Pre-Oscar Release Preview

The time period between the end of the previous year and the Oscars (March 5th, 2006) is usually a pretty dead time period for movies. It seems to be the place where movie studios dump all their junk that they couldn't find a place for anywhere else, and then finally, in March, the new year will actually begin for real. This is of course, outside of late arriving foreign releases from the previous year.

Anyway, I looked it up, and here is what looks mildly interesting. But I am still wary of any movie released during this time period.

February 3rd:
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A Good Woman

It has Scarlett Johannson, which is normally a good thing, but the reviews don't look so good, and the fact that it was delayed since 2004 doesn't look so good either.

Manderlay

Mixed reviews. And I really didn't like Dogville as much as I liked Dancer in the Dark or Breaking the Waves, so considering this is a sequel in a way to Dogville, I'll probably wait for DVD and see it out of curiousity.

February 17th:
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Freedomland

It has Julianne Moore, which is usually a good thing too. But I haven't been too impressed with her last few movies that I've seen, and the trailer I saw for this didn't make it look like anything particularly special. Again, I have my bias here, but if there was more to it I'm guessing it would be coming out at a different time.

Winter Passing

I've been hearing about this one for a long time now. But I haven't heard whether it is good or bad. Again, delayed release isn't exactly a great sign. I'll wait until I hear more.

February 24th:
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Tsotsi

This is kind of cheating. This is really a film from last year, and from what I hear it is probably going to get nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The preview looks interesting, but as far as 2006 goes, it doesn't really count.

Final Commentary
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If I'm blatantly missing anything please feel free to leave a comment. Although from what I see here, I'm probably not going to be seeing a 2006 movie until March 17th, when V for Vendetta comes out, along with a couple others (I plan on doing a spring preview later). This might be a good thing, as I have a little superstition about the first movie of the year that I see. If I like it, the year ends up good (2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). If I do not, the year ends up not so good (2005: Sin City). We'll see.