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Director: Michael Bay Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel (Full Cast) Studio: DreamWorks SKG The Plot: Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to protect humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle.
THE BUZZ: Nearly two years to the day after the original Transformers was released, it's interesting to note how the personalities involved here have changed. Shia LaBeouf has gone from an up-and-comer to full-fledged star, with attendant backlash and ego bursts; Megan Fox one upped her co-star by becoming a more credible Hollywood bad boy; Michael Bay is still as huffy as producer Don Murphy is angry, though they both do an admirable job of bringing movies news, insights, misdirections, and angry rants to the TF universe. What do we really know about the project? Highlights: A boosted budget (a reported $200 million, which excludes marketing and all that) allowed the creation of some 40 Autobots and Decepticons, who will receive more screen time; LaBeouf will likely channel Mutt Williams a bit, given the ancient-world tie-ins here (hint: Egyptology reveals the origins of TF life?!); rabid worldwide fanbase + four-barrel marketing attack + IMAX footage = biggest film of the year? KIT with TF2 via cheat sheets and spoiler logs. P.S. When is the last time a coloring book spoiled a plot? Message Boards: One decepticon actually yells 'Jihad!' | G1 fans thoughts on Revenge of Fallen Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Nick Cassavetes Stars: Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin (Full Cast) Studio: New Line Cinema The Plot: Anna Fitzgerald (Breslin) looks to earn medical emancipation from her parents (Diaz and Patric) who until now have relied on their youngest child to help their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate (Vassilieva) remain alive.
THE BUZZ: Nick Cassavetes wants to bum you out. Again. Following up Alpha Dog with this adaptation of Jodi Picoult's novel, a story that is almost as depressing as Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, is destined to make your heart (and Abigail Breslin's kidneys) break. I'm like: Why is this being released in the middle of sunny summer, when it feels predestined to fit into the fall/winter film schedule? Message Boards: I saw the movie. It was changed dramatically. (SPOILERS) | Cameron Diaz with three teenagers Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Stephen Frears Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates (Full Cast) Studio: Miramax Films The Plot: A romantic drama set in 1920s Paris, where the son of a courtesan (Friend) retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman (Pfeiffer) who educated him in the ways of love.
THE BUZZ: I, perhaps like you, am excited by the idea of a Pfeiffer-Frears reunion (and let's not forget to add Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton to the ménage), and I'm not the least bit disappointed in the international trailer (located above), which is more airy and light hearted than Dangerous Liaisons in tone. Pfeiffer looks heavenly, and Kathy Bates rules! Plus, those costumes are attention-getting in their own right. We'll be in the back row. With champagne. Message Boards: Just watched it!!!opinion!!! | Rating? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh Stars: Shohreh Aghdashloo, James Caviezel, Mozhan Marnò (Full Cast) Studio: Roadside Attractions The Plot: A drama set in 1986 Iran and centered on a man, Sahebjam (Caviezel), whose car breaks down in a remote village and enters into a conversation with Zahra (Aghdashloo), who relays to him the story about her niece, Soraya (Marnò), whose arranged marriage to an abusive tyrant had a tragic ending.
THE BUZZ: Writer-director Cyrus Nowrasteh's filmography is steeped in tragedy and drama; you might remember his name as being attached to Oliver Stone's still-sorta-in-development CIA vs. Taliban project, Jawbreaker. Anyway, here, his partnership with his screenwriter wife, Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh, almost walked away with the Toronto Film Festival's People's Choice Award earlier this year. (Slumdog won.) What I tend to worry about with indie films such as this -- essentially, true stories with valuable sociopolitical context -- is the level of sensitivity and craft it requires to drive home important themes and messages without a heavy hand. Fingers crossed for measured, angry subtlety here. And talk about being contemporary ... Message Boards: Read This Article from Washington Examiner! | U.S. Release date? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Kathryn Bigelow Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty (Full Cast) Studio: Summit Entertainment The Plot: In Baghdad, members of a bomb-disposal team near the end of their rotation deadline are pulled into a deadly game of urban combat by a new sergeant (Renner).
THE BUZZ: Looks like we finally have a Iraq War drama worth discussing. Time-taking director Kathryn Bigelow's latest, her first feature since K-19: The Widowmaker, has divided audiences since its film-festival debuts (it played at Venice and Toronto in the same week last September). The apparently apolitical stance Hurt takes could be part of the reason Summit Entertainment, who started off as a sales company who specialized in outsider titles and is starting to distribute equally risky projects, has slowly built buzz on the festival circuit. Here's an intelligent preview from Spoutblog's Karina Longworth. Message Boards: Why did the Americans use meters instead of yards? | Great movie with no BS Hollywood political agenda. Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Jennifer Chambers Lynch Stars: (Full Cast) Studio: Magnet Releasing The Plot: Two FBI agents track a serial killer with the help of three of his would-be victims, all of whom have wildly different stories to tell.
