Film News & Trailers

So what’s out there this week.  Well today we’ll take a look at the films scheduled to be released this Friday including the first 9/11 feature film, gymnasts getting the Bring it On treatment, a “killer” blues band, Robin Williams, and the national spelling bee.  All that and more; read on…

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Here’s what’s scheduled to hit theaters this week.  Want to know more, just click on the title for film info including a full cast list.  Want a closer look, just click on the poster to watch the trailer.

Akeelah and the Bee

Warm-hearted tale of a young girl (Keke Palmer) from Crenshaw who begins to train for the National Spelling Bee.  Great acting by the child actors (J.R. Villarreal, Sean Michael, Sahara Garey) and some not too shabby adults as well (Laurence Fishburne, Angela Basset, and Curtis Armstrong).  The family friendly plot shoud make Akeelah score with large enough audiences to become a modest hit.  The film was written and directed by Doug Atchison (The Pornographer).  Check back on Friday for our full review.

United 93

The first feature film to deal with the events of 9/11 (the film was rushed through production to beat out Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center).  The film deals with the many issues of the morning but focuses mainly on the United Airlines flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania.  Based on cell phone and airplane recordings of the passengers attempt to retake the plane and the miscommunication of the agencies learning of the hijackings.  Directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy).  The trailers were pulled from NY City after complaints prompting the question, it too soon?  Check back on Friday for our full review.

Stick It

The latest from Jessica Bendinger (she wrote Bring it On) who does double duty as writer and director in this comedy about the wold of big competition gymnastics.  The film focuses on wild child Haley (Missy Peregrym) who despite unlimited talent left the sport costing her team a chance at a gold medal, but due to her legal troubles is forced to return to a world she no longer wants to be a part of.  Jeff Bridges signs on as the coach.  The film takes a look at the hard training involved and takes a shot or two at the judging system currently used.  Check back on Friday for our full review.

RV

Robin Williams takes his wife (Cheryl Hines) and kids (Joanna “JoJo” Leversque and Jash Hutcherson) on a roadtrip in an RV to the Colorado Rockies.  According to the trailers hilarity ensues.  Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black and Get Shorty but sadly he’s also responsible for White Noise and Wild Wild West).  Can Robin Williams provoke enough wackiness to make such a lame premise interesting or at least watchable?  Arrested Development fans can look for Will Arnett and Tony Hale amongst the…fun?  Check back on Friday for our full review.

Water

With such an awesome title do I really need to give your more?  Jeez!  The third film in Deepa Mehta’s trilogy (Fire, Earth but oddly no Wind) tells the tale of an eight year-old Indian girl sent to the temple to live in penitence with widows in the holy city of Varansi when her father dies.  Her sudden appearance affects the social outcast women living in forced seclusion including a young widow who falls for a follower of Mahatma Ghandi.  The strong attacks from Hindu fundamentalists (who tried to shut down production with, um, unethical means) have given the film some free, though not great, press.

Killer Diller (limited release)

Based off the novel by Clive Edgerton comes this film by writer/director Tricia Brock about a group of convicts in a halfway house of the Lord playing hymns (rather badly) until the addition of a car thief (William Lee Scott) and an autistic piano savant (Lucas Black) bring the group together in becoming The Killer Diller Blues Band.  The film also co-stars the wonderfully funny Fred Willard and John Michael Higgins.  It’s getting a limited Midwest release with (hopefully) a wider release to come.  We were lucky enough to get an interview with Ms. Brock and we’ll have that for you later this week plus our full review for the film on Friday.

The Lost City (limited release)

Andy Garcia, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray – why haven’t I heard of this film before now!  A project Andy Garcia has been trying to get made since he hit Hollywood is a loving look at his native Cuba for his directorial debut.  The story involves a nightclub owner (Garcia) in 1958 Cuba caught between the transition from the oppressive Fulgencio Batista (Juan Fernandez) regime to Fidel Castro’s Marxist government.  Also starring in the film are Ines Sastre, Tomas Milian, Steven Baurer and Jsu Garcia as Che Guevara.  The film is filled with lavish photography and Cuban musical numbers showcasing Garcia’s home country.

