SPIDER-MAN WEEK IN NYC!

Source: moviegeeek.blogspot.com

Hit man’s 12 steps to reclaiming his career

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Yes, I am going to continue to harp on this for a minute. At least until the whole fervor dies down a bit. The only reason the news agencies have slowed their coverage is because they came under such fire for running the footage of the killer’s tapes; in fact, their actions tie-in directly to the point I’m about to make.

That point, in the short form, I can give you right now: it shouldn’t take 33 deaths to bring about serious discussion of these issues and the underlying system. If you haven’t realized that the system doesn’t work by now, you’re deluding yourself; it’s called Denial and it’s an actual Psychological term. Unfortunately, Denial is literally an American way of life…

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So is this where all the cool bloggy kids have decided to hang out? I heard The WU and BlogFeast had both gone down and I haven’t been able to access them in a week or two, but I’d long since quit blogging on either.

I guess everybody’s in my sandbox now, huh?

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Ameesha Patel s plans for granny

We all know who Ameesha Patel’s closest family member is. It’s the woman she loves the most, more than anything else – her grandmom. The girl had an eventful birthday, and even during the week-long celebration (yes, her birthday party lasted that long), she was planning her granny’s birthday all along. “I love celebrating my [...] Read more…

Sha Po Lang (SPL) Trailer

Source: sensreview.blogspot.com

If….

Britain has always been rife with class divisions, the byproduct of royalty who, let’s face it, do nothing but remind citizens that they’re not royalty and therefore, don’t get to live in a big house guarded by tall men in taller hats. Many terrific British films have used college life to illustrate the rift between upper and lower classes. And one of the best, if not THE best, is finally out on DVD. Criterion has done us the great favor of, hallelujah, releasing If&hellip…
Source: movies.yahoo.com

Movies opening nationally this week

“Evan Almighty”

When Jim Carrey opted against a sequel to “Bruce Almighty,” Steve Carell stepped up. He plays a broadcaster-turned-politician whom God taps for a special job. This movie had a price tag of $175 million — arks don’t come cheap.

“1408”

John Cusack plays a horror writer and supernatural skeptic who tests his beliefs by checking into a haunted hotel room.
Source: www.thestate.com

Alan Smithee: Breaking into the top 100
Has anyone besides me seen all 400 of the films being considered for the latest round of the American Film Institute’s “100 Years … 100 Movies?” I can guarantee most of you have had to utter a meek “no.” Which makes me especially qualified to question many of the newer movies the AFI has deemed worthy for consideration. The AFI will unveil its new list of the 100 best American movies ever made, selected by a jury of more than 1,500 “leaders from the creative community,” starting at 8 tonight in a three-hour, epic show on CBS.
Source: www.accessatlanta.com

Last 6 episodes of “Studio 60″ begin tonight

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Rewrite

The final chapter of Stephen King’s book “On Writing” contains an annotated rewrite of the beginning of “1408,” which he uses to illustrate the revisions process.

An almighty arbor

It took a lot of lumber to build that ark, so “Evan Almighty” has teamed up with the Conservation Fund to build an Almighty Forest. For each $5 donation, the fund will plant a tree in a protected area in the United States. Log on to www.getonboardnow.org to buy some shade.

A godly shade of green Read more…

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Summer + comedy does not equal Adam Sandler

. She meets a fat stoner and they share a drunken tryst. Chick ends up pregnant and they try to make everything work.

That’s the premise of “Knocked Up,” director Judd Apatow’s follow-up to his suspended-juvenilia hit “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” “Virgin” side player Seth Rogen steps to the forefront in Apatow’s sophomore film and delivers a funny and sympathy-earning performance as Ben, a self-proclaimed loser who lives in a smelly, multiple-roommate shack furnished with junk food containers, Bob Marley posters and bongs.

Somehow, and most will find it unbelievable, the successful hot chick Alison (played by “Grey’s Anatomy” star Katherine Heigl) decides to make a go at parenthood in spite of her bosses’ insistence that she remain camera-ready, meaning really, really slim. The “a” word is never uttered, only an imaginary word that sounds like it, proving that none of the far-from-men boys in the film can deal with reality — one of the themes of this oddly heartfelt date movie.

