What up my creeps? McJeffrey is in full swagger today bringing you all the news on the big releases this weekend at your local multiplex. As always before we get into that lets take a gander over at what is arriving locally in Sacramento. Roman Polanski’s latest slow burner The Ghost Writer makes its SacTown debut at the Tower Theater and Olympus Pointe in Roseville. Word-of-mouth on this one is pretty strong, regardless of your opinion of the director. I’ll be checking it out for sure sometime next week. Also, veteran actor Hal Holbrook, who got a Best Supporting Actor nod a few years back with Into the Wild, has his first staring feature in almost forever coming to The Crest this weekend. It’s called That Evening Sun and well… it stars Holbrook. Research? I don’t any damn research? If you like old men in wife beaters (as that is what the poster image promises) then you’re set! Everything else? Go beyond the break to find out…

In Wide Release…

ALICE IN WONDERLAND
The first major 3D film of 2010 has arrived with Tim Burton’s familiar stamp emblazoned upon it. The live acting Disney production that plays as a quasi-sequel to the classic animated film has Alice (Mia Wasikowska) falling down that all-too-familiar rabbit hole and finding herself back in Wonderland. Once there, she must kill the Jabberwocky and bring peace back to the kingdom and all the while wrest its control from the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). All the characters you remember from the original film are here (I was most amused by the March Hare, a character who had left no impression on me in the past). Johnny Depp as you all well know plays the Mad Hatter and seeing as he’s Johnny Depp and all, he gives the Hatter far more screen time than he ever really deserved. A full review of this movie is forthcoming, but in summary if you enjoy Tim Burton’s visual flare nestled into a classic story that in all intensive purposes never needed to really be made, then you may get something out of this. Anything expecting a Tim Burton renaissance will be gravely disappointed.

BROOKLYN’S FINEST
Antoine Fuqua has made one really great movie. It was called Training Day, and aside from one major quibble, I thoroughly enjoyed that flick. He followed up that success with Tears of the Sun, King Arthur and Shooter: three films that have their defenders, I am not one of them (though I never did see Shooter). His newest film Brooklyn’s Finest has a pretty strong cast including Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Wesley Snipes and Training Day alum Ethan Hawke. According to most sources I’ve read on this film, it plays out like a three part morality play wrapped around a cop drama. The HBO series The Wire has raised the bar so high for cop dramas that I’m kind of surprised these movies ever get made anymore. Isn’t half the drama on television these days in the same vein? Either way, Brooklyn’s Finest opens this weekend. I don’t expect it to be in theaters very long.

In Limited Release…

THE SECRET OF KELLS
The weekend of the Oscars is when this movie decided to finally start its limited release campaign? How annoying. Any way you slice it, Kells was the big “what the fuck?” nominee announced a month ago in the Best Animated Film Category. I myself had never heard of it so I took it upon myself to seek out more information. After watching the trailer, I must say the visuals are stylized and fun (kind of reminded me of Samurai Jack) and there’s a friggin’ enchanted forest to boot! How neat!! Depending on who will drag me, I’m sure I’ll discover the secret of Kells soon enough if it ever finds its way to Sacramento.

McJeffrey’s Weekend Predictions…

I forgot to do this last week. Sorry about that. I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict Alice in Wonderland will open huge. It will be over 60 million dollars huge in my estimation. I also predict it will drop big time the nest weekend. That should send Shutter Island to second place, though it will probably grab an additional dozen million or so. Call me crazy, but I see Avatar surging back up to third even though most of its 3D screens will now belong to Alice. Why? One: Oscars are this Sunday and the stragglers who have yet to see it will finally get around to it and Two: Everything else is just scraping the barrel. Brooklyn’s Finest will open quietly in fourth; never to be heard from again two weeks later and Cop Out will round out the top five.

Next week we have unfunny comedies, Robert Pattinson brooding and a new Bourne movie…..no wait, that’s just Green Zone. Until then…