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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 sequels to Ice Age and Basic Instinct, yet another horror film will Slither its way onto the screen 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 or link to watch the trailer.

Ice Age (2): The Meltdown

Sequel to the 2002 animated hit reunites director Carlos Saldanha with the voices of Ray Ramano, Dennis Leary, John Leguizamo, and Stephen Root (but no Jack Black, Cedric the Entertainer, or Alan Tudyk this time out).  Nope, this time we get voices of Seann William Scott, Queen Latifah and Will Arnett.  The sequel involves the end of the Ice Age as the animals worry the melting ice (hmmm….Global Warming inferences??) will destroy their home.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first film and don’t think it really earned a sequel (though it made enough $$ to make this film inevitable). 

Basic Instinct 2

Speaking of unnecessary sequels….  Sharon Stone reprises the role that made her a star.  Once again novelist Catherine Trammel is in the middle of murder only this time in England.  David Morrissey co-stars as the shrink called into evaluate her and falls under her spell of seduction….yeah, whatever.  Can a sequel (that took 14 years to get made) to a ridiculous film actually be any good?  Can a 48 year-old Stone still play the femme fatale?  Who at Sony thought this was a good idea?  Directed by Michael Caton-Jones (City by the Sea, The Jackal, Doc Hollywood), this one’s got train-wreck written all over it.

ATL

Four high school friends ponder life after high school down at the local rollerskating rink in Atlanta named Jellybeans.  With a cast of young unknowns (Ablie Clark, April Daniels, and T.I. and Big Boi) first time feature director Chris Robinson (whose done only music videos to date) and a script by Tina Gordon Chism (who gave us the underrated Drumline), how this one will turn out is anyone’s guess.

Slither

Yet another horror film dumped into the early year’s batch of “soon to be forgotten.”  Though to be fair this one’s got an interesting cast including Firefly star Nathan Fillion, B-movie tough guys Michael Rooker and Gregg Henry, Elizabeth Banks (The 40 Year Old Virgin), and Rob Zombie.  Written and directed by James Gunn (who wrote the Dawn of the Dead remake and both Scooby-Doo films…ugh) the story involves a small town invaded by an alien plague that slithers around and turns them into zombies and monsters.  Early response from the film has been less than enthusiastic.

In Limited Release:

Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School – Robert Carlyle as a widower who finds meaning in taking ballroom dance lessons.  Based on director Randall Miller’s original 1990 short film, though you might remember a similar film with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez called Shall We Dance.  This one’s got Marisa Tomei, Donnie Walberg, and John Goodman.  Joy.  View the trailer

Swimmers – Regional tale in a small Maryland fishing town tells the story of an 11-year old girl (Tara Devon Gallagher) forced to give up swimming due to an injury and her friendship with a woman (Sarah Paulson) who has just returned having dealt with her own tragedy.  View the trailer

Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That! – How do you like your Beastie Boys?  The film was taped by audience members at a 2004 performance.  Around 50 fans were chosen and given hand-held Hi8 cameras and the footage was pieced together to make the film.  View the trailer

Adam & Steve – Gay love story about two men who meet and fall in love only to discover that they met 20 years before under less happy circumstances.  Written and directer by Craig Chester (who also stars).  View the trailer

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (New York and Los Angeles only) – Manic-depressive singer/songwriter/painter/artist Daniel Johnson’s life and career are examined in this documentary by Jeff Feuerzeig that includes interviews with Johnston, his family and his friends.  View the trailer

Brick (New York and Los Angeles only) – A loner (Joesph Gordon Levitt) who in searching for the truth about the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend finds himself suddenly in the middle of a high school crime ring.  Written and directed by Rian Johnson.  View the trailer

So what’s out there this week.  Well today we’ll take a look at the films scheduled to be released this week including Spike Lee’s latest with Denzel Washington, yet another low budget horror movie and Larry the Cable Guy gets his own flick .  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.

