Thursday's Picks (17)

Thursday's Picks time! Buckle down and get ready for some movie, book and DVD goodness! As always, Thursday's Picks is where I tell you a little bit about some of the best movie, book and DVD releases coming up this week. I'm doing a little reformatting with this weekly segment, so things will look a little different, but it's still the same great stuff! Feel free to play along! Leave me a comment about your picks, or what you think about my picks. You can even snag a button and make your own Thursday's Pick post, if you like. Enough jib-jab, let's get to the picks!

This Week on Thursday's Picks: Waiting for Forever, Welcome to the Rileys and Trapped

Waiting for Forever

Release Date: February 4, 2011

Rated PG-13 (Freestyle Releasing)

Starring Rachel Bilson, Tom Sturridge, Blythe Danner, Richard Jenkins and Scott Mechlowicz

Summary (Courtesy of Moviefone):

A unique love story about friendship and a view of the world from different perspectives, 'Waiting for Forever' explores the connections people make in the face of life's changes. Best friends while they were growing up, Emma (Rachel Bilson) and Will (Tom Sturridge) lost touch a long time ago--as far as she knows. To Will, Emma never stopped being the most important person in his life. Believing them to be forever linked, he goes wherever she goes. Will doesn't have a home, a car, or a "real" job. He survives on his talent as a juggler and entertainer--talents honed through years of showing off for Emma. When her father gets sick, Emma returns to their hometown, trying to leave behind her complicated love life and failing career as a TV actress. As its characters face love, death and their own preconceptions, Waiting for Forever questions the realities of life.

I chose Waiting for Forever for this week's film pick because it seems like a cute movie. Even though the male lead's behavior is very stalker-like, every girl kind of wants to get stalked. Only in a not-psycho way. Every woman wants to be the center of someone's universe, to feel like they are something special. It's obvious that this boy thinks Rachel Bilson is something special. He centers his live around her because he loves her more than himself, and every woman wants that. Why do you think Twilight's stalker-status Edward Cullen is so popular? Anyway, I think I'll see this movie with other chicks so we can whine about our husbands being real guys and not movie characters.

Welcome to the Rileys
DVD Release Date: February 1, 2011
Rated R (Samuel Goldwyn)
Starring James Gandolfini, Melissa Leo and Kristen Stewart
Summary (Courtesy of Moviefone):

'Welcome to the Rileys' is a powerful drama about finding hope in the most unusual of places. Once a happily married and loving couple, Doug and Lois Riley (James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo) have grown apart since losing their teenage daughter eight years prior. Leaving his agoraphobic wife behind to go on a business trip to New Orleans, Doug meets a 17-year-old runaway (Kristen Stewart) and the two form a platonic bond. For Lois and Doug, what initially appears to be the final straw that will derail their relationship, turns out to be the inspiration they need to renew their marriage.

Welcome to the Rileys is being released on DVD, and I'm ready to pick it up. The reviews have been pretty good, with people saying that this is some of Kristen Stewart's best work. I would like to see Stewart do some acting that isn't filled with twitchy awkwardness, so I hope the reviews are right in this case. I like James Gandolfini's work, so I expect he'll give a pretty good performance, and the general consensus regarding Melissa Leo's performance is no short of incredible. I have pretty high hopes for this film and expect to pick it up first thing Tuesday.

Pick up Welcome to the Rileys on DVD or BluRay from the TLL Amazon Store.

Trapped
Written by Michael Northrop
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Summary (Courtesy of Barnes and Noble):

The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive....
Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision....

Trapped seems like a powerful story. The Publisher's Weekly review calls the book "gripping" and "exciting," and calls Northrop's storytelling "solid." I have a pretty good feeling about this read, so it's been placed on the to-be-read list for sure. The video below is of Irish from Ticket to Anywhere reading an excerpt of Trapped. Note: there's a bit of schpiel before the reading begins about a winter hat...bear with it. It does end.

Pick up Trapped from the TLL Amazon Store.