Let us not play games, my friends, if you are a cinema lover who only has access to theaters that play the most main of the mainstream it is not a very good week for you. Essentially what we have this week is a coin flip, but a coin flip implies that a fortunate event is likely to occur if you get lucky. I suppose if you find being mind numbingly bored as opposed to having those feelings and wanting to gouge out your eyes at the same time as being lucky then my coin flip analogy still works. So call it, friendo.

When in Rome

You like romantic comedies, right? Who doesn’t? I know I love to escape, I also know that the name Kristen Bell always makes me think of Kristen Stewart, and then I am just left feeling lonesome and distraught because every film is not Adventureland. Given the trailer I imagine that When in Rome is about as far from one of last year’s five best films as one is capable of getting. Once again it appears we have another paint-by-numbers romantic comedy. Even the title is irritating, let alone the screaming and the dancing going on in the trailer.

Edge of Darkness

Next up we have the laughably bad trailer for Mel Gibson’s return to acting, Edge of Darkness. Now we can say that the unbelievable and over emphasized accents the characters talk with are terrible. Or perhaps the fact that each man has a desire to speak with the raspiest voice he can muster is a hint that this film is likely going to be terrible. A chance even exists that the dialogue on display throughout is over delivered, accompanied by an imposing score, and appears more flimsy and generic than the dialogue that has been so trendily bashed in Avatar. In two and a half minutes I cannot think of one redeeming aspect on display in this trailer. I suppose it might be better than When in Rome, but I guess that all depends whether or not you are more inclined to enjoy generic lifeless rom-com or generic lifeless action film.

North Face

Opening in limited release, likely at a theater not near you, is North Face, the follow up film from Philipp Stölzl, the director of Touching the Void. While I have not seen that film, the poster tells me it also involves mountains in some capacity, so I suppose for lovers of that film his sophomore effort may re-tread some of the same ground, but if I had seen and enjoyed the first film I would be more interested to see his development as a director anyhow and would still be eager to attend this film. The scenes in the trailer look mostly beautiful, each color is brilliantly used from cut to cut, and while I am not sure how much I actually am interested in the story seeing how they draw on the era and communicate that on screen has piqued my interest. I was also struck by the choice to remain mostly dialogue free during the trailer, a great way to enhance the feeling of dread and isolation, paired wonderfully with the unsettling score. Hopefully the film maintains that mood throughout the runtime.

Saint John of Las Vegas

Finally, opening in New York and Los Angeles we have the latest film to predominantly feature Steve Buscemi, Saint John of Las Vegas. I tend to enjoy Buscemi, but this entire trailer is mostly unsettling, and not in the good, subversive way either. Sarah Silverman seems to be given the role of a Zooey Deschanel type character to play, and the trailer kindly lets the viewer know that experience is likely to be painful, but very few of the other cast members appear to bring that much to their limited screen time either. The film appears to be a fairly standard romp without many of the laughs it so desperately attempts to get in the brief trailer. Steve Buscemi is above this type of generic comedy.

So the result appears to be fairly obvious this week. If you enjoy the feeling of being robbed then it seems that throwing your money at either the abysmal looking Edge of Darkness or When in Rome would make for the perfect Friday night. While for the most part I can recommend catching up on other films this weekend, I can also say that if I had the chance to see North Face this weekend I would be first in line at the theater. I imagine the big screen will only enhance the visual beauty on display, if trailer is any indication. Hopefully next week proves more plentiful, and interesting, we always hope for interesting.