releasing this week: Burlesque and TRON: Legacy

Only three new films this week, and two of them I’ve already seen. By rights I should probably highlight all of them since I’m not going to say that much about TRON: Legacy but… I’ve been avoiding information about Catfish. It’s some kind of documentary and I gather there’s some controversy about whether it’s true or not… So I worry if I read to much about it I’ll come to a conclusion before seeing. That’s why it’s not highlighted this week.

Anyway. First up this week, a film I really should have reviewed by now. Burlesque.

Unfortunately for me, and possibly you as well if you really are interested in my opinion, I haven’t had a lot of time recently. Holiday season and all that. I haven’t had an evening on my own at home since… well… it’s been probably almost two weeks at this stage. I’m really gonna try and get stuff done over Christmas though.

Course that’s just excuses, it’s got nothing to do with Burlesque.

As you will hear in the review, I was initially skeptical about Burlesque. The trailer looked awful to be honest. But… I love a good musical. I like, you know, X Factor and that kind of thing. And I do think Christina Aguilera has an amazing voice. I don’t know about her being an actress but I figured she was probably just playing some version of herself in this so… shouldn’t be too much of a stretch. Burlesque is basically one of those small-town-girl-moves-to-the-big-city-with-a-dream films. This little girl happens to have a set of pipes on her.

I’m highlighting it because I thought it was great fun and I really enjoyed it but, by gods, I’m not recommending that everyone go see it. There are some great song & dance numbers and fantastic costumes but, if you’re the kind of person who thinks a strong plot or good dialogue is absolutely necessary for your enjoyment of a film then skip it – You’ll only be annoyed. For everyone else though, it’s a good ol’ romp and I won’t be surprised if at least one of the song will be up for Best Original Song at the Oscars. Expect to see cabaret, sorry, I mean burlesque, dancers twirling across the stage at the Kodak Theatre come February.

Second big film of the week is Disney’s TRON: Legacy.

It’s funny, the release of this film is leading to more than a few film reviewers (and let’s be honest, nerds) making one solemn and embarrasing confession… and I admit I am one.

Film fans, I must confess, I’ve never seen the original TRON.

I dunno why, it looks like my kind of film, I even have the DVD – 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition no less, I’ve just never got around to it. Well, I actually tried to watch it the night before I was going to see TRON: Legacy but I fell asleep after 1/2 an hour (it was 2am). I then tried to watch the last hour during lunch in work but I realised it was a region 1 DVD so no joy. And now that I’ve seen Legacy the need to see TRON is not as great. I will eventually though, I swear.

Anyway, so, everybody’s saying it but no-one really wants to say it because it’s kinda lazy… but TRON: Legacy has really spent the last few month gearing up to be this years Avatar. It’s an inescapable fact. But I guess what’s wrong with trying to emulate the highest grossing film in history right?

Like Avatar, TRON: Legacy is promising to be a visual feast. They even had a 23 minute preview a little while back to prove to us all that it would be a visual feast. Having seen it, I can assure you it is both a visual and aural (if you like that kind of thing) feast… I’d say a few more thing about Avatar and TRON: Legacy but since this ain’t the review though I’ll leave it there. I did a little feature on it recently so have a look here to read more about it.

Other films releasing this week…

Catfish – As I already mentioned, I’m desperate to not know too much about this indie documentary. All I know is that it’s supposed to be good and the beginning of the blurb on IMDb.com which says “In late 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost sensed a story unfolding as they began to film the life of Ariel’s brother…”.

Ok, I know two other things. As I mentioned at the top, there’s some controversy over whether it’s a real or a fake documentary. And I also know it’s something to do with online. Which, obviously, I’m interested in. So I’m planning on seeing it on Tuesday, I’ll let you know on the ol’ twitter or facebook page if it’s worth a look. Till then I shall be looking away every time I see the word “Catfish” anywhere.

Unsurprisingly for a documentary, Catfish is on limited release. You can catch it in the IFI in Temple Bar or in Light House Cinema in Smithfield.

Actually… it feels a bit slack only talking about three films, I haven’t really given you much choice. So, here’s another for ya. The Christmas classic, It’s A Wonderful Life (1946), is screening in the IFI until at least Thursday, 2pm and 6.40pm. I’ve never seen it… I know, for shame, but I’m planning on popping along on Tuesday to rectify that issue. You can book tickets from the IFI bookings site here.

That’s it for this week. Hope you don’t spend all the week running around like mad things buying Christmas presents… try to get to the cinema at some point!

TRON: Legacy, Burlesque, Catfish and It’s A Wonderful Life are all in Irish cinemas from Friday 17th December 2010.