Thursday's Picks (10)

It's Thursday, and you all know what that means...time to find out the best upcoming books, movies and DVDs for the next week. Anyone can play along! Just post what movies, books or DVDs you're most excited about that come out in the next week! Be sure to grab a button from the sidebar and leave a comment linking to your post so I can stop by and see what you're looking forward to.

Now, for my picks!

This Week's Movie Pick:
The Next Three Days
Release Date: November 19, 2010
Rated PG-13 (Lionsgate Films)
Starring Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Brian Dennehy and Lennie James

Summary (Courtesy of Moviefone):

Russell Crowe teams up with Academy Award-winning writer/director Paul Haggis (Crash) and co-star Elizabeth Banks for this Lionsgate thriller concerning a man willing to break his wife out of prison in order to get her out of a murder conviction. Liam Neeson heads up the supporting cast, which includes Brian Dennehy, Olivia Wilde, and RZA.

I know that it's Harry Potter Day, and having my movie pick be anything but Harry Potter is sacrilegious, but I thought it was unfair to have Harry Potter get the movie pick spot two weeks in a row. So I picked it a week early. Whatever.

The Next Three Days seems like a really interesting film. I am a HUGE Liam Neeson fan, and I have never been disappointed in anything he's been in. Yes, that includes The Phantom Menace. He was fantastic no matter what anyone says. The premise of Crowe and Neeson plotting a jailbreak for Elizabeth Banks sounds pretty awesome. We usually see Banks shine in comedic roles, but I have faith that she can pull of drama. Of course, you can never go wrong with Russell Crowe. He never disappoints on film. I think this one will be a gripping thriller. It will just have to wait until after Harry Potter Weekend.


This Week's Book Pick:
Pathfinder
Written By Orson Scott Card
Release Date: November 23, 2010
Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

Summary (Courtesy of Barnes and Noble):

A powerful secret. A dangerous path.

Rigg is well trained at keeping secrets. Only his father knows the truth about Rigg's strange talent for seeing the paths of people's pasts. But when his father dies, Rigg is stunned to learn just how many secrets Father had kept from him—secrets about Rigg's own past, his identity, and his destiny. And when Rigg discovers that he has the power not only to see the past, but also to change it, his future suddenly becomes anything but certain.

Rigg’s birthright sets him on a path that leaves him caught between two factions, one that wants him crowned and one that wants him dead. He will be forced to question everything he thinks he knows, choose who to trust, and push the limits of his talent…or forfeit control of his destiny.

This sounds like such an interesting book. This type of story is something I haven't seen much before in the young adult genre, so I'm excited for something a little different. Not that I don't already have a billion books to read...


This Week's DVD Pick:
Flipped
Release Date: November 23, 2010
Rated PG (Warner Brothers)
Starring Callan McAuliffe, Madeline Carroll, Rebecca De Mornay, Anthony Edwards and John Mahoney

Summary (Courtesy of Moviefone):

When second-graders Bryce and Juli first meet, Juli knows it's love. But Bryce isn't so sure. Girl-phobic and easily embarrassed, young Bryce does everything he can to keep his outspoken wannabe girlfriend at arm's length... for the next six years, which isn't easy since they go to the same school and live across the street from each other. But if Juli finally looks away, will it be Bryce's turn to be dazzled? 'Flipped' takes Bryce and Juli from grade school to junior high, through triumph and disaster, family drama and first love, as they make the discoveries that will define who they are -- and who they are to each other.

This looks like such a cute movie! I was hoping for a theatrical release nearby, but it never came. Luckily, the DVD release wasn't too far behind and I can get my greedy hands on this gem soon.