Why “Knocked Up” separates itself from other romantic comedies that try to be outrageous is that most of the gags (and there are many) are written from the real-life experiences of the filmmakers. So for every masturbation simulation, there’s a moment of true emotional upheaval about the anxiety of getting married “for the sake of the child.”

Unfortunately, the last section of the film sags somewhat as it heads toward its inevitably happy conclusion. Part of getting away with crude genitalia jokes is making sure the characters are all lovable. You know, lovable in the end — despite being superficial or irresponsibly high.

The film doesn’t forget to nimbly skewer the flip side of slackerdom. As Alison’s “happily married” and wealthy sister, Leslie Mann shines by not reaching for hysteria and instead delivers an in-control portrait of a woman who fears losing her youth. Equally compelling and funny is Paul Rudd as the brother-in-law, who’s just trying to be one of the guys, sometimes, well, as often as his family-guy role allows him to.

“Knocked Up” is worth celebrating because it shows that summer comedies don’t have to equal a pile of groin kicks or that funny/serious doesn’t just mean an Adam Sandler movie where he cries. Alison and Ben are trying to make it in the world, even if his roommates are farting on each other’s pillows.

Source: blog.pennlive.com

Mixed media | Nancy Drew

A sound case

The new Nancy Drew soundtrack, which was released Tuesday, is packed with tunes from artists old and new. Prince’s “Hey Nancy Drew,” J-Kwon’s “We Came to Party” and The Donnas “Kids in America” all made the cut.

Wardrobe rewind

Nancy Drew and her wardrobe have been through several makeovers since she solved her first case in 1930.

The costume designers for the modern day “Nancy Drew” had a challenge on their hands: How do you modernize an iconic character without stepping on her standard style?
Source: www.thestate.com

Nutty names
“Jindabyne” (which opens today) may have a strange title, but at least it has an excuse. It’s the name of the Aussie town where the film, starring Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne, takes place. Six others with little or no excuse whatsoever …
Source: www.accessatlanta.com

Last Emperor, The
1987, Bernardo Bertolucci The complete story of the last emperor of China is depicted in this lovely movie. All of his frustrations, hopes, and dreams are brought to life with the help of Richard Vuu, Tsou Tiger, Tao Wu, and John Lone who all play the emperor from age 3 to his death. It is a [...]
Source: harshrealities.info

ASK MICK LASALLE, CHRONICLE MOVIE CRITIC

Source: feeds.sfgate.com

Evan Almighty a giant but gentle green comedy
The benevolent, godly presence of Morgan Freeman comes out as a born-again tree hugger in “Evan Almighty”: He’s on the lookout for a new Noah to build a new ark because of what we’re doing to his creation.

It’s a gentle, warm, “big tent” big-budget comedy with all the rough edges rubbed off. You’d be hard pressed to find something in “Evan” that would offend, unless you’re racially, politically, religiously or environmentally narrow-minded.

Of course, the best comedies push the envelope, tweak mores and spear sacred cows. “Evan” does none of that and suffers mightily for it. But there are family-friendly (and Christian-accented) charms and laughs in this blend of “Oh God!,” “Ace Ventura” and “Field of Dreams.”

Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) is a Buffalo TV news anchor who has won a seat in Congress. His party isn’t identified. But he’s a TV personality who makes a big show out of praying. His first purchase to celebrate the career change is a HumVee. His second is a McMansion in a newly clear-cut valley in the Virginia suburbs of Washington.

And he has won his seat by promising to “Change the World.”
Source: www.thestate.com

Nancy Drew a campy yet hip whodunnit
“Nancy Drew” is so far from “the cutting edge” that girlfriend can’t even see the blade.

A cheerfully, shamelessly old-fashioned-girl-in-new-fashioned-times mystery-comedy, it’s built around the retro teen-sleuth novels written by several scribes through many decades using the nom de plume Carolyn Keene.

This “Drew” is a love poem to the books and to the teens who read them, now and then.

Who says they “don’t make ’em like that anymore?”

They have made Nancy a regular Girl MacGuyver in a movie that’s just campy enough to pass for hip in a culture where teenage girls are skin-baring pop idols, not smart cookies who solve mysteries.
Source: www.thestate.com

Over-the-top gore
In “Hostel: Part II,” which opened this month and earned more than $8 million its first weekend, actress Heather Matarazzo plays a gawky American coed who is abducted by Eastern European sickos for the sole purpose of mutilation and murder.

In one of the hotly anticipated sequel’s signature scenes (hotly anticipated if your bookmark page has BloodyDisgusting.com or FearNet.com on it, that is), the actress is bound, gagged and hung upside down, naked, in a terror chamber.

Then she’s poked and pried with a sickle. Flesh is slowly carved open. Finally, the blood disgorges in gallons.

“Once the blood started flowing, it was unbelievable,” says Eli Roth, like a proud papa, about the staging of that scene.

The “Hostel” filmmaker reported that the guys from makeup — splatter specialists with 450 pics to their credit — told him “they’ve never, ever been actually disturbed while shooting a scene. And that scene did it. And it’s not the blood, it’s really not. It’s the look on Heather’s face.”
Source: www.thestate.com

Movies opening nationally this week
“Live Free or Die Hard”

Even cyber bad guys can’t outlast Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) in the fourth installment of the “Die Hard” series, which opens Wednesday.

“Evening”

Vanessa Redgrave plays a woman nearing the end of her life who shares the secrets of her past. Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Natasha Richardson and Claire Danes also star.

“Ratatouille”
Source: www.thestate.com

Three is not a charm

I don’t feel bloated.

To fault the third installment of the ludicrously popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” series entirely on its mammoth running time appears to be a movie-review cop-out.

But for each of Jack Sparrow’s whirling freak-outs, the returning Captain Barbossa’s wise maneuvering and the magnificent high-sea battles, there are long periods of inactivity that dilute the flourishes that have dazzled so many.

The plot revolves around a reunion of pirates (including fetching Sparrow from the dead) to fight a great big battle at the end.

Loyal “Pirates” fans will be glad to know that this third one, called “At World’s End,” does focus more on character development, losing the repetitiveness of the wacky and tensionless action sequences of the second film. Number three makes each sword thrust and cannonball whack count more.

The third installment in most movie trilogies loses steam, and you can look at this year’s big-budget sequels for “Spider-Man” and “Shrek” to see them going stale.

Johnny Depp again injects plenty of energy into his role as Sparrow, but he seems to be trying to amuse us like Bugs Bunny. Villain Davy Jones’ (Bill Nighy) face tentacles are still menacingly alive, but the effect of his costuming has lessened by now.

Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and Sparrow’s verbal sparring — “What are you doing? No, what are you doing? What are you doing?” — are mildly amusing, but audiences might feel obligated to make themselves feel more pumped about those moments out of fear of the film segueing into another long stretch of staring and contemplation.

Staring contemplation.

There are a lot of characters to take in once again. Keith Richards’ appearance creates an initial thrill that quickly fades. (Depp said he based his interpretation of Sparrow on the real-life persona of the Rolling Stones guitarist.)

Chow Yun-Fat plays the Chinese pirate Sao Feng and the inclusion of the Asian angle merely serves as a way to dress Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth in a kimono. Orlando Bloom’s Will again has little to do except pump up the big personalities played by Depp and Rush.

To its credit, the “Pirates” series (directed by Gore Verbinski) thrives on realistic looking set pieces and elaborate costuming. Unlike some of the recent superhero movies loaded with overly slick computer graphics, the griminess of life on rotting wooden ships comes to life.

The best way to enjoy “At World’s End” is to go in the middle of summer heat, settle into the overworked air conditioning, and prepare to take a little snooze at certain moments. Under self-editing, the bloated sequel will feel more like the energetic entertainer that surprised everyone in 2003.

Source: blog.pennlive.com

One too many

While it’s nice to revisit the life of one of the best animated characters in the last decade, the third film of the “Shrek” series rarely veers off auto-pilot. One of the keys to the first two movies is they felt out of control.

Of course the DreamWorks animated ogre (still awesomely voiced by Mike Myers) could still rake in box-office green by just showing up, so the filmmakers decided to deliver more of the same. The approach — a gaggle of OK jokes around a story line that simply drives toward a final battle — will certainly please the legions of kids who are just happy to watch the big guy at work in any situation.

In case you needed it, here’s the plot: Shrek is next in line to be the king of Far Far Away, but he’s not digging the idea. His wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz) has announced she’s pregnant. So what’s the green guy supposed to do? He searches out Fiona’s feeble cousin Arthur (new addition Justin Timberlake) to take control of the kingdom. Soft-haired Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) and his gang of stock villains are also after the crown. Conflicts arise.

The uproariously rude humor of the first two “Shrek” movies felt unforced and fresh. Eddie Murphy’s Donkey and Antonio Banderas’ Puss in Boots remain consistent scene-stealing sidekicks, but their antics have not evolved. When you laugh at their misfortune, and there’s a great mishap involving swapped identities, the situations never build to a hearty gut buster.

But there’s still plenty to enjoy for die-hard fans, especially since the animation still has a nice soul to it. Each creature and humanoid (the computer artists are still having a hard time rendering humans that don’t look hollow) pulsates with energy. The fast pacing is spot-on for an afternoon show with the kids.

One of the best scenes involves some serious femme power with Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Rapunzel transforming into a battle-ready squadron.

Still, even the best scenes cannot hide the fact that Shrek needs to retire. He’s had a great career, but he can go back to the swamp, revel in his body odor and live happily ever after with the little green guys, who make an appearance at the end of this so-so sequel.

“SHREK THE THIRD” with the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas. Rated PG (for mild crude humor and action se quences). Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes.

Source: blog.pennlive.com

Movies opening nationally this week
“Evan Almighty”

When Jim Carrey opted against a sequel to “Bruce Almighty,” Steve Carell stepped up. He plays a broadcaster-turned-politician whom God taps for a special job. This movie had a price tag of $175 million — arks don’t come cheap.

“1408”

John Cusack plays a horror writer and supernatural skeptic who tests his beliefs by checking into a haunted hotel room.
Source: www.thestate.com

Suspense travels slowly down riveting Red Road
A spellbinding, intelligent thriller that takes its time to get where it’s going but is well worth the trip, “Red Road” is the feature debut of British filmmaker Andrea Arnold, who won an Oscar for her short film “Wasp.”

In an Orwellian scheme of closed-circuit television cameras throughout the city, images are beamed to a control center filled with video monitors observed by operators who alert the police to anything that seems amiss. Jackie, the film’s protagonist, works as an operator, watching the large bank of monitors, alternately bemused and intrigued by the mundane transactions that appear.

It’s an act of sanctioned voyeurism, and occasionally she witnesses a crime or gets an unexpurgated view of people having sex. From her remote perch she sees the gamut of life and death interactions. One day, she is startled to recognize a man to whom she has some dark connection. Arnold slowly reveals just enough information about Jackie to keep us riveted. In expertly parsing out the exposition she simultaneously builds an intriguing character while laying the groundwork for a gripping yarn of suspense.

Jackie is played with bravura simplicity by Katie Dickie, a Scottish TV actor making her film debut. Dickie bears a passing resemblance to a young Helen Mirren and shares her ability to shape a performance through her eyes.

We learn gradually that Jackie bears the weight of intense sorrow. Her life consists of trips between her sparse home and work, punctuated by a bi-weekly tryst with a married man in his security van.
Source: www.thestate.com

Black Book lacks suspense but not excesses
There’s a prison scene in “Black Book” where an immense bucket filled with excrement teeters over a woman’s head like the mythological sword of Damocles. The director cuts from woman to vessel to woman, making sure we know what’s about to happen, then watches lovingly as the torrent of slop descends.

