Each week, Should I See It will be looking to its left and to its right, collating the thoughts of many of the film reviewers and writers located in and around the Seattle community. While it is likely that this column will grow and change over time, I felt it was a good idea to kick this new feature off for the first movie release weekend of 2013.

Plus, I have the chance to turn the spotlight on several of my peers – hard working, diligent and thorough in their analysis and their critique of the movies competing for your hard-earned dollars and cents every weekend.

OPENING IN SEATTLE THIS WEEKEND (January 4, 2013):

• The Impossible (Not screened for Seattle critics)
• Promised Land
• Texas Chainsaw 3D (Not screened for national critics)
  
• Zero Dark Thirty
  

See what the Seattle critics say about these films…after the cut!

THE IMPOSSIBLE
Starring: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland
Rating: PG-13 (for intense realistic disaster sequences, including disturbing injury images and brief nudity)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 114 Minutes
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Maria, Henry and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her. – Lionsgate Films

WHAT DO WE THINK ABOUT The Impossible?

Robert Horton, Everett Herald
“This true story is certainly stirring, although even while getting involved in the travails of this family, I couldn’t help being distracted by the filmmaker’s heavy hand. Just about every big plot turn is underscored with a close-up or a musical flourish that underlines the significance of what we’ve seen.”

Brad Brevet, Rope of Silicon
“Overall, it’s a film that hits hard in its opening and hopes it has softened you up enough along the way to tug at your heartstrings in the end. I’m sure it will end up working for some, but for me I got to the point where I’d just had enough.”

Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times
“It’s a beautifully acted and impressively realized film — but ultimately “The Impossible” feels like the wrong story, well told.”

The Impossible, an Oscar hopeful especially with regard to Naomi Watts’ hopes for a Best Actress nomination, was not screened locally for critics. The film has a 80% score from Rotten Tomatoes’ panel of critics, far more favorable than our limited local consensus.

PROMISED LAND
Starring: Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand
Rating: R (for R for language)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Director: Gus Van Sant

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Promised Land is the new contemporary drama directed by Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk). Matt Damon plays Steve Butler, an ace corporate salesman who is sent along with his partner, Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand), to close a key rural town in his company’s expansion plans. With the town having been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, the two outsiders see the local citizens as likely to accept their company’s offer, for drilling rights to their properties, as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job for the duo becomes complicated by the objection of a respected schoolteacher (Hal Holbrook) with support from a grassroots campaign led by another man (John Krasinski), as well as the interest of a local woman (Rosemarie DeWitt). Promised Land explores America at the crossroads where big business and the strength of small-town community converge. – Focus Features

WHAT DO WE THINK ABOUT Promised Land?

Erik Samdahl, FilmJabber
“…an entertaining and easy-to-watch drama that unfortunately lacks the necessary power to compete with the end-of-year heavy hitters.”

Nick Ahlers, The MacGuffin
“Promised Land is a little too slight to garner the awards attention it seems to strive for, but that doesn’t take away from the power it yields.”

Sara Michelle Fetters, MovieFreak.com
“I do find value here, and as such I can hardly dissuade those interested in the subject matter or the scenario from heading to the theatre to take a look at the film for themselves.”

Promised Land, an award season hopeful which has failed to ignite a spark, played much better on a limited scale here than with national critics. Nationally, the film has attained a 50% approval from Rotten Tomatoes’ panel.

TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D
Starring: Alexandra Daddario, Tremayne Neverson.
Rating: R (for strong grisly violence and language throughout)
Genre: Horror
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Director: John Luessenhop

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
A chainsaw-yielding killer known as Leatherface terrorizes a group of young teens. – Lionsgate Films

WHAT DO WE THINK ABOUT Texas Chainsaw 3D?

Sara Michelle Fetters, MovieFreak.com
“…a pile of cheap, rudimentarily conceived and even worse executed hokum, and while for genre fans that potentially could be construed as a something of a thinly veiled compliment, trust when I say in this case it most definitely is not.”

With only one published local review of Texas Chainsaw 3D, I wish I could do a better job of answering the question posed above. The first wide-release of 2013, like last year’s The Devil Inside, was not screened for any critics by Lionsgate Films ahead of time locally or nationally. Only one critic at press time, Sara Michelle Fetters, has written about the film. As national critics take their same-day-as-you-are look at the prolonged sequel to the 1974 original, serving as another reboot to immortal Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, approval sits at 29%.

ZERO DARK THIRTY
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke
Rating: R (for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language)
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 157 Minutes
Director: Kathryn Bigelow

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. Zero Dark Thirty reunites the Oscar winning team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) for the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man.- Columbia Pictures

WHAT DO WE THINK ABOUT Zero Dark Thirty?

Brian Taibl, BrianTheMovieGuy.com
“ZD30 feels almost documentary-like in nature which, as of late, has stirred the controversy pot in terms of where exactly the filmmakers got all their seemingly correct info – but that only adds fuel to the already brightly burning fire at the belly of this exceptionally gripping flick.

Robert Horton, Everett Herald
“It all works, no doubt about it. From Bigelow’s edgy instincts about how to stage action to Alexandre Desplat’s eerie music, this movie will put its grip on you. It made me uneasy in a variety of ways, and that’s probably its goal.”

Brian Zitzelman, Examiner.com
“Even though we know the outcome, there is vibrant anxiety as the famous Seal Team 6 members go room to room searching for the world’s most wanted man. Bigelow pulls no punches, letting the violence be what it is; horrific and part of the way things are.”

Erik Samdahl, FilmJabber
“Zero Dark Thirty is superbly written and directed. As good as The Hurt  Locker is, it feels inconsequential when compared to this movie. The movie looks great, and Bigelow and Boal’s “no bullshit” storytelling approach grabs hold within the first minute and never lets go.”

Spencer Fornaciari, The MacGuffin
“Kathryn Bigelow is going to score big with Zero Dark Thirty; it is an impressive piece of filmmaking. What is set under the guise of being about the hunt for Osama bin Laden ends up being much more of a character study of the individuals involved. While it technically is a war movie, it feels more like a game of cat and mouse, such as something like The Hunt for Red October.”

Sara Michelle Fetters, MovieFreak.com
“All that needs to be said is that Bigelow’s movie is a triumph, and seeing it should be the first priority of every potential viewer no matter what their political persuasion.”

Brad Brevet, Rope Of Silicon
“I expect most audience members will walk out with a larger interest in all the hunt for Osama bin Laden involved — the good, bad and deplorable — and want to learn more as a film covering so much ground can only be so specific. For a dramatic retelling of one of the most highly publicized manhunts ever, that is truly saying something.”

Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times
“Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal bring an uncanny urgency and suspense to a story that, like “Argo” earlier this year, has an ending we already know. “Zero Dark Thirty,” with its harrowing close-up depictions of waterboarding and other tortures (and implication that such torture was a necessary means to an end), isn’t easy viewing — but just try to look away.”

Michael Ward, Should I See It
“Zero Dark Thirty is an incredible experience, serving as a second entry in director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal’s documenting of the American war machine in a post-9/11 world. The Bigelow/Boal pairing have netted another classic, a divisive and controversial expose recounting, in amazing detail, the United States government’s efforts in capturing and killing Osama Bin Laden.”

Zero Dark Thirty has won numerous precursor Best Picture awards and received placement at, or near the top, of countless critics’ Top 10 lists. Some, like myself, feel it is 2012′s best film and critics are nearly unanimous in their praise, with the film attaining a Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%,

FINAL CONSENSUS:

Seattle critics endorse Zero Dark Thirty unanimously and were excluded from seeing Texas Chainsaw 3D. Two of the three critics who were able to see The Impossible were not impressed with the tsunami-drama while the anti-fracking sentiment of Promised Land netted positive ratings from 2 of the 3 critics who published a review.

NEXT WEEK’S WIDE RELEASES:

• Gangster Squad
• A Haunted House
• Zero Dark Thirty (expands to more theaters, likely one near you)

What’s Seattle Saying surveyed critics include:
Adam Gehrke, AdamGehrke.com
Brian The Movie Guy, Brianthemovieguy.com
Robert Horton, Everett Herald
Brian Zitzelman, Examiner.com
Laremy Legel, Film.com
Erik Samdahl, FilmJabber
Staff Reviewers from The MacGuffin
Sara Michelle Fetters, MovieFreak.com
Sean Axmaker, MSN
Kathleen Murphy, MSN
Tim Hall, The People’s Critic@SeattlePI.com
Brad Brevet, Rope Of Silicon
Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times
Ian Dinsmore, Seattleite
Mike Ward, Should I See It