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The Latest in ShowBiz News

Mike Pierce

By

2009/04/07 at 12:00am

The Tale of Despereaux

04.7.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.5

Rated: Not available.
Release Date: 2008-12-19
Starring: Gary Ross, Will McRobb, Chris Viscardi
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:UK, USA
Official Website: http://www.thetaleofdespereauxmovie.com/

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Awww…there’s nothing cuter than a little, big eared mouse with a sword. The Tale of Despereaux stars a little mouse named, Despereaux.

 

At an early age – his family and friends noticed he wasn’t your average mouse. He doesn’t cringe to the site of knives. He doesn’t fear cats. He laughs at the of mouse traps. He’s just one COOL mouse. The story starts in a kingdom called, Dor…and in this kingdom…they love soup…yes, I said soup. SOUP DAY that is – it’s a day of celebration!

Well, something bad happens…an accident (not going to tell you) where the king…broken hearted…decides to banish soup and KILL at rats. I know, I know – your saying to yourself, “Mike – what the heck does rats have to do with it?” – Well, go see the movie and you’ll find out. (lol)
 
This movie teaches you a lot of lessons – It has like 4 little stories all wrapped in 1 movie. This happens to be great family, holiday movie. There’s comedy, drama, action and adventure.
 
Just remember…size DOESN’T matter if you put your mind to it!

Jack Rico

By

2009/04/07 at 12:00am

Doubt

04.7.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.5

Rated: PG-13 for thematic material.
Release Date: 2008-12-12
Starring: John Patrick Shanley
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.doubt-themovie.com/

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Jack Rico

By

2009/04/03 at 12:00am

Fast & Furious

04.3.2009 | By |

Rated: PG-13 for for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual content, language and drug references.
Release Date: 2009-04-03
Starring: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.fastandfuriousmovie.net/

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Fast & Furious

‘Fast & Furious,’ the fourth installment to the classic car action film ‘Fast and the Furious’ franchise, revisits the lives of the original cast members and their unexpected reunion after eight years apart from each other. This time around, the film amps up the action sequences and presents more character development than the first part. Those moments unfortunately do not work well and are perhaps the most risible and feeble scenes of the film. Nevertheless, the end result is fun, brainless entertainment that combines nostalgia with unadulterated action.

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker meet up again when an unfortunate incident brings them back to the highways of Los Angeles as they are forced to confront a shared enemy. Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to ever outmaneuver him and fulfill their individual and personal agendas.

I have never been a big fan of the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, but I guess the old adage of “you never know what you have until you lose it” has some truth to it. I am referring to the original cast of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster – whose absence from parts two and three (2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift) were tremendously felt. With their anticipated reunion on this third sequel, mostly a nostalgic one, the ‘hype’ surrounding the original film in 2001 was merited. These four individuals together bring a tremendous charge of allure to the big screen which will no doubt make this film a box office success. Expect a high dosage of high speed car chases, gun battles and a heavy Latino vibe from the actors, the locations and music.

Alex Florez

By

2009/04/02 at 12:00am

Adventureland

04.2.2009 | By |

Rated: R for language, drug use and sexual references
Release Date: 2009-04-03
Starring: Greg Mottola
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.adventurelandthefilm.com/

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Adventureland

Having directed “Superbad”, one of the biggest and most critically acclaimed comedies in recent memory, Greg Mottola chooses another teen-angst coming of age story as his follow up project. But don’t be fooled, “Adventureland” is a completely different type of movie.

Although both the quirkiness and awkwardness of our adolescence are obviously exploited here for comedic effect, the film comes across as deeply personal and honest.  That’s because it is the semi-autobiographical story of Mottola as an uptight, overeducated young man who’s forced to take a minimum wage job at the local amusement park when his family suffers an economic downturn in the middle of the Reagan 80s.

What James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) doesn’t anticipate when he gets the job however, is falling head over heels for the alluringly sharp-tongued arcade girl, Em Lewin (Kristen Stewart).  Of course, a number of things have to stand in their way – mainly, the park’s maintenance guy (Ryan Reynolds), who is also vying for her affection. 

