The surprising reply is yes, I think there are actually three movies in wide release that I want to see that week. And, well, there’s additionally a movie about talking chihuahuas, but I guess you can’t win them all, right?

For as lengthy as my three-day weekend lasts (which may not be much longer, though I did manage to survive my newspaper’s latest round of layoff/buyouts fairly intact), I’ll probably go see three movies whether I can find three I think are worthy of a matinee. Here’s a look at what’s available in a week that has, rather amazingly, seven new movies opening in wide release, in the order that I want to see them (and not including Bill Maher’s “Religulous” for two reasons: It’s not playing here and I wouldn’t bother to see it anyway considering that’s simply not my cup of bile.)

1. “Blindness”
I’m willing to assemble one exception to my new rule that I will no longer watch the world end (yet again!), but only considering that comes from the great Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, who created the simply perfect flick “City of God.” (By the way, I recently watched the sequel of sorts, “City of Men” [pictured here], on DVD, and while it’ a different kind of flick it is - in its own way - a compelling tale of coming of age on the rough streets of Rio.) Reviews have been surprisingly abysmal for that flick starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Diego Luna, but I’ll find out for myself anyway, probably Saturday.

2. “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist”
Roger Moore threw down the gauntlet of hyperbole by calling that flick “this generation’s ‘Say Anything’,” but as comparisons go, here’s hoping he’s accurate. Extremely funny man Michael Cera and Kat Dennings star in a tale of two teens who find love and hopefully a lot of funny high jinks during a wild night in NYC.

3. “Appaloosa”
I’m really glad that 1. someone in Hollywood (in that case Ed Harris) loves old Westerns as much as I do and 2. that movie is actually playing in theaters near me, unlike the sublime “The Assassination

of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” for which I had to settle for DVD. Here, Harris and Viggo Mortensen star as hired guns brought in to restore order to a town under the control of strongman Jeremy Irons. Renee Zelweger is unfortunately in here somehow too, but hopefully she won’t have too much to do.

4. “Flash of Genius”
As foolish and sappy as it is, there are just very few movies I love more than Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tucker,” so I’ve always had a soft spot for movies about the little guy and cars. Unfortunately, reviews so far have painted that flick starring Greg Kinnear as intermittent windshield wipers inventor Bob Kearns (and Gilmore Girl Lauren Graham as his wife, huzzah!) as too heavy on the courtroom and too light on inspiration. I’ll wait a week, but whether you see that one and I’m wrong, please let me know.

5. “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People”
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised given the title of that one that Simon Pegg just looks extremely annoying in the trailer. I’ll see it eventually, considering I like movies about journalists and see just about anything with Jeff Bridges in it, but not that week.

6. “An American Carol”
With Michael Moore reduced to releasing his latest “movie,” “Slacker Uprising,” on the World Wide Web for free, doesn’t that flick just seem like a really mean-spirited case of kicking the man when he’s already way down? I guess it’s nice that Hollywood’s Republicans get to have a little fun, but I’ll wait until at least DVD to see that one.

7. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”
I have to assume that that one will win the weekend, but I really have nothing to say about that.

Instead, check your multiplexes Saturday night for a possible sneak preview of “The Express,” starring Rob Brown as Ernie Davis, the first black dude to win the Heisman trophy. “Glory Road” was just a crapfest of epicly poor proportions, but I have high hopes that that flick will be much better. Peace out.

Original post by Reel Fanatic