Movie News: Thursday, October 26

Blood and Chocolate
    ( Release: Jan. 26, 2007   Rated: PG-13 (MPAA)    Details  ) — This fantasy tale follows a werewolf (played by Agnes Bruckner) whose pursuit of a lover becomes complicated when she has to fend off the unwanted attentions of a rival for her affections.

Balls of Fury
    ( Release: Jan. 26, 2007   Rated: Rating Pending    Details  ) — This hilarious, outrageous comedy of a secret society that takes its clandestine Ping-Pong tournaments very seriously. Former professional player (Dan Fogler) immerses himself in this underground group, and his great goal is to beat arch-rival Feng (Christopher Walken), his father's killer.

Zodiac
    (  Details | Photos  ) — This thriller focuses on San Francisco's still-at-large Zodiac Killer and the men trying to track him or her down.

Mr. Woodcock
    ( Release: Jan. 19, 2007    Details | Trailers | Photos  ) — Self-help author John Farley (Seann William Scott) returns to his hometown and is horrified to learn that his mother (Susan Sarandon) has fallen in love with his old gym teacher, Mr. Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton), a man who used to put John through hell on a regular basis. Determined to stop his mom from marrying the man, John unleashes a devious plan to get revenge on Woodcock and his old classmates.

The Last Legion
    ( Release: Jan. 19, 2007   Rated: Rating Pending    Details  ) — Set at the Roman Empire is on the decline, THE LAST LEGION follows a brave young warrior who travels to Britain in search of a new world. Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley star.

"Saw III" set to rip up weekend box office (Reuters)
   Reuters - For the third year in a row, the diabolical character Jigsaw is set to rule the Halloween box office with the thriller "Saw III."

The Italian
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Stomp the Yard
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"Cocaine Cowboys" relives Miami's high times (Reuters)
   Reuters - As sensational as "Scarface" and a lot livelier than that "Miami Vice" movie, "Cocaine Cowboys" vividly traces Miami's trajectory from sleepy retirement mecca to Blow Central, USA.

A Halloween DVD roundup (Reuters)
   Reuters - "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Imprint," "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," "Rest Stop," "The Devil's Rain," "The Boris Karloff Collection," "Icons of Horror"

October home vide takes a "Stand" (Reuters)
   

Reuters - After more than a year of bad tidings, the home entertainment business appears headed for a rebound that not even the most optimistic studio executive had predicted as recently as the summer.

Notes On A Scandal - Trailer A
   When Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett) joins St. George’s as the new art teacher, Barbara (Judi Dench) senses a kindred spirit. But Barbara is not the only one drawn to her. Sheba begins an illicit affair and Barbara becomes the keeper of her secret. NOTES ON A SCANDAL is a story of loneliness, loyalty, envy and love.

Alpha Dog
    ( Release: Jan. 12, 2007   Rated: R    Details | Trailers  ) — A drug dealer (Justin Timberlake) and his best friend (Emile Hirsch) party in Los Angeles on the road to becoming two of the country's most wanted criminals.

Freedom Writers
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Pathfinder
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Liz Taylor denies plans for 9th marriage (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Actress Elizabeth Taylor on Thursday denied media reports that she was planning to marry for the 9th time.

"Departed," "Diamond" turn Leo into a lion (Reuters)
   Reuters - Leonardo DiCaprio has seemed a reluctant movie star ever since he broke out in the 1997 blockbuster "Titanic." Perhaps he listened to what Robert De Niro told him during the filming of 1993's "This Boy's Life": "Overexposure can kill you," the veteran actor said. "Handle it right, and you'll have a great career as an actor."

"Bridge" sheds light on those who cross over (Reuters)
   Reuters - Suicide may not be painless, the old theme song from "M*A*S*H" notwithstanding.

White Noise 2: The Light
    ( Release: Jan. 5, 2007    Details  ) — This sequel to Michael Keaton flick White Noise, about the supposed phenomenon of EVP, focuses on near-death experiences. When a man (Nathan Fillion) is brought back from the brink of death, he discovers that he now knows who's about to die.

Hostel 2
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Happily N'Ever After
    ( Release: Jan. 5, 2007   Rated: Rating Pending    Details  ) — This kiddie pic is an animated satire of the Brothers Grimm fairytales.

Code Name: The Cleaner
    ( Release: Jan. 5, 2007   Rated: PG-13 (MPAA)    Details  ) — Cedric the entertainer plays an amnesiac janitor who carries information that is incriminating to the FBI in his subconscious. In order to stop him from talking, agents dupe him into thinking he is an undercover secret agent. Lucy Liu, Elizabeth Hurley, Callum Keith Rennie, and Nicolette Sheridan co-star.

The Bridge
    ( Release: Oct. 27, 2006   Rated: R - for disturbing content involving suicide, and for some language   Avg. Score: 3.13/5     Details | Reviews  ) — This documentary focuses on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and the people who go there to end their lives. Director Eric Steel and his crew spent a year filming the bridge, during which time they dissuaded some potential jumpers, but they also captured on film many people who leapt to their deaths.

