Well, I may have missed two weeks of movie goodness, but I'm back this week to remind you of what just came out and what is coming out this weekend.  First, lets reflect on this past weekend.  I know its not easy, considering its Monday and thinking about the weekend hurts us all, but lets just power through okay?

The Men Who Stair at Goats:

If you didn't laugh at the trailer for this movie, clearly you don't have a soul (and for that I pity you dearly).  Still funny trailers does not a good movie make.  Still, the word is if you are in to dark, satirical humor, you'll probably enjoy this film.  At the same time, don't expect to add it to your top 25 list.

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol:

Do like you Christmas?  Do you like Jim Carrey?  If you answered yes to both, you probably won't hate this movie.  Still, from what I gather, it falls in the same lines as The Polar Express (partially because it was made by the same people).  By that I mean, its visually pretty and done well, but lacking that x-factor to make it something truly special.  On the upside, Gary Oldman is in it and if you didn't know by now, I love Gary Oldman!

The Box:

The Box is my personal pick for the week because it looked balls crazy and because I really loved Donnie Darko which was directed by same man, Richard Kelly.  The premise of the movie is super simple.  A young, innocent couple are offered a million dollars if they press a button.  However, by pressing the button, someone, somewhere will die.  How is this made into a whole movie?  I'm not sure, but I really want to know.

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And now, here is the heads up on what is coming out this weekend.

2012:  Personally, I'm a little sick of Roland Emmerich blowing up the world.  He did it in Independance Day, Godzilla, and The Day After Tomorrow.  I'm mostly sick of it because that is really all he does.  It doesn't give us a very good story or good characters and generally, his jokes aren't especially funny when they are made.  However, he is the man that gave us The Patriot (the Mel Gibson one), which while historically not super accurate, was far superior to anything else he has made.  As far as his new destruction piece, initial word is that it is terrible.  The thing is, the people saying this still love it.  They say its so wrapped up in its badness and worthless excuse for a story that its fantastic.  Its supposed to be quite entertaining but also utterly stupid.  Then again, a lot of utterly stupid things are quite entertaining.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: Wes Anderson is arguably the king of quirky art-house films having done Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums. and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.  So naturally his newest film would be a stop-motion family movie based on a children's book by Roald Dahl, the man who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, the BFG, and Matilda.  Regardless of how random the combination might be, the result is supposed to be...well...fantastic!  If you are a family person, this would be a great film to take everyone to.  Heck, even if you just want a solid, funny film, I'm fairly certain this won't let you down....but if it does, I am very sorry.  Don't stop reading my blog because of it.

The Messenger: Prior to writing this blog, I actually hadn't heard of this movie.  After looking it up, I very much want to see and you just might to because it is supposed to be incredible.  The story follows two army soldiers who fill the position of messengers (hence the title), who have to inform parents, wives, etc that their loved one has died in service of the country.  Unfortunately, its only limited release at the moment so finding it could be difficult.  Hopefully it will go the way of the The Hurt Locker and get a broader release.

Here is a trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/themessenger/