What New Movies Start Friday, October 19th?
This week, at a theater near you, there are 12 new movies being released. Six open nationwide and another six are in limited release.
Opening Nationwide on Friday, October 19th:
Movie: 30 Days of Night (R)
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George & Ben Foster
Genre: Horror
Synopsis: A small town in Alaska has a complete month of darkness each year. Most people go south for the winter, but a few remain behind. This year a group of vampires hit town for a feeding frenzy. The few that have stayed must figure out how to survive until the sun light returns.
First Thoughts: Josh Hartnett once tried to go 40 days and nights
Movie: The Comebacks (PG-13)
Starring: David Koechner, Carl Weathers, Matthew Lawrence & Brooke Nevin
Genre: Comedy Spoof
Synopsis: Just about every inspirational sports story ever to hit the big screen gets parodied in this film.
First Thoughts: Probably watch it some day, but Friday will not be that day.
Movie: Gone Baby Gone (R) (Read Review)
Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris & John Ashton
Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: A 4-year-old girl from Dorchester, a tough neighborhood in Boston, goes missing. The child’s aunt pleads with a local private investigator to take the case, because he has contacts the police don’t have. He ends up risking everything to bring the little girl back.
First Thoughts: Based on the Dennis Lahane book
Movie: Rendition (R)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, Omar Metwalley, Alan Arkin & Peter Sarsgaard
Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: A chemical engineer of Egyptian decent and an American wife is taken when he tries to fly from South Africa to Washington D.C. He is sent to a third world country to be interrogated. The wife heads to the capital to find out what happened to her husband. At the secret facility where the man is being kept, an American CIA analyst sees how the man is being treated and starts to question what is going on.
First Thoughts: This or Gone Baby Gone look to be the best options this weekend.
Movie: Sarah Langdon and the Paranormal Hour (PG)
Starring: Rissa Walters, Brian Comrie, Dan Comrie & Jane Harris
Genre: Mystery
Synopsis: A 17-year-old girl living away from home in a haunted guesthouse finds the secret being kept by a small town. A local psychic, an evil spirit and two bothers could hold the key to solving the continually expanding mystery.
First Thoughts: A movie geared for the early teen girl set, while The Comebacks attracts their teen boy counterparts this weekend.
Movie: Things We Lost in the Fire (R)
Starring: Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro, David Duchovny, Alison Lohman, Omar Benson Miller & John Carroll Lynch
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: A woman loses her husband to a random act of violence. She then starts up an unlikely relationship with the childhood best friend of her husband. He has destroyed his life with an addiction to heroin and has lost everything. She finds that he is the only one that can help her through her grief and he finds that the relationship is giving him the strength to fix his own life.
First Thoughts: Great looking cast, would probably be my third choice this weekend.
Movies in Limited Release:
- Out of the Blue – Psychological drama about a guy that kills his neighbor and sets fire to the house and then shoots at anybody that attempts a rescue.
- Reservation Road – Drama starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino and Elle Fanning about the aftermath when a father kills the son of another in a hit-and-run accident.
- The Ten Commandments – An animated version of the epic story with Ben Kingsley narrating, Christian Slater voicing Moses, Alfred Molina voicing Ramses and Elliott Gould as the voice of God.
- Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D – A whole new look to what some consider a holiday classic.
- Weirdsville – Horror comedy starring Scott Speedman, Taryn Manning and Matt Frewer.
- Wristcutters: A Love Story – A fantasy romantic dramedy that sounds absolutely bizarre.
Expanding to more theaters this week are The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Darjeeling Limited and Lars and the Real Girl.
For New Movie Friday there are eight new movies at a theater near me this week to choose from. They are 30 Days of Night, The Comebacks, Gone Baby Gone, Rendition, Sarah Langdon and the Paranormal Hour, The Ten Commandments, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D and Things We Lost in the Fire. What new movie will you be heading out to see this weekend?
Movie Review: We Own the Night - Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes & Robert Duvall
Released: October 12th, 2007
Runtime: 1 hr. 58 min.
Ticket Price: $7.50 Matinee
Refreshments: None
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes & Robert Duvall
Directors: James Gray
Rating: Worth an Early Matinee
Synopsis: A nightclub manager wants to remain neutral in the war on drugs between the cops and the Russian drug dealer that frequents his club. His brother and father our both cops and when his brother gets shot, he wants to know what he can do to help. He goes into business with the drug dealer to get a location on his product and how he gets it shipped in. Things don’t go well and he ends up in protective custody. When the bad guy escapes, he gets special dispensation to join the police force and help get the guy. The story takes place in 1988 New York City.
Review: We Own the Night is a solid crime drama, but a bit on the slow side. The story is interesting, if familiar, but what makes this film go, is the performances by its stellar cast.
The story revolves around Bobby Green, played by Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line, The Village), a nightclub manager. A Russian drug dealer and his entourage frequent his club. Phoenix gets the most screen time and is something to watch.
Mark Wahlberg (Shooter, The Departed) plays Bobby’s brother. He is the new head of a new unit of the police tasked with shutting down the drug trade. He wants his brother to keep an ear to the ground and help out, but Bobby wants nothing to do with it, or his family of cops. Wahlberg doesn’t get as much screen time as Phoenix, but makes the most of it.
Robert Duvall (Broken Trail, Secondhand Lions) plays the father of the two and Police Chief. He has always wanted both his kids to follow in his footsteps. He is always good onscreen and things are no different here.
Eva Mendes (Ghost Rider, Hitch) shows she’s more than just a pretty face, even though she is the pretty face in the movie. She comes off very well, given the acting talent around her.
A bit of levity in an otherwise serious movie was when Ed Coch shows up in a couple of scenes as the Mayor, given the story takes place near the end of his third term in office, as the Mayor of New York City.
