Weekend Movie Forecast: <em>Invictus</em> Vs. <em>The Lovely Bones</em>
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<p>Fashion designer turned director Tom Ford helms his first movie, adapted from the 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood. Taking place during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, <em>A Single Man</em> follows a day-in-the-life of the suicidal George Falconer (Colin Firth), a 52-year-old British college professor who is struggling after the death of his long time partner, Jim (Matthew Goode). During the day he teaches, spends time with a close female friend (Julianne Moore), and is pursued by a young male student (Nicholas Hoult). </p><p></p><a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-12-08/film/better-to-look-good-than-be-good-for-tom-ford-s-a-single-man/">J Hoberman at the Village Voice</a> was unmoved by the stylization in the film, saying "<strong>No more than 10 minutes in, the movie already has the feel of an exquisitely preserved corpse laid out for viewing</strong>," but <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20326014,00.html">Owen Gleibermann of Entertainment Weekly</a> praises Firth's portrayal: "Firth plays him as a man of his time who is also mournfully ahead of his time. <strong>He's addicted to his own broken heart. <em>A Single Man</em> may break yours as well."</strong>
<p>If you're in the mood for some black-and-white romps through old Gotham, <a href="http://www.filmforum.org/films/madcapmanhattan.html#1211">this weekend at Film Forum</a> sees the start of "Madcap Manhattan," with double features throughout the rest of the month. Tonight and tomorrow, you can see Carey Grant in the 1937 flick <em>The Awful Truth</em> and 1938 <em>Holiday</em> (also with Katherine Hepburn). Sunday and Monday's features are Frank Capra's 1938 <em>You Can't Take It With You</em> and William Seiter's 1937 <em>If You Could Only Cook.</em></p>
<p>Tonight and tomorrow night at midnight <a href="http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Films/films_frameset.asp?id=26560">at Sunshine Landmark</a>, you can get in the spirit of the holidays with Bob Clark's 1974 horror movie <em>Black Christmas</em>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ifccenter.com/films/bob-dylan-dont-look-back/">IFC Center</a> is screening the classic 1967 D.A. Pennebaker documentary on Bob Dylan, <em>Don't Look Back</em>, at midnight this weekend. </p>