Saw III
    ( Release: Oct. 27, 2006    Details | Trailers | Photos  ) — Jigsaw's (Tobin Smith) new apprentice, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), kidnaps a woman named Lynn and takes her to an abandoned warehouse. Jigsaw is on the verge of death and she is charged with keeping the madman alive long enough for another of his victims, Jeff, to complete a game of his own. Together, Lynn and Jeff struggle to complete their assigned tests, unaware that Jigsaw has something even more devious planned for them.

Copying Beethoven - Trailer
   It is 1824. The composer, played brilliantly by Ed Harris, is racing to finish his new symphony. However, it has been years since his last success and he is plagued by deafness, loneliness and personal trauma. A copyist is urgently needed to help the composer finish in time for the scheduled first performance.

Unaccompanied Minors - Trailer 2
   Its Christmas Eve and a huge blizzard has shut down the airport. Among the stranded travelers, five Unaccompanied Minors are determined to max out their holiday by running wild inside and outside the airport. Without a parent in sight, the rambunctious five outwit and outrun an uptight airport official and his gullible assistant. Joyriding on golf carts, plummeting through baggage chutes and canoeing down a snow bank, the kids turn Christmas at the airport into holiday pandemonium and, along the way, prove that the holidays arent about where you are, but who youre with.

Brad Pitt a wedgie jokester on set (AP)
   

AP - Brad Pitt found an interesting way — make that walk — to blow off steam and bring some levity to the set of his new movie, "Babel."

Sharon reviews Death of a President
   

Death of a President is a fictional documentary about what would happen if George Bush was assassinated, this year. It has had a lot of controversy surrounding it?s release. The largest American theater chains will not show the movie and the White House stated that the movie ?did not dignify a comment?. What has everyone so riled up is the use of real images and voices of Bush and Dick Cheney, quite a few images of many members of the White House, and of course the money shot of Bush actually being killed.

Director Gabriel Range had a few words of the controversy surrounding this movie.

?I have always known that I would be condemned for the very idea of this film, but I believe that sometimes it is not only acceptable for art to be outrageous ? it is necessary?.

What is entertaining about DOAP is that It?s almost like an episode of CSI, it shows what would be the protocol if this happened, and what mistakes the big guns might make in this situation. It shows the differing views of Bush, what people think is happening to America , and the upward turn in racism.

The story flashes in between interviews with Bush?s fictional staff, including his speach writer and head body guard and back into the events the day he is shot. It also shows interviews with people and their families who have been accused of murdering Bush. The interviews with the accused is the most political part of the movie, they get this so right that I had goosebumps.

Bush is in this movie for about 15 minutes, tops. The actual Bush getting shot scene is so fast that you don?t get to see anything, I was a bit disappointed to be honest. But the riots and protests in the street coming up to his murder are great, the director really captures a rage that many people feel towards good old George W. One of the protest signs in particular made me laugh, there is a picture of Bush and it says ?like a rock???Only dumber?.

Overall this movie is watchable. But it does drag a bit. It was also predictable at times and the way they digitally put Bush into scenes was often distracting visually, although sometimes it was perfect.

The directing and editing are the best part of this movie, it really does feel like a documentary and a pretty honest one plus there isn?t any over the top Bush bashing.

This is a movie with an agenda, but it?s not to inspire someone to shoot Bush, it seems to be about reminding us to an open mind on issues and a dialogue about things we believe in.

For a no go or routh I give this a go, but go rent it, not that there are many places to see it in theaters anyway but you will get more out of this movie if you get to form your own opinion, and aren?t distracted by the goof behind you yelling ?kill him? in the theater. On a scale of one to ten I give it a seven.

Sharon reviews Running with Scissors
   

If your childhood wasn?t perfect you are going to like Running with Scissors. If it was then maybe you will understand the rest of the world a little better. This movie captures the justification of insane behavior that goes on in abnormal childhoods perfectly. It does so with midnight black humor, and painfully open acting. I was laughing hysterically on one beat, only to be devastated on another.

How does it dance the line so perfectly? It may be because it?s based on the memoirs of Agusten Burroughs, who lived the story, or it could be because the director Ryan Murphy.(Nip/Tuck creator) also had a similar upbringing.

Here?s the synopsis: A teenage Augusten Burroughs (Cross) absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father (Baldwin) and an unstable mother (Bening), he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch (Cox), and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.

The casting is great in the movie, Annette Bening just kills as the mother Deidre Burroughs, she is completely mesmerizing every time she comes on screen, it is her best performance to date hands down. Then there is the opposite of Deidre, quiet Agnes Finch played by Jill Clayborn, who brings a tone to this movie that no one else could have given. With her patience and kindness without any expectations, she warms up every frame.

There is some surprising casting for Burroughs gay lover in the way of Joseph Fines, believe me he is no Shakespeare in Love in this movie, he is a funny and painfully troubled man. We also get to see fabulous performances from Gwyneth Paltrow, the delicious Evan Rachel Woods, Alec Baldwin, Brian Cox and the lovable Joseph Cross as Augusten Burroughs.

One of the biggest reasons the chemistry was so good in this movie I think has to do with Murphy. He allowed a lot of improv, said that Brian Cox in particular gave a lot of scene?s some extra spice with good improvisation.

