What to Watch

Film-

Last week was somewhat of an upset at the box office. Underdog indie horror film "Paranormal Activity" came in first with $22 million, bringing its current gross to over $63 million, an impressive sum for its $15,000 budget.

It surprisingly beat out horror mainstay "Saw VI," which had the lowest opening of the series at $14.8 million, but it still made far more than the budget back in the opening weekend, so we can expect an equally unoriginal "Saw VII" next year.

The three other movies that opened last week, "Astro Boy," "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant," and "Amelia," all with budgets over $40 million, flopped big-time, each earning under $7 million.

This week, three new films of note are out, each vastly different. Going into wide release is the Michael Jackson tribute film "This Is It." Compiled mostly from documentary footage of Jackson conceptualizing, planning, and rehearsing his planned 2009-2010 tour, the film was produced pretty quickly, hoping to cash in on the postmortem "Michael-mania." If Jackson's recent record sales are any indication, this film is going to do very well; and if you're a fan of his music, this is probably right up your alley.

Also releasing this week is the fantasy/comedy "Gentlemen Broncos." It is directed by Jared Hess and looks to be quite similar to his previous films "Nacho Libre" and the hit "Napoleon Dynamite." This awkward-on-purpose style of comedy worked fairly well in "Dynamite," but really missed the mark in "Libre," and trying to capture the lightning of "Napoleon Dynamite" in a bottle again is a risky move. The story centers around a young author, played by Michael Angarano ("Sky High," "Lords of Dogtown"), whose fantasy story is stolen by a pretentious and successful author, played by Jemaine Clement of "Flight of the Concords." Also starring is Sam Rockwell, who shined in this summer's excellent "Moon," as the character of the story in the "book come to life" sequences. This is basically the exact same plot as 2002's "Big Fat Liar," but the quality of the cast is somewhat higher than Amanda Bynes. Sam Rockwell wouldn't have participated in the film if the script was not at least descent and the trailer did not look awful, so this might be better than "Nacho Libre," but no guarantees.

And, after a decade of rabid fans clamoring for it, the highly anticipated "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" opens this week. The sequel to the 1999 film "The Boondock Saints," which made next to nothing at the box office, but found a cult following on DVD, offers fans a chance to catch up with the original's characters 10 years later. From the looks of the trailer, the MacManus brothers will be dishing out some more heaping helpings of vigilante justice. The whole cast is back, minus Willem Dafoe and plus Julie Benz ("Dexter") as Dafoe's character's protégé, and the cast really looks like they've been weathering a decade of gun battles and bar brawls (in actuality they've been weathering a decade of TV acting and waiting for this sequel I imagine…). It should be a bloody action packed adventure, and if you're an appreciator of the original (and if you are a guy in college, you are) get in line this weekend to see the Saints do what they do best.

DVD-

Out on DVD this week, there's a little something for everyone. The latest non-Pixar CGI movie (read: not good) "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" releases this week and your little brother is probably pretty excited. Let's hope that anti-comedic well has run dry at three (or four? who knows…) movies.

The horror thriller "Orphan" is also out this week. It was pretty successful over the summer, and received mixed reviews, which is good for a horror film. I didn't go out to see it, but if the premise of some sort of demonic little adopted girl terrorizing two out-of-place big-shot indie actors sounds palatable to you, it most likely won't disappoint.

Lastly, releasing on DVD is the newest Woody Allen comedy "Whatever Works." I saw this over the summer and absolutely loved it. Allen, whose work of late has been uncharacteristic, really returns to form with this film. Larry David, of "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," plays the caustic main character, clearly a stand in for Allen himself, and was brilliant.

The material was clearly made to be performed by Allen, but David comes about as close to that old style "Annie Hall" Allen from the 70's as you can get. Actually the film is very similar thematically to Allen's older works; "Manhattan" definitely comes to mind.

And similar to "Manhattan," if you know about Woody Allen's real-life, um, odd taste in women, the love story between the 62-year-old David and the 22-year-old Evan Rachel Wood (who similarly has, um, odd taste in her romantic choices) has some creepy undertones. Despite that, both the main characters, and the great supporting cast, including Ed Begley, Jr. and Patricia Clarkson, are outstanding, and Allen's writing and direction in this film are some of his finest work. "Whatever Works" is a charming and funny movie that just about anyone could enjoy, and Allen fans will love.