A couple of decent films (or what look to be anyway) are coming out this weekend. Other than movies running into the new year that qualified with late Oscar runs in the previous year, January through March is generally a pretty weak time for movies. You'll get your action movies that studios shy away from having compete with the big boys of the summer, but otherwise, not a lot of must-sees. These few months are usually where movie releases go to die.
But, one of the releases tomorrow, Joe Carnahan's "The Grey" already has some people wondering if it will make a surprising Oscar push come this time next year. Liam Neeson stars as a man trying to make it back home after surviving a disastrous plane crash in Alaska. The movie looks sure to provide plenty of action and tension as Neeson and his co-stars fight to survive amongst the deadly terrain.
Neeson has proven to be one of the better aging action stars in the last few years, and his characters always seem to provide plenty of depth. Not sure if it'll end up translating to any awards recognition a year from now, but we'll see. I'm looking forward to checking it out this weekend and giving a full review.
After the break, check out a trailer for this one, as well as our synopsis on the other decent-looking film being released this weekend, "Man on a Ledge".
Other than that, one movie being released this weekend that we're keeping tabs on is Asger Leth's "Man on a Ledge". Other than a documentary he directed back in 2006, this is Leth's first full-length feature film. The trailer looks decent, and even though there are a lot of people not completely on board with what Sam Worthington brings to the table, I'm a fan. Generally, I'm going to give it a shot if he's starring.
The movie focuses on a man, Nick Cassidy, played by Worthington, who's threatening to jump from the ledge of a high-rise Manhattan rooftop. As the police try to talk him down, we start to see that there may be much more to this than just a man looking to jump. It appears to be an elaborate distraction in the aide of pulling off a huge diamond heist. Surely there will be a variety of plot twists throughout and character connections that come forth over the course of the film. But I do enjoy a good heist movie, and while I don't expect this to provide much lasting entertainment, on a cold January day, I don't think you'll go wrong with this one. Here's the trailer: