box offices

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:15:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13for mild action and brief language
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:May 22, 2009 Wide
Synopsis:
It's a new "Night" and "Museum" for Ben Stiller, who is joined by several other stars from the original film, as well as new characters from history.

The centerpiece of the film will be bringing... It's a new "Night" and "Museum" for Ben Stiller, who is joined by several other stars from the original film, as well as new characters from history. The centerpiece of the film will be bringing to life the Smithsonian Institution, which houses the world's largest museum complex with more than 136 million items in its collections, ranging from the plane Amelia Earhart flew on her nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic and Al Capone's rap sheet and mug shot to Dorothy's ruby red slippers and Archie Bunker's lounge chair. No major film has ever shot inside the Smithsonian in Washington…until Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian. --© 20th Century Fox

Starring: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Alain Chabat, Robin Williams, Jonah Hill, Steve Coogan, Clint Howard

Director: Shawn Levy
Screenwriter: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
Producer: Shawn Levy, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
Composer: Alan Silvestri
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Dance Flick (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:10:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, and language
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:May 22, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $12,622,450
Synopsis:
“Dance Flick” is a hilarious new comedy that brings together the talents of two generations of the Wayans family, the explosively funny clan who brought us the “Scary Movie” franchise and “White...

“Dance Flick” is a hilarious new comedy that brings together the talents of two generations of the Wayans family, the explosively funny clan who brought us the “Scary Movie” franchise and “White Chicks,” as well as the groundbreaking TV series “In Living Color.”

In “Dance Flick,” a young street dancer, Thomas Uncles (Damon Wayans, Jr.), from the wrong side of the tracks and a beautiful young woman, Megan White (Shoshana Bush), are brought together by their passion for dancing and put to the test in the mother of all dance battles.--© Paramount

Starring: Damon Wayans, Craig Wayans, Shoshanna Bush, Essence Atkins, Affion Crockett
Director: Damien Dante Wayans
Screenwriter: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Craig Wayans, Damien Dante Wayans
Producer: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Rick Alvarez
Composer: Erik Willis, Dwayne Wayans
Studio: Paramount Pictures

Terminator Salvation (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:58:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and language
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:May 21, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $65,316,217
Synopsis:
In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against...

In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

The film also stars Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Charlotte Gainsbourg as Kate Connor, Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, Common as Barnes, and Jadagrace as Star. --© Warner Bros.

Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Jane Alexander, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jadagrace
Director: McG
Screenwriter: Michael Ferris, John Brancato
Producer: Moritz Borman, Derek Anderson, Victor Kubicek, Jeffrey Silver
Composer: Danny Elfman
Studio: Warner Bros.

Angels & Demons (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:32:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of violence, disturbing images and thematic material
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:May 15, 2009 Wide
Synopsis:
The team behind the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code returns for the highly anticipated Angels & Demons, based upon the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Harvard...

The team behind the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code returns for the highly anticipated Angels & Demons, based upon the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, who once again finds that forces with ancient roots are willing to stop at nothing, even murder, to advance their goals. Ron Howard returns to direct the film, which is produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and John Calley. The screenplay is by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman.

What terrifying discovery would make the Vatican turn to Robert Langdon, the man who cracked history's most controversial code? When Langdon discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati "the most powerful underground organization in history" he also faces a deadly threat to the existence of the secret organization's most despised enemy: the Catholic Church. Upon learning that the clock is ticking on an unstoppable Illuminati time bomb, Langdon travels to Rome, where he joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and enigmatic Italian scientist. Embarking on a nonstop, action-packed hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even to the heart of the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra will follow the 400-year-old Path of Illumination that marks the Vatican's only hope for survival. --© Sony Pictures

Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgaard
Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriter: David Koepp, Akiva Goldsman
Producer: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, John Calley
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Studio: Columbia Pictures

Three Monkeys (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:29:00 +0000

Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Mar 13, 2009 Limited
Synopsis:
After his critically acclaimed mood pieces Distant and Climates, Turkey’s leading filmmaker moves in a more plot-driven direction while retaining his mastery of ambiance and nuance. Winner of the...

After his critically acclaimed mood pieces Distant and Climates, Turkey’s leading filmmaker moves in a more plot-driven direction while retaining his mastery of ambiance and nuance. Winner of the Best Director prize at Cannes, Three Monkeys tells a twisty, noirish tale that opens with an ambitious politician fleeing a hit-and-run accident. Afraid of hurting his election chances, he pays off his chauffeur, Eyüp, to take the rap.

The film concerns the effects of this devil’s bargain on Eyüp’s shiftless son Ismail (who sees an expensive new car as his ticket to salvation), and on his restless wife, Hacer (who develops an ill-deserved passion for the oily politico). Ismail’s discovery of his mother's infidelity and Eyüp's suspicions after he gets out of jail crank up the simmering tensions in a household already haunted by hidden ghosts.

In the spirit of Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Haneke's Caché, Three Monkeys mounts a caustic critique of the bourgeois family, riddled with hypocrisy yet stubbornly resilient in its seemingly boundless capacity to sidestep guilt and accountability. As in his previous films, Ceylan is unsurpassed at evoking both emotional and haunting cityscapes. The wintry vistas of Distant are supplanted here by sweltering seaside summerscapes, rife with thundering trains and lowering clouds that portend a day of reckoning repeatedly -- but perhaps not endlessly -- deferred. --© Zeitgeist Films>

Battle for Terra (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:25:00 +0000

Rated: PG for sequences of sci-fi action violence and some thematic elements
Runtime: 85 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:May 1, 2009 Wide
Synopsis:
When the peaceful inhabitants of the beautiful planet Terra come under attack from the last surviving members of humanity adrift in an aging spaceship, the stage is set for an all-out war between...

When the peaceful inhabitants of the beautiful planet Terra come under attack from the last surviving members of humanity adrift in an aging spaceship, the stage is set for an all-out war between the two races for control of the planet. But will an unlikely friendship between a rebellious young Terrian (voiced by Evan Rachel Wood) and an injured human pilot (Luke Wilson) somehow convince their leaders that war is not the answer?
A CG-animated science fiction action adventure, Battle for Terra is directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas (The Freak, Terra) from a screenplay by Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Jungle Book 2) and Tsirbas. The film is voiced by an all-star cast including Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler, Down in the Valley), Luke Wilson (3:10 to Yuma, Blades of Glory), Brian Cox (Zodiac, The Bourne Supremacy), David Cross (Kung Fu Panda, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Justin Long (He’s Just Not That Into You, Zack and Miri Make a Porno), Amanda Peet (Syriana, A Lot Like Love), Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, Far From Heaven), Chris Evans (Push, Sunshine), James Garner (The Notebook, Space Cowboys), Danny Glover (Shooter, The Royal Tenenbaums), Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Alien: Resurrection) and Danny Trejo (Halloween, Grindhouse). The film is produced by Keith Calder (The Wackness, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane), Ryan Colucci, Dane Allan Smith (TankUp.US, Terra) and Jessica Wu, with original music by Abel Korzeniowski (Metropolis). The film’s editors are J. Kathleen Gibson and Jim May.

Living in perfect harmony in gravity-defying cities above the clouds, the inhabitants of the planet Terra are complete strangers to war. So when Terra is invaded by human beings fleeing a civil war and environmental catastrophe, many of the Terrians at first welcome the invaders as gods. Only the feisty young Mala (Evan Rachel Wood) fights back, luring one of the invading spacecrafts to destruction after her father is abducted, then rescuing its pilot—a human named Jim (Luke Wilson).
In return for saving his life, Jim promises to help Mala find her father, taking her on a perilous journey to the Ark—the humans’ aging mother ship. Along the way, Mala and Jim learn that their people really aren’t so different from one another. But with the Earthforce army poised to invade Terra and render it uninhabitable for Terrians, Mala and Jim must find a way to help the two races coexist—before it’s too late.

Rated PG for sequences of science-fiction action violence and some thematic elements. --© Roadside Attractions

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Justin Long, Luke Wilson, Brian Cox, James Garner, Chris Evans, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, David Cross, Dennis Quaid Director: Aristomenis Tsirbas Screenwriter: Evan Spiliotopoulos Story: Aristomenis Tsirbas Producer: Keith Calder, Jessica Wu, Dane Allan Smith, Ryan Colucci Composer: Abel Korzeniowski Studio: Lions Gate Films

Star Trek (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:27:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:May 8, 2009 Wide
Synopsis:
The greatest adventure of all time begins with Star Trek, the incredible story of a young crew’s maiden voyage onboard the most advanced starship ever created: the U.S.S. Enterprise. On a journey...

The greatest adventure of all time begins with Star Trek, the incredible story of a young crew’s maiden voyage onboard the most advanced starship ever created: the U.S.S. Enterprise. On a journey filled with action, comedy and cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind.
The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock (Zachary Quinto), was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before! --© Paramount

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Eric Bana, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder
Director: J.J. Abrams
Screenwriter: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Producer: J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof
Composer: Michael Giacchino
Studio: Paramount Picture

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:23:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:May 1, 2009 Wide
Synopsis:
Hugh Jackman reprises the role that made him a superstar – as the fierce fighting machine who possesses amazing healing powers, retractable claws and a primal fury. Leading up to the events of...

Hugh Jackman reprises the role that made him a superstar – as the fierce fighting machine who possesses amazing healing powers, retractable claws and a primal fury. Leading up to the events of X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Wolverine's epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe whose appearances in the film series have long been anticipated. --© 20th Century Fox

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, Ryan Reynolds Director: Gavin Hood Screenwriter: David Benioff, Skip Woods Producer: Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter, Hugh Jackman, John Palermo Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams Studio: 20th Century Fox

Narnia 1: The passion of the lion

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:25:00 +0000

I left Narnia somewhat disappointed. But perhaps that was my fault. I almost forget it was a children's movie.
I'll just start out and clarify that this movie falls far short of the grandeur and epic-dom of Lord of the Rings. It lacks the rich and incredibly deep, complicated, and fascinating storyline.

The PG violence, while not pathetic, lacks the dramatic intensity. The score, while professional, lacks the memorable themes and tunes, and just feels like classically expected suspense-strings and triumphant-brass.
But let's forget comparisons to that three-movie mega-epic with an obsessive director. After all, C. S. Lewis wrote the book to be a children's story. This one is great in its own right.
There are three requirements for transforming a beloved book into a magnificent movie. First, there must be a good story to tell. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is an excellent story, both allegorically and intrinsically. It's the forces of good vs. the reign of horrible evil, of course, yet there's also a little fun along the way. It has the escapist appeal of an imaginary world of talking creatures, yet it has the realist appeal of ordinary children coming to save the day.

