PREVIEW WEEKLY: JANUARY 22ND

Grand Readership,

The usual deal: my instincts on this week's releases... and this week marks a very boring end to an eventless month at the theaters (apart from, you know, AVATAR pretty much printing money at will).  I'm going to do my best to see FISH TANK (released in NYC last week) and throw a review of that up.  I should probably mention the GOLDEN GLOBES but doing so would give them volumes more credit than deserved (frankly I give more clout to the day-time EMMYS).  If you're on the cusp to see CRAZY HEART, be sure to check out COMEDY N CHAOS' review of it here.  Enjoy!

LEGION (DIR. SCOTT STEWART)

STEWART is more an FX guru than director, but LEGION may indicate his changing role behind the camera is a permanent one.  I'm sure he fought the studio (SCREEN GEMS) for every FX penny he could, but from the trailer - I'm not quite sure he secured enough.  Epic in nature, LEGION hopes to satisfy on the horror/fx/apocolypse level?  I think?  Who knows, really - but it looks amusing if you're into that sort of thing.  PAUL BETTANY leads, DENNIS QUAID is involved, as is TYRESE GIBSON and CHARLES S. DUTTON (a favorite of mine).  Sure, go see it... but not on my account.

TOOTH FAIRY (DIR. MICHAEL LEMBECK)

Many of you know of my unabashed love for THE ROCK aka DWAYNE JOHNSON.  There's something about the way he can handle himself, somehow delivering on timing but never taking himself too seriously... it's perfect.  JOHNSON stars here as an amateur athlete sentenced to serve one week as the tooth fairy.  Hilarity ensures (we hope), caked thickly (I'm sure) in kid-friendly icing.  Maybe the highlight of this picture (which doesn't particularly strike my fancy) is that JULIE ANDREWS co-stars.  For those needing to take the kids to something... otherwise, heck, I don't know when you see this.  Here's to hoping THE ROCK goes back to some PG13 action comedy... or in a perfect world - getting himself into some gritty R action!

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES (DIR. TOM VAUGHAN)

EXCRUCIATINGLY-ORDINARY MEASURES stars HARRISON FORD and BRENDAN FRASER and KERRI RUSSELL and, oh my god, should I even finish?  To quote a dear friend of mine, "I thought this was a made for TV CBS special."  And who could blame him?  In the film's own promotions, it claims to be "as inspirational as THE BLIND SIDE"... now I'm no director, but that's not exactly the first thing I want people hearing about my film.  MEASURES no doubt speaks to a specific audience type - and nothing will stop them from charging the box office for the TUESDAY matinee.  And please, its not that I don't like saving children from cancer... but who could argue this picture wouldn't be far more telling as a well-explored documentary?  One must accept HOLLYWOOD'S need to hire beautiful people to tell "true" stories, but when the subject matter is as delicate as it is in this case, it's all the more maddening to have tailored performances and pitch-perfect scripts.  I consider this the best example of HOLLYWOOD bile out there.  Avoid.  Or see the documentary - if they ever wise up and make one.

CREATION (DIR. JON AMIEL)

Director JON AMIEL certainly has a varied resume, even if it isn't the most polished.  He gave us the entertaining ENTRAPMENT, a forgettable action flick in THE CORE and somewhat of a cult hit thriller COPYCAT.  CREATION tells the story of Darwin and stars PAUL BETTANY as the man and JENNIFER CONNELLY as the man's wife (she's his real-life wife as well, for those curious).  It's not that I have anything against CREATION, but rather, have no feelings on it whatsoever.  I saw CONNELLY promote the picture recently on late night - she didn't have much to say, as it would turn out.  Heck, I suppose for the Darwin geeks out there this is like BATMAN vs SPIDERMAN set on PANDORA... but for the 98% of the public... why exactly are we seeing this?  Man struggles with god.  Not exactly a fresh topic... See as a date flick, if you're a fan of CONNELLY or said geekdom applies to you.