Movies This Week: I Love You Legacy Fighter

The holiday movies and end-of-year awards bait films are upon us, folks. We'll continue to see Prestigious Films through January or February, since they don't all hit Austin right away. You never know whether you'll end up watching something stuffy, dull, emotionally manipulative, or -- surprise! -- just plain wonderful. And speaking of which, have you seen Black Swan yet?

Movies We've Seen:

The Fighter -- The latest film from David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees) is a surprisingly traditional sports-related drama based on real-life characters. Jenn says the Massachusetts accents and setting are accurate in this one. Read my review to find out what I thought (hint: it has boxing in it) (hint #2: do not judge this movie by its trailers). (wide)

I Love You Phillip Morris -- This Jim Carrey-starring dark comedy finally arrives in Austin. (Actually, it was here in October for Austin Film Festival.) Carrey plays amazing con artist Steven Russell, whose fatal flaw is his affection for the title character, played by Ewan MacGregor. Adapted from the nonfiction book by Houston writer Steve McVicker, and directed by the guys who wrote Bad Santa. Don thought it fell short of expectations -- read his review for more. Me, I thought it was pretty damn funny even though it was uneven and unfocused, and you can check out my AFF review. (Arbor)

TRON: Legacy -- Nearly three decades after the original movie, Disney has released a sequel, in which Jeff Bridges' character is back in the computer again, this time with his son. Apparently the best thing about this movie is Michael Sheen. Mike has the full details in his review. (wide)

Other New Movies:

How Do You Know -- Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd (sigh), Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson star in this romantic comedy, written and directed by James L. Brooks. For such a powerhouse cast and filmmaker, this movie seems to have had very little promotion, and the reviews so far aren't exactly glowing. But how do you know until you see it? (Did you see what I did there? Yeah, I'm hilarious today.) (wide)

Yogi Bear -- The live-action/CGI version of the Hanna Barbera cartoon opens around the country today. Personally, the trailer was so appalling that I cannot imagine watching the entire movie. I know, I just said above that you shouldn't judge a movie by its trailer. And perhaps children will enjoy it. Adults might enjoy this very amusing "alternate ending" to the film. (wide)

Nagavalli -- I couldn't find any info on this 2010 Bollywood film except the tagline: "She Is Back!" I admit that's oddly intriguing. (Tinseltown South)

Our Picks This Week:

Our Slackerwood contributors are all busy doing festive holiday things like shopping and caroling and frantically trying to watch all the end-of-year movies in time for awards season, so I'll just list a few of the special screenings in Austin this week.

• Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale continues at Alamo South Lamar all week. Read Debbie's review. Also, the theater is still showing Four Lions, in case you're tired of holiday hijinks and in the mood for a terrorist comedy.
• Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, the 1977 TV special from Jim Henson, is back at Alamo just in time for the holidays. Admission is free, and a real jug band will perform beforehand. Saturday, 11 am, Alamo South Lamar.
• The Paramount is showing double-features of Miracle on 34th Street and The Shop Around the Corner this weekend to get you in the holiday spirit.
• After an adventurous cross-country tour, Bob Ray returns to Austin for an encore screening of his film Total Badass, a documentary about local personality Chad Holt, at Alamo Village. Sunday, 10 pm.
• Chip and I are all set to go for our annual holiday tradition of watching Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle at Alamo with sliders and fries. Don is joining us this year, too. Anyone else? Monday, 7:40 pm, Alamo Ritz. (Stick around after and watch the Monkees' surreal film Head.)
• Terror Tuesday this week is that classic cheesy holiday horror flick, Silent Night, Deadly Night. Tuesday, 10 pm, Alamo Ritz.
• Chris Holland will be happy to hear that The Magic Christmas Tree will screen at Weird Wednesday this week. (Read the Stomp Toyko review.) Wed. night/Thurs. morning, 12:30 am, Alamo Ritz.
• The Blue Starlite Drive-in is showing a movie that has become a Christmas tradition for many people I know: Die Hard. Thursday, 7 pm. (Blue Starlite is showing a lot of excellent holiday-ish movies this week, including Life of Brian -- check out their website.)