Second, the story must be told correctly. Worries that Disney would corrupt the Christianity will be forgotten. Whether it's because some in charge appreciated the symbolism and vowed to preserve it, or because a post-Passion Hollywood was conscious that a correct telling would satisfy the religious masses and translate into more money, or both, Lion... follows the book, point by point, almost to an extreme, removing items only to speed things up and injecting alterations only to appropriately increase the suspense. (Exceptions are the one-thrust "battle" between Peter and Maugrim and the sometimes-wimpy climactic battle sequence, although as a whole it's probably the best ever in a PG movie.) The dialogue smartly declines to always have the actors quote the book, and there are no complaints here, as audiences will welcome the quotable quips and funny one-liners.

Third, the story must be presented wondrously. Or, in layman's terms, sweet special effects. Obviously, in the technology of 2005, nothing less is expected, and WETA and Co. do not disappoint. Whether it's the witch turning living creatures into stone, or the lion turning them back into living creatures, or especially the realistic-looking and enjoyable beavers, wolves, and centaurs, anyone who has seen the BBC versions will breathe a sigh of relief at the justice that has finally been done. (Indeed, I'm sure someone is already thanking God that there will never be a costumed mouse in Prince Caspian.)

Christians will be more than satisfied. Non-believers will enjoy the story for its own merit, and maybe even come to understand the story at the heart of Christianity a little better. Just don't forget that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is, first and foremost, for better or for worse, a children's tale.

monsters vs alliens

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:20:00 +0000

Rated: PG for sci-fi action, some crude humor and mild language
Runtime: 1 min 34 secs
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Mar 27, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $140,203,799
Review :
DreamWorks Animation has steadily been trying to chip away at the animation throne held by Pixar Animation Studios for years.

To their credit, they’ve had more successes (Kung Fu Panda and the Shrek series being the most notable) than failures (think Bee Movie). The latest weapon in their arsenal for animated supremacy comes in the form of Monsters vs Aliens.
And why shouldn’t they be excited about its’ ability to take a few more chunks from the throne? They’ve crammed in:
* Top notch Hollywood voice talent
* Use of the latest and greatest 3D technology (something called Tru3D)
* An homage to yesteryears B-movies — the 50' Woman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Blob, the Fly and Mothra
Yet, Monsters vs. Aliens is missing something.
It’s certainly not lacking in the animation department. The artists deserve a fine pat on the back for their eye to the fine details. The Golden Gate Bridge is perfectly modeled and the physics employed as it gets broken apart is damn near as real as it can get. Likewise, the hair of Ginormica (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) and the fur of Insectosaurus is very lifelike. And while I’m not exactly a big fan of the 3D gimmick, I must say, it too was very captivating — this ain’t the same 3D crap Jaws 3-D tossed your way 25 years ago.

What I suspect is absent, is the charm. Monsters vs. Aliens is curiously devoid of any of it. The first quarter of the movie is spent building an uninteresting backstory about Susan Murphy (Witherspoon) and her conceited weatherman fiancé Derek Dietl (voiced by Paul Rudd). The next quarter isn’t that much better as Susan (now Ginormica) finds herself pining away for her old life in a super secret prison locked tightly away with the other monsters — B.O.B. (voiced by Seth Rogen), Dr. Cockroach (voiced by Hugh Laurie), The Missing Link (voiced by Will Arnett) and Insectosaurus (not voiced by anyone).
When Gallaxhar (voiced by Rainn Wilson) comes to Earth to retrieve the element Quantonium and gain ultimate power, the movie picks up a head of steam. Lots of eye candy action ensues with comic interludes by B.O.B., General W.R. Monger (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) and President Hathaway (voiced by Stephen Colbert). Kids in the theater hooted and hollered as the giant insect shot sticky snot from it’s nose. Parents were heard snickering too at some of the double entradas littered about.
Then it all winds down and the film wraps itself up to fit neatly into an envelope — everyone learns something about themselves and they all go home.
Ultimately, Monsters vs. Aliens is a bit to formulaic in its approach and most of the characters it wants us to cheer for are lifeless caricatures. But hey, at least they’re rendered extremely well and the kids dragging you to see it won’t know any better (it’ll be our secret).

Synopsis:
When a radioactive meteor hurtles into Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) on her wedding day, she is transformed into a towering, platinum-haired giant. Taken away by the government and... When a radioactive meteor hurtles into Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) on her wedding day, she is transformed into a towering, platinum-haired giant. Taken away by the government and dubbed "Ginormica," Susan is introduced to other scientific oddities, including the amphibious Missing Link (Will Arnett), the dim blob B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), and the brilliant, bug-headed Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie). These "monsters" are released from captivity when a massive alien robot sent by the scheming Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) appears in San Francisco and clearly does not come in peace. With little time to adjust to her new stature, Susan must learn to work with her strange allies to avoid an all-out extraterrestrial invasion. Co-directed by Rob Letterman (SHARK TALE) and Conrad Vernon (SHREK 2) for DreamWorks Studios, this enjoyable animated production riffs on 1950s sci-fi movies while also playfully referencing everything from DR. STRANGELOVE to CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. The vocal talent, which also includes Stephen Colbert as a daft, keyboard-playing American president, is top-notch, adding plenty of personality to the super-sized visuals and eye-popping effects. Conveying an easy-going sense of humor that will delight kids and amuse adults, MONSTERS VS. ALIENS is fun family fare that is sure to leave everyone thoroughly entertained.

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert, Paul Rudd
Director: Conrad Vernon, Rob Letterman
Screenwriter: Rob Letterman, Maya Forbes, Wally Wolodarsky, Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Story: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
Producer: Lisa Stewart
Composer: Henry Jackman
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC

Knowing

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:Mar 20, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $67,769,550
Review :
Let’s all admit it, taking shots at Nicolas Cage’s latest acting gigs has been about as much fun as catching fish in a barrel — it’s fun for a moment, but it’s too damn easy and one quickly gets bored with it.

But hey, he deserved it — Bangkok Dangerous and Ghost Rider, to name a few, were some piss poor movies (I suspect they were done solely for the paycheck).So when it is announced he would be starring in some sort of movie that had him doomed to see the future and not have anyone believe him (i.e., the Cassandra Complex), I immediately got my pencil ready for a scathing review.
And then I watched Knowing. The movie review I had expected to write was no longer applicable — I found I actually liked the film.
At the center of the movie is a paper on which seemingly random numbers were scribbled upon by a troubled little girl named Lucinda (Lara Robinson) in 1959. 50 years later, this same sheet of paper resurfaces and finds its way into the hands of Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) and his mathematician father John Koestler (Cage). After downing a bottle of scotch in an effort to drown his sorrows over the loss of his wife, John notices a pattern — the numbers exactly align with cataclysmic events. And so begins his attempt to warn and convince others of impending doom when he notices several of the dates have yet to transpire.

Sure, we’ve all seen or heard it before, but there were several things that set Knowing apart from the host of other similarly themed movies.
First, it was generally heartfelt. The film showcased strong familial relationships that are easily identifiable and well acted out. Father-son relationship between John and Caleb is rock solid, as they pretty much only have one another as a support mechanism. Most touching is the great lengths and sacrifices John goes through to ensure his son is safe. Then there is the broken father-son relationship between John and his father, Reverend Koestler (Alan Hopgood). Only in the face of their own mortality do they reconcile their differences in a touching scene. It makes one think that the time to bury the hatchet with loved ones should happen well before there is no time to do it in.
The biggest bang of Knowing, however, comes rather unexpectedly — the scenes of destruction are magnificently crafted and shot. I don’t think I’ve ever witnesses a plane crash on film quite so disturbingly or vividly real before. You think everyone dies on impact? Think again. Same goes for an incredibly sequenced roll of a subway train going off the tracks. “Wow”, is a word that sums it up rather nicely.
But, c’mon, we can’t forget it’s a Nicolas Cage film; there has got to be a downside hidden somewhere within. There is. I could have done without the ending. It’s cheesier than a bowl of macaroni & cheese and thoroughly out of place. There’s also more than a handful of moments where Mr. Cage hams it up for the camera; thankfully, they’re easy to look beyond.
So while I can’t look into the future, I’m 97.63% certain Knowing is not a turning point in Nic’s movie choices. Therefore, I strongly suggest seeing it before the upcoming movie Kick-Ass retarnishes his good name and we go back to taking shots at him again.

Synopsis:
Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future—and sets out to prevent them from coming... Nicolas Cage stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future—and sets out to prevent them from coming true.

In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures to be stored in a time capsule. But one mysterious girl fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers instead.

Fifty years later, a new generation of students examines the capsule’s contents and the girl’s cryptic message ends up in the hands of young CALEB KOESTLER. But it is Caleb’s father, professor JOHN KOESTLER (Nicolas Cage), who makes the startling discovery that the encoded message predicts with pinpoint accuracy the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years. As John further unravels the document’s chilling secrets, he realizes the document foretells three additional events—the last of which hints at destruction on a global scale and seems to somehow involve John and his son. When John’s attempts to alert the authorities fall on deaf ears, he takes it upon himself to try to prevent more destruction from taking place.

With the reluctant help of DIANA WAYLAND (Rose Byrne) and ABBY WAYLAND, the daughter and granddaughter of the now-deceased author of the prophecies, John’s increasingly desperate efforts take him on a heart-pounding race against time until he finds himself facing the ultimate disaster—and the ultimate sacrifice. --© Summit Entertainment

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn, Terry Camilleri
Director: Alex Proyas
Studio: Summit Entertainment

Fast and Furious

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:09:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual content, language and drug references
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Apr 3, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $116,497,095
Review :
The pickings must be slim for Vin Diesel and Paul Walker these days.

How else can you explain why they would come back to star in Fast and Furious when they left the series on high notes after The Fast and the Furious eight years ago?You can’t, and this half-hearted attempt to recapture what the franchise lost guarantees the pickings for these guys will remain slim at best.
Anyways, since they had the audacity to star in this movie and I made the mistake of watching it, let me go through the motions of telling you why you shouldn’t.
If you recall from the first flick, Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) was an FBI agent sent to infiltrate the car theft ring led by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). He fell in love with Dominic’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), got caught up in the rice racer atmosphere and ultimately let Dominic escape. Now they’re both inexplicably back, teaming up in a mutually beneficial alliance to infiltrate the empire of a drug kingpin known as Braga.