At the center of it all, the film is nothing more than a love triangle but it’s the film’s uncomfortably accurate representation of this misfit world that sets it apart from other movies of its kind. 

Unfortunately, that sincerity is threatened by studio interference.  Just when you think you’re watching a film that has the license to present a realistic depiction of an adolescence full of the traumas and failures, you are reminded that Disney is behind the scenes making sure you leave the theater “feeling good”.  It is the disappointment that you’re likely to avoid if this were an independent film. Nevertheless, Adventureland is likely to please most viewers.

 

Mack Chico

By

2009/04/02 at 12:00am

Antonio Banderas to produce ‘Camera Café’ film

04.2.2009 | By |

Antonio Banderas to produce 'Camera Café' film

Antonio Banderas will exec produce a U.S. version of “Camera Café,” the hit French short comedy format.

David E. Saltzman will helm the first series of 35×3.5-minute episodes about life in an office as seen from the point of view of a camera hidden in the coffee machine.

Banderas will make a cameo appearance in the pilot as a delivery guy.

Series will start shooting this month to air on web platform MIO.TV. Execs hope to package it for TV for a second run.

“Banderas knows the show from Spain, and we’re very excited to have him as our ambassador,” said Nicolas Coppermann, managing director of Robin & Co., parent company of  Paris-based Calt Distribution, which created “Camera Café.”

MIO.TV, run by Manuel Garcia Duran, former manager at Spain’s Telefonica Media, financed the first 20 episodes and is negotiating with coffee brands for finance for the following episodes

Calt has sold localized versions of “Camera Café,” a pun on the French term camera cachee which means hidden camera, to 55 territories including China.

Sales inked at Mip TV included Lebanon’s MTV and Romania’s MVM.

Ted Faraone

By

2009/04/01 at 12:00am

Paris 36

04.1.2009 | By |

Rated: PG-13 for some sexuality and nudity, violence and brief language.
Release Date: 2009-04-03
Starring: Christophe Barratier, Pierre Philippe
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: France
Official Website: http://www.faubourg36-lefilm.com/

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Paris 36

Mickey and Judy Put on a Show… In French
 
It is only April but “Paris 36” may be the feel-good movie of 2009.  The third feature by helmer Christophe Barratier (“Les Choristers”) is a stew of plots and subplots with a cast almost the size of that of “Slumdog Millionaire,” but that does not detract from its appeal.  Set in Montmartre from New Year’s Eve 1935 to New Year’s Eve 1945, pic’s action takes place against the backdrop of the short-lived Popular Front government of Leon Blum, the Jewish premier who became the focal point of French Fascist anti-Semitism.  To cram all that historical context into a two hour movie is a daunting task, but Barratier and co-writers Pierre Philippe and Julien Rappaneau are more than up to it.  Fast moving plot and crisp dialogue help.  So do compelling performances by the entire cast, Barratier’s confident direction, and no-frills editing by Yves Deschamps.
 
Despite its historical context, “Paris 36” is a comedy that morphs into a musical.  The Fascists are almost comical.

Plot centers on a music hall taken over by a greedy, Fascist real estate thug (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) who closes it and puts its workers, including lighting man Germain Pigiol (Gérard Jugnot), out of work.  Eventually the workers, led by Pigiol, occupy the theater and stage shows that bomb.  They are saved by the arrival of Douce (Nora Amezeder), a songstress of fine voice whose history is central to the plot.  Pic is narrated by Jojo (Maxence Perrin) who plays the roughly ten-year-old son of Pigiol.  Jojo’s theatrical ambitions provide one of two key subplots.  The other hinges on a love triangle pitting labor activist Millou (Clovis Comiac) against Donnadieu’s Gallapiat over the affections of Douce.
 
Deus ex-machina plot twists are easily overlooked.  Notable among them is the surprise un-retirement of Max (Monisieur TSF played by Pierre Richard—TSF is French for radio) a 20-year agoraphobic who sees the world through his radio.  It seems that Douce’s mother, a music hall star, was the love of his life.  He composed her songs and conducted her orchestra in the very same music hall at pic’s center some two decades earlier.  He returns to do the same for her daughter.
 