THE BUZZ: One good thing about being the director of Boxing Helena: No matter how traditional or experimental you get with your other projects, you can pretty much guarantee that your worst reviews are behind you. See what we mean? We do like Pell James, though. And French Stewart, of all people, apparently supports in style. Message Boards: Did you guess the ending? -SPOILERS- | Were they trying to make Janet suspicious? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews |
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Director: Anne Fletcher Stars: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds (Full Cast) Studio: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures The Plot: A publishing executive (Bullock) forces her assistant (Reynolds) to marry her so she can avoid deportation back to Canada. User Rating:
THE BUZZ: Step Up director Anne Fletcher is making strides in her career, and she's looking to spotlight "Sandy's" physical-comedy skills here, which will most likely pale in comparison to Ryan Reynolds's innate ability to make annoying behavior somehow charming. Thing is: Both Reynolds and Bullock's respective partners are exponentially hotter than this on-screen pairing, but we sense that 2009 is turning into the Year of the Cougar. Message Boards: you know when she was telling him all the stuff.. | The 'Babymaker'.... Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Todd Phillips Stars: Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha (Full Cast) Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures The Plot: In Las Vegas, three groomsmen lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, forcing them to retrace their steps in order to find him before the church bells ring. User Rating:
THE BUZZ: Hmm, did Ashton and Cameron's success in Vegas influence director Todd Phillips to finally pick his first project since the woefully misguided School for Scoundrels remake? Whatever the case, Phillips and Warner Bros. are keeping it low budget here, with a B-list cast (at best) that should keep this comedy in the black. Message Boards: ~32 hours without water | Rufalin? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Pete Docter Bob Peterson Stars: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger (Full Cast) Studio: Buena Vista Pictures The Plot: By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip. User Rating:
THE BUZZ: Pixar takes to the skies again, this time with buddy-story specialists Pete Docter and Bob Peterson bringing the charm to us in 3D (in "select" theaters, anyway). These days, I support anything that strips away my senses of irony and sarcasm, and Up's teaser trailer (located above) is wonderfully restorative. At Comic-Con last year, Docter described how the movie was influenced by an unreachable range of Venezuelan mountains, and a septuagenarian 's wish to fulfill the dreams he made with his now-departed wife when he was a younger man. I got misty. Plus, Docter went on to say that his movie will have some easter eggs for upcoming Pixar projects. More news as Pixar/Disney leaks it. Message Boards: Where do you think they spent the 175 millions on? | A better rating system needed? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Harold Ramis Stars: Jack Black, Michael Cera, Olivia Wilde (Full Cast) Studio: Columbia Pictures The Plot: When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Black and Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through their ancient world. User Rating:
THE BUZZ: The Superbad set will be stoked for a 2/3 cast reunion here, while those of us who actually came of age in the late 1970s/early 1980s will note the reemergence of Year One writer-director Harold Ramis, who has a Meatballs remake and Ghostbusters 3 in development. We imagine at least one of these projects will be filming by this summer, and since news of a third Ghostbusters adventure immediately earned more press than this time-traveling comedy, here's a link to a dirt-spreading article on the project, which has direct ties to the production of The Year One. Message Boards: What has two thumbs and wanted to see The Hangover again instead? | The critics might be dead wrong. Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Tony Scott Stars: Denzel Washington, John Travolta (Full Cast) Studio: Columbia Pictures The Plot: Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garbe (Washington) into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime (Travolta). User Rating:
THE BUZZ: It's Deja-Vu all over again as Scott and Denzel reunite for this remake of a remake. I can't help but wonder if the hijackers in this version will still ask for one meeee-lee-ion dollars or if today's New Yorkers would seriously sit in a subway car with these goons for an hour (even if one of 'em looked like an aging Tony Manero). Somehow, I don't think so. Message Boards: Yet another boring movie.... | Anyone notice the Inside Man referance?? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Shawn Levy Stars: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Amy Adams (Full Cast) Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation The Plot: Security guard Larry Daley (Stiller) infiltrates the Smithsonian Institute in order to rescue Jedediah (Wilson) and Octavius (Coogan), who have been shipped to the museum by mistake. User Rating:
THE BUZZ: Similar ideas abound for this sequel, but even naysayers might admit that a better cast has been assembled around Ben Stiller for his second Washington, D.C. adventure. (It's pretty amazing that Stiller has three active franchises going, if you believe reports that Little Fockers is getting made). Here's a first look at the film, and a glimpse at how much Stiller has aged over the past couple years. P.S. Is it just me, or does Amy Adams seem kind of annoying as Amelia Earhart? Granted, she's probably way less irritating than Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt, who returns for the sequel (along with two handfuls of new faces), but pinched and snippy just aren't her colors. Message Boards: There was no real threat | Why are popular movies so gawd awful stupid? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: J.J. Abrams Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg (Full Cast) Studio: Paramount Pictures The Plot: The origin story of Captain James T. Kirk, Spock and the crew of the USS Enterprise before they had boldly gone where no man had gone before. User Rating:
THE BUZZ: One look (okay maybe two) at the trailer and it's safe to say this isn't your grandfather's Star Trek. With a Spock vs. Kirk fist fight, steamy sex scenes, Shaun of the Dead cracking jokes and is that Harold from Harold and Kumar (!?), this doesn't even come close to being your older brother's TNG. Early reports call it "phenomenal". So, perhaps handing this tired franchise over to the young Mr. Abrams may have been just what it needed to live long and ... Message Boards: Just bought the ' Kirk and Spock Trilogy' on bluray | What I don't understand about parallel universes Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Brad Silberling Stars: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel (Full Cast) Studio: Universal Pictures The Plot: On his latest expedition, Dr. Rick Marshall (Ferrell) is sucked into a space-time vortex alongside his research assistant (Friel) and a redneck survivalist (McBride). In this alternate universe, the trio make friends with a primate named Chaka (Taccone), their only ally in a world full of dinosaurs and other fantastic creatures. Can they all make it back to our world alive, and if so: Will Dr. Marshall can go from zero to hero with his discoveries? User Rating:
THE BUZZ: Say what you want about Kroft's original '70s Saturday morning fix (if you can even remember it), sleestaks, pakunies and Marshall Marshall are ripe for parody. And, Ferrell's just the right guy to deliver it. While many seem ready to write off his various shirtless, man-boy, sport-spoof antics, we're not. Mostly because he's still funny as hell. Plus, we can't wait to see what he and already-arrived comic McBride come up with together. Message Boards: Why all the Negativity??? | How are the T-Rex special effects? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: Karey Kirkpatrick Stars: Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church (Full Cast) Studio: Paramount Pictures The Plot: A financial executive (Murphy) who can't stop his career downspiral is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await. User Rating:
THE BUZZ: Is Murphy's real-world profession in the same state as his character's here? Maybe it's time to make like Adam Sandler and head back out on the stand-up circuit in order to revitalize your career. Either that, or pull a Johnny Gill and disappear from the industry completely. Message Boards: Crowd Reports? | Bedtime Stories? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews | ||||||
Director: McG Stars: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin (Full Cast) Studio: Turner Network Television (TNT) The Plot: John Connor (Bale) is joined in his attempt to defeat Skynet and its army of Terminators by Marcus Wright (Worthington), a man who apparently has been rescued from the past, though Connor wonders if instead he's been sent from the future as a foil to his plan. As Connor and Wright push deep into the heart of Skynet, they get closer and closer to learning the secret behind the organization's mission to wipe humankind off the planet. User Rating:
THE BUZZ: Terminator Salvation reminds me of Iron Man in that it capitalized on Comic-Con to get fans of the saga off of McG's back and on his side instead. After a spirited presentation in San Diego last year, where the director eloquently described the story's theme of an individual's free will versus their destiny, the haters unfolded their arms and realized that the man up on the stage isn't the same guy who made Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. In all honestly, once Christian Bale signed up to play John Connor, I sensed that TS might wind up being the second best Terminator movie ever. And with Sam Worthington bending the story's mythology a bit more, do you really need a Schwarzenegger cameo here? (No, but I, in narrator mode, give a roar of approval for the presence of Linda Hamilton.) More memorable awesomeness from Comic-Con was Anton Yelchin's quote regarding his ambition for his character, Kyle Reese: To show "how Michael Biehn became so awesome that Linda Hamilton would sleep with him."
Message Boards: Question about kyle Reese | Arnold coming back to do T5? Showtimes | Trailers | Photos | Message Boards | User Comments | Reviews |
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