There’s not much else to say, other than the plot is so paper thin it is transparent. Writer Chris Morgan tries to spice this weak, seen it before story by infusing some nagging nuances to spice Fast and Furious up like: Dom still being a wanted man and Brian still being an agent of the law, and Brian having dumped Mia years ago and her not being so happy about seeing him again. Perhaps there could have been something more to these nods to the original but since the characters are so one-dimensional and poorly acted out, what little tension and resolution there is doesn’t mean a thing.
And then I realized, Fast and Furious could have had its story centered around barehanded fishing for catfish in a backwoods Georgia lake and it wouldn’t have mattered — it’s all about the flashy neon cars that make high pitched whining sounds when revved hard, heart pounding and reckless street racing, and the flashy broads who love them both. There’s plenty of all three to get the Need For Speed addicts, whom I presume this movie was made for, all sweaty palmed and blurry-eyed.
Problem is, aside from the opening sequence in which Toretto and team hijack a tanker truck while moving, there isn’t much to the races/chases to see that hasn’t been done a hundred times before. Hell, at least the utter mess that was The Fast and the Furious:Tokyo Drift showcased a new aspect of racing known as drifting. Things get so bad in this installment that two nearly identical chase scenes are filmed in the same “tunnel” between Mexico and the U.S. (I guess $85 million for production doesn’t cover what it used to).
I do have to credit to the marketers of the film though as they really got the tagline right for Fast and Furious. It reads: ‘New Model. Original Parts.’ It’s the first time I’ve seen truth in advertising although they could have gone a bit further with it. It probably should have read: ‘Same as the First. Only More Expensive and a Whole Lot Dumber.’

Synopsis :
Synopsis: Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reteam for the ultimate chapter of the franchise built on speed -- Fast & Furious. Heading back to the streets where it all began, they rejoin Michelle Rodriguez and... Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reteam for the ultimate chapter of the franchise built on speed -- Fast & Furious. Heading back to the streets where it all began, they rejoin Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster to blast muscle, tuner and exotic cars across Los Angeles and floor through the Mexican desert in the new high-octane action-thriller. When a crime brings them back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto (Diesel) reignites his feud with agent Brian O'Conner (Walker). But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to outmanuever him. And from convoy heists to precision tunnel crawls across international lines, two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what's possible behind the wheel. --© Universal Pictures

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, John Ortiz, Laz Alonso, Gal Gadot, Shea Whigham, Tego Calderon Director: Justin Lin Screenwriter: Chris Morgan Producer: Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Michael Fottrell Composer: Bryan Tyler Studio: Universal Pictures

Obsessed

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:05:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for sexual material including some suggestive dialogue, some violence and thematic content
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Apr 24, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $28,612,730
Review :
"Obsessed," directed by Steve Shill, isn't very good. In fact, it's awful.

Of course, that probably wasn't the intention of everyone involved in making it, including Beyonce Knowles, who stars in the flick along with Idris Elba and Ali Larter and is listed in the credits as one of the flick's many producers (I think I saw Magic Johnson's name listed as a producer in the opening credits, too).
Everyone involved most likely thought they were making a classy, modern thriller in the vein of "Fatal Attraction." What they ended up with, however, is a gigantic mess.For the first forty or so minutes, the flick isn't that bad. It actually hovers around being decent. Elba plays Derek, a successful assets manager (he's the vice president of something or another at the company he works at, a company run by D-Day hisself, the great Bruce McGill) and a devoted family man (his wife, Sharon, is played by Beyonce) who ends up the target of the hot but psychotic stalker Lisa (Larter). The movie shows its hand almost immediately, letting us know that Lisa is up to no good when she meets Derek in an elevator and introduces herself as a temp. The music is somewhat ominous, and the way the camera focuses on her looking at him, you just know something bad is going to eventually happen. She flirts with Derek, but Derek doesn't really return the favor (he checks out her legs a few times, but beyond that he doesn't engage her. He is very nice to her, though). So some stuff happens, Lisa keeps running into Derek at weird times (she was originally supposed to temp for a day. She ends up temping for two weeks), you can tell more and more that she's really into him, but he doesn't return her the same kind of flirty attention. Again, he's just very, very nice to her. At the big, hedonistic business Christmas party (a party that doesn't allow spouses), Lisa tries to come onto him several times (she dances with him, tries to kiss him under the mistletoe), then confronts him in the bathroom. She thinks he wants to have sex with her in the stall. She rubs up against him, tries to kiss him, but he tells her to just get away. He is just not interested in her. And now he's kind of weirded out by the whole thing. Derek now knows that there's something very, very wrong with this woman, but he's not sure what he should do about it. Should he go to human resources and tell them about Lisa's behavior? Should he tell his wife Sharon? See, Derek has a bit of history when it comes to messing around with women at work. That's where he met Sharon. If he tells human resources, will they believe him or will they just assume that it's Derek being Derek? And if he tells Sharon, what the heck will she do (she told him when they got married that he could no longer have female assistants/temps at work)?

As you'd expect, the situation escalates, as Lisa shows up in his car wearing only a trench coat and lingerie, she sends sexy e-mails to his home computer, she even shows up at a company retreat, poses as his wife, drugs him and has black out sex with him, then drugs herself in his bed in an attempted suicide. This is Derek's lowest point, as the situation basically becomes public knowledge (McGill's Joe Gage finds out about it, Jerry O'Connell's Ben finds out more about it, and, worst of all, Sharon finds out about it) and no one believes that he didn't start having an affair with Lisa. Derek's life becomes total hell. Sharon throws him out of the house, he loses clients to other managers at the firm, and the police detective (Reese, as played by Christine Lahti) investigating Lisa and the attempted suicide doesn't believe him. And then, for reasons that make no sense until you remember that Beyonce's name appears as one of the flick's producers, the movie stops being about Derek and becomes all about Beyonce's Sharon forgiving Derek, freaking about how her family was hurt, and then saying that she planned on beating the crap out of Lisa if she ever confronted Derek again. If you've seen the trailer for the movie, you know what happens in that regard. And while the Beyonce-Ali Larter fight, on its own, as its own thing is kind of fun (it'll make for a nice movie fight clip on youtube some day), it's really just the ridiculous conclusion to a movie that has no business veering off into "Beyonce is a strong woman and ain't gonna take no shit from some blonde bitch in her underwear" world. What the hell does Beyonce's Sharon being a strong woman have to do with anything that happens in the first part of the movie?

Nothing.
"Obsessed" is not Beyonce's movie (well, it shouldn't be). If it wanted to be her movie it should have focused on her character from the beginning (we'd know more about her trying to earn a degree). It should have focused on how she's suspicious of her husband's potential flirting around at work with the pretty blonde chick. If that had happened, maybe the big blow up scene in the middle of the movie, Beyonce's "award moment" where she throws Derek out of the house, would have made sense and mattered more. By that point in the movie we would have likely had a better understanding of Derek's office romance history and why Sharon had any reason to be concerned. But we don't get any of that information in any kind of detail. We're just told about it in passing and we're supposed to just accept it and get behind Sharon because she's a woman done wrong. Derek lied to her. That bastard. And when he eventually "makes it up to her" and she lets him back in the house, I guess we're supposed to go "Yes! Yes! He now respects her!" or some hooey. But you'll most likely end up wondering why the movie needs a long "Derek tries to make up with his wife" montage as it really has nothing to do with anything. Again, we're never really given any real reason to lose respect for Derek and get behind Sharon. Why isn't the movie focusing on what the movie started focusing on in the first place, Lisa's obsession with Derek? Isn't this supposed to be Derek's movie to begin with? It just doesn't make any sense.

Elba is excellent as Derek. He embodies the sort of ultimate family man image without making it seem corny or lame. He also plays the alpha male business man with remarkable ease. He also has great chemistry with both Beyonce and Larter. His best scenes are actually with Larter, as he makes it clear again and again as the situation between the two of them escalates that he has absolutely no interest in her. Larter isn't bad as Lisa, even though she isn't given much of a character to play. She's just supposed to be evil and obsessed and that's it and she does a pretty okay job of it. She's sexy, she gives off that "deadly intelligence" vibe that you need for these kinds of obsessed psycho characters, and she can fight when she has to.

And then there's Beyonce as Sharon. She's pretty decent at the beginning of the movie. You don't really understand why she's so dang suspicious of her husband, but she's warm and she has good chemistry with Elba. She's also nice to look at (that's never a minus). However, when the movie veers off into "Beyonce is a strong woman!" Sharon is just annoying because, as I said above, the movie isn't about her, or at least it shouldn't be about her, it should be about Derek. Sharon shouldn't be proactive and an ass kicker. There's nothing wrong with her being a fighter and going toe to toe with Lisa in a fight (in theory) and even being a protective mother, but why does she need to say "bitch" so much? Where the hell does that stuff come from? It just doesn't make any sense.

Jerry O'Connell is funny as Ben, the male pseudo jock douchebag. Mathew Humphrey's is good as Patrick, the flaming homosexual assistant to Elba's Derek. I would have loved to see more stuff between Patrick and Lisa, as Lisa uses Patrick to get information about Derek's family and work life. They have good chemistry, too. McGill does his usual outstanding job as Joe Gage, the boorish, womanizing drunk business owner that says it's nice to have sexy women around the office (McGill is one of the best at being a sleazebag). Christine Lahti is okay as the detective Reese (she doesn't really do much beyond accuse Derek of lying about not having an affair with Lisa. You'll likely be surprised by how her character doesn't die at the end. I know I was surprised). And Scout Taylor-Compton, the new Laurie Strode in Rob Zombie's horrendous "Halloween" franchise, shows up in a bit part as a babysitter. Is it me or does she look like she's twelve here?

"Obsessed" should have been so much better. It set itself to be, at least, a decent enough little thriller. But it apparently wanted to be a mess, so that's what it does. It ends up a mess and an awful time at the movies. Avoid this movie as much as you can. But, if you're just compelled to see it (I have no idea why you would be compelled, but it could happen) just be aware that you will be disappointed by it. I can pretty much guarantee it.

