releasing this week: The Wolfman & A Single Man

6 Comments

I guess it’s all about the men this week. My two picks for the week are The Wolfman and A Single Man

The Wolfman 2010 poster Benicio Del ToroI love the ol’ horror so The Wolfman first.

I may have mentioned in my earlier feature about the original version of The Wolf Man, this new version is really being billed as a return to the old style of horror. Maybe it’s a reaction to the likes of Paranormal Activity and The Final Destination… or maybe they just felt there was an opportunity to re-establish the Universal name by returning to their roots. Who knows, but I for one am glad. The last film I remember that was along these lines was Sleepy Hollow and that was back in 1999 so this is long overdue.

Initial reports for The Wolfman have been good and the trailer visually looks great and it looks like there’s some strong action scenes in there so I’m really hoping that the story telling is all it promises to be. I’m hoping as well that they’ll get a bit of tension in there. It might be a little bit much to hope, and lordi knows I hate hoping too much about a film but hell why not?

…Did I explain that about my attitude to hope before? I like to expect the least, that way I’m rarely disappointed. This isn’t just for films.

Writing about The Wolfman does remind me though that I’m having a bit of a reaction against remakes. Not this one in particular, as far as I’m concerned 70 years is a long enough gap to leave, but to American remakes of films that are only 2-3 years old. They’re remaking Let The Right One In as Let Me In… it’s just too soon IMO. But the one I really have a problem with is the new Death at A Funeral, whatever about remaking foreign language films, the original Death At A Funeral was in English. Surely people can just watch the original? It’s only 3 years old!

Hmm… Sorry for the diversion…

A Single Man Poster Colin FirthAnyway, the second film I’m highlighting is A Single Man. Now, like quite a few of the films I’ve been point out recently, this film is only releasing on 5 screens so you might have to search to find it. Initially it’s releasing in the usual suspects – Cineworld, The Screen, the IFI and Lighthouse Cinema, Smithfield. It’s also coming out in Dun Laoghaire IMC so that’s a bit different and I guess there is the chance that it will move into other cinemas after the initial release. After all Precious did move into Movies@cinemas on later release weeks. We can hope anyway.

The main reason I want to see this film is Colin Firth. Now I’m not one of those big Colin Firth fans, I’ve never seen Pride and Prejudice so I don’t know what that whole Mr. Darcy thing is about. I just want to see it because I figure that it’s always hard for an actor to get their first Oscar nomination and for a British actor it would appear to be doubly hard… So Colin Firth must really have put on a great peformance here. He must have… and I want to see it. I’ve already seen all the other nominated lead actor performances and at the moment I would say Jeremy Renner’s was the best… but I’m fairly certain Jeff Bridges will be walking away with it on the night. So I really need to see Colin Firth’s for completeness….

Aside from this it’s fashion designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut. I never pegged “fashion designer” as a profession that would lead to “film director” but I’m very interested to see what he does.

Oh I should mention as well. A Single Man is based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Christoper Isherwood. Never read it myself but if you’ve read some of my reviews/articles about adaptations lately then that won’t surprise you at all.

Other films coming out this week include…

Valentine’s Day – with a stellar cast this promises to be everything you imagine… of a Valentine’s targetted romantic comedy. I’ll be shocked if it’s as good as Love Actually.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief – Don’t know much about this one but it looks a bit like Harry Potter. I’m told the Percy Jackson books are worth a read so I’m interested to see how the film goes.

Ponyo on the Cliff – last film out this week and only on one screen. This is the latest film from Studio Ghibli, the people who brought us Spirited Away so great pedigree there. I hear it’s aimed a bit younger than some of their previous efforts but I’m sure it will still be beautiful.

The Wolfman is in Irish cinemas from Wednesday 10th Feb 2010. A Single Man and the other films are in cinemas from Friday 12th Feb.

6 Comments

  1. comment-avatar
    SeanFebruary 12, 2010 - 5:42 pm

    I’ve seen them both.
    I thought A Single Man was just a beautiful piece of work. Firth is outstanding.

    Wolfman was a little by-the-numbers for me, but they did a nice job and it does have a wonderfully unapologetic Anthony Hopkins.

  2. comment-avatar
    Nicola-tFebruary 15, 2010 - 12:03 am

    I really am looking forward to A Single Man – what do you reckon of Firth’s Oscar chances? Well ok, he probably doesn’t actually have a chance at it but do you reckon he could deserve it?

  3. comment-avatar
    SeanFebruary 15, 2010 - 8:29 am

    It’s certainly the strongest performance of the four nominees I’ve seen.
    Tonight I’ll see the man whose name is supposedly already in the envelope, at a Crazy Heart screening.

  4. comment-avatar
    Nicola-tFebruary 15, 2010 - 4:46 pm

    Let me know what you think. I’ve seen the other four so A Single Man’s the only one I’m missing!

  5. comment-avatar
    SeanFebruary 16, 2010 - 2:10 pm

    I thought he was great.
    You can see why he’s favourite. Another great, un-showy performance (plus his body of work and all those nominations). It’s the man’s time.
    The story itself was as well-worn and cliched as a country song. But that was probably the point.

    Firth’s performance still resonates more for me though. And I certainly liked his film more.

  6. comment-avatar
    Nicola-tMarch 1, 2010 - 3:39 pm

    Having finally seen A Single Man I have to agree with you, it is a beautiful film and a brilliant performance. Pity he’s not going to get the Oscar though, I hope he gets another chance!

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