Production numbers, set in the music hall, abound during pic’s final reel.  One feels almost transported to MGM in the 1930s except that it’s all in French.  It seems that every worker at the theater, even the lighting guys, is a superb singer and dancer.  Who’d of thunk?  Barratier handles what pathos there is economically.  Auds are guaranteed not to shed a tear.  Production design by Jean Rabasse excels in evoking inter-war Paris.  Original music by Reinhardt Wagner and lensing by Tom Stern leave nothing to be desired.  The only minor quibble, easily overlooked, is its somewhat predictable ending.
 
Pic, distributed in US by Sony Pictures Classics, carries a PG-13 rating, perhaps because of a few brief violent scenes.  However, for families not averse to subtitles, “Paris 1936” makes an excellent outing.

Mack Chico

By

2009/04/01 at 12:00am

Salma Hayek to work on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s new film

04.1.2009 | By |

Salma Hayek to work on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's new film

Mexican-born film star Salma Hayek could take a lead role in an upcoming adaptation of the book “News of a Kidnapping” by Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the movie’s producer says.

Shooting is scheduled to start this October in Bogota and in Mexico on the adaptaion of the 1996 book, a factual account of the kidnapping of 10 journalists by notorious Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar.

Producer Eduardo Constantini, from Argentina, told AFP he hopes for “the most international cast possible” and that Hayek is a possibility.
“Salma Hayek is very interested in the project, has read the script and is enthusiastic,” Constantini said in New York.

Garcia Marquez is considered one of the major writers of the 20th century. His books include the novels “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and “Love in the Time of Cholera,” which was made into a film.

Mack Chico

By

2009/03/31 at 12:00am

Slumdog Millionaire

03.31.2009 | By |

Rating: 4.0

Rated: R for some violence, disturbing images and language.
Release Date: 2008-11-12
Starring: Simon Beaufoy
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/slumdogmillionaire/

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Slumdog Millionaire comes from director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, who fashion what is at heart a romance into a mystery and a thriller with Dickensian undertones. It’s tough not to think of David Copperfield when we see the “orphanage” to which the film’s main character is consigned during his youth. What’s more, this filmmaking team has found a new and inventive way to approach the storyline that not only invigorates the material but adds a whole new layer to it. The result is magical and life affirming, and will enrapture those who are not scared away by the mention of “subtitles.” For the record, the majority of the dialogue is in English, although there are lengthy segments during the film’s first 40 minutes when characters speak in Hindi. The way in which Boyle handles the subtitles is playful and colorful, and entirely unlike what we’re accustomed to see. This is a subtitle movie made with subtitle-phobes in mind.

 

In a way, it’s tough to believe that a film that begins with such a hard edge ends up being as enriching and deliriously joyful as this one. The opening sequences have an ominous undertone, with scenes of torture taking place in the bowels of some dark, dank police station. When the victim refuses to give the answers his captors expect, electrodes are attached to his toes and the power is turned on. This scene is one of the reasons why the MPAA in its wisdom elected to give Slumdog Millionaire an undeserved R instead of the coveted PG-13. Now, teenagers are unable to see the film without parental accompaniment – yet no such restriction limits the access to the cacophony of carnage that is Max Payne. Go figure. Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is a poor boy from the slums of Mumbai who finds himself center stage opposite a smug host being watched by 90 million people on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Improbably, Jamal is able to answer question after question, responding to the penultimate query and earning 10 million rupees just as time runs out for the episode. The next day, he will return with a chance at the biggest prize. However, that night, the police take Jamal in for questioning, certain that he has cheated. After being tortured, he explains to them how he knew the answer to every question. This results in a flashback-rich tour of Jamal’s life and the two recurring characters in it: his violent brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal), and the girl he loves, Latika (Freida Pinto). Growing up together, they were the “Three Musketeers” until circumstances tore them apart. It soon becomes apparent that Slumdog Millionaire isn’t actually about how Jamal did so well on a TV game show, but whether there will be a happy ending to his found her-lost her-found her-lost her-found her- lost her relationship with Latika. With Garry Marshall, a happy ending would be mandatory, but Danny Boyle isn’t nearly as conventional.

