Weekend Preview: Let It Reign

The weekend box office will probably once again be dominated by 300, but there are some new entrants in the race.

Tops on my agenda is Reign Over Me, starring Adam Sandler as a man destroyed by the loss of his family on 9/11, and Don Cheadle as his former college roommate who helps him attempt to deal with the pain. Sandler blew me away in the trailer, and I daresay that he could generate some award buzz. According to IMDb, Reign Over Me was slated for a December 1 release, but Sony bumped it in favor of The Holiday, costing Sandler a potential Oscar nod. (Perhaps the studio thought Sandler’s Oscar chances would be better this year, without Forest Whitaker dominating the category.) Don Cheadle is always amazing, but I can’t wait to SEE IT for Adam Sandler’s performance. (Official Site)

Shooter is Mark Wahlberg’s first outing since his Oscar nominated performance in The Departed. Wahlberg plays a secret service agent who is framed for an assassination attempt and then (dum, dum, dum!) wants vengeance on his enemy. Shooter is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who has hasn’t had a hit since Training Day in 2001. I doubt that Shooter has as good as a script as Training Day, so I’m going to SKIP IT. (Official Site)

Pride has quite possibly the lamest movie poster that I’ve seen in quite some time. Seriously. I walk by the poster every morning on the way to the subway, and it just makes the movie look so horribly cheesy. Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac star in this story of an underdog, all-black swim team in the 1970s, though the poster made me think it was about boxers. Terrence Howard has had his pick of scripts since Crash and Hustle & Flow, but I can’t give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. SKIP IT. (Official Site)

Color Me Kubrick is the mildly intriguing story of a con man who poses as Stanley Kubrick during the filming of Eyes Wide Shut. John Malkovich plays “Mr. Kubrick” and the trailer may give away the film’s funniest moment. When starstruck fans ask who “Kubrick” has in mind for his next film, he answers “John Malkovich,” to which they all reply, “who?” If you’re a big Kubrick fan, you may want to RENT IT. (Official Site)

Also opening this weekend are TMNT, the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, and slasher sequel The Hills Have Eyes 2. SKIP IT and SKIP IT.

I’m just biased. I want Reign Over Me to reign at the box office.