Friday, September 01, 2006
This Week's Movie Releases
Crank (R); Wide release
Chev Chelios is about to begin his morning with an unexpected wake-up call. Groggy, practically unable to move and with a heart that's barely beating, he hears the voice of thug Ricky Verona, who reveals Chev has been poisoned in his sleep and only has an hour to live. As it turns out, Chev is a hit man who freelances for a major West Coast syndicate. A run of the mill job the night before instead went awry: he let his target slip away in an effort to quit professional killing and start a new life with his girlfriend Eve. Now, Chev must keep moving to stay alive: the only way to prolong the poison from stopping his heart is to keep his adrenaline flowing. As the clock ticks, Chelios cuts a swath through the streets of Los Angeles, wreaking havoc on those who dare stand in his way. He must rescue Eve from danger, stay two steps ahead of his nemeses and search for an antidote to save his own life.
Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Efren Ramirez, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Jay Xcala
Crossover (PG-13); Wide release
Noah Cruise, a naturally talented basketball player, is determined to become a doctor using his basketball scholarship to attend UCLA pre-med, rather than succumbing to the lure of a former sports agent Vaughn, and his push for Noah to go for the NBA. Noah's best friend, Tech, the buddy that covered for him and did time for an assault charge, is also an outstanding basketball player, but has less lofty ambitions--he wants to get his GED and win an underground street ball game against an arrogant rival, Jewelz. Noah and Tech's lives drastically change when they both fall in love with two local girls, Vanessa Lilly and Eboni Jackson, and take a fateful trip out to L.A. together.
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Wesley Jonathan, Wayne Brady, Kristen Wilson, Eva Pigford
Trust the Man (R); Wide release
Rebecca, a successful actress and her Mr. Mom husband, Tom, have two kids, a virtually nonexistent sex life, and a marriage counselor who is too baffled by the pair to offer any real help. Rebecca's slacker younger brother, Tobey, has been dating the exasperated Elaine for eight years but can't seem to commit to getting married and having a family. The status quo is given a serious jolt, however, when Tom is drawn into an affair with a mother at his son's school and Elaine finally gives Tobey an ultimatum, sending him into a fling with a sexy (and married) former college flame. When the fates of both couples culminate a very public finale on the stage at Lincoln Center, both Rebecca and Elaine will have to decide--do they trust the man?
Starring: Julianne Moore, David Duchovny, Billy Crudup, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Eva Mendes
The Wicker Man (PG-13); Wide release
Out patrolling a California highway, police officer Edward Malus stops a station wagon to return a little girl's lost doll. Moments later, a runaway truck slams into the station wagon, igniting it into a fiery wreck with the mother and child trapped inside. Edwards fails to save them before the car explodes--and then spends months of his life choking down pills to get the image of their faces out of his head. But Edward is about to get a second chance. A desperate letter from his former fiancée, Willow, arrives at his home with no postmark. Willow came into his life and left just as unexpectedly years before. But now, her daughter Rowan has gone missing, and Edward is the only person she trusts to help relocate her. She asks him to come to her home on a private island--Summersisle--a place with its own traditions where people observe a forgotten way of life. Edward seizes the opportunity to make his life right again, and soon finds himself on a seaplane bound for the islands of the Pacific Northwest. But nothing is what it seems on isolated Summersisle, where a culture, dominated by its matriarch Sister Summersisle, is bound together by arcane traditions and a pagan festival known as the Day of Death and Rebirth. The secretive people of Summersisle only ridicule his investigation, insisting that a child named Rowan never existed there--or if she ever did was no longer alive. But what Edward doesn't know is that Willow's plea for help has invited more into his life than a chance for redemption. In unraveling Summersisle's closely held secrets, Edward is drawn into a web of ancient traditions and murderous deceit, and each step he takes closer to the lost child brings him one step closer to the unspeakable. And one step closer to The Wicker Man.
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski, Kate Beahan
Idiocracy (R); Limited release
An average guy volunteers to be the subject of a hibernation experiment that goes awry. He wakes up 500 years in the future, discovering that he's the smartest guy on the planet.
Starring: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Sheperd, Sara Rue, Terry Crews
Lassie (PG); Limited release
Set in 1938, a loyal collie travels over 1,000 miles from northern Scotland to Yorkshire to return to her young friend. The dog, having been sold to a wealthy Duke because the boy's father was out of work, runs away and braves starvation and treacherous conditions to follow the pull of her heart toward the family who loves her.
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Samantha Morton, Peter Dinklage, John Lynch, Steve Pemberton
Looking for Kitty (R); Limited release
After hiring a down-and-out private investigator, an upstate New York, high school baseball coach ventures to Manhattan for the first time to track down his wife who ran away with a second rate rock star. Jack, the private investigator, and Abe, the coach, develop a close bond as they search for Abe's wife, while also confronting a series of unique and funny New York characters along the way. Their colorful companion is New York City, itself, which can be everything from a wintery afternoon to a friendly neighbor; a city buzzing with excitement, or echoing with loneliness. For Jack and Abe they must also face the conflict between their respective fears of future and the familiar life of loneliness.
Starring: Edward Burns, David Krumholtz, Connie Britton, Shari Albert, Craig Carlisle
Coming Attractions
-
The Covenant (PG-13); Wide release; opens 9/8 (so want to see this!)
Hollywoodland (R); Wide release; opens 9/8
The Protector (NR); Wide release; opens 9/8
Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art.
