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The Lucky Ones

Rated: R for language and some sexual content.
Release Date: 2008-09-26
Starring: Neil Burger, Dirk Wittenborn
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.theluckyonesmovie.com/

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I can’t believe I’m going to say this, and probably never will again, but this is one of those rare times that I found a soldier film to be ‘delightfully lovable’. Yes, I said it. It is due in part to an endearing story concocted by director/writer Neil Burger and a great group of actors who turned on the charm.

In ‘The Lucky Ones’, three wounded soldiers come back from the war cherishing to return to a life of normalcy, or at least what is left of it. With flight delays threatening to hinder their plans, they rent a car to St. Louis where they hope the city’s airport will have a batch of planes ready to depart to Las Vegas. The road trip back home is where the true journey begins for these three servicemen.

Tim Robbins is a wonderful every-man’s actor. He manages to capture the reality of daily living in all his characters. Michael Peña continues to deliver solid performances demonstrating a range of emotion in his roles, even if they are confined in lawmen and soldier characters. I mustn’t dismiss though, the unexpectedly comical, yet solemn performance of Rachel McAdams, who in my mind, was the star of the film. I would dare say, this is an Oscar nominated performance. She is not known for her comic timing, nor delivering amusing lines with deadpan expressions, but McAdams not only proved she is actually funny, she showed she can carry and steal a movie from under the nose of a proven veteran actor such as Robbins.

If you are feeling lucky and in the mood for a small, independent, but very good film in the tradition of Little Miss Sunshine, do yourself a favor and see ‘The Lucky Ones’.

Eagle Eye

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and for language.
Release Date: 2008-09-26
Starring: John Glenn, Travis Wright, Hillary Seitz, Dan McDermott
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.eagleeyemovie.com/

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Eagle Eye has all the trademark elements of a box office hit: it is a a political thriller, it has action, car chases, explosions, sarcastic one liners, good acting and – the film begins with a great action sequence and ends on the same note. For a Friday night out with your friends, what else do you need?

Shia LeBouf has been Hollywood’s “It” boy for a year now and he has been delivering on the hype. With blockbuster after blockbuster, he is positioning himself as the A list actor of the future. Eagle Eye is his new Tom Clancyesque’ project about a kid who has been summoned to kill the president by a god-like computer owned by the government.

Even though the film is surprisingly good – Billy Bob Thornton deserves plenty of credit for that – expect the ridiculous and the absurd, a la Diehard. Most of those films were fun, in a guilty pleasure sort of way.

Nevertheless, some thought did go into the premise. Director D.J Caruso (Disturbia, Two for the Money) wants us to be aware of several key messages – to what extent does technology control our lives, the invasion of privacy by the government and the ineptitude of our political commanders.

Since most of us know how this is eerily similar to real life, the film serves as an inside look at how things would play out if someone had the “cojones” to do something about it. Eagle Eye is pure high-octane fun and exactly what going to the movies is all about.

Top 5 scenes from Julianne Moore’s "Blindness"

Here are the top 5 scenes from ‘Blindness’, directed by brazilian director Fernando Mereilles. The film stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal.

In essence, the story is a psychological thriller about the fragility of mankind. Adapted from Nobel Laureate José Saramago’s masterwork, the film revolves around a plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.

This week we’ll bring you the film review and our recommendation on whether you should see it or not. If you can’t wait any longer and you want to see video from the premiere, interviews with the cast, stills from the film and more, click here.

Leatherheads

Rated: PG-13 for some strong language.
Release Date: 2008-04-04
Starring: Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.leatherheadsmovie.com/

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‘Lakeview Terrace’ is #1 at the box office

“Lakeview Terrace” (Sony/Screen Gems), the new thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson as a policeman terrorizing his new neighbors, Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington, earned $15.6 million, ousting the Coen brothers’ “Burn After Reading” from first place at the box office over the weekend, according to estimates from Media by Numbers, a box office tracking firm. “Burn After Reading” (Focus Features), starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, slipped to second place with earnings of $11.3 million. It has made $36.4 million in two weeks. New releases grabbed third and fourth positions: “My Best Friend’s Girl” (LionsGate), the romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson, Dane Cook and Jason Biggs, earned $8.3 million and the animated comedy “Igor” (MGM) was close behind with $8 million. “Righteous Kill” (Overture Films), the action film starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, took fifth place with $7.7 million for the weekend and $28.8 million in two weeks. Over all the weekend was relatively weak with revenues of $93 million, 4 percent lower than the same weekend last year.

