Weekend Movie Guide: Prestige Film Season Continues

Cate Blanchett is Queen Elizabeth

It's a strong weekend for new releases. After a long break, Jim Gray is back in the director's chair with We Own the Night. Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix star as brothers on opposite sides of the law. Reviews have been 50/50, but critics were equally blase about Gray's last flick, The Yards, which I loved. Cate Blanchett is back as Queen Elizabeth in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Reviews have been weaker than those of its predecessor, but this is the sort of sumptuous period piece that deserves to be seen for its production design alone.

Ryan Gosling and the Real Girl

Can't really get a handle on Lars and the Real Girl. Gosling is a bit of a golden boy right now and the premise certainly seems daffy enough (the above photo is the plot). Still, I'm not sure that this one won't fall into the "too precious for its own good" category. Reviews have been mostly positive, though, so I'll probably give it a whirl. Sorry to see that Sleuth is getting panned. I would think that Caine + Branagh + Pinter would = good, but it looks like that's not the case. Blame Jude Law, poison since being excellent in Ripley and Gattaca.

Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? did not screen early for critics. That's typically a sure sign of a total dud, but Perry's movies have been review-proof to date. Terror's Advocate may be the most controversial documentary of the year. Barbet Schroeder directs this incendiary piece about Jacques Verges, the lawyer who's defended everyone from Idi Amin to Pol Pot to Klaus Barbi. Reviews have been through the roof. The weekend's family film is The Last Season. If you absolutely have to see something with warmed-over cliches and sappy plot points, this is your movie. Early notices have been less than impressive.

Tickets & Showtimes

We Own the Night
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Lars and the Real Girl
Sleuth
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?
Terror's Advocate
The Final Season

Previews

We Own the Night