wielding bunny … what’s not to love about that? It’s been getting solid reviews overall and some are already considering it a new perennial holiday classic, be sure to check out our take on THE RISE OF THE GUARDIANS right here!

“WOLVERINES!!!”

I love ’80’s cheese, especially of the paranoid Cold War action variety, so it should come as no surprise that 1984’s RED DAWN has a special place in my heart. That said it isn’t exactly a cinematic sacred cow so when I heard it was getting a remake with a modern take a few years back I was interested. But thanks to MGM’s financial situation and some pretty big post-production tinkering RED DAWN has been in release limbo for a long time. I thought it was actually cool and possibly even a little ballsy that China would be the ones to invade the US but then some studio bigwigs made a judgment call and swapped China out with North Korea in post … weak. But all of that b.s. aside I’m ready to see Chris Hemsworth lead a ragtag group of kids against an occupational force for liberty, revenge and apple pie. It’s the American way. Be sure to scope out our official RED DAWN review, JimmyO reconnoitered for us all at great personal risk.

Check out all of the THEATRICAL RELEASES right here

 

ON TELEVISION…

Once the tryptophan wears off and I should be more lucid by Sunday night for the two shows that have really upped their game this season. First up is DEXTER on Showtime, last week I made the mistake of watching the preview for this weeks episode (I try to avoid those at all costs) and it looks like sh*t is about to hit the fan for Dex. I knew a showdown was imminent but I almost find myself not wanting it to happen, with only a few episodes left in the season though I just know something big is going to go down. Next up is AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD, I don’t have too much to say about the show this season except that it is kicking all kinds of ass. I have really enjoyed how they have handled the prison story arc so far and I gleefully anticipate the chaos that is coming.

With the family in town I probably won’t be watching much more tv than that but I will be watching football. I honestly don’t go out of my way to watch that much sports on tv, I prefer to experience them in person, but for Thanksgiving weekend I make an exception. The best way to handle a well earned turkey coma is to set up camp on a comfortable couch in front of a tv.

If you fall asleep in the process of watching well … that’s perfectly acceptable too.

 

ON DVD & BLU-RAY…

I enjoyed the hell out of THE EXPENDABLES 2 but probably not as much as Sly and the gang had making it. While the first EXPENDABLE’s flick was a pretty straight forward action throwback EX2 took it to a whole new level and is chock full of referential humor and gags. It almost borderlines on absurdist spoof and I had a lot of fun with it but if you can’t appreciate it for what it is then it’s just going to be your loss. Dolph Lundgren stole the show for me and his character of Gunnar is full of surprises and for record; I think EX2 has the greatest use of Ennio Morricone music outside of a Western. Chuck Norris knows what I’m talking about.

Ridley Scott is probably best known for his directorial mastery of the sci-fi and historic epic genres and 1977’s THE DUELLISTS is an often overlooked classic of the latter. The film, set during the Napoleonic wars, stars Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine as two young French officers that have a life-long feud over honor that often results in them crossing blades and slinging bullets on several occasions. It’s been a long time since I watched THE DUELLISTS, the fact that it was released on Blu-ray this week seems like a good excuse to revisit some good ol’ great Scott.

Also out this week is the kickass TARANTINO XX 8-film Blu-ray box set. If I didn’t already own 7 out of 8 of these flicks on Blu I’d definitely consider picking this bad boy up, they even throw in 5-hours of all new bonus material into the retrospective set. The set is basically a Quentin Tarantino greatest hits album from the past 20 years and includes RESERVOIR DOGS, PULP FICTION, TRUE ROMANCE, KILL BILL VOL. 1, KILL BILL VOL. 2, JACKIE BROWN, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and DEATH PROOF. For a more in-depth look at this awesome TARANTINO XX set and what it contains click on the image below:

 

Check out all of the DVD/BLU-RAY RELEASE DATES/COVERS right here

 

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU WILL BE WATCHING THIS WEEKEND BELOW!