Snakes, pirates and sea nymphs ... oh my

“Little Miss Sunshine”

Fox Searchlight

Starring: Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Greg Kinnear
Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Story:  The Hoovers are a dysfunctional family who trek from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach, Calif., in their broken down VW van to get their little girl (Breslin) to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest. Kinnear and Collette play parents Frank and Sheryl Hoover. Carell is suicidal gay Uncle Frank, while Dano plays Breslin’s brother, who worships Neitzsche and has taken a vow of silence. Arkin plays Breslin’s heroin-addicted grandpa.
Buzz: The film sold for a record $10.5 million at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and got uniformly good reviews. Variety’s David Rooney wrote that the film is “distinguished by a flawless cast, a gentle spirit of rebellion and a smart script by first-time screenwriter Michael Arndt that knows never to push its character quirks too hard.” It’s hard not to get excited about this one as a potential sleeper hit, but expectations for festival favorites haven’t always paid off. Just ask Steve Zahn about “Happy, Texas”
Web site: NA

“Miami Vice”

Universal

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, Gong Li, Naomie Harris, Ciarán Hinds, Justin Theroux, Barry Shabaka Henley
Director: Michael Mann
Story: Based on Mann’s 1980s TV phenomenon, Farrell and Foxx star as Detectives Crockett and Tubbs. Going deep undercover, they pose as outlaw smugglers and boat racers to try to infiltrate a group of Florida drug traffickers. Crockett finds himself compromised when he falls for Cuban Chinese banker Isabella (Li) who’s affiliated with the bad guys. Harris plays Tubbs’ live-in love. Henley plays cop boss Lt. Castillo. 
Buzz: The film is stripped of the 80s glitz, so don’t expect any pastel colors or loafers worn without socks. Mann told Entertainment Weekly, “We’re doing ‘Miami Vice’ as if there never had been a television series, doing it real.” Hey, he could have at least re-used Edward James Olmos, who was always the best thing about the TV series. Trouble reportedly plagued the set, with an unhappy Foxx, and Farrell ending up in rehab. Still, with films like “The Insider” and “Collateral” under his belt, it’s hard not to put trust in Michael Mann. This is one director who knows how to create a compelling story. Despite the presence of Farrell (who still has yet to prove himself as a leading man) this one is almost a guaranteed hit.
Web site: http://www.miamivice.com/

“The Ant Bully”

Warner Bros.

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Bruce Campbell, Zach Tyler Eisen, Paul Giamatti, Regina King, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin
Director: John A. Davis
Story: This animated feature tells the story of a boy (Eisen) who’s new in town and is being tormented by a bully so he takes out his frustrations by tormenting the local insect population. But the ants decide to get their revenge. Using a magic potion, they shrink the boy down to their size and sentence him to live like an ant. He learns lessons about life, friendship and courage. Cage voices the wizard ant that does the spell, Streep provides the voice of the ant queen, Roberts voices the boy’s ant mentor, and Giamatti lends his vocal talents to play the local exterminator.
Buzz: With “A Bug’s Life” and “Antz,” this territory feels pretty familiar, especially considering that the more original sounding “Monster’s House” opens a week before this film. Still, kids do love bugs. Director Davis is the man behind TV’s “Jimmy Neutron.”
Web site: http://www2.warnerbros.com/antbully/

“Scoop”

Focus Features

Starring: Woody Allen, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Ian McShane
Director: Woody Allen
Story:  Johansson plays an ambitious journalism student who, with the help of a ghost (McShane) stumbles onto a mystery involving an aristocrat (Jackman) who may or may not be a killer, and who Johansson begins to fall in love with. Allen plays the amateur magician who helps Johansson solve the crime.
Buzz: Allen goes back to his wacky side (“Manhattan Murder Mystery”) with this comedy. The good news: he is not a romantic interest for Johansson. All together: let’s breathe a sigh of relief. Let’s face it, any Allen film these days isn’t going to be “Annie Hall,” but if Allen fans tone down those expectations a bit, they may find a treat like Johansson’s last film with Allen, “Match Point.”
Web site: NA

“John Tucker Must Die”
Starring: Jesse Metcalfe, Brittany Snow, Ashanti Douglas, Sophia Bush, Arielle Kebbel, Jenny McCarthy
Director: Betty Thomas
Story: When three girls (Ashanti, Bush and Kebbel) discover that their boyfriend (Metcalfe) is dating them all at the same time, they enlist Snow to help them seek revenge by posing as his ultimate conquest and then pulling the rug out from under him. The plan doesn’t go off quite as smoothly as they hope.
Buzz: This “Mean Girls”-inspired film is aimed squarely at teenage girls. TV faves Snow (“American Dreams”), Metcalfe (“Desperate Housewives”) and Bush (“One Tree Hill”) look to start-up actual movie careers in something other than the horror genre — good for them. Thomas’ record as a director is a mixed bag (“Private Parts,” “28 Days,” the odious “I, Spy”). If it has the dark laughs that “Mean Girls” had, the people should come.
Web site: NA

“In My Father’s Den”

Tartan Films

Starring: Matthew McFadyen, Emily Barclay, Miranda Otto, Colin Moy, Jodie Rimmer, Vicky Haughton
Director: Brad McGann
Story: McFadyen stars as a disillusioned war journalist who befriends a teenage girl (Barkley) who’s the daughter of an ex-girlfriend (Rimmer). When the girl suddenly disappears, he becomes the prime suspect, but he discovers her story and the tangled relationships involved may be deeper than he first realized.  
Buzz: McFadyen all but made viewers forget about Colin Firth when he took on the role of Mr. Darcy in last year’s “Pride and Prejudice.” His star is definitely on the rise, so this is your chance to get to see him do some real acting before he signs on to some high-budget action flick. The Hollywood Reporter’s Ray Bennett wrote that the movie is a “beautifully filmed and totally absorbing mystery about family secrets.”
Web site: http://www.inmyfathersden.com/

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