The moment is meaningless: She has already been humiliated and degraded in various ways, she’s about to get out of jail, and nothing in the scene connects to anything that happens later. Director Paul Verhoeven just wanted an excuse to shock us with wretched excess, which — for all its high-minded philosophizing — is what this film is about.

The woman is Rachel (Carice van Houten), a Jewish singer hiding from the occupying Germans in Holland. She changes her hair color and identity, passing herself off as Aryan and infiltrating Nazi headquarters. There she meets Ludwig Muntze (Sebastian Koch of “The Lives of Others”), a German officer repelled by his countrymen’s excesses.

Rachel’s work for the Resistance, Muntze’s crisis of conscience and a traitor within the Dutch ranks propel the action through improbable and physically impossible events, in which the Nazis usually seem as inept as officers in “Hogan’s Heroes.” They capture Resistance fighters outside a building that is obviously their home base, yet don’t know enough to go inside and collect the other rebels.

At bottom, this is an old, old story enlivened by the ambiguity of the German officer and naughty scenes more juvenile than jolting. (Don’t forget, this is the director whose reputation rests partly on Sharon Stone crossing her legs without panties in “Basic Instinct.”)
Source: www.thestate.com

REVIEW / Teen sleuth goes to Hollywood, without a clue
RATING: (ALERT VIEWER) Nancy Drew: Mystery. Starring Emma Roberts, Josh Flitter, Max Thieriot and Tate Donovan. Directed by Andrew Fleming. (PG. 90 minutes. At Bay Area theaters. For complete movie listings and show times, and to buy tickets for select…

Source: feeds.sfgate.com

TV Set dissects power plays
If a movie set is the most boring place on Earth — lights, cameras, only sporadic action — then a prime-time series production must hold a close second. Similarly, as the mild-mannered but sharp-eyed satire “The TV Set” demonstrates, smaller budgets don’t mean smaller egos or fewer power plays.

David Duchovny plays a career television writer named Mike who finally gets the chance to bring a personal project to the small screen: “The Wexler Chronicles,” a semi-autobiographical dramedy about a guy returning home after his brother’s suicide. “A little ‘Northern Exposure,’ a little ‘Ed,’” one network executive opines.

“The TV Set” proceeds to dissect with excruciating precision just how good ideas get hijacked by the System, embodied by the lethally funny Sigourney Weaver as a venal network suit who has a hit show called “Slut Wars.”

“The TV Set,” written and directed by Jake Kasdan (“Zero Effect”), often possesses the gimlet-eyed wit of “The Player” or the mock docs of Christopher Guest. From script-pitching soccer moms to the Orwellian rhetoric of agents and managers, “The TV Set” presents for our consideration the myriad concessions, compromises and cop-outs that get the Hollywood types addicted to drugs and viewers addicted to dreck.

3 STARS
Source: www.thestate.com

Welcome to my blog

This is my first time blogging. I know it’s about time I entered the modern age. For the most part I am a bit of a luddite. I like the keep things simple. I don’t download singles because I don’t want artists to stop making decent complete albums. (As if that will enact some change. Ha!)

It’s great that you’re reading this. And the first thing that I want movie fans to know is that I welcome criticism of my reviews that appear on Fridays in the Life section of the Patriot-News. For that fellow who thought my negativity towards “Nacho Libre” was too strong, well, I rewatched that mess and I still think it could’ve been much funnier.

One thing’s for certain: If you’ve only seen a film on your home TV as a rental, your opinion is less worthy. Films are meant to be seen in a real theater. Scale is so important. I remember seeing “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” on someone’s little television and it played horribly. All of Wes Anderson’s gloriously absurd details were completely lost. Of course there are some films that are fine for home viewing. Seeing “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” on the small screen is not bad.

This weekend is the Oscars. I’m upset that Sacha Baron Cohen didn’t get an acting nom for “Borat.” Please post your thoughts on the Oscars.

