Savages

Every Friday, I'll post a list of the movies that are being released and give you my thoughts of the ones I've seen or would like to see. Please comment with your thoughts too!

Nationwide

• The Amazing Spider-Man
  Screened for Cinemit members
  Read a review from founder/editor of Movie Reviews from Gene Shalit's Moustache, Matthew Schuchman
  If I hadn't seen the same basic story 10 years ago, I might have actually enjoyed this more.
  
• Katy Perry: Part of Me
  Screened for Cinemit members
  I'm not sure what to say about this.
  
• Savages
  Screened for Cinemit members
  Read a review from founder/editor of Movie Reviews from Gene Shalit's Moustache, Matthew Schuchman
  It took me a bit to process this latest film by renowned director, Oliver Stone, but I really enjoyed it.
  

Limited Release

• Collaborator
  A playwright whose marriage and career are in a free fall has an explosive run-in with his former neighbor, a right-wing ex-con.
  
• Crazy Eyes
  Zach is guy for whom the party never ends. But when he meets the girl he nicknames "Crazy Eyes," the inability to have her, combined with family matters, are signs that his idle life might be due for a change.
• The Do-Deca-Pentathalon
  Two brothers compete in their own private 25-event Olympics.
  
• The Magic of Belle Isle
  In an effort to tap into his original talent, a wheelchair-bound author moves to a rural town, where he befriends a single mother and her three kids, who help reignite his passion for writing.
  
• The Pact
  As a woman struggles to come to grips with her past in the wake of her mother's death, an unsettling presence emerges in her childhood home.
  

What will you be seeing?

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Review by Matthew Schuchman

Avoiding trailers is a talent of mine. The less I know about a film before seeing it, the better. Savages‘, was a trailer I happened to catch however, and I was disappointed with what I saw. Luckily, Savages isn’t the 100% adrenaline-packed shoot ‘em up showstopper the trailer presents it as. A welcomed return for Oliver Stone as a fearless director, Savages benefits from not jumping head first into being an action-only film.

Making the perfect film is tough, if possible at all. The pitfalls of Savages are no different than the many films that garnered tremendous praise, and if you fixed them all, it still wouldn’t be a fantastic film. Nonetheless, Savages is worthy of your time and a triumph for Oliver Stone after some years of underwhelming films.

Read full review here.

Matthew Schuchman is the founder and film critic of Movie Review From Gene Shalit's Moustache. He is also a contributing writer to Verbicide Magazine and IPaintMyMind.

Savages (2012)

Directed by: Oliver Stone
Written by: Shane Salerno (screenplay), Don Winslow (novel, screenplay), Oliver Stone (screenplay)
Featuring: Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch and Blake Lively
Plot: Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.
Trailer:

• Savages (Screening for Cinemit members) - Opens July 6th
  Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.
  Why am I excited?
  Oliver Stone's newest drama-thriller? Sign me up! Starring Taylor Kitsch (star of John Carter and Battleship) is back, but hopefully he'll get to exercise some of his acting chops and not just be yelling and jumping around. Benecio del Toro needs to redeem himself after The Wolfman, and John Travolta just needs to redeem himself. We'll see.

• The Watch - Opens July 27th
  Suburban dads who form a neighborhood watch group as a way to get out of their day-to-day family routines find themselves defending the Earth from an alien invasion.
  Why am I excited?
  Writing duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are behind the comedy starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill. It's likely that it will be funny, but it could also be great.

• Union Square - Opens July 13th
  Jenny, who has rejected her tumultuous family for a more ordered life, gets a surprise visit from her sister Lucy at a critical time - right at the moment where she's feels ready to commit to her longtime fiancé.
  Why am I excited?
  Miro Sorvino stars in this New York indie film and I'll admit, I mostly want to see it to spot some of my frequent spots in Union Square.

• Ruby Sparks (Screening for Cinemit members) - Opens July 25th
  A novelist struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.
  Why am I excited?
  Paul Dano. Do I have to give another reason? Ok, so the directors, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris also gave us Little Miss Sunshine.

• The Dark Knight Rises (Screening for Cinemit members) - Opens July 20th
  Eight years after Batman took the fall for Two Face's crimes, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham's finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.
  Why am I excited?
  Christopher Nolan has a lot to live up to, and this time the caped crusader is after Tom Hardy as Bane. No matter what, I'm sure I won't be disappointed.
  

You may notice that The Amazing Spider-Man isn't on this list. I saw it last week and all-in-all it was ok, but it's basically the same story as the 2001 movie, so it had no big surprises. Denis Leary delivered, and I did like Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and his Spider-Man had more personality.

What are you looking forward to?

Enter to win a $500 restaurant gift card and a limited edition Savages gift pack!

Visit http://rollingout.com/iamasavage/ for details!

#SAVAGESJULY6

Contest ends July 8th, 2012.

Date/Time: Monday, July 2nd at 7:00 PM
Location: Raleigh, NC
Passes Available: Studio - 10 Admit 2s
RSVP Close Time: TBD
Complete Movie Info on Cinemit
 

To enter to win passes, comment on this RSVP post (by clicking on the ticket and filling out the form) with an answer to the question above.