Saturday Night Movie Recommendations with Abe

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. I'm going to be providing a handy guide to a few choice movies currently playing in NYC as well as several films newly released on DVD. I’ll also aim to comment on those films I have not yet had the chance to see, and I invite you to add in your thoughts on any films I haven’t seen in the comments below. Understandably, some weeks will have considerably fewer releases to address than others.

Now Playing in NYC

Moneyball (recommended): This sports film gets great performances out of Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill as a general manager and whiz kid, respectively, who team up to try to change how baseball works. It’s an affirming, energizing, and genuinely captivating film. Now playing in wide release. Read my review from yesterday.

Puncture (mixed bag): This dramatization of a drug-addicted lawyer who tries to get safety needles into hospitals around the world has a definitive aim which it doesn’t quite achieve. It’s occasionally stirring and affecting, but more often than not, far less interesting and invigorating than it wants to be. Now playing at the AMC Empire and Landmark Sunshine. My review will be up tomorrow.

Toast (anti-recommended): This tale of Nigel Slater’s youth spent trying to become the chef he always wanted to be leaves much to be desired, proving to be satisfying only with its mouth-watering images of food and doing considerably worse with its storytelling and plotting. Now playing at the Angelika and City Cinemas 123. My review will be up on Monday.

New to DVD

Bridesmaids (recommended): This week’s hottest new release was also one of the best surprises for me this past spring, since it turns out that it’s genuinely funny and actually rather enjoyable. Like most comedies, it’s probably best watched in a large group.