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Snakes, pirates and sea nymphs ... oh my
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“You, Me and Dupree”
Starring: Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon, Seth Rogen, Amanda Detmer, Michael Douglas
Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Story: When Randy Dupree (Wilson) finds himself fired and homeless, his best friend Carl (Dillon) invites him to crash at his place. One hitch, Carl recently married Molly (Hudson) and the two of them are trying to start a new life together. Will having the freeloading, fun-loving Dupree ruin their new lives? Douglas co-stars as Molly’s dad who, along with everyone else in the neighborhood, finds himself drawn in by Dupree’s charms.
Buzz: The Russo brothers know something about wacky comedy, having come from the surreal world of “Arrested Development.” This could almost be a sequel to Wilson’s role in “Wedding Crashers,” which means he may be able to draw some of those fans to this film. Dillon won’t have a hard time keeping up with Wilson. He was one of the best things about “There’s Something About Mary.” Hudson, who had a really long stay on our “It” List, has proven to be a fan favorite. This film looks virtually critic proof.
Web site: http://www.youmeanddupree.com/
“The Groomsmen”
Starring: Edward Burns, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Jay Mohr, Jessica Capshaw, Matthew Lillard, Heather Burns, John Mahoney, Donal Logue
Director: Edward Burns
Story: Paulie (Burns) has one week until he marries his fiancé (Murphy), who’s also about to have a baby. His four groomsmen gather together for one last weekend of immaturity and irresponsibility. Brother Jimbo (Logue) has some hidden resentments about his brother’s impending nuptials. T.C. (Leguizamo) has a secret he needs to confess to the boys. Meanwhile, Mike (Mohr) is busy trying to win back his own girlfriend. And Des (Lillard), a proud pop, just wants to resurrect the old band the boys used to play in.
Buzz: Burns always seems to be trying to be the Irish Woody Allen, and without much success. His films (“Brothers McMullen,” “She’s the One”) are definitely not for everyone (read: not women). When it screened at Cannes, Variety’s Ronnie Scheib wrote, “the writer-helmer may have gone to this well one time too often to expect better than lackluster returns.”
Web site: NA
“Pulse”
Starring: Kristen Bell, Jonathan Tucker, Ian Somerhalder, Christina Milian, Ron Rifkin, Rick Gonzalez
Director: Jim Sonzero
Story: A remake of the Japanese film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the film tells the story of a malevolent computer virus that releases dead spirits to wreak havoc on the living. Bell (“Veronica Mars”), Somerhalder (“Lost”) and Milian are three teens who find themselves under attack.
Buzz: In lieu of coming up with original ideas, Hollywood once again finds itself back at the Japanese horror movie well (“The Ring,” “The Grudge”). Wes Craven translated Kurosawa’s screenplay to its new American setting. Bell, who mixes humor, pathos on smarts on her TV gig, looks to follow the Katie Holmes example (i.e. jumping from “Dawson’s Creep” to horror films like “Teaching Mrs. Tingle”), let’s hope it leads her to roles that allow the same broad range in the future as her TV work does now. Horror films are box-office no-brainers. Like lemmings the teens will come.
Web site: http://www.pulsethemovie.net/
“The Oh in Ohio”
Starring: Parker Posey, Paul Rudd, Mischa Barton, Miranda Bailey, Liza Minnelli, Danny DeVito
Director: Billy Kent
Story: Indie stalwart Posey plays Priscilla, a woman who, though married for a decade, has never experienced an orgasm with her husband Jack (Rudd). Frustrated, Jack finds himself drawn to a young student (Barton), while Priscilla seeks advice from a sex therapist (Minnelli) and a sex toys salesperson (Heather Graham). Eventually, she finds herself drawn toward a man (DeVito) who, despite his appearance, might just have the sexual solution she’s looking for.
Buzz: When it screened at the South by Southwest Film Festival, Variety’s Joe Leydon called the film an, “amusing indie comedy blithely blurs the line between risqué and raunchy, often to hilarious effect.” Posey (“Best in Show,” “Party Girl”) is always dependably fun to watch. This is director Kent’s full-length feature debut, so expect a little unevenness.
Web site: http://www.theohinohio.com/
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“Lady in the Water”
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Bob Balaban, Freddy Rodriguez, Sarita Choudhury, Jared Harris, Bill Irwin
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Story: Director Shyamalan claims the story for this film grew out of a bedtime story he used to tell his daughters. Hotel clerk and regular shlub Cleveland Heep (Giamatti, who specializes in such roles) finds a young woman in the swimming pool one night. Except, she isn’t a woman at all, she’s a narf (a sort of sea nymph) from a bedtime story, who is trying to make her way back to her own world. Heep and the other motel tenants decide to save her from the scary creatures that reside in her world. Heep also begins to fall in love with her.
