The weekend movie preview can safely state that come Monday morning, the number one movie in the land will be Hugh Jackman and his return as The Wolverine. A few smaller movies, in a bold move of counterprogramming, also arrive: Blue Jasmine from Woody Allen, and Aubrey Plaza breaks out of her Parks and Recreation mode in the sex comedy from the female point of view, The To Do List.
The Wolverine: Jackman is back as the character that made him famous in 2000 with X-Men. This time out, we meet him alone in Alaska, and he gets sucked into a world in Japan where everything is not what it seems. The action is crisper than X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the plot's better and the entire picture moves like a firecracker shooting towards the sky. As we stated in our The Wolverine review, the film is right near the top of the X-Men movie franchise.
The To Do List: Plaza portrays a high school senior who is heading off to college. She has mastered everything in her life... except for sex. So, before she heads off to university, she is determined to lose her virginity and do everything else on a "To Do List" of sexual encounters. As we reported in our The To Do List review, writer-director Maggie Carey has crafted a sex comedy from the female point of view that is a refreshing change to say the least.
Blue Jasmine: Allen returns for his yearly effort that is more fun than When in Rome, his last outing. But, this time out, things are a little more serious than silly, and in the hands of lead actress Cate Blanchett, the film is a marvel. We stated in our Blue Jasmine review that Blanchett deserves an Oscar for her chilling portrayal of a wealthy woman who loses it all. It is something to behold.