Til later, happy moviegoing. I can’t wait for “300″ and “Zodiac.” I have to also let people know that Craig Brewer’s follow-up to “Hustle & Flow,” “Black Snake Moan” is certainly a spectacle. Stay tuned to the Patriot-News for my full review of it on Friday, March 2.

Source: blog.pennlive.com

Junk food overdose

As far as fluff movies go, I’ve enjoyed Steven Soderbergh’s slick and colorful “Ocean’s” series — from the joke about Julia Roberts’ character pretending to be Julia Roberts in number two to the playfully argumentative dialogue between Roberts and George Clooney (playing exes, Danny and Tess Ocean) in the first one.

Using a formula of sly edits, exaggerated color schemes (lush oranges and blues) and neat toys, the new (the original being the 1960 Rat Pack caper parody) “Ocean’s” series gave us the enticing star power that Old Hollywood used to provide.

But in our modern US Weekly-rules-the-news world, star power is a diluted commodity. Another gigantic parade of People magazine’s sexiest actors dressed in designer duds needs something really special to captivate us a third time. “Ocean’s Thirteen” intermittently manages to excite because of the charm of its stars.

At the center of “Ocean’s Thirteen” is a massive new casino, The Bank, built by Al Pacino’s character Willy Bank. It’s a towering twisted structure, so defiant of structural engineering laws that it might make Frank Gehry blush.

The gang of cool guys — led by Clooney’s Danny Ocean, his right-hand man, Brad Pitt’s Rusty Ryan, and not-so-confident henchman Matt Damon’s Linus Caldwell — this time are teamed with former rival Andy Garcia’s Terry Benedict to make sure that the opening of Bank’s latest venture goes awful in every respect.

The scheme is revenge for Bank’s double-crossing the mentor/bankroller of the gang of thieves, Elliot Gould’s Reuben Tishkoff.

While the mission is simple in its objective, the fun is in the roundabout, disguise-heavy and tech-savvy techniques the operatives use to accomplish the task.

Whether they succeed or not is a non question. After all it’s impossible to fail at cracking the ridiculously tight security system of The Bank casino when your leaders are wearing Armani and perfect haircuts.

There’s never any sense of peril, not even when the Chinese acrobat of the group (Shaobo Qin) has to infiltrate a fast-moving elevator shaft.

There are a fair share of light-tickle laughs, such as Don Cheadle’s impersonation of a motorcycle stunt man or Ellen Barkin’s sudden sex-starved transformation, but these moments are not high-energy.

Helping hold everything together are David Holmes’ electro-jazz score and Louise Frogley’s eye-popping costumes. The improbable tools are interesting enough, from loaded dice to an earthquake-causing rig.

The ending is a letdown considering such a massive buildup. As the credits roll, you can practically feel the smugness of everyone involved with making the film.

While there’s nothing wrong with a little cinematic junk food every so often, a third helping is not a good idea — nor is it as thrilling as that first bite.

Source: blog.pennlive.com

Mixed media
Rewrite

The final chapter of Stephen King’s book “On Writing” contains an annotated rewrite of the beginning of “1408,” which he uses to illustrate the revisions process.

An almighty arbor

It took a lot of lumber to build that ark, so “Evan Almighty” has teamed up with the Conservation Fund to build an Almighty Forest. For each $5 donation, the fund will plant a tree in a protected area in the United States. Log on to www.getonboardnow.org to buy some shade.

A godly shade of green
Source: www.thestate.com

Ocean s Thirteen a good bet
The third roll of the dice for George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and their merry band of casino crooks is an almost certain winner for its makers, a break-even deal at best for audiences.

Glittery as a Vegas Strip stage revue, smooth and smarmy as a high-roller on the lucky streak of his life, “Ocean’s Thirteen” wins back some of the “Ocean’s Eleven” charm the franchise lost amid the sputtering sequel “Ocean’s Twelve.”

