OCT – 3
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Director: Raja Gosnell
Stars: Drew Barrymore, George Lopez (Full Cast)
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The Plot: While on vacation in Mexico, Chloe (Barrymore), a pampered Beverly Hills chihuahua, finds herself lost and in need of assistance in order to get back home. Coming to Chloe’s aid is a a macho Chihuahua named Papi (Lopez), a spirit guide (Hayek) who endeavors to help Chloe discover her true heritage.Photos ( see slideshow)
THE BUZZ: I’m wondering if Disney employees think BHC looks kind of kinda juvenile after the refreshing Enchanted became a worldwide hit and was nominated for 3 Oscars. Chihuahua! Or why the trailer, which reveals nothing about the movie, also doesn’t indicate that Drew Barrymore’s voice is the star of the show. Chihuahua! Or if Raja Gosnell will ever make a non-syrupy movie. Chihuahua! .
The Express
Director: Gary Fleder
Stars: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Clancy Brown (Full Cast)
Studio: Universal Pictures
The Plot: A drama based on the life of Ernie Davis (Brown), a high school football standout who is recruited by Syracuse University, where he becomes the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.Photos (see slideshow)
THE BUZZ: The Express’s seemingly artful blend of archival and recreated footage might help erase the memory of recent clunker pigskin movies (Leatherheads, We Are Marshall). Casting Dennis Quaid as a coach is always the right decision, and surrounding him with the phenomenally talented Clancy Brown (“Carnivàle”) and Rob Brown (Coach Carter) is a good way to get men (and women?) into theaters.
Message Boards: If they follow the true story | How are they gonna show Art Moddell?
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Director: Robert B. Weide
Stars: Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Danny Huston (Full Cast)
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
The Plot: British journalist Sidney Young (Pegg) crosses the pond for a new job with a high-profile New York magazine, though he soon learns the bridges he burned on his way to the top can only lead to his downfall.Photos (see slideshow)
THE BUZZ: This comedy is based on the first memoir by former Vanity Fair contributor Toby Jones, and if there’s anyone would can make the snide, self-deprecating Brit palpable, it’s Simon Pegg, who is having the opposite real-life experience from Jones as he becomes an NY/LA darling with a slate of upcoming movies (which includes Paul, a Brits-in-USA comedy he’s writing with Nick Frost). We Americans love to watch people fail, so I wonder if the producers here have already optioned Jones’s The Sound of No Hands Clapping, his follow up to How to Lose Friends that chronicles his failed attempt to segue from the writing desks at Vanity Fair to the pitch meetings of Hollywood. Helping to ratchet up the awkward moments here is director Robert B. Weide, one of the guys behind “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Here’s a link to the first trailer.
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Director: Peter Sollett
Stars: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings (Full Cast)
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
The Plot: Nick (Cera) asks Nora (Dennings) to pretend to be his girlfriend for 5 minutes so he won’t have to feel as awkward around his ex-g.f., who just walked into the club where Nick’s band is playing … with a new guy. But when the fake couple decides to kiss, sparkage occurs, leading to a first date which seems to span all of New York City. Photos (see slideshow)
THE BUZZ: Wow, a mainstream movie set in NYC’s queercore punk scene? Those Weitz brothers (producers Chris and Paul) sure know how to work the studio system, even if their last teen-skewing comedy, Bickford Shmeckler’s Cool Ideas, didn’t get much attention. Bickford couldn’t boast Michael Cera in a starring role, however, or a long-awaited second film from a promising indie director (Peter Sollett turned heads back in ‘02 with Raising Victor Vargas). Assuming Sollett knows how to handle an awkward boy, a hot girl, and lots of swearing and cool music, we can see the iPod generation embracing this as their own sort of High Fildelity. (Look at that, not one mention of Juno.)
Religulous
Director: Larry Charles
Stars: Bill Maher (Full Cast)
Studio: Lionsgate
The Plot: Atheist Bill Maher looks to understand the beliefs behind different world religions.Photos (see slideshow)
THE BUZZ: Bill Maher has embraced controversy all of his career, and I’m primed to see what he and Borat director Larry Charles have created with their guerilla-filmmaking approach to documenting the beliefs and tenets of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, et al. I believe (I bee-LEAVE!) Maher and co. have already gone viral with their intent to expose the truths, untruths, and misconceptions to be found in Vatican City, Jerusalem, Salt Lake City, and elsewhere around the world. However, it remains to be seen if Maher can parlay all the attention into box-office dollars.
OCT – 10
Body of Lies
Director: Ridley Scott
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong (Full Cast)
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Plot: In Jordan, an ex-journalist (DiCaprio) working to locate an Al Qaeda leader for the CIA faces pressure from an agent (Crowe) for whom failure is not an option.Photos (see slideshow)
THE BUZZ: Ridley Scott gets his war on again, with a screenplay by William Monahan (his first credit since The Departed, and perhaps an effort to erase the memory of his previous collaboration with Scott). I wonder if this one is being positioned as Oscar bait, because it looks more Hollywood’s savvy attempt to finally profit from this gosh darn war. Do you think Crowe and Monahan teased Scott and DiCaprio on the set for not having any Oscars? Another question: Did the first trailer engage you, or leave you feeling like you don’t have any idea what the movie’s about? If you feel confused by it all, good luck with the second trailer, brought to you in low-rez by Yahoo!
City of Ember
Director: Gil Kenan
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Toby Jones, Bill Murray (Full Cast)
Studio: Fox-Walden
The Plot: For generations, the underground City of Ember has been the only light in an otherwise dark world. But when the city’s generator begins to fail, teenagers Lina (Ronan) and Doon (Treadaway) desperately race to help their fellow citizens escape before the lights go out permanently. To do so, they will have to search Ember high and low for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of their city’s origins.Photos (see slideshow)
THE BUZZ: After Monster House, I am totally on board with anything Gil Kenan brings to the big screen. I have to think Kenan and Fox-Walden are hoping to turn Jeanne DuPrau’s novels into a franchise (the fourth book, The Diamond of Darkhold will be released this August), but we all know how spotty the adaptations of young-adult fantasy books have been post-Harry Potter. If Ember can meet or surpass the successes won by Bridge to Terabithia and The Spiderwick Chronicles, perhaps we will see The People of Sparks in 2010 or a year later. While we ponder that, check out the first trailer on Yahoo!
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