A NEW SEASON
HOLIDAY BUFFET
By Rob Fagin
Spring Breakers: Selena Gomez (far left) Vanessa Hudgens (far right)
Watching the right pair of movies back-to-back
can illuminate wildly different details, create a
whole new viewing experience and, just maybe,
totally BLOW your MIND. Plus, it’s fun!
Here’s your monthly guide:
If you're brave enough to risk your neck
on the frozen streets of Chicago this time of
year, all for the sake of seeing a movie at the
multiplex, it's probably for one of two noble
reasons: either to catch up on the list of Oscar
nominees (to be announced Jan. 10), or to
smother your frost-bitten brain with some
gooey, garbage cinema.
January is a notorious dumping ground
for the dregs of filmdom, and this year looks
to follow suit with the likes of a fifth installment in a horror franchise (Paranormal
Activity: The Marked Ones - Jan. 3), a fifth
installment in a thriller franchise (Jack Ryan:
Shadow Recruit - Jan. 17), and an action/scifi monster mash-up (I, Frankenstein - Jan. 24)
that may as well be the fifth installment of the
Underworld franchise. Even the reliable Jason
Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air, Young Adult)
reportedly has a stinker of a sentimental
melodrama with Labor Day (1/31).
To call them popcorn flicks would be an
insult to popcorn. The popcorn in these flicks
has fallen from the drooling mouths و [\Y