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Spring into your local multiplex
‘Shrek the Third,’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ and much more
 Walt Disney Pictures Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) join forces in “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” |
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It’s been a long, dreary cinematic winter and after the seriousness of Oscar season, it’s time to heat things up. And what better way than with sequels that include “Shrek the Third,” “Spider-Man 3,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and zombie-fest “28 Weeks Later.”
Need to amp up your blood pressure a bit? Spring is packed full of thrillers, including Hilary Swank dealing with God’s wrath in “The Reaping,” Halle Berry and Bruce Willis sparring in “Perfect Stranger,” Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins playing cat and mouse in “Fracture,” and Ashley Judd feeling an itch in “Bug.”
Maybe you just want to see your favorite actors turn in stellar performances. Richard Gere is sure to pick up some notice for his role in “Hoax,” and Kurt Russell gets the Tarantino treatment in “Grindhouse.”
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“Grindhouse”
Starring: Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Michael Parks, Josh Brolin, Michael Biehn, Marley Shelton, Jordan Ladd, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Vanessa Ferlito, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Directors: Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez
Story: Rodriguez and Tarantino bring back the golden age of exploitation flicks with this pair of films. Rodriguez directs “Planet Terror,” which stars Brolin and Shelton as a pair of doctors who treat people with some fairly strange infections and sores. It’s up to a go-go dancer (McGowan), who has a machine gun for an artificial leg, and her martial arts wiz boyfriend (Rodriguez) to defeat the zombie army. Tarantino directs “Death Proof,” which tells the story of a group of women on a movie set (Dawson, Winstead, Bell) who are being stalked by a stunt man (Russell), who uses his “death proof” cars as the ultimate weapon.
Buzz: Remember those old movies that used to play after midnight on TV in the pre-cable days? Well, this is a throwback to that kind of fun. The directors have packaged the two films together and have even included some fake trailers for movies called, “They Call Him Machete,” “Werewolf Women of the S.S” (this trailer is directed by Rob Zombie), “Thanksgiving” (trailer by Eli Roth) and a yet unnamed trailer by “Shaun of the Dead” director Edgar Wright. These movies are popcorn films through and through — just two filmmakers who love movies having a great old time.
Web site: http://www.grindhousemovie.net/
“The Hoax”
Starring: Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis, Julie Delpy
Director: Lasse Hallström
Story: This film is based on the true story of Clifford Irving (Gere), who claimed he had written Howard Hughes' biography, then wound up getting manipulated by Hughes once the reclusive mogul found out about the hoax. Hope Davis co-stars as ambitious publisher Andrea Tate. Molina is Irving’s co-writer Dick Susskind.
Buzz: In an otherwise fairly positive review, critic Emanuel Levy talked about the mismatch between this truly American material and director Hallstrom (“Chocolat,” “Cider House Rules”), who tends to be a sentimentalist. The Hollywood Reporter praised Gere, writing, “It's interesting to watch him spin a web of deceit that ultimately only traps himself as Gere funnels his usual onscreen charm into a seamy and duplicitous character.” This looks to be an entertaining, if somewhat lightweight, look at media and politics.
Web site: NA
“Are We Done Yet?”
Starring: Ice Cube, Nia Long, John C. McGinley, Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden
Director: Steve Carr
Story: In this follow-up to the 2005 film “Are We There Yet?” Nick (Cube) and Suzanne (Long) are now married, and when Suzanne gets pregnant they decide to move the whole brood (Allen, Bolden) out of the city. But when they buy a fixer-upper house from a shady real estate agent/contractor (McGinley), their country-living dream becomes a nightmare.
Buzz: This seems like a precarious title for a movie — can’t you already see those reviews (“That’s what I said to myself after the first five minutes”)? Ice Cube seems to be aiming for that safe, family-friendly territory that Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy has made their own. Carr is the man responsible for “Doctor Doolittle 2” and “Daddy Day Care,” so if you think you’re going to get anything other than your standard pratfalls and obvious jokes flick, you are mistaken.