Don't see "Obsessed."

So what do we have here? Gratuitous up beat R&B opening titles music, a Cadillac SUV, gratuitous Beyonce, Beyonce removing a "For Sale" sign from the front yard of her new house, burning up a "For Sale" sign in the fireplace, gratuitous Beyonce walking around her new empty house smiling and being sexy, an attic that looks like a basement, gratuitous ceiling mirror, attempted carpet sex, gratuitous hot blonde chick in the elevator, gratuitous flirting, hand touching, gratuitous Bruce "D-Day" McGill, gratuitous Jerry O'Connell, gratuitous internets research, dirty diaper changing, champagne drinking, gratuitous flaming male secretary, sexy female thighs, gratuitous Beyonce studying to get a degree and looking sexy in glasses, an awkward meeting, a mix CD, gratuitous office IM'ing, an old lady secretary with massive arm fat, tie picking, the world's greatest bar hamburger, gratuitous drunk and sexy company Christmas party, gratuitous attempted mistletoe kissing, attempted men's room stall sex, shiny rims, gratuitous Ali Larter showing up in a car wearing only a trench coat and sexy lingerie, a great family Christmas, sexy e-mails, a blue smiley face that winks, gratuitous Al Larter wearing a hot red dress, date rape, gratuitous iced tea drinking, attempted crazy bitch suicide, a big family blow up, gratuitous Derek trying to make it up to his wife montage, gratuitous Christine Lahti, gratuitous Beyonce wearing a hot black dress, gratuitous Scout Taylor-Compton, attempted kidnapping, a defiled family portrait, installing a home security system, lawn sprinklers, dress shirt fondling, gratuitous hot chick fight that's just ridiculous, lamp breaking, using a broken lamp as a spear, face kicking, stair rolling, two-by-four beatdown, ceiling hooey, massive glass coffee table breaking, chandelier breaking, and a freeze frame ending that's just bullshit.

Best lines: "You're a temp?," "Are you following me?," "You better watch out, girl. He's married," "Whose legs are those?," "What do you think about giving that magic mirror another test drive?," "I'm just waiting on you," "I think you'll find I'm not your typical temp," "It's nice to meet you, Sharon," "If you think you can pump me for information with a couple of cosmos, you're right," "Excuse me, can I have a dirty martini?," "Hey, office asshole. That's Mr. office asshole," "Lisa! Get out of my car now!," "Maybe you are an asshole," "Do you have a horseshoe up your ass? You're the luckiest guy I know," "Does that feel good?," "Bitch breathe!," "Wait, she was naked in your bed?," "This is bullshit," "Move your foot, Derek," "What am I supposed to do now? Buy a gun?,” “Just try me, bitch!,” “Did you not get my message?,” and “You are completely delusional.”

Synopsis:
THE WIRE's Idris Elba stars in this thriller as a man who seems to have a perfect life. He is married to Sharon (Beyoncé Knowles), and he has just earned a promotion at work. But destruction looms... THE WIRE's Idris Elba stars in this thriller as a man who seems to have a perfect life. He is married to Sharon (Beyoncé Knowles), and he has just earned a promotion at work. But destruction looms when a pretty temp (HEROES' Ali Larter) grows a little too fond of him.

Starring: Idris Elba, Beyonce Knowles, Ali Larter, Bruce McGill, Jerry O'Connell, Christine Lahti
Director: Steve Shill
Screenwriter: David Loughery, Will Packer
Composer: Jim Dooley
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Hanna Montana The Movie

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Rated: G
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Apr 10, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $32,324,487
Review :
omg ashley, i’ve just seen “hannah montana the movie”!! and it’s just as awesome as the tv show only bigger and prettier and she doesn’t fall down so much.

More About This Movie
basically hannah the pop star is getting way too cocky for a secret identity so her dad (i wish billy ray cyrus would shave his chin) takes her home to tennessee to remind her her real name is miley stewart
(well it’s really miley cyrus but you know what i mean)and she falls in love with this cooool cowboy (i wish we had cowboys in new york!) who wears super tight jeans and has zac efron hair but zac doesn’t play him :( and he likes miley way better than hannah even though hannah’s outfits are really cute (but not trashy like britney or lindsay).Then she paints a henhouse and totally saves her home town from getting a shopping mall (not sure why) by giving a SUPER AWESOME concert with all these new songs about how great it is to climb mountains and then a million people dance. oh, and her dad finds a girlfriend (i know, super gross).i love hannah sooo much. she’s so CLEAN, you know?

Synopsis:
After the huge success of HANNAH MONTANA & MILEY CYRUS: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT, an all-new Hannah Montana adventure cruises to the big screen with this comedy. Hannah's star continues to... After the huge success of HANNAH MONTANA & MILEY CYRUS: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT, an all-new Hannah Montana adventure cruises to the big screen with this comedy. Hannah's star continues to climb, while Miley is in danger of being lost in the shuffle. To help bring her back to Earth, Miley's dad (Billy Ray Cyrus) takes her to Crowley Corners, Tennessee, where there's plenty of love and laughter in the air. HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE stars favorites from the TV series as well as Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift.

Starring: Miley Cyrus, Margo Martindale, Jason Earles, Peter Gunn, Melora Hardin, Mitchel Musso, Lucas Till, Barry Bostwick, Moises Arias, Taylor Swift, Vanessa Williams, Billy Ray Cyrus Director: Peter Chelsom Screenwriter: Dan Berendsen Producer: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar Composer: John Debney Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Crank : High Voltage

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:50:00 +0000

Rated: R for frenetic strong bloody violence throughout, crude and graphic sexual content, nudity and pervasive language
Runtime: 85 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Apr 17, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $11,735,952
Review :
It has taken only three years for Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) to end his long fall from a helicopter at the end of “Crank.

”Waiting for him at a busy Los Angeles intersection are a bunch of Chinese mobsters, who shovel the hit man off the street, remove his heart and substitute a machine. Without constant recharging, Chev — and the “Crank” franchise — will die.
Like its predecessor, “Crank: High Voltage,” the latest abomination from Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, is boorish, bigoted and borderline pornographic. As Chev charges around town searching for his stolen organ — juicing himself with jumper cables, a Taser and a bout of old-lady frottage — the plot vigorously abuses Mexicans, Asians, women and the disabled with equal-opportunity glee.
Bearing the brunt of the punishment is Chev’s pole-dancing girlfriend (Amy Smart) and a besotted Asian hooker (Bai Ling); apparently Chev’s resemblance to a rutting bull is not limited to his neck and personality.

Fans of the original (and you are out there) will be thrilled to discover that the director of photography, Brandon Trost, seems confused about the meaning of the term “private parts” and that the filmmakers are still resisting maturity. “Isn’t everybody looking for their heart?” Mr. Neveldine asks in the press notes. On this evidence, it seems unlikely.
“Crank: High Voltage” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Nipples are sliced, breast implants pierced and horses frightened.

Synopsis:
In the 2006 action hit Crank, hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) spent twenty-four hours in over-drive: fighting, killing, and keeping his adrenaline flowing at full-force to combat a deadly... In the 2006 action hit Crank, hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) spent twenty-four hours in over-drive: fighting, killing, and keeping his adrenaline flowing at full-force to combat a deadly poison injected into his body. Now, in the high-octane sequel Crank High Voltage, Chev has managed to survive -- and is about to face a brand new day.
Picking up immediately where the first movie left off, Crank High Voltage finds Chev surviving the climactic plunge to his most certain death on the streets of Los Angeles, only to be kidnapped by a mysterious Chinese mobster. Three months later, Chev wakes up to discover his nearly indestructible heart has been surgically removed and replaced with a battery-operated ticker that requires regular jolts of electricity in order to work.
After a dangerous escape from his captors, Chev is on the run again, this time from the charismatic Mexican gang boss El Huron (Clifton Collins, Jr.), and the Chinese Triads, headed by the dangerous 100 year-old elder Poon Dong (David Carradine). Once again turning to Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam) for medical advice, receiving help from his friend Kaylo’s twin brother Venus (Efren Ramirez), and re-connecting with his girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart), who is no longer in the dark about what he does for a living, Chev is determined to get his real heart back and wreak vengeance on whoever stole it, embarking on an electrifying chase through Los Angeles where anything goes to stay alive.
Lakeshore Entertainment and Lionsgate present Crank High Voltage, a Lakeshore Entertainment / Lionsgate Production In Association with @radical.media; produced by Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Skip Williamson and Richard Wright. The film was written and directed by Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor, the duo behind the 2006 original.--© Lionsgate

Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Clifton Collins, Efren Ramirez, Bai Ling, David Carradine, Reno Wilson, Joseph Julian Soria, Dwight Yoakam, Corey Haim, Keone Young, Art Hsu
Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Screenwriter: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Producer: Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Skip Williamson
Composer: Mike Patton
Studio: Lions Gate Films

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Director: Shawn Levy
Screenwriter: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
Producer: Shawn Levy, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
Composer: Alan Silvestri
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:18:00 +0000

Rated : PG-13 for sexual content throughout, some language and a drug reference
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:May 1, 2009 Wide
Review :
Hmmm. What would happen if we took the premise of A Christmas Carol, applied it to a romantic comedy, and cast Matthew McConaughey in the Scrooge role?

Here it is, for your consideration, folks: The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a McConaughey rom-com, although during the moments that I was conscious, I don’t believe I actually saw him without a shirt. The saddest part of all is that Jennifer Garner — who is charming, despite being a less than mediocre actress — will play his love interest. Really, Jennifer? A McConaughey film? You’re better than that, lady. This is most certainly not how you return from your baby-making hiatus. Violet is going to be so disappointed in you one day.

