We Own the Night
Joaquin Phoenix returns to the big screen after two years, an Oscar nomination, and a stint as the legendary Johnny Cash. In this crime drama, Phoenix plays a New York nightclub manager who happens to run just the kind of place that would facilitate criminal activity for the Russian mafia. Unfortunately, his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) are cops, who are eager to bring the kingpin down using him as the inside-man. Phoenix's father dotes on Wahlberg more than him, leaving the Russian mob boss to be more of his father figure. Thus, he's faced with a moral dilemma. To prove his loyalty and to save his family from an inevitable hit, he'll have to risk everything. I'll be shameless and admit that I'll watch anything that Wahlberg even cameos in. For the gentleman, Eva Mendes struts her stuff. But you must consider that this is the third film of James Gray, who's only worked on scripts that he's both written and directed, and who's last film, The Yards, had the same male leads as this one.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Cate Blanchett is taking a bit of a chance with reprising her role after 9 years, especially since Elizabeth was so well-reviewed the first time. With the help of Clive Owen as a seductive con artist, Samantha Morton (Minority Report) as Mary Queen of Scots, Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of Carribbean), and Abbie Cornish (A Good Year), she has quite the epic tale to tell of defending her throne against the Spanish King Phillip II. And from the trailer I can tell that she will be an inspiring heroine.
Michael Clayton
Screenwriter of the Bourne trilogy, Tony Gilroy, has his directorial debut with George Clooney at the helm. With the tagline: "The truth can be adjusted," the dramatic thriller promises to question the boundaries of morality in business. The title character is what capitalists refer to as "an in-house 'fixer'" for a corporate law firm. Even though he would prefer retiring from his immoral profession, he is knee deep in debt. Tilda Swinton (Chronicles of Narnia), a litigator, is depending on a multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading, and Tom Wilkinson (Batman Begins) is the guilt-ridden attorney who sabotages it. It's all up to Clayton to pick up the pieces.
Lars and the Real Girl
It's probably a jinx to say it, but Ryan Gosling can do no wrong. He won critics over in his portrayal of a drug-addicted teacher in Half Nelson and a desperate lawyer in Fracture. Now he's going into left field again in this indie dramedy about a poor schlub who has deluded himself into believing that a blow up doll is his girlfriend. I know what you're thinking. On paper, it sounds like crap. Funny crap, but crap nonetheless. But, honestly, if you watch Gosling's endearing portrayal of a naive, hopeless romantic who is so loved by his entire community--including his brother (Paul Schneider from The Family Stone), his sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer from Dear Frankie), and a cute girl (Kelli Garner from Man of the House)--that they would pretend that his blow up doll is real. I have a feeling that it will have you laughing while you're crying.
Why did I get married?
This isn't by any means like Chris Rock's I Think I Love my Wife. Tyler Perry cages Medea for a while to introduce us to the plight of the married couple from four different perspectives. The film is actually an adaptation of his stage play, which focuses on the trials of marriage during a couples retreat. Sharon Leal ("Boston Public") plays Perry's wife who is reluctant to have another child, because she'd rather be a career woman. Richard T. Jones ("Girlfriend") is a brave brave man who chose to bring his girlfriend, played by Denise Boutte ("Days of our lives") to the couples retreat. Meanwhile, his jilted wife, played by singer Jill Scott, is working hard to reconcile with him. Luckily Lamman Rucker ("Half & Half") will provide a nice little distraction for her. Michael Jai White ("The Clubhouse") practically plays the battered husband who has to deal with a wife, played by Tasha Smith (Daddy's Little Girl), who drinks too much and brags about being the breadwinner. Janet Jackson--hitting the big screen after 7 years--seems to be the only voice of reason, even though she's having trouble with her husband, Malik Yoba ("Girlfriends"), too. I'm confident that Perry will deliver yet another heartfelt and funny film about love.
