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It’s fall — time to break out the Oscar bait
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“The Last King of Scotland”
Starring: Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Story: Whitaker stars as Idi Amin, the president of Uganda from 1971-79, who was responsibly for the deaths of 300,000 people. A young Scottish doctor (McAvoy) comes to Uganda on a whim to practice medicine and ends up becoming Amin’s personal physician. At first the doctor is fascinated by Amin, but slowly he begins to see his own complicity in Amin’s savagery. Washington co-stars as Amin’s wife, with whom McAvoy has an ill-advised affair.
Buzz: This is a great cast. After a riveting season on “The Shield,” it could be time for Whitaker to make his first run at Oscar. McAvoy is probably best known for his role as Mr. Tumnus in “The Chronicles of Narnia” — his star is definitely on the rise. Washington starred as Ray Charles’ wife in “Ray,” and it’s nice to see her get another potentially meaty role. Macdonald knows how to create tension and isn’t afraid to get political. He directed the knuckle-biting docudrama, “Touching the Void” and the Munich Olympic terrorism documentary, “One Day in September.” This film looks ultra-promising.
Web site: NA
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“School For Scoundrels”
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder, Jacinda Barrett, Michael Clarke Duncan, Sarah Silverman, David Cross, Horatio Sanz, Matt Walsh, Todd Louiso
Director: Todd Phillips
Story: Heder plays Roger, a New York City meter maid with low self esteem. He decides to attend a top-secret confidence-boosting class taught by Dr. P (Thornton) and his assistant Lesher (Duncan). Dr. P guarantees that he can help unleash Roger’s “inner lion.” Other misfits in the class include Larry X (Walsh) who lives in his mom’s basement, the hen-pecked Diego (Sanz), and the extremely lonely Eli (Louiso). Roger hopes to win the affection of Amanda (Barrett) but soon finds himself competing for her with the one and only Dr. P.
Buzz: Heder, who made his splash in “Napoleon Dynamite,” has been looking for a funny follow-up and this could be the one. Thornton is at his best playing devious characters with questionable moral fiber (see “Bad Santa”). And it will be fun to see the usually serious Duncan get to show some comic chops. Beyond that there are also some great supporting players here including Silverman (“Jesus is Magic”), Cross (“Arrested Development”), Louiso (“High Fidelity”) and Walsh (“Dog Bites Man”). Phillips is the man who helmed “Old School” and “Starsky and Hutch.”
Web site: NA
“Flyboys”
Starring: James Franco, Martin Henderson, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker, David Ellison, Mac McDonald, Tchéky Karyo, Ian Rose
Director: Tony Bill
Story: Franco stars as one of the young Americans who volunteered for duty alongside the French during World War I, before the U.S. had officially entered the war, and became America’s first fighter pilots. The squad was known as Lafayette Escadrille. Reno plays Captain Thenault, the commander, while Henderson is cynical American pilot Reed Cassidy, who helps teach the boys to fly.
Buzz: Perhaps it’s the presence of B-movie stalwart Franco (“Annapolis,” “Tristan + Isolde”) that doesn’t offer much hope for this one. Or maybe it’s director Tony Bill, whose directorial highlight was his first film, “My Bodyguard” — after which it’s mostly been a mix of TV shows and kid's movies. Hard to imagine this film getting off the ground, much less taking flight.
Web site: http://www.flyboysthemovie.com
“The Guardian”
Starring: Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, Neal McDonough, Melissa Sagemiller, Clancy Brown, Brian Geraghty, Sela Ward
Director: Andrew Davis
Story: Costner stars as a Coast Guard vet who was the only survivor of his last mission. When he goes to teach at “A” school — an elite program for rescue swimmers — he encounters the arrogant and ambitious Jake Fisher (Kutcher), a student who needs his guidance. After graduation, the two of them head to Alaska for a rescue mission that will test their skills.
Buzz: Now that Costner has played “The Bodyguard” and “The Guardian,” what’s next: “The Protector”? He’s actually quite good in films where he plays guys who are past their prime (see “Bull Durham” and “The Upside of Anger”). This film looks like “Top Gun” meets “An Officer and A Gentleman” — and you can almost bank on that being the way it was pitched to studio executives. The trailer touts Davis as the director of “The Fugitive,” but neglects to mention clunkers like “Chain Reaction,” “Steal Big, Steal Little.”
Web site: NA
“Open Season”
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Gary Sinise, Debra Messing, Billy Connolly, Jon Favreau, Patrick Warburton
Director: Roger Allers, Jill Culton, Anthony Stacchi
Story: Lawrence provides the voice for Boog, a domesticated bear who’s “liberated” into the wild by trouble-making mule deer Elliot (Kutcher). With hunting season coming, it’s up to Elliot to bring out the inner grizzly in Boog so that the two can rally the other woodland creatures to fend off the hunters. Messing voices the forest ranger who adopted Boog as a bear cub.
Buzz: One more talking animal flick and my head will officially explode — I’m expecting my stapler to start speaking at any moment. But on the plus side, the directing team has pedigree. Allers was half the directing team behind the “Lion King” and wrote the stories for “Aladdin” and “Little Mermaid. Culton wrote “Monsters Inc” and worked as a story artist on both “Toy Story” movies.
Web site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/openseason/
“Sleeping Dogs Lie”
Starring: Melinda Page Hamilton, Bryce Johnson, Geoff Pierson, Colby French, Jack Plotnick, Bonita Friedericy
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait
Story: Hamilton stars as Amy, who’s finally found a good man (Johnson) she can see herself settling down with. First she has to take him home to meet her quirky parents (Pierson, Friedericy) and drug-addict brother (Plotnick), and then, just maybe she’ll have to reveal a strange sexual secret from her past.
Buzz: I can’t bring myself to give away what her deep dark secret is but it’s both shocking and gross, and the kind of thing that’s likely to overpower the entire film. However, Film Threat’s Michael Ferraro says the movie “is a nice little film that marks a big step-up for Bob Goldthwait.” You may remember Hamilton from her role as the nun who fought with Gabrielle last season on “Desperate Housewives.”
Web site: http://www.sdlmovie.com/home.htm
“The Queen”
Starring: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Sylvia Syms, Paul Barrett
Director: Stephen Frears
Story: This docudrama tells the story of how Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren) and Tony Blair (Sheen) responded to the death of Princess Diana and the public’s demand for overt display of mourning. Barrett co-stars as Diana’s bodyguard, Trevor Rhys Jones.
Buzz: There’s already some Oscar buzz around Mirren’s performance. She’s been nominated twice before for “Gosford Park” and “The Madness of King George.” Frears has proved himself a director capable of many genres (“Mrs. Henderson Presents,” “The Grifters,” “High Fidelity”). It’s hard not to be hopeful about this film. Frears and screenwriter Peter Morgan previously collaborated on another film about Tony Blair called “The Deal.”
Web site: NA
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