Wassup Rockers (limited release)

Hispanic teens blow-off the hip-hop craze in South Central L.A. and grab their skateboards and rock out to pun rock.  Escaping to Beverly Hills they run into trouble with cops and the eccentric elite as they become lost in la-la land and learn important lessons about themselves and the world.  The latest from writer/director Larry Clark (Kids, Bully) was picked as the opening night film for the Slamdance Film Festival.  Like Clark’s other works this stars a collection of unknowns – Jonathan Valasquez, Fransico Pedrasa, Milton Velasquez, Yunior Usualdo Panameno, Luis Rojas-Salagado, Iris Zelaya, ad Ashlye Maldonado.

Guys and Balls (limited release)

Okay, with a title that gay…  The German film (Manner wie wir) from 2004 about a gay teen (Maximilian Bruckner) kicked off his soccer team and with the help of his sister (Lisa Potthoff) and a cranky former star (Dietmar Bar) tries to form his own all gay team to take them on.  Not exactly Bend it Like Becham.  Can the films light-hearted comedy and serious gay themes, in German with English subtitles, with an all German cast and no Hollywood stars play well in the US? 

Here’s a new semi-annual feature for you folks.  We see tons of films and get to discussing them from time to time and often wax nostalgic on films we would rather see made than what we’ve just witnessed.  With the rash of comic book movies being made (this year alone there’s V for Vendetta, X3, Superman Returns and that’s just in the first six months!) here’s a film we comic junkies would like to see made.  A vengeful hero set on revenge that would make a perfect vehicle for Clint Eastwood to direct.  Give up?  Check out our first film idea…

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Okay, there may be some of you who don’t know The Spectre who was created by Jerry Segel (you may have heard of another of his creations who wears blue and red tights and flys around Metropolis).  The spirit of vengeance is a cosmic entity of near limitless power that grafted itself onto the soul of police detective Jim Corrigan who was killed in the line of duty.  Corrigan was given the chance to return to earth and bring justice to those who violated the law.  His methods went to extremes often killing the guilty in a variety of diabolical and terrifying means (turning them to wax and burning them alive, turning them to wood and running them through a sawmill, or committing genocide on an entire war-raging race). 

Clint Eastwood made an name for himself in the vengeance western (see High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider and The Outlaw Josey Wales among others).  The Spectre is a natural character for Eastwood to return to his roots and make a comic book film that anyone would want to see.  Aaron isn’t quite sold on my idea of Anthony Stewart Head as Corrigan but that’s probably just his Buffy prejudice rearing its ugly head.  Though to be fair I’m open to other suggestions for the role.

You have an opinion?  Let us know.  Also if you’ve got other ideas for movies you’d like to see drop us a line and if we think it’s a good one we’ll help spread the word.

So what’s out there this week.  Well today we’ll take a look at the films scheduled to be released this Friday including yet another horror flick, Michael Douglas trying to kill the President (or is he?), and the satire of American Idol starring Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid and Hugh Grant.  All that and more; read on…

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Here’s what’s scheduled to hit theaters this week.  Want to know more, just click on the title for film info including a full cast list.  Want a closer look, just click on the poster to watch the trailer.

American Dreamz

Written and directed by Paul Weitz (In Good Company, About a Boy) the film focuses on the hugely popular reality TV show where amateurs try to sing their way to fame.  The biting satire of the American Idol craze stars Mandy Moore and Sam Golarzi as contestants.  The show is so popular it becomes the obsession of the President of the United States (Dennis Quaid with Willem Dafoe as the VP).  The cast also includes Marcia Gay Harden, Hugh Grant, Chris Klein, Judy Greer, and Jeffrey Ross.  About time somebody started taking jabs at this reality TV craze.