Inside Man

Spike Lee makes a generic thriller?  The film pits criminal Clive Owen battling wits with cop Denzel Washington.  A botched heist leads to a hostage situation stand-off.  Seems like a rather odd choice for Lee going where many have gone before.  Still with Washington, Owen, Jodie Foster and RazorFine favorite Chiwetel Ejiofor this one’s got some definite star power (sadly though last year’s Flightplan did too).  Written by first timer Russel Gewitz.  Can Lee breathe life into such a well-worn tale?

Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector

The one-joke redneck blue collar comedian gets his own film playing a health inspector(?) teamed up with a rookie partner (Iris Bahr) trying to uncover the cause of food poisoning at all the top restaraunts while wooing (can a cable guy woo?) a waitress (Megyn Price).  Can he Get ‘er done?  Does anyone care?  Written by the team of Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer who gave us Max Keeble’s Big Move (yeah, I don’t remember it either).  For Arrested Development fans both David Cross and Tony Hale are credited with small parts in the film.

Stay Alive

Yet another horror flick stuck into the winter season.  This one is about teens who play an online video game known as “Stay Alive.”  As they play those who end up dying in the game start dying in real life (if you can refer to anything as retarded as this as real).  Of course they keep playing deciding the only way to survive is to beat the game and the evil Blood Countess.  Yeah.  Written and directed by William Brent Bell (Sparkle and Charm) and starring a cast of nameless teen actor monster food that you’d expect from a flick like this.

American Gun (opens Wednesday in limited release)

Intertwining tales of “how the proliferation of guns in America dramatically affect and shape the very day lives of its citizens.”  The stories include a gun shop owner (Donald Sutherland) and his granddaughter (Linda Cardellini), a single mother (Marcia Gay Harden) with a troubled son (Christopher Marquette), a high school principal (Forest Whitaker) and an A-student (Arlen Escarpeta).  Written and directed by first-timer Aric Avelino.  Early comparisons to recent Academy Award Winner Crash and early reviews have been just as divisive. 

l’enfant (Los Angeles and New York only)

Blegian film in French and presented with Enlish subtitles about theives and new parents living off the bounty from their heists and decide to auction of the child as a new way to make some easy money.  Written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne the film won the Golden Palm at Cannes but the film is getting a very narrow US release (Los Angeles and New York only).  We’ll have to see how it does and if it can survive long enough to make the art house circuit across the country.

Lonesome Jim (New York only)

Steve Buscemi (yes, that Steve Buscemi) steps behind the camera for this one to direct the story of Jim (Casey Affleck) a down on his luck twenty-eight year-old who leaves New York and moves back home to Indiana to live with his dysfunctional family and begins a relationship with a local woman (Liv Tyler) and her son.  Sounds like it could be a little too sappy, but Buscemi’s odd touches might make this worth seeing (for example the cast list includes a character named Evil).  As a side note Tyler sure seems to love those Affleck boys (she played the love interest to Ben in both Armageddon and Jersey Girl).

When asked how long the Oscars where going to last this year, my response was 3 hours 25 minutes and 15 seconds, I was off by a few minutes, but if I would have known about all the film montages and plugging going to the theaters I would have changed my guess. Long and dry at times, but a few funny moments between John Stewart and the presenters, the Oscars played up to the films of substance. I agree with John Stewart, Oscar host, people go to the movies to escape reality not have it spoon-fed to them. Jon Stewart made a comment about all the themes for film this year runs close to the collar on censorship, racism, corruption, war and the overall shitty things that happen in life, glad we go to the movies to escape life aren’t you?

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Oscar Crashed This YearRead More »

Haven’t had enough Frank Miller?  I loved the adaption of Sin City and now another of Miller’s graphic novels, 300, is in production and the official site is posting video journals for us fans.  For those of you unfamiliar to the story it retells the historic Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartan soldiers held off the entire Persian army numbering in the hundreds of thousands for longer than any believed possible.  The time gained by such a heroic stand allowed Greece to mobolize and stand against the Persians and without their sacrifice the dream of democracy may have died.  The third video journal was just posted last week.  Check it out.

300
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