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Christopher Rude's Blog

Busy weekend? If you're not watching football...there's something wrong with you!

Jan 10, 2013 -- 4:19pm

Friday-Sunday: Bobcat Goldthwait brings his stand-up show to the Laughing Skull Lounge at the Vortex in Midtown Jan. 11-13.

Friday & Saturday: Former “Talk Soup” host and current emcee for “Wipeout” John Henson is at the Punchline in Sandy Springs Jan. 11-12.

Saturday: the Darkness at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Masquerade,.

Saturday: Brian Regan, one of the country’s most successful stand-up comedians, is at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre at 7 p.m. Jan. 12.

Sunday: Spend an evening with William Shatner in “Shatner’s World: We Just Live In It.” It happens at 7 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. check out Rodney Ho’s interview with the 81-year-old star.

Sunday: Since you can’t have the real thing, check out the Machine performing the music of Pink Floyd at 8 p.m. Jan. 13 at Variety Playhouse.

Movies opening this week - January 11 (courtesy of imdb.com)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1321870/

Gangster Squad (2013)

Certificate R 113 min - Action|Crime|Drama

Los Angeles, 1949: A secret crew of police officers led by two determined sergeants work together in an effort to take down the ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen who runs the city.

Director:

Ruben Fleischer

Stars:

Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Giovanni Ribisi

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The Buzz: For his new movie, Ruben Fleischer makes a wise directorial move away from action comedies and goes back to the mid-century for a hard-boiled crime drama with a fine ensemble cast. You might remember the squad was re-booked from an awards-friendly 2012 release to this month after the awful events of Aurora, Colorado; Fleischer cut certain footage and re-shot some scenes in order to soften the film's violence. Despite the high-profile cast, you might say the person getting the most attention at the moment is screenwriter Will Beall since he is developing the Justice League script for Warner Bros.

The Buzz: Marlon Wayans presents his Paranormal Activity spoof months before Scary Movie 5 -- the franchise Wayans helped launch -- tests its cultural relevancy. Scary will have more marketing power, but we bet Haunted will bring the funny.

The Buzz: As the third season of "Downton Abbey" is released in the U.S., no doubt older audiences will indulge in Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut, which places Maggie Smith front and center as the grande dame who shakes up the populace of a home for quippy octogenarians. Reviews have been polite, as you might expect, but little more.

The Buzz: Unlike most of his "Glee" schoolmates, Chris Colfer might put the New Directions era behind him and wade into the world of filmmaking; his screenplay has earned favorable comparisons to everyone's favorite high school comedies, and there's the built-in cool factor knowing that his character narrates the story from the grave. That's totally Winona-approved.

The Buzz: Chris Messina and Sarah Paulson are the best-known names in this indie drama, but there's an interesting story to be found in Messina's creative relationship with Tom O'Brien, the writer/director/co-star of Fairhaven. Both actors came up in New York City's theater scene, and as Messina found himself being typecast in Hollywood after his "Six Feet Under" breakthrough, he and O'Brien began working on a script that eventually became this project.

The Buzz: This grindhouse-cinema tribute looks fun enough; too bad you can't drink and smoke in any theater. Seems ultimately unmissable for Billy Bob Thornton's performance since he barely says anything in the trailer and completely owns those 2.5 minutes.

The Buzz: Some of the chiefs behind this documentary on the rise of paparazzi culture have graciously contributed the photos for our event coverage over the years, and we wish them the best with the roll out of their new work.

The Buzz: Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma are Bollywood crossover stars, while their elder, Pankaj Kapur, is a respected contemporary of Om Puri. Their combined appeal should turn director Vishal Bhardwa's latest into his biggest Stateside hit to date. Also, I wish that my typical day looked just like this poster.

The Buzz: This South Korean disaster flick found its audience over the holidays, becoming a huge hit on its native soil. Here in the States, it could be another indie breakout for distributor CJ Entertainment, the studio behind recent successful promotions of A Werewolf Boy and Masquerade.

The Buzz: Noel Clarke grinds out a handful of microbudget films a year in the UK, though in the US he's more the kind of performer who causes people to use this site to answer the question: What movie was he in? Magnolia Pictures follows their now-standard procedure of releasing the movie on VOD a month or so before its theatrical run, which is proving to be a savvy business model for the indie studio. In terms of the film itself, the premise is so ingenious we're surprised no one has thought of it before.