The Sentinel

Someone in the Secret Service wants to kill the President.  The agent in charge of the investigation David Beckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland) struggles when all the evidence points to his friend and mentor Pete Garrison (Michael Douglas).  The plot also involves Neo-Nazis (in the old Hollywood formula that if you don’t want to create and develop a bad guy you just make him an Arab or Nazi) and sordid White House affairs.  Directed by Clark Johnson who gave us the cinematic gem S.W.A.T..  Adapted from the Gerald Petievich novel, the film also stars Kim Basinger and Eva Longoria. 
 
Silent Hill

A young mother (Rhada Mitchell) loses her sickly daughter (Jodie Ferland) on the road near the deserted town of Silent Hill.  In searching to find her daughter she discovers the town is inhabited by a few survivors and haunted by a variety spooks and creatures that includes a looming darkness that seems to devour everything it touches.  The film is adapted from a series of video games (well, we know how those turn out as films don’t we – like say last year’s Doom and Alone in the Dark).  Also starring are Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coats, Alice Krige and Tanya Allen.

Standing Still (limited release)

Young all-star cast (James Van Der Beek, John Abrahams, Amy Adams, Mena Suvari, Ethan Embry, Colin Hanks, Melissa Sagemiller, and Lauren German) in a film about college friends gathering and reconnecting for a wedding.  Director by Matthew Cole Quinn (whose only dot on his resume is the forgettable Mean People Suck) and a pair of fist time screenwriters (Matthew Perniciaro and Timm Sharp) don’t inspire too much confidence.  But the suggestiveness of some of these hot young stars getting together for some lurid fun might spark enough curiosity to do a fair amount of box office business.

Sommersault (limited release)

Young teenage girl Heidi (Abbie Cornish) leaves home after sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend.  Traveling around the sexually promiscuous girl finds sexual adventure but a rather empty life as she continues to search for something more.  The Australian film was written and directed by Cate Shortland (her first feature film) and has won several awards from its home country, sweeping the 2004 Australian Film Institute awards winning best actor and actress, best supporting actor and actress, best cinematography, costume design, direction, score, screenplay, and best picture.

In Her Line of Fire (limited release)

Mariel Hemmingway action star?  Hemmingway plays a secret service agent trying to rescue the kidnapped Vice President from the island where his plane crashed.  Originally planed as a made-for-TV-movie for the here! Network as “the first film with a lesbian action hero.”  Directed by B-movie aficionado Brain Trenchard-Smith (Voyage of Terror, and both Leprechaun 3 & 4).  The movie also stars David Keith, David Milbern, and Jill Bennett and is distributed by Regent Releasing (I can’t understand why Fox and Universal passed).

So what’s out there this week.  Well today we’ll take a look at the films scheduled to be released this Friday including the fourth installment of the Scary Movie franchise, a film that looks quite a bit like last year’s Madagascar,  and slew of films in limited release including Gretchen Mol as Bettie Page and RazorFine favorite Chiwetel Ejiofor as a drag queen!  All that and more; read on…

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Here’s what’s scheduled to hit theaters this week.  Want to know more, just click on the title for film info including a full cast list.  Want a closer look, just click on the poster to watch the trailer.

Scary Movie 4

The Weinstein Co. tries to wring a little more value from this Dimension franchise.  Once again the horror spoof stars Anna Farris as dumb blonde (sigh, really can’t someone cast her as something else please!!).  If the trailers are any indication it seems most of the jokes are at least a year-old as the film spoofs War of the Worlds, Saw, Bush’s 9/11 response (or lack of), and more.  Also returning are Leslie Neilsen, Simon Rex, Carmen Electra, and Regina Hall as the sassy black friend.  Joining the fun this time around are Craig Bierko and Shaquille O’Neal.  David Zucker returns to direct.

Madagascar The Wild

So….Disney’s so out of ideas they’re going to start ripping off Dreamworks animation now?  In a film that much more than slightly resembles last year’s Madagascar some NY Zoo animals break-out to try and find their friend and go after him into The Wild.  No that doesn’t sound that similar, well at least the characters don’t include a lion and a giraffe…oops.  Voices for this one include Kiefer Sutherland, James Belushi, Janeane Garofalo, and Eddie Izzard.  Just how un-anticipated is this film, well no one was willing to shell out cash for the merchandise rights.  Even Adult Swim’s lamest shows have toy deals.

