New on DVD – August 4th

Fragments

R

Director – Rowan Woods

Starring – Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Guy Pearce, Forest Whitaker

Theater Release Date – February 26, 2009(Hong Kong) US-Limited Release August 7, 2009

Box Office – N/A

Special Features – Includes commentary

Length –1 hour 36 mins.

Cover Synopsis – “A random shooting at a diner in Los Angeles causes the survivors to form a unique bond with each other.”

Ratings – Rotten Tomatoes: N/A

IMDB: 6.3/10

Obsessed

PG-13 –sexual material including some suggestive dialogue, some violence and thematic content

Director – Steve Shill

Starring – Idris Elba, Beyonce Knowles, Ali Larter, Bruce McGill, Jerry O’Connell

Theater Release Date – April 24, 2009

Box Office – $68 million

Special Features – “Girl Fight!” An inside look at the cinematic fight between Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter

Length –1 hour 48 mins.

Cover Synopsis – “When successful financial advisor Derek Charles (Idris Elba) settles into a new Los Angeles neighborhood with his loving wife Sharon (Beyonce’ Knowles) and young son Kyle, everything seems perfect.  But when a beautiful temp, Lisa (Ali Larter), joins the firm, Derek’s life takes a strange turn. After a misunderstood encounter at the company holiday party, Lisa begins to spiral out of control – putting Derek’s career in jeopardy and Sharon’s marriage and life on the line.”

Ratings – Rotten Tomatoes: 3.6/10, 18 %

IMDB: 3.9/10

Race to Witch Mountain

PG – sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, and some thematic elements

Director – Andy Fickman

Starring – Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, Carla Gugino

Theater Release Date – March 13, 2009

Box Office – $67 million

Length – 1 hour 39 mins.

Cover Synopsis – “Fasten your seat belts for the thrill ride of your life in Disney’s fun family action-adventure – Race to Witch Mountain, starring Dwayne Johnson.  Jack Bruno (Johnson), a Las Vegas cabdriver struggling to stay on the right path, gets an out-of-this-world incentive when two aliens, disguised as teenager, suddenly appear in his taxi.  In a race against government agents, an alien hunter and time itself, Jack must help the children recover their lost spaceship so they can return home and save their planet and ours. Breathtaking chases, close calls and special effects make this an action-adventure the whole family can enjoy .”

Ratings – Rotten Tomatoes: 5.1/10, 43%

IMDB: 6.1/10

The Soloist

PG-13 – thematic elements, some drug use and language

Director – Joe Wright

Starring – Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr.

Theater Release Date – April 24, 2009

Box Office – $32 million

Special Features – An Unlikely Friendship – The Making of the Soloist, Deleted Scenes, Director Commentary

Length – 1 hour 49mins.

Cover Synopsis – “Academy Award nominee Robert Downey Jr. and  Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx star in an extraordinary and inspiring true story of how a chance meeting can change a life.  The Soloist tells the poignant and ultimately soaring tale of a Los Angeles newspaper reporter who discovers and brilliant street musician, with unsinkable passion, and the unique friendship and bond that transforms both their lives.  The remarkable performances make for an unforgettable experience in what is hailed as ‘a courageous and uncompromising film’ (Gene Shalit, TODAY).”

Ratings – Rotten Tomatoes: 6.1/10, 55%

IMDB: 7.2/10

TV to DVD

Flight of the Conchords – Complete 2^nd Season

TV-MA

Network – HBO

Starring – Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie

Release Date – 2008-2009

Length –300 mins.

Cover Synopsis – “Despite living as Big Apple bohemians for over a year, Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie remain hopelessly out of place in Manhattan. Will Season 2 bring them excitement, romance, and the elusive music gig?.”

Why Does Everyone Hate Scar-Jo?

Hollywood legend Robert Redford has a new biography scheduled to come out (written by Michael Feeney Callan ) November of this year.  Ok you say, so what does that have to do with Scarlett Johansson? You would like to think nothing, but not so fast.  Redford talks in this book about many of his directing and acting experiences through the years including his time spent working on The Horse Whisperer (1998); the tale of a girl (and a horse) who is injured in an accident and the mystical man who come to help them both.  In the movie Scar-Jo plays the troubled,  vulnerable girl in need of Redford’s help.  Real life on the set with young Scarlett was the complete opposite.  It’s reported(E! News)  that Redford thought her and her vision (yes 13 year old actresses apparently have visions for their roles) hard to direct.  Her mother was said to be “overbearing”  and the 13 year old’s back talking caused friction on set.

She and her mom must have been pretty terrible to make the book.  I mean seriously, Robert Redford has starred in a zillion movies, directed  a zillion more, and founded the Sundance film festival; he is totally a Hollywood god.  Scarlett  must have really been a pain for him to even remember her name.  Hopefully she’s grown out of it…

New on DVD – July 28th

Dragonball Evolution

PG –Intense sequences of violence and action and brief mild language

Director – James Wong

Starring – Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, Chow Yun Fat, James Marsters

Theater Release Date – February 6, 2009

Box Office – $9 million

Length – 1 hour 25 mins.

Cover Synopsis – “Goku is a powerful warrior who protects the Earth from an endless stream of rogues bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects known as Dragonballs. Roshi is the Master who guides Goku on the young man’s epic quest to save the Earth from the forces of darkness.”

Ratings – Rotten Tomatoes: 3.4/10, 13%

IMDB: 3.3/10

Fast & Furious

PG-13 –Intense sequences of violence and action some sexual content, language, and drug references Director – Justin Lin

Starring – Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, John Ortiz, & Laz Alonso

Theater Release Date – April 3, 2009

Box Office – $155 million

Special Features – Gag reel, director commentary

Length – 1 hour 47 mins.