Sharp dialogue, darkly comedic with drama at just the right moments, Running with Scissors is a fantastic dark comedic drama. I loved this movie, it?s a great ensemble cast and I?m giving it a nine out of ten, for a no go or routh it?s a total routh.

Lord Of The Rings - Why Fantasy Failed To Make A Resurgence
   

It's hard to believe it's already been 3 years since The Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King was in theaters. To this day I still call it the overall single greatest achievement in the art of filmmaking. Many disagree, and that's ok, but to me when you look at all aspects of modern filmmaking, all the different pieces that goes into it... nothing scores higher in more of those areas than Return of the King did.

So along came the Oscars, and now no film is history has more awards... ROTK won 11 Oscars that night... winning in every single category it was nominated for. I was beside myself with joy since a lot of pundits said the Academy wouldn't actually honor a fantasy film. They were wrong. REALLY wrong.

But then, after all the gold, a new popular saying started to emerge over the following weeks. The buzz was now that fantasy films would make a HUGE resurgence and that all the studios would start working hard to develop tentpole fantasy genre films. Film geeks who are fans of fantasy (like myself) were all looking forward now to what the future would bring. Surely there were be a massive upswing in Sci-Fi and in particular FANTASY films going into production right? But there was a problem...

Many people suggested that the massive success of ROTK would OPEN THE DOOR to the fantasy genre for studios. Seems to make sense right? The problem for fantasy, is that ROTK was a little TOO SUCCESSFUL. ROTK didn't swing the door open for fantasy... it slammed the door shut.

I remember this discussion on The Audio Edition once where I asked the question: "Was Return of the King so successful that now studios may shy away from making more fantasy films out of fear of it being compared to Return of the King, or even worse, that the general movie going public may just see the new movies as Lord of the Rings rip offs?"

So here we are now... nearly 3 years later... and the great resurgence of the fantasy genre never materialized. Yes, there was Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and while I thought it was a fantastic film, it was almost more "fairy tale" than fantasy (yes yes yes, I know I'm playing with semantics here, but I think it's a valid observation). But even if we concede Narnia as a true fantasy film, then that only really gives us 1 film in 3 years. Hardly the great resurgence many people predicted.

So now here we are, approaching the end of 2006 and a great looking film, Eragon, is almost set to be released (December 15th in North America). And sure enough, as good as the film looks, many people are already jumping on the "It's a LOTR rip off" bandwagon. A bandwagon that is really based on nothing but the fact that the film is in the same genre as Lord of the Rings. That's it.

It's like saying "The 40 Year Old Virgin is a rip of off Animal House because they're both comedies".

I have not read Eragon, but those I know what have read both Eragon and LOTR assure me they are quite different stories... but they are indeed the same genre, and sadly, it looks like the great success of Return of the King hasn't opened the doors for the genre... it, unintentionally, has taken sole possession of it to the exclusion of all others.

Lets hope the next 3 years will see a change in that.

Shrek 3 Princesses
   

I've mentioned before that I"m a fan of the Shrek films (I'm even one of the few people who actually enjoyed the second one even more... it's wasn't quite as GOOD as the first one... but I was a little more entertained by it). From what I know, this is the first official image from Shrek 3 (AKA Shrek The Thrid).

To see an evenlarger and higher quality version, you can just go here.

The Hobbit Not A Sure Thing?
   

As you know, a little while back I reported that MGM was moving ahead with plans for making The Hobbit, which got all of us film fans totally buzzing, and well we should. News is that they're going to break The Hobbit movie into 2 separate parts, which is also good news (to me anyway). So everything is right in the world... or is it?

Yesterday I was reading a news blurb on the whole thing from the good folks over at Moiveweb... and in the middle of chat about Terminator 4, this little bit appeared:

(MGM chief operating officer Rick Sands) is in discussions with New Line Cinema to get the rights to produce two prequel films to "The Lord of the Rings" series, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, he said. Other projects he mentioned include a sequel to "The Thomas Crown Affair," set to star Pierce Brosnan, and a remake of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", according to The Hollywood Reporter.

'Rambo' returns, on location in Thailand (AP)
   

AP - "Rambo" is preparing to return from retirement in Thailand early next year, and Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington will also come here next month to play a drug lord in the upcoming film "American Gangster," a Thai film official said Thursday.

Imax will bring "Museum" to life (Reuters)
   Reuters - Taking advantage of the heavy concentration of Imax theaters located inside museums, 20th Century Fox will open "Night at the Museum" on Imax screens December 22, the same day it hits conventional theaters.

Houdini inspires kids' magic film (Reuters)
   Reuters - Magic tricks are big in Hollywood.

McDermott, Graham on "Texas" map (Reuters)
   Reuters - Heather Graham and Dylan McDermott will play a beatnik couple in "A West Texas Children's Story," an indie drama set in the 1960s.

Bacon, Harden reunite for Clint's daughter (Reuters)
   Reuters - Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden are in negotiations to star in "Rails and Ties," a drama that will mark the feature directorial debut of Alison Eastwood.