Web site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/arewedoneyet/index.html
“The Reaping”
Starring: Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba, AnnaSophia Robb, Stephen Rea
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Story: Swank plays a former Christian missionary who lost her faith after her family was killed in a tragic accident. She’s since become an expert in disproving religious phenomena. When she goes to investigate a Louisiana town that is seemingly suffering from biblical plagues — including swarms of locusts and rain of frogs — she finds herself turning back to her faith in order to save the town.
Buzz: Swank looks to pick up where Ashley Judd left off with this film; the actress has a nasty habit of either hitting it out of the park (“Million Dollar Baby”) or completely whiffing (“The Core”). Hopkins is one of “24’s” co-creators and a frequent director, and hopefully he’ll bring some of that series’ urgency to this film. The movie was filmed in Baton Rouge and had to shut down for a week due to Hurricane Katrina.
Web site: http://thereapingmovie.warnerbros.com/
“Penelope”
Starring: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant
Director: Mark Palansky
Story: Ricci stars in this grown-up fairy tale about a woman who, because of a curse on her wealthy socialite parents (O’Hara, Grant), was born with a pig’s snout. Her parents hide her away from the world, and in order to break the curse, she must find someone to love her. A devious journalist (Dinklage) hires a man (McAvoy) to romance Penelope so he can find out her secret. Witherspoon co-stars as a free-spirited woman who meets up with Penelope when she goes off on her own, seeking adventure.
Buzz: McAvoy (“Last King of Scotland,” “Chronicles of Narnia”) is definitely an actor on the rise. Since he doesn’t have typical movie-star looks, his career has stayed off-beat and interesting. He could easily carve out a career like Johnny Depp’s. This is director Palansky’s first feature film and writer Leslie Caveny is an Emmy-winning TV writer from the show “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
Web site: http://www.penelopethemovie.com/
“The TV Set”
Starring: David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver, Ioan Gruffudd, Justine Bateman, Judy Greer
Director: Jake Kasdan
Story: An idealistic TV writer (Duchovny) must try to guide his TV pilot from script to production to prime-time scheduling, all while balancing compromise with completely selling out. Weaver co-stars as the headstrong network president.
Buzz: Kasdan should know something about the world of TV; he was one of the producers on “Freaks and Geeks” and also worked on “Grosse Point.” His film record isn’t quite as stellar (“Orange County,” “Zero Effect”). He’s also the son of director Lawrence Kasdan (“The Big Chill”) and the brother of Jon Kasdan (“In the Land of Women”). Duchovny has proved to be box office poison (“Trust the Man,” “House of D”). Could this be some kind of “X-Files” curse? Gruffudd (“Fantastic Four,” “King Arthur”) rarely gets a chance to play a contemporary, ordinary guy — so a possible interesting stretch for him.
Web site: NA
“Firehouse Dog”
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Bruce Greenwood, Bree Turner, Dash Mihok, Steven Culp
Director: Todd Holland
Story: A famous Hollywood dog is swept away by an avalanche while filming a commercial and winds up in the hands of a lonely boy (Hutcherson), whose dad (Greenwood) just happens to work at Firehouse 55. They quickly realize that this very special dog could be quite an asset to the station.
Buzz: This movie is sort of like “Benji” with a CGI twist, for those really tough tricks. This dog does a lot more than rolling over and playing dead. Definitely a flick for the kids, but might be too sitcommy for anyone over 9 years old. Holland is primarily a TV director, but did helm the extraordinarily awful, “Krippendorf's Tribe.”
Web site: http://www.firehousedogmovie.com/
“Black Book”
Starring: Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, Halina Reijn, Waldemar Kobus, Derek de Lint
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Story: Set toward the end of World War II, this film tells the story of a Dutch Jewish woman (Van Houten), who survives the war. She joins the resistance to find out who betrayed her family, all of whom were killed in an escape attempt.
Buzz: That plot may sound like a downer, but remember who the director is: Paul Verhoeven (“Basic Instinct,” “Showgirls”). So if you think World War II movies have been missing a hearty dose of sex, have no fear, you will find it here. Film critic Emanuel Levy calls the film “a complex work, brilliantly told” and adds that “Black Book" is a major movie about guilt, memory and desire.” Koch starred in this year’s Oscar winning foreign film “The Lives of Others.”
Web site: http://www.sonyclassics.com/blackbook/
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