Yet “Ocean’s Thirteen” still feels like one trip too many to the craps table, playing the same hunches, with the outcome unimaginatively clear from the start: Categorical victory for the rascally good guys planning a Robin Hood-style heist, utter defeat and humiliation for the villain (Al Pacino).

Oh, and also obvious from the get-go: a big summer hit for distributor Warner Bros., which pretty much had a sure bet just by rounding up its superstar cast (minus Julia Roberts) and director Steven Soderbergh one more time.

With jazzy, funky music reminiscent of movie scores of the 1960s, the era that spawned Frank Sinatra’s original “Ocean’s Eleven,” the new movie dashes through a prologue meant to establish a fresh bond with our mercenary gang and the honor-among-thieves motive for their latest caper.
Source: www.thestate.com

Mixed media | Nancy Drew
A sound case

The new Nancy Drew soundtrack, which was released Tuesday, is packed with tunes from artists old and new. Prince’s “Hey Nancy Drew,” J-Kwon’s “We Came to Party” and The Donnas “Kids in America” all made the cut.

Wardrobe rewind

Nancy Drew and her wardrobe have been through several makeovers since she solved her first case in 1930.

The costume designers for the modern day “Nancy Drew” had a challenge on their hands: How do you modernize an iconic character without stepping on her standard style?
Source: www.thestate.com

Top five movies, video rentals and DVDs
MOVIES

1. “Fantastic Four: Silver Surfer” (PG), $57.4 million

2. “Ocean’s Thirteen” (PG-13), $19.1 million

3. “Knocked Up” (R), $14.5 million

4. “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (PG-13), $12 million
Source: www.thestate.com

Checkout time? Much sooner than you think.
RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) 1408: Supernatural Thriller. Starring John Cusack, Mary McCormack and Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Mikael Hafstrom. (PG-13. 94 minutes. At Bay Area theaters. For complete movie listings, and to purchase tickets for select…

Source: feeds.sfgate.com

Jolie displays A Mighty Heart
In “A Mighty Heart” as Mariane Pearl, the wife of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, Angelina Jolie reminds us that she really can act, that the supporting-actress Oscar for “Girl, Interrupted” wasn’t a fluke, that there is indeed substance beneath the sex appeal.

She deeply immerses herself and, as a result, stands tall as the film’s graceful heart and soul. It’s pretty hard to imagine that her name won’t be at the forefront again come awards season this year.

(Likely to get overshadowed in the mountain of praise Jolie will duly receive is Dan Futterman as Pearl himself. The Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of “Capote” only gets about a half-dozen scenes to give us an impression of who this determined journalist was, mostly in flashbacks, and he does so with subtlety and intelligence.)

Director Michael Winterbottom (“24 Hour Party People,” “Welcome to Sarajevo”) wisely applies his trademark documentary-style approach, making us feel the building tension and dread as a multicultural coalition of investigators and journalists drops everything to track down Pearl’s kidnappers.

We know the devastating ending from the moment we walk in, yet may find ourselves silently, futilely hoping that things will turn out otherwise. Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic militants because he was Jewish, and the killing was videotaped. Thankfully, though, we don’t have to see it.
Source: www.thestate.com

The Silver Surfer s big wave
He’s a Christ figure on a flying surfboard. A chrome-plated philosopher. A herald of doom. The Oscar statuette come to life.

Marvel Comics’ Silver Surfer has been many things to many people since his birth 41 years ago. And at last, he’s caught the big Hollywood wave.

When “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” opens Friday, the shimmering skyrider from space finally gets the big-screen treatment: He’s visualized by expensive CGI effects. He’s voiced by Laurence Fishburne, whose rich baritone graced three “Matrix” movies. And he’s at the center of a would-be summer blockbuster, the sequel to 2005’s “Fantastic Four.”

In other words, the Surfer, Marvel’s most famous supporting player, is ready for his close-up.

“People will love seeing the Surfer in a movie,” says Lisa Kirby, youngest daughter of the late Jack Kirby, the artist who created the Surfer in 1966. “I think the movie will bring the Surfer to a whole new generation of fans.
Source: www.thestate.com