Synopsis:
Celebrity photographer Connor Mead (MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY) loves freedom, fun and women...in that order. A committed bachelor with a no-strings policy, he thinks nothing of breaking up with multiple... Celebrity photographer Connor Mead (MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY) loves freedom, fun and women...in that order. A committed bachelor with a no-strings policy, he thinks nothing of breaking up with multiple women on a conference call while prepping his next date.
Connor's brother Paul is more the romantic type. In fact, he's about to be married. Unfortunately, on the eve of the big event, Connor's mockery of romance proves a real buzz-kill for Paul, the wedding party and a houseful of well wishers -- including Connor's childhood friend Jenny (JENNIFER GARNER), the one woman in his life who has always seemed immune to his considerable charm.
Just when it looks like Connor may single-handedly ruin the wedding, he gets a wake-up call from the ghost of his late Uncle Wayne (MICHAEL DOUGLAS), the hard-partying, legendary ladies man upon whose exploits Connor has modeled his lifestyle. Uncle Wayne has an urgent message for his protege, which he delivers through the ghosts of Connor's jilted girlfriends -- past, present and future -- who take him on a revealing and hilarious odyssey through a lifetime of failed relationships.
Together, they will discover what turned Connor into such a shameless player and whether he has a second chance to find -- and this time, keep -- the love of his life.
New Line Cinema presents a Jon Shestack/Panther Production of a Mark Waters Film: Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner in the romantic comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. The film also stars Breckin Meyer, Lacey Chabert, Robert Forster, Anne Archer, Emma Stone and Michael Douglas.
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is directed by Mark Waters from a script by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore, and produced by Jon Shestack and Brad Epstein. Executive producers are Marcus Viscidi, Mark Waters, Jessica Tuchinsky, Toby Emmerich, Cale Boyter and Samuel J. Brown, with Ginny Brewer as co-producer. The creative team includes director of photography Daryn Okada, production designer Cary White, editor Bruce Green and costume designer Denise Wingate. Music is by Rolfe Kent. Executive music producer is Ralph Sall.
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. --© Warner Bros

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Lacey Chabert, Michael Douglas, Emma Stone, Anne Archer, Robert Forster, Breckin Meyer, Amanda Walsh
Director: Mark Waters
Screenwriter: Scott Moore, John Lucas
Producer: Jon Shestack, Brad Epstein
Composer: Rolfe Kent
Studio: New Line Cinema

He's Just Not That Into You (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language.
Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Feb 6, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $93,409,454
Review :
The good Dr. Freud once asked, what do women want? To judge by the recent crop of what are often sneeringly referred to as chick flicks, today’s woman wants designer threads

, extravagant weddings and a generous helping of public humiliation served up with laughs, most at her expense.Where have you gone, Thelma and Louise? Oh, right: those gun-toting runaway heroines played by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, who wore old blue jeans and confidently put the moves on the men in their lives in Ridley Scott’s 1991 outlaw female fantasy, drove off the cliff at their big finish. You have been missed, ladies.
I bring up Mr. Scott’s film because whenever faced with another puerile movie ostensibly about women, I play a little game called What Would Thelma and Louise Do? Consider, for instance, the scene from “He’s Just Not That Into You” in which the perennially disappointed Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) says goodnight to her first-time, last-time date, a real estate agent, Conor (Kevin Connolly). As she clings to his every diffident word, her wide eyes shining and smile as fixed as that of the Joker, Gigi comes across less like the bubbly young thing she’s meant to be and pretty much like a crazy person. She walks off and immediately calls a friend to say that the date went well. A few yards away, Conor rings another woman.

What would Thelma have done? Well, she might have bedded Conor with gusto (and no marriage plans), as she does a hitchhiker with miles of muscle played by the young Brad Pitt. (Her greatest lament: he rips her off.) And Louise? Given that her lover is played by the gruff and grown-up Michael Madsen, I like to think she wouldn’t even have bothered with Conor. (That, or shot him.) Adult women like Louise might pull a Mrs. Robinson on special occasions, though not if there’s a man like Mr. Madsen steaming up the room. But adults have become something of an endangered species in big studio movies, particularly in romantic comedies, where female desire now largely seems reserved for shoes, wedding bells and babies.
These days Hollywood is taking its storybook cues from that old children’s ditty:
Mary and Johnny sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First comes love, then comes marriage
Then comes Mary with a baby carriage
Such is more or less the reductive case in “He’s Just Not That Into You,” which is based on an obnoxious so-called advice book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, which in turn took its inspiration from the HBO series “Sex and the City.” The book’s title refers to an episode in which Carrie’s man du jour, Berger, bluntly puts Miranda straight about a guy she’s dating. Miranda thinks she’s receiving mixed messages, but men are just not that complicated, Berger says. The guy simply isn’t interested.
The movie “He’s Just Not That Into You,” directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, takes this bit from a 30-minute show and turns it into an overextended 2 hours and 12 minutes. Mostly it does this by turning Gigi simultaneously into a joke (by playing her desperation for laughs) and a victim (by playing her desperation for tears). It’s a grotesque representation of female desire, one that the appealing Ms. Goodwin can’t save from caricature. It says something about the romantic comedies coming out of Hollywood that the character Ms. Goodwin plays on the HBO series “Big Love,” the youngest wife in a polygamous Mormon marriage, is treated with far more dignity than Gigi.
Despite this, there are a few nice moments, most courtesy of Jennifer Connelly, as the wife, and Scarlett Johansson, as the mistress, of an understandably gaga lawyer, Ben (Bradley Cooper), who doesn’t deserve either of them. Usually tightly wound even when she’s meant to be falling apart, Ms. Connelly cuts loose and goes (relatively) dark with her character, Janine. When she learns of her husband’s infidelity, you can see the storm — the shock, the hurt, the confusion — gathering in her face. Even better, you have no idea if Janine will break into pieces. Life has knocked her sideways, and Ms. Connolly keeps the character there for a while, inserting a bit of the unknown into the otherwise predictable proceedings.
Ms. Johansson’s Anna is, of course, the designated bad girl — she’s also the woman Conor dials after his date with Gigi — but the role doesn’t stick. Ms. Johansson seems too comfortable in her own beautiful skin to pay attention to wagging fingers, particularly when they belong to a twerp like Conor, who delivers a late sermon about her commitment issues. One problem with the movie is that, aside from Ben Affleck, who plays Jennifer Aniston’s marriage-phobic boyfriend, the actors are seriously outmatched by the actresses. Justin Long, the guy from the Macintosh ads, and Ms. Goodwin are a questionable-enough match. But Ms. Johansson and Mr. Connolly, the second guy on the left in the HBO series “Entourage,” make no sense. She’s Scarlett Johansson, for goodness’ sake!
It’s worth noting that in a movie ostensibly dedicated to the relationship worries of the modern (straight) woman, Anna is also the only one in the distaff batch with an active, seemingly pleasurable sex life. Most of the other women are too busy trying to land men, trying to hold on to men or ruining their relationships with men to actually have sex. (Drew Barrymore, meanwhile, pops up a few times, often surrounded by wisecracking gay men.) Imagine an action flick in which the hero spends the entire movie chasing the villain without the compensatory satisfaction of smashing his enemy to smithereens. There’s a reason action producers like Jerry Bruckheimer blow stuff up in their movies: They know what men want.

Synopsis:
Based on the wildly popular bestseller from Sex and the City scribes Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, He's Just Not That Into You tells the stories of a group of interconnected, Baltimore-based... Based on the wildly popular bestseller from Sex and the City scribes Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, He's Just Not That Into You tells the stories of a group of interconnected, Baltimore-based twenty- and thirtysomethings as they navigate their various relationships from the shallow end of the dating pool through the deep, murky waters of married life, trying to read the signs of the opposite sex... and hoping to be the exceptions to the "no-exceptions" rule.
Gigi just wants a man who says he'll call--and does--while Alex advises her to stop sitting by the phone. Beth wonders if she should call it off after years of committed singlehood with her boyfriend, Neil, but he doesn't think there's a single thing wrong with their unmarried life. Janine's not sure if she can trust her husband, Ben, who can't quite trust himself around Anna. Anna can't decide between the sexy married guy, or her straightforward, no-sparks standby, Conor, who can't get over the fact that he can't have her. And Mary, who's found an entire network of loving, supportive men, just needs to find one who's straight.
If you've ever sat by the phone wondering why he said he would call, but didn't, or if you can't figure out why she doesn't want to sleep with you anymore, or why your relationship just isn't going to the next level... he (or she) is just not that into you.
The film boasts an all-star cast, including Academy Award® winner Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting, Hollywoodland) as Neil; Jennifer Aniston (Marley & Me) as Beth; Drew Barrymore (Music and Lyrics) as Mary; Academy Award® winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, The Day the Earth Stood Still) as Janine; Kevin Connolly (HBO's Entourage) as Conor; Bradley Cooper (Yes Man) as Ben; Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line, HBO's Big Love) as Gigi; Scarlett Johansson (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) as Anna; Kris Kristofferson (Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story) as Ken; and Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard) as Alex.

A New Line Cinema Presentation, a Flower Films Production, He's Just Not That Into You is directed by Ken Kwapis (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, NBC's The Office) from a screenplay by Abby Kohn & Marc Silverstein (Never Been Kissed), based on the book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Nancy Juvonen produced the film, with Drew Barrymore, Toby Emmerich, Michele Weiss and Michael Beugg serving as executive producers and Michael Disco and Gwenn Stroman co-producing.
The behind-the-scenes creative team is led by director of photography John Bailey (Must Love Dogs), production designer Gae Buckley (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2), editor Cara Silverman (Keith), costume designer Shay Cunliffe (The Bourne Ultimatum), composer Cliff Eidelman (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), and Grammy Award-winning music supervisor Danny Bramson (Mission: Impossible III, Almost Famous).
He's Just Not That Into You will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. --© Warner Bros

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson, Justin Long, Kris Kristofferson
Director: Ken Kwapis
Screenwriter: Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein
Producer: Nancy Juvonen
Composer: Cliff Eidelman
Studio: New Line Cinema

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:44:00 +0000

Rated: PG for some mild language and thematic elements.
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Feb 13, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $43,879,066
Review :
After enduring both Bride Wars and He’s Just Not That Into You I went into Confessions of a Shopaholic expecting it to be the best of the bunch, although I didn’t think it would blow the doors off.

Sure, it is still pushing female stereotypes with an emphasis on shopping, but the always enjoyable Isla Fisher is not only pleasing to the eye, but fun to watch at the same time so how bad could it really be.Unfortunately the answer to that question is bad, and I mean really bad. Bride Wars began with a premise that was doomed from the outset and He’s Just Not That Into You unabashedly hates women and did nothing to hide it. But Confessions of a Shopaholic has such a softball storyline it is astonishing how the film actively tries to get worse and worse as it plays on.