If you can find an early matinee somewhere this weekend, then you might want to check it out; otherwise there are better options on the big screen right now.
What did you think about We Own the Night?
What New Movies Come Out on Friday, October 12th?
This week, at a theater near you, there are 11 new movies being released. Four open wide and another seven are in limited release.
Opening Nationwide on Friday, October 12th:
Movie: Elizabeth: The Golden Age (PG-13)
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Rhys Ifans & Jordi Mollà
Genre: Historical Drama
Synopsis: The throne of Elizabeth I is being challenged. The political and religious times are changing in the late 16th century and the king of Spain is challenging the queen’s rule. The Spanish Armada and army are in route to England to bring it back to Catholicism. Elizabeth must prepare to defend her country, while balancing her royal duties and love of Sir Walter Raleigh. She has sworn herself to her country, but sends her best lady-in-waiting to keep him close by. Elizabeth then must deal with seeing them get close. Meanwhile, as she plans for the future of the empire, her trusted adviser goes about keeping her court in check at home with extreme mastery.
First Thoughts: Sequel to the 1998 film starring Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth 1, Elizabeth
Movie: The Final Season (PG)
Starring: Sean Astin, Powers Boothe & Rachael Leigh Cook
Genre: Sports Drama
Synopsis: Baseball in the small town of Norway, Iowa is what it is all about. The high school team has won many state championships. The coach is the National Coach of the Year. The school is marked to merge with another and he loses his job. A former assistant takes over the team for its last season. Can the players rally around their new coach and bring home one last title?
First Thoughts: Based on a true story and looks to have everything that a good sports drama has. Might be worth checking out sometime.
Movie: Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (PG-13)
Starring: Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Jill Scott & Sharon Leal
Genre: Comedy Drama
Synopsis: Four married couples go on their annual reunion vacation, this time in the mountains of Colorado. When news of infidelity with one of the couples comes to light, the rest of the couples start to take a hard look at their own relationships. Issues of betrayal, commitment, forgiveness and love are all struggled with during the trip.
First Thoughts: I have yet to see a Tyler Perry movie, probably won’t see this one anytime soon either.
Movie: We Own the Night (R) (Read Review)
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes & Robert Duvall
Genre: Crime Drama
Synopsis: The scene is 1988 New York City and the police are cracking down on drugs. The manager of a nightclub gets caught in the middle because gangsters visit his place often. He tries to remain neutral in the dispute, all the while hiding the fact that his brother and father are cops. He must choose sides between his family, which he has tried to distance himself from, and a future he may not be able to ward off.
First Thoughts: This looks really good and is most likely the movie I will be watching this Friday.
Movies in Limited Release:
- Control – A biographical drama about Ian Curtis who was the lead singer of Joy Division
.
- Fat Girls – A teen comedy about social outcasts at a Texas high school.
- King Corn – A documentary about corn and the food system that gets it to our table.
- Laaga Chunari Mein Daag – Journey of a Woman – Romantic drama about two sisters trying to adjust to life in the big city.
- Lars and the Real Girl – Romantic comedy with Ryan Gosling and a life like doll.
- Sleuth – Michael Caine and Jude Law in this remake
that has Law playing the Caine role from the original.
- Terror’s Advocate – A documentary about a lawyer who defends war criminals that deny the Holocaust.
Expanding to more theaters this week are Across the Universe, The Darjeeling Limited and Michael Clayton.
For New Movie Friday there are four new movies at a theater near me this week to choose from. They are Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Final Season, Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?, and We Own the Night. What new movie will you be heading out to see this weekend?
Movie Review: The Heartbreak Kid - Starring Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan & Malin Ackerman
Released: October 5th, 2007
Runtime: 1 hr. 55 min.
Ticket Price: $7.50 Matinee
Refreshments: None
Starring: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Jerry Stiller Malin Ackerman & Rob Corddry
Directors: Bobby Farrelly & Peter Farrelly
Rating: Worth a Matinee
Synopsis: A perennial bachelor thinks he’s found the perfect woman. She’s sweet and beautiful and after some prodding from his friend and his father, he decides to take the plunge and get hitched after only knowing her for a few weeks. They head out on a road trip to Cabo San Lucas for their honeymoon and he starts to find that she isn’t the sweet girl he thought he married. She’s a freak, complete 180 from the woman he thought she was. While trying to deal with the situation he finds himself in, he meets another beautiful and sweet woman and falls for her. Comedy ensues.
Review: The Heartbreak Kid is a remake of Neil Simon’s The Heartbreak Kid
Ben Stiller (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Meet the Parents) plays the bachelor in question, Eddie Cantrow. He is pretty much the same character that he always seems to play, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In this case, it is good, as he is very funny as the man in a heap of trouble of his own creation.
Rob Corddry (TV’s The Daily Show) is excellent as Eddie’s married friend. He gets a lot of great lines and delivers them well. The guy is just funny.
Note to the makers of Good Luck Chuck, this is how you make this type of movie. While they could of done without many of the moments that are purely for shock, like Eddie’s father’s, played by his actual father Jerry Stiller (TV’s The King of Queens, TV’s Seinfeld), continual crude spewing about women, the burro and a couple others, as they just weren’t funny. However, there were a lot of other situations, misunderstandings and lines to laugh at and laugh is what I and the rest of the audience was doing throughout the movie.
The Heartbreak Kid is a comedy for adults. So, if you are one and are looking for a good time this weekend, then catch a matinee and you’ll have plenty to talk and laugh about over dinner. If you haven’t been completely offended by the time the credits roll, then stick around, as there’s a couple more scenes for you.
What did you think about The Heartbreak Kid?
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