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

Turn Me On, Dammit! (highly recommended): This 2011 Tribeca Film Festival entry that I raved about and recognized in my AFT Awards this past year finally arrives in theatres, and watching it a second time a year later reminds of its creative energy and wit. Norway is producing excellent films these days, and this is one of the greats. Now playing at the Angelika and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Read my review from yesterday.

Mirror Mirror (mixed bag): This widely-advertised update of Snow White is an inconsistently modernized, generally entertaining take on the classic story, that features Julia Roberts in the lead role as the Queen, having a grand old time and chewing up scenery. The dwarves are fun, but this movie otherwise isn’t all too worthwhile, though it’s hardly terrible or miserable either. Now playing in wide release. My review will be up tomorrow.

New to DVD

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (highly recommended): This surprise Oscar Best Picture nominee was decried by many as an unnecessary inclusion, but it actually stands as one of the most affecting and well-constructed films of 2011, featuring strong performances from young actor Thomas Horn and veteran actor Max von Sydow and a complex and meaningful plot, with excellent music by Alexandre Desplat.

Romantics Anonymous (highly recommended): My second favorite film (see above) from the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival may have had a brief run in U.S. theatres, but now it arrives on DVD. It’s impossible not to like this winning, colorful film about two awkward, excessively emotional people who share a love of cooking.

A Dangerous Method (mixed bag): David Cronenberg’s latest film hardly feels like something from the auteur, instead presenting a fairly straightforward history of Carl Jung and his involvement with Sigmund Freud and Sabrina Spielrein. Viggo Mortensen’s Freud is terrific, but the rest of the film leaves much to be desired, proving less than creative.