Cover Synopsis – “Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reteam with Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster for the ultimate chapter of the franchise built on speed! When fugitive Dominic Toretto (Diesel) returns to Los Angeles to avenge a loved one’s death, it reignites his feud with agent Brian O’Conner (Walker). But, as they race through crowded city streets and across international lines, they must test their loyalties by joining together to bring down a shared enemy.  From big rig heists to precision tunnel crawls, Fast & Furious takes you back into the high-octane world, which lives for speed, drives for the rush and breaks all the rules!”

Ratings – Rotten Tomatoes: 4.5/10, 28%

IMDB: 6.7/10

Miss March

UR (R) – unrated

Director – Zach Cregger, Trevor Moore

Starring – Zach Cregger, Trevor Moore, Raquel Alessi

Theater Release Date – March 13, 2009

Box Office – $5 million

Length – 1 hour 30 mins.

Cover Synopsis – “A young man awakens from a four-year coma to hear that his once virginal high school sweetheart has since become a naked centerfold in Playboy magazine. He and his sex-crazed best friend decide to take a cross-country road trip in order to crash a party at the magazine’s legendary headquarters and win back the girl.”

Ratings – Rotten Tomatoes: 2.5/10, 4%

IMDB: 4.9/10

"Whip It" may have revealed entire plot in 2 minute trailer

For those of you (most of you?) that haven’t heard, Drew Barrymore has moved into the director’s chair.  Her first film is the comedy Whip It.  The film stars Ellen Page (of Juno fame), Marcia Gay Harden, and Barrymore herself among others (shout out to Daniel Stern and Eve who I did catch during the trailer as well).  Instead of telling you anything about the movie, I’ll let you watch the 2 minute trailer and save you an hour and a half.

If you somehow missed a plot point, Whip It opens in theaters on October 9th. If you go see it, feel free to let me know if there’s something I’ve missed.

Miley Cyrus…as Batgirl?

What’s the quickest way to ruin the currently awesome series of Batman movies?

adding new “bat-friends”?

Yeah. Now, lets kick it up a notch (c) Emeril

Miley Cyrus…as bat girl.

More completely soul crushing information from Celebuzz,

Holy bizarre casting concepts, Batman!

According to reports, Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus is lobbying for the role of Batgirl in the upcoming sequel to the Batman movie The Dark Knight. Cyrus is apparently so interested in landing the part that she recently “stunned” producers at Warner Bros. to audition for the part in a full-on batsuit!

“She was sort of hopping around the room and had even written some dialogue for herself,” claims a source. “The problem is, some people aren’t really convinced Miley has the acting chops to pull it of.”

Hmm; maybe more than some people.

The likeliness of this happening has to be slim to none…I hope.  Bale and Nolan wouldn’t ruin Batman by adding Robin, so why add Batgirl? and then why make her Miley Cyrus?

…please stay in the fantasies of 40 year old men (and Lil Wayne), and not on the screen in Batman movies, mmkay?  Thanks.

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The Gangs All Back

Mugglenet.com (courtesy of Snitchseeker.com) is reporting that many cast members from the older Harry Potter films have confirmed their return to the cast of the two part final installment. Many of the characters that were written out of the last couple of films will return as well as characters that were seen in former movies/books but were not mentioned in last.  Stanislav Ianevski with return as Victor Krum; Hermione will be all smiles but Ron may be a bit jealous. Joshua Herdman will return as (Gregory) Goyle.  If they stick to the book he should actually be speaking in the last film.  Angelica Mandy is back as the little sister of Fluer Delacour, Gabrielle.  Now minor characters, Katie Leung (Cho Chang), Louis Cordice (Blaise Zabini), and Chris Rankin(Percy Weasly), were all seen in the Half Blood Prince and will be there for the completion of the series. Fans will be happy to see the returners; a spark of hope that the final films will have the large scope and breadth of the books.  But where oh where is the Sean Biggerstaff love?  Fingers crossed…

AVATAR Sneak Peek (No… Not the Airbender)

 

A big announcement out of Comic-Con: director James Cameron took the stage to share the news that 15 minutes of footage from the upcoming Avatar will air in 3-D Imax and traditional theaters on August 21^st. And it’s Free! The Avatar movie, not be confused with Nickelodeon Avatar- The Last Airbender; also being re-made into at least three M. Knight Shamalan directed films, is Cameron’s first feature since the award hogging, blockbuster Titanic.  Avatar, however, could not be more different from the historical drama for which Cameron is best known. This movie is an amazing CGI creation filled with flora, fauna, speech, and humanoids straight out the imaginations of some of the most creative minds in the movie business.  Many who saw the 25 minute preview at Comic-Con said that they forgot that they were watching animation; they were swept into another world.

The story takes place on Pandora, a large moon a gaseous planet in the Alphacentori A star system.  Jake Sully, an ex-marine, finds himself amongst a group of human brought to the foreign Pandora on which humans are forced by the necessity of air to inhabit foreign bodies, avatars, in order to survive.  The human newcomers and the native peaceful Na’vi, ten foot tall blue giants, find themselves in conflict. Sully and his love interest Neytiri (a Na’vi) are forced to choose sides. 

The movie is set to be released on December 18, 2009 for the holiday blockbuster season.  Characters will be voices by Sam Worthington (Jake Sully), Sigourney Weaver(Dr. Grace Augustine), Zoe Saldana(Nevtiri); the queen of Comic-con I’d say, Michelle Rodriguez (Trudy Chacon), and Giovanni Ribisi (Selfridge). Judging by the secrecy around the project and Cameron’s track record, I certainly think is something to look forward to.