Alan Rapp

This Week in Foreign Film

/ / Film News & Trailers
  • Title: A Christmas Tale
  • IMDB: link

The dysfunctional Vuillard family is brought together for a Christmas reunion in this new film by Arnaud Desplechin.  Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillion, Anne Consigny, Matthieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Devos, and Chiara Mastroianni star.  Check out the official site.  The film, presented in French with English subtitles, opens in limited release in select cities on Friday.  Larger trailer available in the Full Diagnosis.

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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
  • IMDB: link

“Hurry up before we all come to our senses.”

More.  That’s the simple explanation to what you get with the new sequel to Madagascar – more lions, more zebras, more giraffes, and more hippos.  More of those crazy penguins and more zany adventures.

An attempt to fly back to New York in a plane rebuilt by the penguins (Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Conrad Vernon) gets the gang off the island of Madagascar, but soon crashes them into the nearby continent of Africa.

There’s much happening here including Alex (Ben Stiller) reuniting with his long lost mother (Sherri Shepherd) and father (Bernie Mac), the mechanations of a lion (Alec Baldwin) who wants to be King of the jungle, Marty (Chris Rock) finally living out his dream as part of a herd, the penguins attempt to rebuild the plane with the help of some local grease monkeys, the return of that mean old granny (Elisa Gabrielli), and Melman (David Schwimmer) dealing with feelings for Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith).

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Rachel Getting Married

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Rachel Getting Married
  • IMDb: link

“I am Shiva the Destroyer and your harbinger of doom for this evening.”

Kym (Anne Hathaway) is released from rehab for her sister Rachel’s (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding.  Although sober, Kym is still a bit shaky with deep unresolved issues which will be brought into sharp focus over the course of the weekend.

Director Jonathan Demme, having learned much from his time making documentaries, gives us a chance to view the action as if we are one of the other guests attending the wedding.  The natural low-key approach gives the film a loook at feel more like a documentary than a feature film.  There are several moments including the rehearsal dinner where the events unfold so naturally I wonder how much, if anything, was scripted.

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Reaper

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Reaper – The Complete First Season
  • tv.com: link

“I’m a bounty hunter for Hell.”

On his 21st birthday Sam (Bret Harrison) learns a troubling fact which will change his life forever.  It seems before he was born his parents (Andrew Airlie, Alison Hossack) sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise) who has come to collect.

Now Sam is forced to work as the Devil’s bounty hunter and capture escaped souls and return them to Hell through a portal in the DMV (also referred to as Hell on Earth).

Helping Sam on his missions are his two best buds Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) who work with Sam, along with the lovely Andi (Missy Peregrym), at the Work Bench (think Home Depot mixed with Cosco and Wal-Mart).

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