The Box-Office Top Five

#1 “Lakeview Terrace” ($15.6 million)
#2 “Burn After Reading” ($11.3 million)
#3 “My Best Friend’s Girl” ($8.3 million)
#4 “Igor” ($8 million)
#5 “Righteous Kill” ($7.7 million)

Sex and the City: The Movie will have a part 2

Where to celebrate the launch of the Sex and the City: The Movie DVD?

Why, the same place where, in the film, Carrie Bradshaw gets stood up at the altar. Thursday night, the film’s stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon reconvened at the New York Public Library, which was lit up in pink and decorated with a custom-made interlocking-C white Chanel couch.

A radiant and friendly Parker, in Alexander McQueen, said she was ecstatic that her film was one of the year’s blockbusters. “I was surprised and thrilled and gratified and shocked,” said Parker. “I think we felt very honored that people connected to the story.”

Said Cattrall: “This has been an amazing year. It’s poignant that the year after we started shooting, the DVD is coming out. It just seems to get better.”

And now, word is, there’s a sequel in the works.

If a second installment of Sex comes to fruition, Parker wants it to “be thoughtful and something that has some meaning — (we want) to tell a good story and produce it well.”

Cattrall too hopes it happens. “The deal is they’re making the deal and Michael Patrick King is writing the script. I don’t envy him that task. I’m very excited because Samantha is single and that’s real fun to play,” she said.

Lakeview Terrace

Rated: PG-13 for intense thematic material, violence, sexuality, language and some drug references.
Release Date: 2008-09-19
Starring: David Loughery, Howard Korder
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/lakeviewterrace/

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Lakeview Terrace is the latest thriller from Neil LaBute. LaBute began his filmmaking career with the scathing In the Company of Men, but his previous effort was the deservedly reviled remake of The Wicker Man. While Lakeview Terrace isn’t as horrendous as The Wicker Man, it’s nowhere close to the level LaBute attained with his debut. The first two-thirds of Lakeview Terrace offer a little more subtlety and complexity than the seemingly straightforward premise would afford, but the climax is loud, dumb, generic, and over-the-top. Those hoping for something more interesting will be disappointed by the level to which the filmmaker stoops to get an unearned visceral rush. In pandering to Hollywood standards about how stories like this should unfold, LaBute has lost his edge.

The story goes like this: a young couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their interracial relationship. A stern, single father, this tightly wound LAPD officer (Samuel L. Jackson) has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly harassing to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives ultimately turn tragic when the couple decides to fight back.

The film’s last fifteen minutes are so over-the-top that they’re almost impossible to take seriously and Abel’s motivation during a critical sequence near the conclusion is difficult to fathom. It’s the kind of thing that results from a screenwriter not knowing how to end a movie. Considering that the screenwriter in question is David Loughery, the man who was in part responsible for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising. Meanwhile, Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are okay as the couple in the crossfire but, in comparison to Jackson, they’re boring. That’s the problem with sharing the screen with a man who’s a force of nature.

There are times when Lakeview Terrace seems to be striving for something more interesting than the basic “cop from hell” movie, but any pretensions it may have of escaping this orbit come crashing down as the script veers more and more into generic territory. Going in, you might think you know how it’s going to end, and you’d probably be right. If LaBute sews some doubts along the way, it’s a testament to the way the first half of the film is constructed. It’s too bad the movie’s moderately intriguing qualities are buried under the final half-hour’s avalanche of predictability.