So what’s out there this week. Well today we’ll take a look at the films scheduled to be released this week. On Wednesday (in limited release) Steve Carrell, Alan Arkin, and Greg Kinnear go on a dysfunctional family road trip with Little Miss Sunshine. And by Friday we will see Michael Mann return to tales of drugs and sex in south Florida with detectives Crockett and Tubbs, Woody Allen and Scarlett Johansson try to get the Scoop, an animated Paul Giamatti will learn to respect ants, and a high school gigolo will get his just deserts. All that and more; read on…
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Here’s what’s scheduled to hit theaters this week. 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.
Little Miss Sunshine (limited)
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Boy, oh, boy. When the youngest member of a dysfunctional family wins a spot in a beauty pagent the whole crew stumbles on board a VW bus and makes the trek to California. Directed by the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Mr. Show), the off-beat script (by first-timer Michael Arndt) stars Steve Carrell as a suicidal gay man, Paul Dano as a Nietche lovin’ mute, Greg Kinnear as the emotionally inaccessible father, Alan Arkin as the smack addicted patriarch, and Abagail Breslin as the adorable Olive. The film opens in limited release Wednesday and we’ll have the review.
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Director Michael Mann goes into the way-back machine and travels to the mid 80’s to bring his once top rated cop drama to the big screen. Two Miami vice cops, Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Tubbs (Jamie Fox), are still going strong after all this time. The plot, oh who am I kidding nobody’s going to see this for the plot! The supporting cast includes Li Gong (2046), Luis Tosar, John Ortiz, Juantia Billue, and RazorFine favorite Naomie Harris. Without trying it should be better than recent TV-to-film attempts (Bewitched, Dukes of Hazard). Check back Friday for the review.
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Young friendless Lucas Nickle (Zach Tyler) loves tormenting the local ant colony, that is until the ants shrink him down to size and turn the tables on the once powerful Ant Bully by putting him to work fixing all the damage he caused. Ok, Shakespeare it ain’t, but there is a little room for optimism. The film is written and directed by John A. Davis (Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) and boasts a nice cast of voices including Paul Giamatti, Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Julia Roberts, Larry Miller, Ricardo “Khan” Montalban, Chri Oteri, and Smallville‘s Allison Mack.
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High school stud and gigolo John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe) is living the good life until all three of his girlfriends (Ashanti, Arielle Kebbel, Sophia Bush) get together and compare notes and decide to give the womanizer some much needed payback by enlisting the help of the school’s newest student (Brittany Snow). Girl Power! The film is directed by Betty Thomas who scored with 28 Days but also has I-Spy and Doctor Dolittle to answer for. The script was penned by sitcom writer Jeff Lowell (Just Shoot Me!, Spin City, Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane). Check back Friday for the review.
Scoop (limited)
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Woody Allen re-teams with Scarlett Johansson (she starred in last year’s Match Point). She plays an American journalism student, after being visited by a ghost (Ian McShane) who gives her the scoop of a lifetime, begins an affair with an aristocrat (Hugh Jackman) who she thinks might be a serial killer! The trailer suggests the title Scoop of the Jade Scorpion may be more apt. Also along for the ride are James Nesbitt, Romola Garai, Colin Salmon, Robyn Kerr, Jody Halse, and Suzy Kewer. It opens in limited release of Friday, and we’ll have the scoop (heh) review for you.
Brothers of the Head (limited)
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The film follows the lives of conjoined twins (Harry and Luke Treadway) who are chosen by a music promoter in the 70’s who turns the pair into a proto-punk rock and roll freakshow boy band. This is the first feature by directors Keith Fulton and Luis Pepe who gave us the remarkably funny and tragic documentary Lost in La Mancha who chose Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, In This World) to adapt the cult novel by Brian Aldiss to the screen. Not exactly your run of the mill rock film. It opens Friday in limited release and we’ll have the review; look for it in wider release in the coming weeks.
Another Gay Movie (limited)
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Think a gay version of American Pie. After graduating high school, four gay friends make a pact to lose their anal virginity before going off to college. They seek the help of their lesbian chick-magnet () to help them score with the guys. See, gay themed movies can be just as pointless, tasteless and shameful as hetero big budget films! The film was written and directed by Todd Stephens (Gypsy 83, Edge of Seventeen). It’s out in limited release on Friday and I’m sure if you want to see this badly enough (please tell us why?) you’ll be able to find it at the local art house in the coming weeks.
America: Freedom to Fascism (limited)
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A biography on George W. Bush’s presidency already? (Heh, yeah, it was a cheap shot – doesn’t make it untrue). This documentary “explores the erosion of civil liberties in America.” Producer/director Aaron Russo sets out on a journey to discover why Americans must pay income tax and finds a disturbing trend of the curtailing of American’s civil liberties over the last one-hundred years as he examined subjects such as money creation and voter fraud. A huge hit at Cannes (it received a standing ovation), the film gets a limited release starting today, look for it in wider areas in the coming weeks (though you’ll probably still have to hunt for it).