December Movie Release Schedule

“Armored” – A crew of armored transport guards engage in a heist against their own company. Stars Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, and Fred Ward. Pushed back from its original release date of 9/18. Opens December 4, 2009

“Brothers” – Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire are brothers. When Maguire goes off to war and is presumed dead, Gyllenhaal helps out his brother’s family and falls in love with his sister-in-law (Natalie Portman). When Maguire is found and returned home, family dynamics and loyalty come into question. Opens December 4, 2009

“Everybody’s Fine” – Robert De Niro is a father who, upon realizing his late wife was his only connection with his children, sets out to reunite with them. Also stars Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell, and Kate Beckinsale. Opens December 4, 2009

“Invictus” – Clint Eastwood-directed movie about how Nelson Mandela joins forces with the captain of the South African rugby team and rallies behind them as they go for the 1995 World Cup Championship. Stars Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman. Opens December 11, 2009

“The Lovely Bones” – Peter Jackson (“LOTR,” “King Kong”) movie based on the Alice Sebold novel about a girl who views life after death –literally. Stars Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, and Susan Sarandon. Opens December 11, 2009

“The Princess and the Frog” – Disney’s re-imagining of “The Princess and the Frog,” taking place this time in Louisiana. Opens December 11, 2009

“Crazy Heart” – Jeff Bridges is a country singer who has lived more than the song. When a journalist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) interviews him, he opens up to her in hopes for redemption. Opens December 16, 2009

“Avatar” – James Cameron has spent the last 4 years working on this one: a complete CG movie filmed in IMAX 3-D. Tickets are on sale now! Opens December 18, 2009

“Did You Hear About the Morgans?” – Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker are a couple headed for separation until they witness a death and are put into the Witness Relocation Program where they have to spend time with each other. Opens December 18, 2009

“Nine” – Daniel Day-Lewis plays film director Guido Contini who is struggling between personal and private life while making his current picture. He tries balancing between his wife, mistress, mom, a movie star muse, and others. Opens December 18, 2009

“Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakuel” – The Chipmunk voices are back, but Jason Lee isn’t. Opens December 23, 2009

“The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” – Long-awaited Terry Gilliam movie about a traveling magician who sells his daughter’s soul for magical powers and the person who is trying to get her soul back. Heath Ledger’s last performance on film. Opens December 25, 2009

“It’s Complicated” – Alec Baldwin is Meryl Streep’s ex-husband and Steve Martin is Baldwin’s friend who falls in love with her. Romantic comedy directed by Nancy Meyers. Opens December 25, 2009

“Sherlock Holmes” – Guy Ritchie directing a ‘Sherlock Holmes’ movie with Robert Downey, Jr. as the detective and Jude Law as Watson. Also stars Rachel McAdams. Opens December 25, 2009

“Up in the Air” – George Clooney is a jet-setting corporate hatchet-man who is required to spend more time at home just as he falls in love with a woman and is close to his goal of 5 million frequent flyer miles. Also stars Vera Farmiga and Jason Bateman. Opens December 25, 2009

“The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond” – Bryce Dallas Howard plays Fisher Willow, a Memphis debutante who falls for a farmer’s son (Chris Evans) and tries to pass him off as a socialite. When a diamond comes up missing, their relationship is further strained. Based on a screenplay by Tennessee Williams. Opens December 30, 2009

Movie Review: Speed Racer

 

 

 

So this is what the ADD instant-gratification kids are into these days.

 

Starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, and Richard Roundtree. Directed by the Wachowski Brothers.

 

When I was growing up, I watched “He-Man,” “Transformers,” and “G.I. Joe;” I was a kid of the Eighties. That being said, I had never watched the 1960’s cartoon “Speed Racer,” until I was much older and discontent with the latter-90’s cartoon offerings. With it having been released on DVD I watched a little of it with my younger brother and trust me, it didn’t take much speed to catch onto “Racer.” But I digress.

 

This movie’s (and I stress this is a movie, not film) storyline is this: Speed(Hirsch) is a racecar-obsessed kid living in a Technicolor world that looks like “Willy Wonka” on steroids. His childhood love Trixie (Ricci) helped him through high school and is his best friend/ love interest. After winning a race he’s visited by Corporate Owner Royalton (Roger Allam), your quintessential villainous “I can buy your existence” kinda guy, who makes an offer to Speed that unless Speed signs for him, his entire family and life are in jeopardy. This doesn’t bode well with Speed or his dad Pops (Goodman), Mom (Sarandon), his younger brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) or chimp Chim-Chim. Speed is approached by the infamous Racer X (Fox) and Taejo (Rain) to compete in the Casa Christo, the race of thieves, thugs, lowlifes and the desperate; it’s also the race where Speed’s brother was killed. Will Speed win it and go on to the Casa Grande, THE race where he can win a $1 million prize and show-up Royalton? Who is Racer X?

 

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, while I watched the movie the main question going on inside my head was: how do I review this thing. It’s not cheesy. It’s not boring. It’s not bad. Unfortunately, it’s not great, either. What settled in my head was this thought: there is a road between genius and madness, and this movie rips across it with reckless abandon.

 

On a technical level, this is one of the best green-screened movies I’ve ever seen. Yes, it is as visually assaulting as the trailer, with everything in crisp Technicolor; red, blue, orange, black, white, gray, green… if it couldn’t be done in the background, it was done digitally. The length of time the characters were on screen, the car racing, just about everything was done at “ludicrous speed.” (thankya, Mr. Brooks) If you try to get a handle on everything going on in a scene, you’d still be scratching your head over the first ten minutes of the movie.

 

What I will say is that the Wachowski’s have turned conventional storytelling on its ear. The quick-cuts and green-screening together with how they approached the “Speed Racer” formula… it may not be the greatest thing in the world, but it’s an approach that will soon take notice in filmmaking. Watch for it.

 

As for the acting… the “minor” actors of this movie seemed to have more fun than the major ones. Matthew Fox impressed me in the fact that I could believe in his character and that he can do more than crying on cue (sorry “Lost” fans). The other actor having fun with the movie was Richard Roundtree, who I would have never guessed would be in this movie.

 

All-in-all, I enjoyed the movie. My only complaints are that the characters were two-dimensional, and that this movie seemed to suffer from what the Speed fought against: corporate profit for the sake of profit. I wish it had been more fun to watch.

 

My grade: B (overall)

DC and the Warners

 

 

Seeing as yesterday I released the list of Marvel’s production slate, it was only fair to devote today to D.C. Sad to say, D.C. is not fairing so well. With the fact that the Justice League movie has been tabled due to George Miller’s financing problems, well… at least we have “The Dark Knight” being released on July 18^th, right?

 

So, here’s where it all stands:

 

–         Justice League. As said above, director George Miller (“Mad Max” trilogy, “Happy Feet”) is having finance options. Adam Brody and Common were attached to the project. This is officially tabled.

–         Watchmen. Directed by Zack Snyder (“300”) this is a murder mystery set in an alternate 1985 where superheroes are a part of everyday society, and someone wants them all discredited. Carla Gugino, Patrick Wilson, and Billy Crudup star. Opens March 6, 2009.

–         Superman: Man of Steel. Set for June 2009 release. No further details.

–         Wonder Woman. A woman brought up in an Amazonian kingdom to be like the Greek gods and goddesses comes to the cityscape. No further details available.

 

That’s it. Huh.

 

Well, go see “The Dark Knight” on July 18, 2008!