The film centers on Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher), a journalist for a home gardening magazine who gets laid off and finds herself confronted with an overwhelming $16 thousand credit card debt and no job. This would pose a problem for most people, but not Rebecca, she simply spends some more money, lands a job at a financial magazine of all places, writes one column, gains worldwide celebrity based on that one column, is featured on a famous morning TV show based on that one column and falls in love with her sexy Brit boss. Man, it’s awesome being in debt, everyone should do it!
This film spits in the face of the audience and takes you all for blundering fools. Within ten minutes of the film you already dislike Rebecca as an annoying obsessed shopper that just won’t quit. She whines and cries to her dimwitted friend who is only in the film to be a sounding board and add additional plot devices once it comes time to wrap this freak show up. The timeline is awful as we honestly see Rebecca gain international celebrity status off only one article and carry out multiple tasks in a matter of hours as if she was Jack Bauer on ecstasy.
Director P.J. Hogan (My Best Friend’s Wedding) cares so little for his actors he hired Jo Willems as his cinematographer who lights the stage as if we were meant to be watching Death itself on screen. John Goodman, Joan Cusack and Kristen Scott Thomas all look as if they just walked out of the morgue as a result of Willems’s lighting. It’s as if no one cared about the movie and I am rather certain no one did. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer even leaked early word that hidden inside the film was the poster debut for the upcoming Jake Gyllenhaal sword-and-sandal epic Prince of Persia. Talk about desperation as he tries to salvage a sinking ship.
Isla Fisher is her bubbly self and I can hardly complain as she earns her paycheck walking into glass walls and brazenly sharpening her pencil with an electric sharpener in the middle of her first staff meeting. But it is impossible for me to believe she read the first draft of this script and thought this film was a winner. Most insulting is the way it tries to weave in the country’s current economic downturn in a scene where Goodman, who plays Fisher’s father, says something to the effect of, “If the economy is billions of dollars in debt and can survive I’m sure you can too.” Has he turned on CNN lately?
There are so many ways this film could have been good, had they turned it into something of an old school screwball comedy or even tried to build on the angle that Rebecca had no idea what she was doing and some day became a qualified finance journalist — you know, cliché. But instead they play to the bubble gum crowd as they spent more money on the Rihanna music for the trailer as opposed to the obnoxious abundance of anonymous pop tunes sung by no names throughout this film including a god-awful slow-turn remake of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” as the capper.
Confessions of a Shopaholic is the perfect storm of awful and while many will say its failure is partially due to the subject matter tied into the country’s current economic situation, the fact of the matter is a movie this bad shouldn’t (and hopefully won’t) be watched even during the best of times. The film gets a “D-” because I had maybe one or two chuckles and I felt like being kind, but don’t take that slight bump to mean anything more.

Synopsis:
Based on a pair of effervescent novels by Sophie Kinsella, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC is a light and bubbly confection that should appeal to those who can identify with its heroine's passion.... Based on a pair of effervescent novels by Sophie Kinsella, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC is a light and bubbly confection that should appeal to those who can identify with its heroine's passion. Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher, WEDDING CRASHERS) has a label-filled wardrobe that any fashionista would covet, but she also has credit card debt to match. She craves a job at the Vogue-like Alette, but a position at a financial magazine at the same publishing company may be her ticket in. Despite her painfully low credit rating, Becky starts dishing out advice on saving, while debt collector Derek Smeath (character actor Robert Stanton) is hot on her Louboutin heels. Meanwhile, she is competing for the affections of her charming boss, Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy, THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB), with icy Alette employee Alicia Billington (Leslie Bibb, IRON MAN). A well-heeled hybrid of SEX AND THE CITY and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, SHOPAHOLIC features the talents of Patricia Field, costume designer for those two films. The clothes are almost on an equal footing with the actors here, and each well-chosen piece in Manhattan shop windows or worn by Bloomwood helps contribute to the film's bright mood. A lesser actress might have been lost in all the colors, but Fisher is a formidable comic presence who pulls off Becky's ditzy lines and goofy falls with equal aplomb. Those hoping for a smart discourse on the perils of credit cards and excess spending are certainly watching the wrong film, but SHOPAHOLIC may just be the fashion equivalent of food porn for dieters.

Starring: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Joan Cusack, John Goodman, John Lithgow, Kristin Scott Thomas, Fred Armisen, Leslie Bibb, Julie Hagerty, Krysten Ritter, Robert Stanton, Christine Ebersole, Clea Lewis, Wendie Malick, Stephanie March
Director: P.J. Hogan
Screenwriter: Tim Firth, Tracey Jackson
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Composer: James Newton Howard
Studio: Buena Vista Internationa

The Hangover (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Rated: R for pervasive language, sexual content including nudity, and some drug material
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Jun 5, 2009 Wide
Review :
Based apparently on the reception of one brilliant teaser trailer and a recent full-length trailer, Warner Brothers has decided not to wait around and see how The Hangover performs at the box office this June, deciding to go ahead and greenlight a multimillion script for a sequel

,which will be penned by Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong (neither of whom have writing credits for the original, though Phillips directed it and is signed on to direct the second entry).This is the second time in a week that a studio has greenlit a sequel before the first installment had even debuted widely — last week, Paramount gave the go-ahead for a Star Trek sequel.

This one, however, is a bit more unusual, in that it’s not based on a franchise with an existing fanbase. Warner is making the decision based on strong test screenings and a positive reaction to footage from that film at ShoWest. You know what else had strong test screenings? Adventureland. It opened with $6 million, and it had Kristen Stewart, who at least has had some box-office success. The Hangover stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zack Galifianakis, none of whom have achieved box-office success on their own (and only Cooper has done so as part of an ensemble).
Of course, the flick does look brilliant, though Todd Phillips hasn’t exactly given us a lot of consistency: He directed Road Trip and Old School, but he also directed the awful School for Scoundrels and the not-much-better Starsky and Hutch. And, we’re talking about a bachelor party comedy here — is the idea for the sequel that another member of the trio get hitched, thus creating another opportunity for a bachelor party? Or will they get hungover in a different fashion?
I don’t get the rush. There have been enough movies with considerable online buzz surrounding them that have not performed up to expectations (Snakes on a Plane, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) to make studios skittish, so I’m not sure why they don’t at least wait until the Monday after the film opens before greenlighting a sequel. But, then again, they’ve never been known for their business savvy.

Synopsis:
From the director of Old School comes a new comedy about a bachelor party gone horribly wrong. Two days before his wedding, Doug and his three buddies drive to Vegas for a blow-out night they’ll... From the director of Old School comes a new comedy about a bachelor party gone horribly wrong. Two days before his wedding, Doug and his three buddies drive to Vegas for a blow-out night they’ll never forget. But when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning with pounding headaches, they can’t remember a thing. Their posh hotel suite is beyond trashed and the groom is nowhere to be found. With no clue of what happened and little time to spare, the trio must attempt to retrace their bad decisions from the night before in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L.A. in time for his wedding. However, the more they begin to uncover, the more they realize just how much trouble they’re really in. --© Warner Bros

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Jeffrey Tambor, Rachel Harris, Heather Graham, Rob Riggle
Director: Todd Phillips
Screenwriter: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore, Todd Phillips, Jeremy Garelick
Story: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Producer: Todd Phillips, Daniel Goldberg
Studio: Warner Bros.

Land of the Lost (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:18:00 +0000

Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Jun 5, 2009 Wide
Reviews :
The teaser trailer for Land of the Lost debuted during last week’s Super Bowl, and now the first full length trailer has arrived. I don’t have a lot of memory of the original television show, but it’s fairly evident that the updated movie doesn’t hew particularly close to the original’s premise.

The original was about a park ranger and his two kids who slipped into a time warp during a rafting trip and wound up in a world of dinosaurs. Here, Will Ferrell still plays a park ranger, but he also appears to be a scientist of some sort, and he apparently swapped his two kids for some colleagues (the luminous Anna Friel and the not-so-luminous Danny McBride).
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Basically, it looks like Ferrell has swapped out afros, basketballs, race cars, ice skates, and soccer balls for dinosaurs, which is to say: It looks like every other Will Ferrell movie, which is also to say: It’ll make eleventy cajillion dollars and probably spawn a sequel. Fortunately, few — if any folks — have a particular attachment to the television show, which means we have no real memories available for roofies. It’s just a creepy, inappropriate touching of our childhoods.

Synopsis:
Space-time vortexes suck. Will Ferrell stars as has-been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall, sucked into one and spat back through time. Way back. Now, Marshall has no weapons, few skills and... Space-time vortexes suck.
Will Ferrell stars as has-been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall, sucked into one and spat back through time. Way back. Now, Marshall has no weapons, few skills and questionable smarts to survive in an alternate universe full of marauding dinosaurs and fantastic creatures from beyond our world--a place of spectacular sights and super-scaled comedy known as the Land of the Lost.
Sucked alongside him for the adventure are crack-smart research assistant Holly (Anna Friel) and a redneck survivalist (Danny McBride) named Will. Chased by T. rex and stalked by painfully slow reptiles known as Sleestaks, Marshall, Will and Holly must rely on their only ally--a primate called Chaka (Jorma Taccone)--to navigate out of the hybrid dimension. Escape from this routine expedition gone awry and they're heroes. Get stuck, and they'll be permanent refugees in the Land of the Lost.
Based on the classic television series created by Sid & Marty Krofft, Land of the Lost is directed by Brad Silberling and produced by Jimmy Miller and Sid & Marty Krofft. --© Universal Studios

Starring: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel, Jorma Taccone
Director: Brad Silberling
Screenwriter: Chris Henchy, Dennis McNicholas
Producer: Jimmy Miller, Sid Krofft, Marty Krofft
Studio: Universal Pictures

Year One (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:11:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Jun 19, 2009 Wide
Synopsis:
When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Jack Black and Michael Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through the ancient world in Columbia Pictures'...

When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Jack Black and Michael Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through the ancient world in Columbia Pictures' comedy Year One.Harold Ramis directs. The screenplay is by Harold Ramis & Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg (The Office) from a story by Harold Ramis. The film is produced by Harold Ramis, Judd Apatow, and Clayton Townsend. --© Sony Pictures

Starring: Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross, Hank Azaria, Paul Rudd
Director: Harold Ramis
Screenwriter: Harold Ramis, Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg
Story: Harold Ramis
Producer: Judd Apatow, Harold Ramis, Clayton Townshend
Studio: Soda Pictures

17 again

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:25:00 +0000

Rated: PG-13 for language, some sexual material and teen partying

Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Apr 17, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $39,970,000
Reviews :
For the past few years, Zac Efron has made a fairly good living by way of his dazzling smile, mediocre voice, and undeniable talent for shaking what his momma gave him. Certainly, teen girls do go wild when this dreamboat bats those long, curly lashes and flashes the six-pack abs, but that’s not enough for him.

