The Academy Awards are on Sunday, and about 40 million movie fans in the U.S. alone will check that out. The weekend also finds a slew of new movies opening on Friday; none of them appear to be future Oscar contenders.
"Wanderlust"
1 hour, 38 minutes, starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, rated R
Urban goes counter-culture when a New York couple (Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd) is forced by job loss to move to Georgia to live with family, by way of a hippie commune. Aniston returns to raunchy R-rated comedy that served her and audiences well with "Horrible Bosses."
"Act of Valor"
1 hour, 41 minutes, starring Roselyn Sanchez and Nestor Serrano, rated R
In a blend of professional actors and military — active-duty Navy Seals — this fictioinalized account finds a team embarking on a save-the-world mission.
"Gone"
1 hour, 34 minutes, starring Amanda Seyfried and Wes Bentley, rated PG-13
Amanda Seyfried plays a woman whose sister goes missing. Was it a serial killer? After two years, has he returned?
"Good Deeds"
1 hour, 51 minutes, starring Tyler Perry, Thandie Newton and Gabrielle Union, rated PG-13
A businessman’s life is changed when he meets the new cleaning lady in his office. That can happen when Thandie Newton plays the cleaning lady. From writer-director-star Tyler Perry.
"A Trip to the Moon/The Extraordinary Voyage"
1 hour, 19 minutes, starring George Melies, no MPAA rating
The Circle Cinema offers this neat opportunity at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday: Prior to Sunday’s Oscars, see a restored version of the seminal short film “A Trip to the Moon” (16 minutes) by Georges Melies (you know the work if you saw Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” this year) followed by a documentary, “The Extraordinary Voyage,” about the long-lost film’s restoration.
"Battle Royale"
1 hour, 54 minutes, starring Tatsuya Fujiwara and Aki Maeda, no MPAA rating
Truly disturbing news: This month’s Circle Cinema midnight movie presentation offers the Japanese kill-fest about a dystopian Japan society in which 42 ninth-graders kill one another until only one remains alive on a deserted island. Playing midnight Friday and Saturday.
"Pariah"
1 hour, 26 minutes, starring Adepero Udoye and Kim
Wayans, rated R
The synopsis for this Circle Cinema exclusive: “A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.”
Of course, for those wanting to catch nominees at this year's Academy Awards, AMC Southroads 20 stages Part 2 of its best-picture nominee marathon on Saturday, with tickets $40 to see the following five films:
11 a.m.: "Hugo" (in 3-D)
1:20 p.m.: "The Help"
4 p.m.: "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
7:15 p.m.: "The Artist"
9:05 p.m.: "Midnight in Paris"
Those attending the Best Picture Showcase each receive a $5 AMC gift card each screening day. Those who are "AMC Stubs" savings card members will have $5 "bonus bucks" applied to their cards if they purchase Showcase tickets in advance at the box office.
Prize giveaways are also planned for intermissions between the films, according to AMC officials.