Kinky Boots (limited release)

RazorFine favorite Chiwetel Ejiofor takes a turn on the wildside playing drag queen Lola who comes to the aid of a young Charlie (Joel Edgeton) who just inherited a shoe factory from his father and has no idea how to keep it open.  The chance encounter leads to a partnership as the old-stuffy factory workers begin producing Kinky Boots.  Interesting British film that should find a niche in art houses also includes stories about Charlie’s fiance (Jemima Rooper) who’s interested in his money and the factory worker who believes in him (Sarah-Jane Potts) and the stuffy factory workers learning the lesson about a wider world and accepting Lola into their lives.

The Notorious Bettie Page (limited release)

Bettie Page was the pin-up girl in the 1950’s and the success of her risque bondage photos even drew the attention and ire of the Senate Investigating Committee.  Director Mary Harron (American Psycho, I Shot Andy Warhol) caused quite a stir when she picked blonde character actress Gretchen Mol for the starring role, but it just might turn out to be inspired casting.  Harmon reunites with writer Guinevere Turner (American Psycho) for the screenplay.  David Strathairn, Lili Taylor, Chris Bauer, Jared Harris, Cara Seymour, John Culllum, and Sarah Paulson also star.

Hard Candy (limited release)

A 32-year-old photographer (Patrick Wilson) picks up a 14-year-old girl (Ellen Page) on the Internet and takes her home, but finds trouble when she traps him into answering for his pedophilia and the disappearance of a young girl from a local coffee shop.  Director David Slade (Do Geese See God?) and screenwriter Brian Nelson have received mixed praise and condemnation for this touchy feature.  The film has all the makings of a good psychological thriller or a laughable exceptionally-bad-taste-disaster.  Early screenings have found more favorable responses from audiences than reviews from critics.

la mujer de mi hermano (limited release)

A bored wife (Barbara Mori) married for ten years to a rather plain man (Christian Meier) begins fantasizing about a relationship with her husband’s more passionate and artistic brother (Manolo Cardona), but when the fantasy becomes a reality the world of all three shatter as secrets are reveiled and betrayal and revenge tear them apart.  An Argentinian import in Spanish with English subtitles, the film is the feature debut for director Ricardo de Montreuil, was picked up by Liongate who isn’t pushing it very heavy so you’ll probably have to hunt through local art houses for this one.

Preaching to the Choir (limited release)

Two estranged brothers, a hip hop star (Billoah Greene) and a Baptist preacher (Darien Sills-Evans), each facing their own crisis come together and help each other out and begin to repair their relationship.  The supporting cast sports some familiar faces including Patti LaBelle, Tim Reid, and Eartha Kitt.  The story takes place in Harlem and much of the shooting was done on location in Harlem and other New York locations.  Principal photography finished way back in 2003 (under the then title “On the One”) it’s been sitting on the shelf awhile.  The screenplay was adapted by Kevin Heffernan of Broken Lizard.

Kekexili (Mountain Patrol) (limited release)

A Chinese film about the true story of volunteers protecting antelope from poachers in the mountains of Tibet.  The film has wowed audiences and critics alike with its cinematography and documentary style winning the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival, the Don Quixote Award-Special Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival, and Best Picture and Best Cinematography at the Golden Horse Film Festival.  The second film by writer/director Chuan Lu (The Missing Gun) includes a cast of mainly first-time actors.

I swear I didn’t make this up folks.  The truth is often stranger and sadder than fiction.  Jessica Simpson has snagged a role in the new moive version of Baywatch.  As horriffic as a Baywatch movie sounds staring Ms. Simpson that’s not the scariest part.  Evidently studio execs saw her in last summer’s The Dukes of Hazzard and liked what they saw:  “She was the unanimous choice for the Baywatch role…has all the assets to make the part her own.”  Just kill me.

Baywatch
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