Freakonomics (10/1)
The Plot: The 2004 best selling non-fiction book about incentive-based thinking is brought to the screen by 6 innovative documentary filmmakers.
The Players: Directors Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp), Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), Seth Gordon (The King of Kong), Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight), and Rachel Grady (The Boys of Baraka)
The Prospective: First up, didn't read the book; I tend to avoid the popular titles because, well, if you met the morons I help find said books you'd wonder about their quality too. However, I realize this is not always true (Malcolm Gladwell is actually pretty cool), but I digress. This doc looks pretty interesting and with that list of great directors, I'm definitely interested in taking in a viewing.
Let Me In (10/1)
The Plot: A bullied boy befriends a girl with a secret...and it's a bloody one. Remake of the 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In, based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist.
The Players: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas; directed by Matt Reeves.
The Prospective: I'm interested to see Reeves's telling of this story in comparison to the original movie- based on the novel by Swedish author John Ajvide Linqvist, this was already made into a Swedish language film in 2008 (when the book was also published in English). According to Wikipedia, Thomas Alfredson (the director) was unfamiliar with horror/vampire genres and therefore chose to "tone down many elements of the novel and focus primarily on the relationship between the two main characters." Having not yet read the novel, I'm intrigued. Also, I recently saw Kick Ass, which was decently entertaining and featured the talent of Chloe Moretz, who gave a good performance, especially in regard to the action/stunts required of her. However, I do have to say that I'm not a fan of the recent insurgence of remaking a perfectly fine foreign film just so they can shove in different actors and make and English-language version. Seriously Hollywood, it's not enough that you can barely come up with anything original (let alone good) that wasn't a book first, but now you have to pilfer from movies that are not even a decade old?
The Social Network (10/1)
The Plot: Written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) and based on the book by popular non-fic writer Ben Mezrich, this tells ghe dramatised story of Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg who recruited some classmates to develop the now mega social networking site Facebook. As with any world changing endeavor, things get messy, leading to a harsh fallout with his friend and co-founder Eduardo Saverin.
The Players: Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland), Andrew Garfield (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Justin Timberlake, Rashida Jones; directed by David Fincher.
The Prospective: David Fincher telling the story behind how the Facebook phenomenon started and all the shit that hit then fan because of it? Hell yeah!
It's Kind of A Funny Story (10/8) [limited]
The Plot: Craig Gilner, a former painfully ambitious and now clinically depressed teen, finds a new start when he's checked into an adult psych ward, where he bonds with one patient and sparks with another. Based on the teen novel by Ned Vizzini.
The Players: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Lauren Graham, Jim Gaffigan, Jeremy Davies; directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
The Prospective: I've been interested in reading the book for a bit now and this movie makes it all the more appealing. The inclusion of the young Miss Roberts aside, I love Galifianakis, Graham and Davies. Likable, talented actors and a good looking plot is enough to get me to the theater. :)
Life As We Know It (10/8)
The Plot: Two singles become the caregivers of an orphaned girl when mutual best friends when they die in an accident. Let the insanity and rom-comedy ensue!
The Players: Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Josh Lucas, Melissa McCarthy; directed by Greg Berlanti.
The Prospective: I saw the preview for this when I went to see Eat, Pray, Love (which, by the way, was friggin' loooong!) and despite my initial thought on reading the description, Duhamel and Heigl seem to have some good chemistry. Yeah, the chick in me totally squeeed and wants to see this one.
Secretariat (10/8)
The Plot: A Bio pic on Penny Chenery, whose racehorse, Secretariat, won the Triple Crown in 1973
The Players: Diane Lane, Scott Glenn, James Cromwell, John Malkovich, Dylon Walsh;directed by Randall Wallace (dir: We Were Soldiers, writer: Braveheart)
The Prospective: Disney does do well with it's inspirational sports movies. And I do enjoy Lane and Malkovich. This one it on the fence though, because I'm not sure how in the mood I am presently for a girl and her horse flick.
Conviction (10/15)
The Plot: A single mother spends nearly two decades putting herself through law school in order to overturn her brother's unjust murder conviction. Based on a true story.
The Players: Sam Rockwell, Hilary Swank, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo; directed by Tony Goldwyn.
The Prospective: Wow. This might, MIGHT, be the movie that actually gets me into a theater and willingly watching Hilary Swank. Why? Because the plot looks solid enough and Sam Rockwell is an underrated actor.
RED (10/15)
The Plot: Former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old, and I do mean old, team when his idyllic retiree life is threatened by a high-tech assassin. Based on the graphic novel written by Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Crookend Little Vein)
The Players: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, Julian McMahon; directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, Time Traveler's Wife).
The Prospective: RED, as in Retired, Extremely Dangerous! HA! :D This looks friggin hilarious! Plus I love, LOVE the idea of Helen Mirren as a gun-wielding bad ass.
Hereafter (10/22)
The Plot: A supernatural thriller centered on three people -- a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy -- who are touched by death in different ways. Written by Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon).
The Players: Matt Damon, Cecile de France, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jay Mohr, Derek Jacobi; directed by Clint Eastwood.
The Prospective: Eastwoods "chic film", as he's called it, is interesting not only for the supernatural plot but also in that it seems out of his norm- the obvious Oscar prospect notwithstanding. This looks like a very different role for Damon as well. Color me interiqued
Monsters (10/29) [limited]
The Plot: With half of Mexico serving as an alien quarantine zone, an American journalist heads across the border into dangerous territory to find his boss's daughter and bring her back home.
The Plot: With half of Mexico serving as an alien quarantine zone, an American journalist heads across the border into dangerous territory to find his boss's daughter and bring her back home.
The Players: Scoot McNairy Whitney Abel;directed by Gareth Edwards
The Prospective: Already dubbed "this year's District 9", my interest is piqued not only by the corelation (loved that film!) but also by the giant cephalopod-esque monster.
The Prospective: Already dubbed "this year's District 9", my interest is piqued not only by the corelation (loved that film!) but also by the giant cephalopod-esque monster.
Other Comments
Stone (10/8) - A convicted arsonist (Edward Norton) uses his wife (Milla Jovavich) to secure his release by getting her to seduce the aged parole officer (Robert De Niro) in charge of his case.This one's a "maybe". I mean the talent is obviously there, but plot and the trailer make me feel kinda meh.
I Spit On Your Grave (Unrated) (10/8) - A writer retreats to an isolated cabin in order to work on her latest novel. After she is brutalized and left for dead by a group of men, she sets out to exact her revenge by trapping her attackers one-by-one. Remake of the 1970's horror flick. A bunch of actors and a director all whom you've never heard of, but it's a revenge flick that's sure to be a blood bath, so I might give it a go.
I Spit On Your Grave (Unrated) (10/8) - A writer retreats to an isolated cabin in order to work on her latest novel. After she is brutalized and left for dead by a group of men, she sets out to exact her revenge by trapping her attackers one-by-one. Remake of the 1970's horror flick. A bunch of actors and a director all whom you've never heard of, but it's a revenge flick that's sure to be a blood bath, so I might give it a go.
