NEW MOVIES: 4/13

PERFECT STRANGER

Taking a break from comic book films (X-Men & Catwoman), Halle Berry will be playing a journalist trying to find her best friend's killer, who she suspects to be a businessman played by Bruce Willis. Her character tries to seduce him by being his secretary and sending him sexy notes through the web. You can almost buy the Berry-Willis connection—much more than the Hugh Grant-Drew Barrymore "chemistry." It'll be fun to see Willis play the bad guy. It isn't often that he gets to be loathed by the masses. But he has the creepy grin to pull it off. I would mostly watch it to catch a glimpse of the ruggedly handsome (and sometimes creepy) Giovanni Ribisi *sigh* who plays Berry's back up (I suppose).


DISTURBIA

I think I've ranted about Shia Labeouf enough for a century. The basic plot is that Shia is under house arrest and spends most of his days spying on his surrounding neighbors—hot girl who sunbathes often, businessman who sleeps with the maid while his wife is at work, and a murderer. Normal teenage felons would either tell the police or stop using their binoculars to spy on people. He, on the other hand, has some sort of moral fiber that only perks up when he isn't the one doing something wrong, and feels the need to bring this guy down with the help of his doofy friend and slutty neighbor. It's the modern teenage version of Rear Window, which you must see. Forget that Alfred Hitchcock is a critically acclaimed director or that James Stewart is hilarious and endearing, the story really makes you feel like it could happen to you.


YEAR OF THE DOG

Mike White, the writer, is toning his humor down after doing Nacho Libre and The School of Rock. In this quirky, adorable, off beat romantic comedy starring Molly Shannon, Peter Saarsgard, and John C. Reilly, Shannon plays this woman who has had deeper relationships with animals than she's had with men. It takes the death of her dog to get her back into the dating game. And once she gets a new one she also finds the perfect guy. Reilly is of course there for pure amusement and Saarsgard is there to explain why Maggie Gyllenhaal married him, showing his loveable side. awwww This is basically the 40-year-old Virgin minus the testosterone and the hilarity, plus a lot of dogs.


LONELY HEARTS

Brian de Palma tried to amaze us with his noir, Chinatown-wannabe The Black Dahlia. No cigar. This movie, however, has potential. First of all, it's big names for little money, which is always a good sign. It hasn't had much buzz and probably won't get much profit, but it definitely has a story worth seeing. Jared Leto (forget his lunatic behavior for one second) plays a gold digging con-artist who swindles poor middle aged women out of their hard earned savings, until one day he meets his match, Salma Hayek, a voluptuous vamp. He's in deep before he even notices the quicksand. She figures out his game and they partner up to swindle these defenseless women together. But they start to attract police when a few of their marks show up dead. I can't really tell from the trailer whether Hayek in a jealous rage kills them or if Leto does. But with John Travolta and James Gandolfini on their trail it won't be long before they're caught. In the mean time, Leto's frantic character has to appease his psychotic, jealous lover, played so perfectly by Hayek. It should really blow Perfect Stranger out of the box office. Even if no one believes Leto could EVER snag Hayek in a billion years, their individual performances in this noir setting is what really needs to be raved about.


REDLINE

Oh my god! Who wants to see another Fast and the Furious? So basically two brothers, one more conniving than the other, get into some trouble involving gambling, Las Vegas, and racing. The blond brother dies in a car race and the brunette brother has to seek revenge. The only interesting part of the film is the "hot girl" played by Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe from "Days of our Lives") is a bad ass race car driver. Seriously, if you have some free time and a billion dollars, waste your money on this. Otherwise, just rent Fast and the Furious. It's the same thing, just with better actors.