Buzz: After “The Sixth Sense” it almost seemed as if Shyamalan could do no wrong, but he proved that notion wrong but quick. After the disappointing “Signs” and “Unbreakable,” he made the ridiculous “The Village.” Replace anticipation with dread and you have the new approach to a Shyamalan release. The director assured Entertainment Weekly that there’s no big twist ending to this one. Howard is certainly a star on the rise, but seems drawn toward otherworldly women in jeopardy (“Mandalay,” “The Village”). Giamatti, Wright and Irwin are a solid acting trifecta. Expect the usual cameo from the director, but he shouldn’t be surprised if his audience is full of skeptics. Fool us once…
Web site: http://ladyinthewater.warnerbros.com/
“Clerks II”
Starring: Brian O'Halleron, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman, Jennifer Schwalbach, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith
Director: Kevin Smith
Story: In this sequel to 1994 film, Dante (O’Halleron) and Randal (Anderson) are back and they’re 33 and working at a fast-food restaurant. When Dante decides to marry Emma Bunting (Schwalbach) his buddies decide to give him one last send-off. Expect more of what you saw in “Clerks,” such as intricate conversations about the “Lord of the Rings” saga versus the “Star Wars” saga. Dawson co-stars as the manager of the burger joint. Smith stalwarts Ben Affleck and Jason Lee make appearances. Mewes and Smith reprise their roles as Jay and Silent Bob.
Buzz: It’s definitely nice to see Smith step away from tapioca films like “Jersey Girls,” but will this blast into the past resurrect his career? When it was screened at Cannes, Justin Chang of Variety wrote that the film “packs enough riotous exchanges and pungent sexual obscenities to make its 97 minutes pass by with ease.” Not exactly a rave, but for Smith fans, a welcome return to form.
Web site: http://www.clerks2.com/
“My Super Ex-Girlfriend”
Starring: Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Eddie Izzard, Rainn Wilson, Wanda Sykes
Director: Ivan Reitman
Story: If you thought Glenn Close was scary in “Fatal Attraction,” here’s the romantic comedy version of that story with Wilson playing a regular Joe who just happens to break up with his mousy (in a Clark Kent kind of a way) girlfriend, played by Uma Thurman. Little does he realize that he just broke up with a woman with superhuman strength, the ability to fly and all the other requisite traits of your average superhero. Thurman’s character is not about to let him start a romance with a co-worker (Anna Faris). Rainn Wilson (“The Office”) plays Luke’s sexist pal.
Buzz: In a Los Angeles Times survey of movie Internet prognosticators, “Ex-Girlfriend” was picked (along with “Snakes on a Plane”) as the most likely sleeper hit of the summer. This seems like the comic side of Thurman’s “Kill Bill” character. The supporting cast, which in addition to Rainn Wilson and Faris, also includes comedian Eddie Izzard, should just add to the madness. Reitman can definitely make funny movies (“Ghostbusters”), but has been known to make some truly awful ones (“Father’s Day,” “Six Days, Seven Nights”). Let’s hope this one belongs to that former category.
Web site: http://www.mysuperex.com/
“Monster House”
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Nick Cannon, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin James, Jason Lee, Catherine O'Hara, Kathleen Turner, Fred Willard, Matthew Fahey, Jon Heder, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke
Director: Gil Kenan
Story: Three kids DJ, Jenny and Chowder (Fahey, Locke and Lerner) discover that the house across the street isn’t just haunted it’s actually a monster that consumes anything foolhardy enough to approach. Gyllenhaal voices Zee, DJ’s disbelieving babysitter, while Lee voices her slacker boyfriend. James and Cannon voice the hapless cops hot on the case, while Heder is the wise pizza guy DJ and Chowder turn to for advice.
Buzz: This film was shot using the motion-capture animation from “Polar Express” (that film’s director Robert Zemeckis, is a producer), which means the actors performed with dozens of reflective dots on their faces and bodies. While the dead-eyed look of the characters worked against “Polar Express” it could actually prove a benefit for this more spooky-toned film. First-time director Kenan actually went for more of a Tim Burton-claymation look for the characters, who have oversized heads and aren’t meant to appear realistic. Unlike most animated films around, there are no talking animals in this one.
Web site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/monsterhouse/site/
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