 

The film has all the elements necessary to make it a major winner in general release, and a dark horse Oscar contender. It’s superbly acted, wonderfully photographed, and full of rich, unconventional location work. Dev Patel has us rooting for the shy, good-natured Jamal from the beginning. Freida Pinto is beguiling as Latika. Anil Kapoor, a big name in Bollywood, is deliciously devious as the gameshow host whose motives are ruled by more than a desire to see his program get good ratings. Imagine Alex Trebek after having been seduced by the dark side of the force. The story works on multiple levels – it can be seen as a sweeping romance, as a thriller, or as a glimpse at the ways in which a fast-developing economy is convulsing the fabric of Indian society. Some of the film’s funniest and most satirical scenes occur within a massive call bank where customer service operatives try to convince callers that they are not, in fact, located in a foreign country. The movie ends with a grand Bollywood song-and-dance number that is not to be missed. Placed between the conclusion of the story proper and the end credits, this sequence dares anyone to leave the theater in anything but the best of spirits.

 

Some films keep viewers on the outside looking in, able to appreciate the production in technical terms but not on other, more basic levels. This is not the case with Slumdog Millionaire. Boyle’s feature draws the viewer in, immersing him in a fast-moving, engaging narrative featuring a protagonist who is so likeable it’s almost unfair. The movie has moments of heartbreak and tragedy but it is ultimately uplifting and contains pretty much all the instances an audience will want. Boyle has come a long way to get to this point from Shallow Grave and Trainspotting but, after experiencing the pleasure of Slumdog Millionaire, I’m glad it’s a road he has elected to take. (“I am located just around the corner from you, Ma’am…”)

 

Review written by James Berardinelli

Jack Rico

By

2009/03/31 at 12:00am

Seven Pounds

03.31.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: PG-13 for thematic material, some disturbing content and a scene of sensuality.
Release Date: 2008-12-19
Starring: Grant Nieporte
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypicturesreleasing.es/teaser/sietealmas/

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Mack Chico

By

2009/03/31 at 12:00am

‘Star Trek’ will have a sequel!

03.31.2009 | By |

'Star Trek' will have a sequel!

As Paramount Pictures readies the May 8 release of its “Star Trek” franchise relaunch, the studio is moving forward with a sequel, and has hired Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof to pen the screenplay.

J.J. Abrams, who directed and produced the latest chapter, is onboard to produce the follow-up alongside his Bad Robot partner Bryan Burk. No decision has been made yet on whether Abrams will return behind the camera for the sequel.

Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof also are receiving producing credit on the sequel.

Story is still in the embryonic stage, but the trio are aiming to deliver their script to the Melrose studio by Christmas for what would likely be a summer 2011 release.

“There’s obviously a lot of hubris involved in signing on to write a sequel of a movie that hasn’t even come out yet,” said Lindelof, co-creator with Abrams of ABC’s “Lost” who produced the upcoming “Trek” but did not contribute to Orci and Kurtzman’s screenplay. “But we’re so excited about the first one that we wanted to proceed.”

As for potential storylines, Kurtzman stressed that the writing team will wait to take a cue from fan reaction about which direction to go.

“Obviously we discussed ideas, but we are waiting to see how audiences respond next month,” he said. “With a franchise rebirth, the first movie has to be about origin. But with a second, you have the opportunity to explore incredibly exciting things. We’ll be ambitious about what we’ll do.”

Though Orci and Kurtzman have worked together as a writing team for more than 12 years, the duo has worked with Lindelof on only one screenplay: DreamWorks‘ “Cowboys and Aliens,” which they are currently writing together.

Paramount has high hopes for the “Star Trek” relaunch, and is pulling out all the stops on the marketing front. Studio began a full-scale campaign six months before the film’s May bow.

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