Weekend Movie Preview: “The Crazies” and “Cop Out”

By Jennifer Hudock on February 25th, 2010

We’ve been walloped with snow this winter on the East Coast, so come weekends, running around in the slushy traffic is a bit of a hassle. Heading out to the local theater keeps me off the road, and inside where it’s cozy and warm. I’ll be strapping on my boots this weekend to go see “The Crazies,” but even if horror’s not your thing, you can bet there’s something for everyone at the movies.

Since I first saw the bizarre commercial for “The Crazies” (R), a Romero remake, I knew I had to see this movie. It starts with four friends who find themselves trapped in their small hometown under bizarre and terrifying circumstances. A strange toxin is infecting the town’s residents, turning the entire community into a walking insane asylum wrought with violence and unspeakable horrors. I cannot wait to get to the theater this weekend to see this.

Tracy Morgan, Bruce Willis and Sean William Scott star in the Kevin Smith comedy “Cop Out” (R), about two veteran cops on the hunt for a missing, collectible baseball card. With one of them obsessed with his failing marriage, and the other unable to pay for his daughter’s wedding without that card, comedy ensues as they chase down an obsessed sports memorabilia collector.

If independent films are your thing, you’ll want to check out the documentary “The Art of Steal” (Not Yet Rated). It’s a true story about a working-class Philadelphia man’s rise to success through the medical pharmaceutical world. His love for art drove him to open a private gallery, where he displayed his priceless collection. Under the provisions of his will, his collection was never to be sold or lent out to museums. After his protege died in the late 1980s, greed outed itself, as the collection became the center of a nationwide art scandal.

Two teenagers offer a ride to a recently released criminal on his way home to New Orleans in “The Yellow Handkerchief” (PG-13). In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the trio bond on their travels, but silently fear what awaits them at home in Louisiana.

If political thrillers are your cup of tea, “Formosa Betrayed” (R), hits theaters this weekend. Based on a true story, it tells of an FBI agent who investigates the murder of a Taiwanese-American professor. With the killers on the run to Taiwan, Agent Kelley finds himself assisting the Taiwanese government in solving the case and finding the killers. As he starts to unravel the truth, he discovers an unsettling political truth that prompts him to speak out against the government, despite the risks he faces.