The best, the worst, and the rest of this week's movies

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Friday, December 28, 2012

Opening / Film The best, the worst, and the rest of this week's movies

Posted by J.R. Jones on 12.28.12 at 07:34 AM

This dog wont hunt: Darling Companion, among the years worst movies

This dog won't hunt: Darling Companion, among the year's worst movies

This week, to augment the Photo Issue, Ben Sachs, Drew Hunt, and I are calling our favorite films of the year. If you're a sucker for this sort of year-end blather, check out the Bleader for our 2012 genre picks (animation, human-interest doc, comedy, political doc, sci-fi/fantasy movie, action/suspense movie, horror movie), plus the year's best revival and the worst of 2012.

John Magaro in Not Fade Away

As you know, the big Christmas releases are flooding theater screens, but there are a couple of stragglers looking for a curious eye this week. Check out our new reviews of The Big Picture, a French mystery by Eric Lartigau about a Paris businessman who suspects his wife is cheating; Not Fade Away, the big-screen debut of Sopranos creator David Chase, a tale of New Jersey youth intoxicated by the Rolling Stones in the late 60s; Parental Guidance, with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as an elderly couple babysitting their grandchildren; and Promised Land, with Gus Van Sant directing Matt Damon and John Krasinski in a script they cowrote, based on an environmental-themed story by Dave Eggers.

Best bets for repertory: David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962), daily at Music Box; Michael Roemer's classic Nothing But a Man (1964), Friday and Saturday at Gene Siskel Film Center; Pim de la Parra's One People (1976), daily at Facets Cinematheque; F.W. Murnau's majestic Sunrise (1927), with matinees Saturday and Sunday at Music Box; and Anthony Mann's Winchester '73 (1950), Sunday and Thursday at Film Center.

Sunrise and Nothing But a Man follow below in their entirety—happy new year to all!