FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! @TWiMovies

Hosts

Farrell Roth
Lon Harris

Guest

Ben Steinbauer, co-writer and director of “Winnebago Man”

Introduction

Lon and Farrell opened the show talking about some of the big Super Bowl movie ads that had shown earlier that day on TV. Lon highlighted the first looks at “Super 8″ and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” while mocking the animated parrot film “Rio.”

In Theaters

“The Roommate”

Directed by Christian E. Christiansen
Written by Sonny Mallhi
Starring Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester and Cam Gigandet

Aspiring fashion designer Sara (Kelly) bonds with her college roomie, eccentric artist Rebecca (Meester), before discovering that her new best friend has a dark side.

Lon: The film is essentially a scene-for-scene remake of “Single White Female” for the CW set. Only it lacks that film’s R rating, and thus its edge. The film aims for sleazy, trashy fun, and though the two leads are on board, a general lack of creativity or sexiness just make it kind of campy and lame. He also found the film slightly homophobic, a claim that Farrell strongly disputed.

Farrell: The movie is what it is, and Farrell had fun with it. She got more involved than she expected, she did find some of the film’s steamier scenes sexy, and she thought Leighton Meester did an admirable job as the heavy.

“The Other Woman”

Written and directed by Don Roos
Starring Natalie Portman, Scott Cohen, Charlie Tahan and Lisa Kudrow
Based on the novel “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” by Ayelet Waldman

Snarky lawyer Emilia (Portman) copes with the recent loss of her infant daughter while struggling to be a good stepmom to 8-year-old son, William (Tahan), her husband’s son from his prior marriage.

Lon: Portman and Tahan are the film, and they have great chemistry. Their relationship is believable and has a warmth that the rest of the film lacks. They deserve a more focused movie that takes more time to just explore their interactions.

Farrell: The movie totally worked for Farrell. She loved Portman’s performance and the relationship between Portman and Cohen’s character. She also felt that Kudrow made the most out of a thankless role as Cohen’s shrill ex-wife.

This Week in Netflix

“Homicide” (1991)

Written and directed by David Mamet
Starring Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy and Ving Rhames

A non-religious Jewish detective proceeds with two simultaneous investigations – a manhunt for an escaped cop-killer (Rhames) and a murder at a convenience store that may be rooted in anti-Semitism.

Lon: Mamet’s third film is both a gripping police procedural and a thoughtful consideration on how confronting intolerance and racism changes people. Though this isn’t the showcase for Mamet’s dialogue that, say, “Glengarry Glen Ross” is, Mantegna and Macy are long-time Mamet regulars and know exactly how to get the most out of the writer’s flair for profanity and rapid-fire pacing.

“A Wedding” (1978)

Directed by Robert Altman
Written by John Considine, Patricia Resnick, Allan F. Nicholls and Altman
Starring Carol Burnett, Geraldine Chaplin and Paul Dooley

Everything that can go wrong does during the wedding of Muffin Brenner and Dino Corelli in Robert Altman’s satire of American families and their rituals.

Farrell: The film makes great use of Robert Altman’s technique for drifting through a social environment, making wry observations. She highlighted Carol Burnett’s hilarious turn as the somewhat unsophisticated bride’s mother, and praised the realism that the film brings to its farcical shenanigans.

Interview with Ben Steinbauer

Steinbauer directed the documentary “Winnebago Man,” praised by both Lon and Farrell on previous shows. It follows his attempts to meet and get to know Jack Rebney, a man made infamous when outtakes of a winnebago commercial he shot in 1989 went viral online.

Conclusion

Be sure to join us next week LIVE at 6 pm PT! We’ll be reviewing new films “Just Go With It” and “The Eagle.”