Movies: High School Musical 3, Saw V and Pride and Glory
By Erik Samdahl
Well, my weekly column covering U.S. movie releases has hardly been weekly. I’ll blame it on a vacation to Cancun and a subsequent virus I picked up in that hellhole, but excuses aside, a ton of movies have come to theaters recently, with only more on the way.
This week, we see several big releases hit the stage, including High School Musical 3 and Saw V.
High School Musical 3, the first theatrical release for the Disney franchise, is expected to be huge. Analysts are predicting anywhere from $50 to $100 million in its opening weekend. As such, I will spend the week praying that this doesn’t happen. High School Musical 2 was almost unbearable to watch, with its cheerfully bad music and choreography, and I don’t expect this watered down sequel to be any better. I’m hoping people are smarter than to pay for this crap, but am not optimistic.
On the flip side, Saw V guarantees more random and pointless violence for those who like terribly written films with crappy plots. Seriously, I have been waiting for the Saw franchise to die for years now, but God likes to toy with me and thus keeps this franchise ticking, apparently forever. Watch it if you dare.
Meanwhile, what will I be watching? Pride and Glory, starring Ed Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight, and Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, which opens in limited release. Pride and Glory is about family and corruption in the NYPD, and certainly shows some promise despite a long delay and questionable previews. Changeling, on the other hand, is one of 2008’s first serious Oscar contenders. Starring Angelina Jolie, the movie is about a mother who is sent to an insane asylum by the LAPD to hide a cover-up involving her missing son. One thing I’ve learned over the years: never underestimate Dirty Harry.
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Erik Samdahl is a movie buff and writes movie reviews for FilmJabber.com, based in Seattle, Washington.
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