To shed his wholesome High School Musical reputation, Efron, to his credit, has bypassed the “leaked personal photos” shortcut that his female costars have favored. However, parents should be strongly cautioned that 17 Again carries a hard PG-13 rating for mild language, strong sexuality, borderline incest, and underage drinking.
Director Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down) and screenwriter Jason Filardi (Bringing Down the House) attempt to staple 17 Again together as a playful remix of such semi-celebrated fare as Big, It’s a Wonderful Life, 18 Again!, and Freaky Friday, but the final product lands at half-mast in rough and non-navigable waters. The filmmakers have failed to smoothly guide Efron’s transitory star vehicle that would, ideally, set their boy wonder up for a more mature audience in the future. Unfortunately, the markedly risque material of 17 Again results in a visibly uncomfortable Efron, who has yet to remove that halo from his perfectly coiffed head. The onscreen result is quite disorienting, and, despite Efron’s obvious charisma, his acting range leaves much to be desired. Quite simply, one is left with the impression of a cherub that walks into an orgy but is unable to participate, run like hell, or do anything but awkwardly gesticulate. Not that the shortcomings of this film or its star will be noticed by Efron’s fanbase, however, for they’ll be too busy swooning to care about trivial things such as acting.
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The film opens in 1989 to a chorus of audience catcalls at the mere sight of a shirtless, sweaty, high-school senior, Mike O’Donnell (Efron), who is about to lead his basketball team to victory in front of college athletic recruiters. At this very moment, Mike’s future is so fucking bright that he joins the cheerleading squad in an impromptu courtside dance (all-to-familiar territory for Efron). Then, the girlfriend, Scarlet (Allison Miller) shows up, drops the pregnancy bomb, and urges Mike not to give up his dreams for her. Naturally, a white man can’t possibly jump after news like this, so Mike leaves the court, runs after Scarlet, and proposes marriage. Twenty years later, he wakes up looking like Matthew Perry.
Alcohol, apparently, is one hell of a drug.
At 37 years of age, Mike (appearing quite rough as Perry) has grown into a very bitter individual. For starters, he missed out on college and, ironically, spent his life pimping erectile dysfunction drugs. On the home front, things aren’t so great either. Mike’s two teenage children, Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Alex (Sterling Knight), treat their father like a distant relative that shows up at holiday dinners and says all sorts of inappropriate things while downing a cooler full of beer. Meanwhile, Scarlet (now played by Leslie Mann), after dealing with enough of her husband’s crap and feeling responsible for his “failed” life, has filed for divorce and started dating other douchebags. Of course, we’re not exactly sure why, after 20 years together, Mike and Scarlet are seeking a divorce because, clearly, they still seem to love each other a lot, but, obviously, consistency isn’t one of this film’s main attractions.
Poor Mike doesn’t know what happened to his once-promising existence, but he’s a few mere millimeters away from becoming one of those late 30-something cynics, saddled with two child support payments, who frequent those awful online dating sites filled with 75 percent guys, 20 percent hot sexy chat bots, and 5 percent actual women. Fortunately, high-school buddy Ned (Thomas Lennon, who saves the film from total unfunniness), who is now a billionaire and living the ultimate geekboy existence by doing nothing at all, takes Mike into his home. Ned’s presence livens up the movie enough for the audience to stay awake long enough for Zac Efron to return to the screen. To that end, Brian Doyle-Murray (brother of Bill) plays a Wizard/Janitor, who takes pity on Matthew Perry and allows him to become Zac Efron once again. Thus, Mike gets a chance to redo his life.
With the benefit of hindsight, Mike is a sensitive guy. Instead of merely reliving his glorious youth, he decides that it’s his personal mission to attend high school with his children and help them along in that awkward phase referred to as “normal adolescence.” So, Mike fashions himself as Uncle Ned’s bastard child and is shocked to find out the truth: (1) Alex is a total wimp; (2) Maggie spends most of her school day getting tongue-bathed by a bully named Stan (Hunter Parrish). Mike is not only disappointed but feels he may have contributed to all of this, so he articulates his regrets by preaching celibacy in the middle of sex-ed class (taught by an amazingly docile Margaret Cho). As expected, Maggie ends up crushing on her father, and, in a scene that’s at least ten times as creepy as Lea Thompson hitting on Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future, Mike is chased around a bedroom by Maggie, who, for some unknown reason, is roaring and growling like a lioness. As if this isn’t skeevy enough, Mike also tries to romance his soon-to-be ex-wife; for her part, Scarlet assumes Mike is merely a cougar-chasing cub but is startled at his resemblance to her husband. Much presumed hilarity ensues.
The talented Leslie Mann does her best to make us believe that Efron and Perry inhabit the same character, but, in the end, it’s just not in the script or in the actors themselves. Even in a film containing swirling vortexes and transference spells, there’s just nothing that can convince us that two actors, who look nothing alike and are of limited range, can pull off such a trick of wizardry. Walking out of the theater, you’ll leave feeling rather disgusted that the potential for a slightly amusing PG-13 film went so wrong. Further, you’ll feel shameful and dirty, and not in a good way either. If Efron wants to move on to more mature roles, he’d do well to work with a solid script and a director who can provide much firmer guidance. Still, that dazzling smile will ensure the ticket sales needed to help ruin several other subsequent films. The future is dim.

Synopsis:
What would you do if you got a second shot at life? Class of 1989, Mike O'Donnell (Zac Efron) is a star on the high school basketball court with a college scout in the stands and a bright future... What would you do if you got a second shot at life?
Class of 1989, Mike O'Donnell (Zac Efron) is a star on the high school basketball court with a college scout in the stands and a bright future in his grasp. But instead, he decides to throw it all away to share his life with his girlfriend Scarlet and the baby he just learned they are expecting.
Almost 20 years later, Mike's (Matthew Perry) glory days are decidedly behind him. His marriage to Scarlet (Leslie Mann) has fallen apart, he has been passed over for a promotion at work, his teenage kids think he is a loser, and he has been reduced to crashing with his high school nerd-turned-techno-billionaire best friend Ned (Thomas Lennon).
But Mike is given another chance when he is miraculously transformed back to the age of 17. Unfortunately, Mike may look 17 again, but his thirtysomething outlook is totally uncool among the class of 2009.
And in trying to recapture his best years, Mike could lose the best things that ever happened to him.
New Line Cinema Presents An Offspring Entertainment production, 17 Again, starring Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Sterling Knight, Melora Hardin and Matthew Perry.
The film is directed by Burr Steers from a screenplay by Jason Filardi. The producers are Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot. Toby Emmerich, Mark Kaufman, Keith Goldberg and Jason Barrett are the executive producers, with Dara Weintraub serving as co-producer.
The behind-the-scenes creative team is led by director of photography Tim Suhrstedt, production designer Garreth Stover, editor Padraic McKinley and costume designer Pamela Withers Chilton. The music is composed and conducted by Rolfe Kent, and the music supervisor is Buck Damon.
17 Again will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. --© Warner Bros

Starring: Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Sterling Knight, Melora Hardin Director: Burr Steers Screenwriter: Jason Filardi Producer: Adam Shankman, Jennifer Gibgot Composer: Rolfe Kent Studio: New Line Cinema

Observe and Report

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:30:00 +0000

Rated: R for pervasive language, graphic nudity, drug use, sexual content and violence
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Apr 10, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $11,017,33
Review :
Observe and Report is not as easy a film to review as I initially assumed it would be. It exists almost in an effort to defy itself.
Sold as a comedy starring comic regular Seth Rogen it has a few laughs, but considering Rogen’s character, Forest Ridge Mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt, is a bipolar man child with delusions of grandeur, a fetish for firearms and is still living with his alcoholic mother we have a bit more than comedy to consider

Early on these personality traits are played for comedic effect, but as the film plays on we realize they define a very real and unstable individual just aching to crack at any moment. Next comes women bloggers screaming “date rape” all while the character being raped is last seen screaming for more. Add police brutality, slow motion naked fat men and the most powerful handgun in the world delivering a serious blow to the chest and we have just eclipsed comedy.
So what exactly is Observe and Report?
Most will call it a dark comedy, and while it is dark and has its funny moments that is to completely ignore the reality of it all. Writer/director Jody Hill (Foot Fist Way and “Eastbound and Down”) has said comedies shouldn’t be limited to jokes alone. Violence and/or drama in comedies doesn’t need to be funny is his assertion. Citing Taxi Driver as his primary influence Hill has created his own Travis Bickle, but there is a disconnect in this film that doesn’t allow the comparison to completely play out.
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Over the course of the first half of this film Hill goes more for laughs, painting Ronnie as one of the most despicable characters you could meet. His self-designated purpose in life is to protect the weak and his attempts to do so are laughable, occasionally comic, but most times pathetic. He has zero social skills and is entirely unaware of just how dumb he is. To put it plainly, Ronnie is an ass of the worst kind, and as a result the character is unlikable in every way. The Bickle connection, however, is lost as Hill walks the fine line between comedy, reality and lunacy proving there isn’t room for everything.
Along with Rogen the other “star” of the film is Anna Faris as Brandi, a make-up counter girl embodying all the short-comings you can throw at her. She’s a dimwitted, drug using slut that has caught Ronnie’s eye and won’t give him the time of day until the night he manages to catch her coming home stumbling drunk, which is when he sees no problem in making his move. Their “date” dissolves into some of the funnier moments of the film, but at the same time has drawn questions regarding date rape from various corners. Considering Ronnie’s disturbing behavior throughout the film I think it is an overreaction, but the fact Warner Bros. is selling this film as a laugh-out-loud comedy, and the scene in question has one of the most comedic moments in the film, the criticism has its merits.
I bring up this date rape issue not in an attempt to be morally correct, but to show the primary flaw this film has going for it. Despite the comedic aspects, one could argue Observe and Report is a serious film looking at the life of a disturbed individual and society’s reaction and involvement in making him what he is and even, at times, reinforcing his behavior. I have no idea how far Hill actually intended audiences to take the serious nature of the film and how much he expected us to laugh, but based on what I have read he didn’t intend for audiences to necessarily feel good about what they were laughing at. What Hill has attempted is inspired, and maybe in the hands of another director it would have worked, but with Observe and Report it just dissolves into utter chaos, which again may be intentional, but that would just be reaching too far.
For what it’s worth I didn’t really enjoy the film. I had a few moments of laughter, one of which involves Ronnie alone on a dark street corner surrounded by crack heads led by Danny McBride (Tropic Thunder and “Eastbound and Down”) and the subsequent scene with Ronnie and Detective Harrison played by Ray Liotta, whose character actually disappointed me. I originally expected Harrison to be the counterpunch to Ronnie, but instead the two were one-in-the-same. If this is Hill’s way of making a point that’s great, but to know a police detective can be just as crazy as a bipolar mall cop doesn’t do much for me and really adds nothing to the movie.
With Observe and Report we are talking about something I would define as an anti-comedy and it bucks the system at every turn. I can’t say I have seen a movie like it, but that doesn’t mean it gets extra points for being original (Okay, maybe a few). Yet, when all is said and done, it will be interesting to see how audiences take to the film overall and how many, like me, will have their share of laughs, but come out ultimately disappointed.

