Moving Into Award Season

September 17, 2004

Like last week, we have an interesting mix of limited releases including some movies that should be a player when award season hits full stride. At least they were made with that purpose in mind.

Cowboys and Angels - Reviews
This Irish film deals with drug deals, gay makeovers and civil servants, but not in that order. Like most movies on the list this week, reviews are just mixed and it will take serious word of mouth for this film to succeed.

A Dirty Shame - Reviews
This film got moved up a week on very short notice, hopefully that won't affect its chances at the box office. What will affect its chances are the NC-17 rating and the fact that it's directed by John Waters. His recent movies have been relatively tame, so it should please his fans that he's returning to his raunchy roots with this movie. The plot is pretty simple, a freak accident turns Tracy Ullman from prude to hyper-sexed wild woman. Who hasn't had experiences like that in their day-to-day life? The film opens in one theatre in John Waters's home city of Balitmore before expanding in the coming weeks.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence - Reviews
Anime has never been able to break out of its niche market in the States, and it looks like this film won't break that trend. Reviews are not great, with most of the praise going to the visuals. And they certainly are not up to the standards of the original, which didn't make a whole lot of money when it was released nearly a decade ago. The film opens in nearly 50 theatres tonight.

Goodbye Dragon Inn - Reviews
A film about watching films. Also a film where the first line a dialogue doesn't happen until almost halfway through its 82 minute running time. Directed by the award-winning director, Ming-liang Tsai, it appears as if this film was made to impress critics with his ability to create a movie without almost no dialogue and very little action.

Head in the Clouds - Reviews
World War II melodrama that looks like an award season hopeful that just doesn’t have what it takes. It earned 0% positive from the Cream of the Crop critics. That's pretty much all you need to know. If you really need to see a World War II movie, check out Zelary instead.

Particles of Truth - Reviews
A look at an intense 48 hours of a highly neurotic artist. First time feature for writer / director and star, Jennifer Elster that shows she has real promise in the business. The film opens tonight at the Village East in New York City.

Silver City - Reviews
A political satire focusing on a George W. Bush like gubernatorial candidate. This film is an obvious award season hopeful, but the reviews are not strong enough to be a major player, but there's a few performances that should get notices. The film opens in more than 100 theatres tonight, which is a lot for a limited release. But that doesn't necessarily mean it will have the most box office success as it difficult to launch a movie successfully in that number of theatres.

Zelary - reviews
One of the best-reviewed films on the list this week and the Oscar nominated film for last year. The story takes place in 1940s Czechoslovakia and tells the story of Eliska, a medical student who works as a nurse when the Nazis close all the universities. The resistance, her lover and a wounded man from the country all profoundly change her life.


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Filed under: A Dirty Shame, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Silver City, Head in the Clouds, Zelary, Goodbye Dragon Inn, Particles of Truth