-- Seneca
(movie review courtesy of Movietickets.com) ¶ 9/01/2006 06:53:00 AM
Chev Chelios is about to begin his morning with an unexpected wake-up call. Groggy, practically unable to move and with a heart that's barely beating, he hears the voice of thug Ricky Verona, who reveals Chev has been poisoned in his sleep and only has an hour to live. As it turns out, Chev is a hit man who freelances for a major West Coast syndicate. A run of the mill job the night before instead went awry: he let his target slip away in an effort to quit professional killing and start a new life with his girlfriend Eve. Now, Chev must keep moving to stay alive: the only way to prolong the poison from stopping his heart is to keep his adrenaline flowing. As the clock ticks, Chelios cuts a swath through the streets of Los Angeles, wreaking havoc on those who dare stand in his way. He must rescue Eve from danger, stay two steps ahead of his nemeses and search for an antidote to save his own life.
Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Efren Ramirez, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Jay Xcala
Crossover (PG-13); Wide release
Noah Cruise, a naturally talented basketball player, is determined to become a doctor using his basketball scholarship to attend UCLA pre-med, rather than succumbing to the lure of a former sports agent Vaughn, and his push for Noah to go for the NBA. Noah's best friend, Tech, the buddy that covered for him and did time for an assault charge, is also an outstanding basketball player, but has less lofty ambitions--he wants to get his GED and win an underground street ball game against an arrogant rival, Jewelz. Noah and Tech's lives drastically change when they both fall in love with two local girls, Vanessa Lilly and Eboni Jackson, and take a fateful trip out to L.A. together.
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Wesley Jonathan, Wayne Brady, Kristen Wilson, Eva Pigford
Trust the Man (R); Wide release
Rebecca, a successful actress and her Mr. Mom husband, Tom, have two kids, a virtually nonexistent sex life, and a marriage counselor who is too baffled by the pair to offer any real help. Rebecca's slacker younger brother, Tobey, has been dating the exasperated Elaine for eight years but can't seem to commit to getting married and having a family. The status quo is given a serious jolt, however, when Tom is drawn into an affair with a mother at his son's school and Elaine finally gives Tobey an ultimatum, sending him into a fling with a sexy (and married) former college flame. When the fates of both couples culminate a very public finale on the stage at Lincoln Center, both Rebecca and Elaine will have to decide--do they trust the man?
Starring: Julianne Moore, David Duchovny, Billy Crudup, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Eva Mendes
The Wicker Man (PG-13); Wide release
Out patrolling a California highway, police officer Edward Malus stops a station wagon to return a little girl's lost doll. Moments later, a runaway truck slams into the station wagon, igniting it into a fiery wreck with the mother and child trapped inside. Edwards fails to save them before the car explodes--and then spends months of his life choking down pills to get the image of their faces out of his head. But Edward is about to get a second chance. A desperate letter from his former fiancée, Willow, arrives at his home with no postmark. Willow came into his life and left just as unexpectedly years before. But now, her daughter Rowan has gone missing, and Edward is the only person she trusts to help relocate her. She asks him to come to her home on a private island--Summersisle--a place with its own traditions where people observe a forgotten way of life. Edward seizes the opportunity to make his life right again, and soon finds himself on a seaplane bound for the islands of the Pacific Northwest. But nothing is what it seems on isolated Summersisle, where a culture, dominated by its matriarch Sister Summersisle, is bound together by arcane traditions and a pagan festival known as the Day of Death and Rebirth. The secretive people of Summersisle only ridicule his investigation, insisting that a child named Rowan never existed there--or if she ever did was no longer alive. But what Edward doesn't know is that Willow's plea for help has invited more into his life than a chance for redemption. In unraveling Summersisle's closely held secrets, Edward is drawn into a web of ancient traditions and murderous deceit, and each step he takes closer to the lost child brings him one step closer to the unspeakable. And one step closer to The Wicker Man.
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski, Kate Beahan
Idiocracy (R); Limited release
An average guy volunteers to be the subject of a hibernation experiment that goes awry. He wakes up 500 years in the future, discovering that he's the smartest guy on the planet.
Starring: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Sheperd, Sara Rue, Terry Crews
Lassie (PG); Limited release
Set in 1938, a loyal collie travels over 1,000 miles from northern Scotland to Yorkshire to return to her young friend. The dog, having been sold to a wealthy Duke because the boy's father was out of work, runs away and braves starvation and treacherous conditions to follow the pull of her heart toward the family who loves her.
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Samantha Morton, Peter Dinklage, John Lynch, Steve Pemberton
Looking for Kitty (R); Limited release
After hiring a down-and-out private investigator, an upstate New York, high school baseball coach ventures to Manhattan for the first time to track down his wife who ran away with a second rate rock star. Jack, the private investigator, and Abe, the coach, develop a close bond as they search for Abe's wife, while also confronting a series of unique and funny New York characters along the way. Their colorful companion is New York City, itself, which can be everything from a wintery afternoon to a friendly neighbor; a city buzzing with excitement, or echoing with loneliness. For Jack and Abe they must also face the conflict between their respective fears of future and the familiar life of loneliness.
Starring: Edward Burns, David Krumholtz, Connie Britton, Shari Albert, Craig Carlisle
Coming Attractions
-
The Covenant (PG-13); Wide release; opens 9/8 (so want to see this!)
Hollywoodland (R); Wide release; opens 9/8
The Protector (NR); Wide release; opens 9/8
Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art.
-- Seneca
(movie review courtesy of Movietickets.com) ¶ 9/01/2006 06:53:00 AM
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