Synopsis:
At the Forest Ridge Mall, head of security Ronnie Barnhardt (SETH ROGEN) patrols his jurisdiction with an iron fist. The master of his domain, he combats skateboarders, shoplifters and the... At the Forest Ridge Mall, head of security Ronnie Barnhardt (SETH ROGEN) patrols his jurisdiction with an iron fist. The master of his domain, he combats skateboarders, shoplifters and the occasional unruly customer while dreaming of the day when he can swap his flashlight for a badge and a gun.

Ronnie's delusions of grandeur are put to the test when the mall is struck by a flasher. Driven by his personal duty to protect and serve the mall and its patrons, Ronnie seizes the opportunity to showcase his underappreciated law enforcement talents on a grand scale, hoping his solution of this crime will earn him a coveted spot at the police academy and the heart of his elusive dream girl Brandi (ANNA FARIS), the hot make-up counter clerk who won't give him the time of day.

But his single-minded pursuit of glory launches a turf war with the equally competitive Detective Harrison (RAY LIOTTA) of the Conway Police, and Ronnie is confronted with the challenge of not only catching the flasher, but getting him before the real cops.

Seth Rogen stars in the dark comedy Observe and Report, written and directed by Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way). Donald De Line (The Italian Job) will produce, with Andrew Haas (Without a Paddle), Marty Ewing (Blades of Glory), Thomas Tull (The Dark Knight) and Jon Jashni (Sweet Home Alabama) serving as executive producers. The film also stars Anna Faris (The House Bunny), Michael Pena (Million Dollar Baby), Celia Weston (Junebug) and Ray Liotta (The Rat Pack).

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Tim Orr (Snow Angels), production designer Chris Spellman (Superbad) and editor Zene Baker (The Foot Fist Way). Music is by Joseph Stephens.

Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Legendary Pictures, presents a De Line Pictures Production, a Jody Hill Film, Observe and Report, . --© Warner Bros

Starring: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Pena, Ray Liotta, Celia Weston, Collette Wolfe
Director: Jody Hill

Synopsis: At the Forest Ridge Mall, head of security Ronnie Barnhardt (SETH ROGEN) patrols his jurisdiction with an iron fist. The master of his domain, he combats skateboarders, shoplifters and the... At the Forest Ridge Mall, head of security Ronnie Barnhardt (SETH ROGEN) patrols his jurisdiction with an iron fist. The master of his domain, he combats skateboarders, shoplifters and the occasional unruly customer while dreaming of the day when he can swap his flashlight for a badge and a gun.

Ronnie's delusions of grandeur are put to the test when the mall is struck by a flasher. Driven by his personal duty to protect and serve the mall and its patrons, Ronnie seizes the opportunity to showcase his underappreciated law enforcement talents on a grand scale, hoping his solution of this crime will earn him a coveted spot at the police academy and the heart of his elusive dream girl Brandi (ANNA FARIS), the hot make-up counter clerk who won't give him the time of day.

But his single-minded pursuit of glory launches a turf war with the equally competitive Detective Harrison (RAY LIOTTA) of the Conway Police, and Ronnie is confronted with the challenge of not only catching the flasher, but getting him before the real cops.

Seth Rogen stars in the dark comedy Observe and Report, written and directed by Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way). Donald De Line (The Italian Job) will produce, with Andrew Haas (Without a Paddle), Marty Ewing (Blades of Glory), Thomas Tull (The Dark Knight) and Jon Jashni (Sweet Home Alabama) serving as executive producers. The film also stars Anna Faris (The House Bunny), Michael Pena (Million Dollar Baby), Celia Weston (Junebug) and Ray Liotta (The Rat Pack).

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Tim Orr (Snow Angels), production designer Chris Spellman (Superbad) and editor Zene Baker (The Foot Fist Way). Music is by Joseph Stephens.

Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Legendary Pictures, presents a De Line Pictures Production, a Jody Hill Film, Observe and Report, . --© Warner Bros

Starring: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Pena, Ray Liotta, Celia Weston, Collette Wolfe Director: Jody Hill Screenwriter: Jody Hill Producer: Donald De Line Composer: Joseph Stephens Studio: Warner Bros.

I Love You, Man

noreply@blogger.com (suarnata) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:24:00 +0000

Rated: R for pervasive language, including crude and sexual references
Runtime: 1 min 40 secs
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Mar 20, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $58,865,219
Review :
I Love You, Man operates within serious highs and lows. When this movie is funny it’s really funny, but when the jokes aren’t rolling it hits rock bottom.
This isn’t necessarily a problem for the first half of the film or so, but there comes a point where you hope it will get out of its funk and gain a bit of consistency, but it never does.

It’s an R-rated comedy directed by John Hamburg who found some success with Along Came Polly back in 2004, but I just can’t be sure if I Love You, Man will follow suit despite the caliber of comedic stars and its harder edged comedic tone.
I would say my biggest issue is with Paul Rudd who plays Peter Klaven, a man about to get married who has no real male friends and is encouraged by Zooey (Rashida Jones from NBC’s “The Office”), his finace, and family to spread his wings (after all, he needs a best man). The problem comes about when I can’t tell if Rudd has always been this boring as an actor and I just didn’t recognize it, if it’s just his character that bores me or if he just can’t carry a lead role when the story relies on him doing more than delivering one-liners.
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Much like in Role Models, Rudd is more of the straight-laced character whereas the guy he befriends, Sydney (played by Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Jason Segel), is the crazier of the two, much like how Seann William Scott was the crazy guy in Role Models. The difference here being the two never find much of a cohesive friendship — despite the movie implying they have — and Rudd’s character’s tendency to be the ho-hum life of the party drags the film down between punch lines.
Jason Segel serves as the straight-forward attempt at getting the audience to laugh as every moment he is on screen is dedicated to getting you to chuckle at or with him. Segel’s character, for all intents and purposes, sort of came off as a fraud to me and I fully expected that to be the film’s turning point and when it wasn’t there was a brief glimmer of hope, which was soon dashed when the alternative was just as boring as Peter.
However, contradicting Peter’s disturbing life routine he is fortunate enough to be marrying someone as fantastic as Zooey. Rashida Jones is so cute, she seems almost too good to be true and she creates a character equally charming. Why Zooey would decide on such a dud as Peter is beyond me. Andy Samberg plays Peter’s gay gym-trainer brother and is good for a few laughs as Samberg eats up each scene he is in and would have likely been a better character to focus on than the route this story went. The loud mouth couple played by Jamie Pressly and Jon Favreau is an excellent addition, but the joke there soon runs out as Hamburg goes to the well one too many times, something he seemed to do consistently throughout this film.
I Love You, Man isn’t a bad film, it just isn’t much of a good one. It has some extremely funny moments, most of the time dealing with scenes where both sexes are involved outside of the typical rude humor accessed when Rudd and Segel are sharing scenes alone. The film could have benefit severely by shaking things up and not relying on the same old tricks we have seen in other films of its ilk, and most notably making its lead character a little more accessible, something Judd Apatow films are best at and an easy way to distinguish this one from the Apatow filmography. Rudd’s character is such a bore that by the time the film is over you are surprised anyone would have a dedicated interest in marrying him, let alone calling him a best friend after only a few months.

Synopsis:
After years of swiping scenes from the leading men in such movies as KNOCKED UP and THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, Paul Rudd finally headlines a star vehicle of his own. Unlike those Judd Apatow... After years of swiping scenes from the leading men in such movies as KNOCKED UP and THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, Paul Rudd finally headlines a star vehicle of his own. Unlike those Judd Apatow productions, it's John Hamburg (ALONG CAME POLLY) who directs I LOVE YOU, MAN, albeit with many of the touchstones of Apatow's highly successful freaks-and-geeks-with-heart aesthetic. In other words, this is not an Apatow film, but, with the male capacity for--and simultaneous inability to express--fraternal love as its core comic conceit (and emotional centerpiece), it may as well be. Rudd plays Peter Klaven, a real estate agent with a blossoming career and an imminent marriage to Zooey (THE OFFICE's Rashida Jones)--basically, he's lucky in all things except male bonding. The narrative arc centers on his quest for platonic man-love--as opposed to, say, finding the girl of his dreams--and follows the boilerplate dictates of a standard rom-com with a subversive wink. In this case, boy meets boy, boys bond over their common love of Rush and Andre the Giant, boys break up and make up, etc. Rudd and co-star Jason Segel (FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL), a fellow Apatow alum who plays Sydney Fife, the Type B object of Klaven's affection, imbue their roles with winning charisma and elevate the plot with real and nuanced chemistry. With a whip-smart pace, the film continually tills fresh comic ground as Hamburg finds punctuation points in every scene and never lets a gag overstay its welcome. While the supporting cast features many memorable turns by the likes of Jon Favreau, Jaime Pressly, and Andy Samberg, I LOVE YOU, MAN ultimately belongs to Rudd, who approaches insecurity and social awkwardness with the same dead-eye marksmanship that Peter Sellers did for slapstick.

Starring: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, Jane Curtin, Jon Favreau, Jaime Pressly, Lou Ferrigno Director: John Hamburg Screenwriter: John Hamburg Story: Larry Levin, John Hamburg Producer: Donald De Line, John Hamburg Composer: Theodore Shapiro Studio: Paramount Pictures