Film News & Trailers

Haven’t had enough Frank Miller?  I loved the adaption of Sin City and now another of Miller’s graphic novels, 300, is in production and the official site is posting video journals for us fans.  For those of you unfamiliar to the story it retells the historic Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartan soldiers held off the entire Persian army numbering in the hundreds of thousands for longer than any believed possible.  The time gained by such a heroic stand allowed Greece to mobolize and stand against the Persians and without their sacrifice the dream of democracy may have died.  The third video journal was just posted last week.  Check it out.

300
N/A

So what’s out there this week.  Well today we’ll take a look at the films scheduled to be released this Friday including a second week in a row with a film starring Paul Walker and a new animated film from the Weinstein Company.  And make sure to check back tomorrow when we’ll check out the new DVD releases (which includes on of my ton ten films of 2005 and one of my hidden gems).  Read on…

N/A

Here’s what’s scheduled to hit theaters this Friday.  Want to know more, just click on the title for film info including a full cast list.  Want a closer look, just click on the poster to watch the trailer.

Running Scared

Paul Walker plays a mob flunkie given the task of getting rid of murder weapons but instead decides to collect them and hide them in his basement where his son’s friend finds them and uses on to shoot his abusive step-father.  Written and directed by Wayne Kramer who gave us The Cooler but is also responsible for the screenplay for Aaron’s worst film of 2005 Mindhunters.  Chazz Palminteri and Cameron Bright also star.

Doogal

UK animated film about a dog named Doogal who loves candy and bands together with friends to stop an evil sorcerer who escapes his prison and plans to exact revenge on the earth by freezing the sun.  Voices include Danile Tay, Juid Dench, Chevy Chase, Jimmy Fallon, William H. Macy, Ian McKellen, Kevin Smith, Whoppi Goldberg, and Jon Stewart as the wizard.  Can they save the day?  Well, it’s a kids film after all.

Madea’s Family Reunion

Comedy about a gun-totting grandma who attends the reunion of her dysfunctional family that includes a runaway and a pair of love-troubled neices.  The latest from director Tyler Perry (Diary of a Mad Black Woman which had a divided reaction with both critics and movie watchers).  The cast includes Lynn Whitfield, May Angelou, Keke Palmer, Cicely Tyson, Blair Underwood, China Anderson, and Tyler Perry himself in drag for the role of Mable “Madea” Simmons.

Night Watch (limited release)

Russian film about the others (vampires, witches and sorcerers) who live amongst humanity in present day Moscow.  They are divided into a group of light (good) and dark (evil) who live acoording to a centuries old truce.  The night watch is a group of the light who watch over the dark forces during the night trying to control and limit their effect on the world.  The film has been hugely successful in Russia since its release in 2004 and already has a hit sequel (2006’s Day Watch) and a new Enlgish language sequel in production now.

Tsotsi (limited release)

South African film showcasing a week in the life of a violent gang leader in Johannesburg.  The crime drama won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, got nominations from The Golden Globes, BAFTA, and is in contention for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Academy Awards.  The film is in various tribal dialects and presented with English subtitles.  Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Israel Makoe, and Percy Matsemela star.

Unknown White Male (Los Angeles & New York only)

A documentary look at Doug Bruce who woke up in Coney Island with no memories and is diagnosed with amnesia.  The film focuses on Doug’s rediscoving the world around him and his retun home to Europe in an attempt to reconnect with both friends and family.  Mixed early reactions to the film, but it was nominated at last year’s Sundance and first time director Rupert Murray got a nomination for his direction from the Directors Guild.

Marvel CEO Avi Arad has announced that one of the new projects for Marvel Studios will be a full length theatrical version of Captain America.  God Bless America!  Finally we can wash the taste of the 1991 straight to video version out of our mouths (unless of course this is even worse – see Fantastic Four).  David Self (Road to Perdition, Thirteen Days) has been tapped to write the script.  No word yet on whether Cap’s WWII origin, life as an icecube, and freeze thaw by The Avengers, will be left intact but early talks seem to put most of the story in the present day (Cap vs. Iraq?).  Development stage could take awhile so don’t expect to see the film before 2009.  In the meantime we can speculate on who Marvel should get to play the Cap’n.  Well let’s see Steve Rogers (Cap’s real name) is a white, blonde, blue-eyed, straight faced, square jawed, buff, slightly gay (anyone remember “Bucky”), humorless type of guy.  Am I the only one that thinks Paul Walker would be perfect for this role?

Captain America
N/A

I have a soft spot in my heart for 1982’s The Dark Crystal which was written and directed by Muppet legend Jim Henson.  It’s a beautiful and wondrous tale and one of the most unique films of it’s time…well not anymore ‘cause there’s gonna’ be a sequel!  Wow, did you hear the cash registers chime?  The Power of the Dark Crystal will attempt to merge the style of the original with CGI and make something new.  Mmm-hmm….I’ll won’t hold my breath.  There may be a silver lining however, even without Jim Henson the original conceptual designer Brian Froud is on board and Ain’t It Cool News is reporting that the studios have decided against Brain Henson behind the director’s chair in favor of Genndy Tartakovsky.  Now what the creator of Samurai Jack might do with the world of The Dark Crystal certainly piques my curiousity.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Power of the Dark Crystal
N/A

(This one’s for Aaron!)  The trailer for Kevin Smith’s latest flick is up and running and I thought we’d share it with you.  Click here for the trailer (Quicktime needed).  Love him or hate him you have to admit Smith has grown quite a cult following and his return to the View Askew Universe with a sequel to his first film, 1994’s Clerks, has been a hopeful sign of him returning to the stories and style of his earlier films (which includes one of my favorite films of all time – Chasing Amy).  While you’re checking out the trailer you also might want to take a peek at the reactions of filmmakers Quentin Tarrantino and Robert Rodriguez who were granted a special early look at the film (click here for their video responses).

The Passion of the Clerks
N/A