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Snakes, pirates and sea nymphs ... oh my
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“Accepted”
Starring: Justin Long, Jonah Hill, Blake Lively, Adam Herschman, Maria Thayer, Anthony Heald, Columbus Short, Lewis Black
Director: Steve Pink
Story: High school senior Bartelby “B” Gaines (Long) is on his way to being accepted by absolutely none of the colleges he applied to. But because he needs to appease his mom and dad, he and his friends decide to invent a college of their own, the South Hampton Institute of Technology. They hire a buddy’s strange uncle (Black) to play the dean. When the fall term starts and hundreds of students show up on their doorstep, they realize their fake college is way too successful. Lively of “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” plays the girl Bartelby wants to impress.
Buzz: Three credited screenwriters and a first-time director aren’t the only things that should scare you away from this potentially witless teen flick. The story sounds like it came out of a pitch meeting over one too beers. Long is known for his roles in “Dodgeball” and “Herbie Fully Loaded.”
Web site: http://www.acceptedmovie.com/index1.html
“Step Up”
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Mario, Drew Sidora, Rachel Griffiths
Director: Anne Fletcher
Story: Nora (Dewan) attends the ballet program at Baltimore’s elite Maryland School of the Arts, but she needs a partner for her senior showcase. Enter Tyler Gage (Tatum), a street tough doing community service at the school who just happens to have the right moves (despite the fact that he has no training) to be Nora’s partner. Sparks fly between the couple, on and off stage, and Tyler realizes this is his chance to better his life.
Buzz: This film sounds a lot like the 1992 film “The Cutting Edge,” without the ice. A definite formula teen flick, but it could have some good dance scenes. First-time director Fletcher is primarily known as a choreographer (“Ice Princess,” “Catwoman,” “Bringing Down the House.”) The stars have been doing their time in standard teen flicks: Tatum starred opposite Amanda Bynes in “She’s the Man”; Dewan co-starred in the dance flick, “Take the Lead.”
Web site: http://www.myspace.com/stepupmovie
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“Snakes on a Plane”
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Nathan Phillips, Benjamin McKenzie, Juliana Margulies, Kenan Thompson
Director: David Ellis
Story: The title says it all. Jackson stars as a U.S. Marshal who is accompanying a key witness to Hawaii. An assassin releases a crate of 400 snakes on a commercial flight in order to get rid of the witness. Jackson, the pilot, the crew and passengers must rally against the snakes. Margulies plays a flight attendant.
Buzz: If it succeeds (and all signs point to yes), this will be the movie that the Internet built. A fan frenzy has turned this from a low-rent horror flick into one of the most anticipated films of the summer. The film’s official Web site links to bunches of fan-created Web sites, including snakesonablog.com — plus there are T-shirts, fan-created posters and more. Director Ellis (“Cellular”), after being asked by New Line, ratcheted up the violence and naughtiness during an extra five-day shoot.
Web site: http://www.snakesonaplane.com/
“In the Land of Women”
Starring: Adam Brody, Kristen Stewart, Makenzie Vega, Clark Gregg, Elena Anaya, Meg Ryan, Olympia Dukakis
Director: Jonathan Kasdan
Story: Carter Webb (Brody) has just been dumped by his famous actress girlfriend (Anaya), so he leaves Los Angeles for Michigan to care for his grandmother (Dukakis). While there, he gets involved in the lives of the family across the street, a mother (Ryan) and her two daughters (Vega and Stewart). In changing the lives of each of these women, he changes his own.
Buzz: Kasdan, son of director Lawrence Kasdan, is making his directorial and screenwriting debut with this feature. Brody (who did a wonderful small role in “Thank You for Smoking” earlier in the year) needs to prove himself on the big screen if he wants a career after “The OC” (which can’t have much more than one more season in its lifespan). This is Ryan’s first film since the disastrous “Against the Ropes” — can she possibly resurrect her career?
Web site: NA
“The Illusionist”
Starring: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell, Eddie Marsan
Director: Neil Burger
Story: Based on a short story by Steven Millhauser (who won the Pulitzer Prize for “Martin Dressler”), this film tells the story of a magician (Norton) in turn-of-the-century Vienna who falls in love with a woman above his social class (Biel). When she becomes engaged to a prince (Sewell), he uses his magic to win her back and undermine the prince. Giamatti plays the chief inspector the prince uses to spy on the magician.
Buzz: Biel (“Stealth”) told Entertainment Weekly that she had to beg for the role. The cast bodes well for a good film: Norton always does interesting work, even in not so good films — and the combination of him and the inventive Giamatti should prove fun to watch. Sewell is another talented character actor who you may remember from his roles in “Dark City” and “A Knight’s Tale.” When it played at Sundance, the Hollywood Reporter’s James Greenberg wrote, “Edward Norton conjures up old world magic.”
Web site: NA
“Trust The Man”
Starring: Julianne Moore, David Duchovny, Billy Crudup, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Eva Mendes, Ellen Barkin, James LeGros, Garry Shandling
Director: Bart Freundlich
Story: Two couples navigate the love and romance in New York in this comedy. Moore is a successful actress with a stay-at-home, unfaithful husband (Duchovny). Moore’s younger brother (Crudup) is a slacker dating an aspiring novelist (Gyllenhaal). Mendes co-stars as a single mother Duchovny has an affair with.
Buzz: Writer-director Freundlich is married to Moore, who he admitted to Premiere magazine provided plenty of inspiration. “There is part of me that feels an obligation to put more into the female roles [because of my wife],” says the director. It’s always nice to see Crudup take a break from his usual hyper-intense roles (“Stage Beauty,” “Jesus’ Son”). Despite the success he had on “The X-Files,” Duchovny’s movie career has never quite taken off (“Playing God,” “Evolution”). It’s almost as if filmmakers aren’t quite sure what to do with this deadpan actor. Is he a funnyman? A serious actor? It would be nice if this talented actor finally found his big screen niche.
Web site: NA
“10th and Wolf”
Starring: James Marsden, Giovanni Ribisi, Val Kilmer, Brad Renfro, Piper Perabo, Dennis Hopper, Lesley Ann Warren, Tommy Lee, Brian Dennehy
Director: Robert Moresco
Story: Based on a true story of a Philadelphia mafia turf war, Marsden stars as Tommy, a Gulf War vet who enlisted to escape the mob world. Unfortunately, since Tommy just happens to be the son of a former crime boss, as soon as he returns from Kuwait he’s pulled back into the violence. Renfro plays Tommy’s brother, while Ribisi portrays his cousin. Dennehy plays an FBI agent who needs Tommy’s help taking down the new bosses.
Buzz: Moresco told the Philadelphia Tribune-Review that he didn’t want to glamorize the mob. “I think reality is much more about the prices that are paid by these guys that are heavy and hard and take away their entire lives and their families,” he said. It looks to be a much grittier take on mob life than usual. Marsden really hasn’t had the kind of meaty role he’s needed to prove himself as an actor (he’s probably best known as Cyclops in the “X-Men” films). Moresco calls Ribisi “one of the finest young actors in America, maybe the world.”
Web site: http://www.10thandwolf.com
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