Sleuth
Jude Law and Michael Caine help remake the 70s mystery thriller about two men who try to outsmart each other. Jude plays a man who's stolen the heart of Caine's wife. Instead of being a push-over, Caine decides to con Jude into staging a robbery--he'd get the insurance money and Jude could have the girl--but his real agenda is to kill Jude in "self defense" and solve all his problems at once. However, there's a chance that Jude has something up his sleeve as well. Which one will be the victor?
Joaquin Phoenix returns to the big screen after two years, an Oscar nomination, and a stint as the legendary Johnny Cash. In this crime drama, Phoenix plays a New York nightclub manager who happens to run just the kind of place that would facilitate criminal activity for the Russian mafia. Unfortunately, his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) are cops, who are eager to bring the kingpin down using him as the inside-man. Phoenix's father dotes on Wahlberg more than him, leaving the Russian mob boss to be more of his father figure. Thus, he's faced with a moral dilemma. To prove his loyalty and to save his family from an inevitable hit, he'll have to risk everything. I'll be shameless and admit that I'll watch anything that Wahlberg even cameos in. For the gentleman, Eva Mendes struts her stuff. But you must consider that this is the third film of James Gray, who's only worked on scripts that he's both written and directed, and who's last film, The Yards, had the same male leads as this one.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Cate Blanchett is taking a bit of a chance with reprising her role after 9 years, especially since Elizabeth was so well-reviewed the first time. With the help of Clive Owen as a seductive con artist, Samantha Morton (Minority Report) as Mary Queen of Scots, Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of Carribbean), and Abbie Cornish (A Good Year), she has quite the epic tale to tell of defending her throne against the Spanish King Phillip II. And from the trailer I can tell that she will be an inspiring heroine.
Michael Clayton
Screenwriter of the Bourne trilogy, Tony Gilroy, has his directorial debut with George Clooney at the helm. With the tagline: "The truth can be adjusted," the dramatic thriller promises to question the boundaries of morality in business. The title character is what capitalists refer to as "an in-house 'fixer'" for a corporate law firm. Even though he would prefer retiring from his immoral profession, he is knee deep in debt. Tilda Swinton (Chronicles of Narnia), a litigator, is depending on a multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading, and Tom Wilkinson (Batman Begins) is the guilt-ridden attorney who sabotages it. It's all up to Clayton to pick up the pieces.
Lars and the Real Girl
It's probably a jinx to say it, but Ryan Gosling can do no wrong. He won critics over in his portrayal of a drug-addicted teacher in Half Nelson and a desperate lawyer in Fracture. Now he's going into left field again in this indie dramedy about a poor schlub who has deluded himself into believing that a blow up doll is his girlfriend. I know what you're thinking. On paper, it sounds like crap. Funny crap, but crap nonetheless. But, honestly, if you watch Gosling's endearing portrayal of a naive, hopeless romantic who is so loved by his entire community--including his brother (Paul Schneider from The Family Stone), his sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer from Dear Frankie), and a cute girl (Kelli Garner from Man of the House)--that they would pretend that his blow up doll is real. I have a feeling that it will have you laughing while you're crying.
Why did I get married?
This isn't by any means like Chris Rock's I Think I Love my Wife. Tyler Perry cages Medea for a while to introduce us to the plight of the married couple from four different perspectives. The film is actually an adaptation of his stage play, which focuses on the trials of marriage during a couples retreat. Sharon Leal ("Boston Public") plays Perry's wife who is reluctant to have another child, because she'd rather be a career woman. Richard T. Jones ("Girlfriend") is a brave brave man who chose to bring his girlfriend, played by Denise Boutte ("Days of our lives") to the couples retreat. Meanwhile, his jilted wife, played by singer Jill Scott, is working hard to reconcile with him. Luckily Lamman Rucker ("Half & Half") will provide a nice little distraction for her. Michael Jai White ("The Clubhouse") practically plays the battered husband who has to deal with a wife, played by Tasha Smith (Daddy's Little Girl), who drinks too much and brags about being the breadwinner. Janet Jackson--hitting the big screen after 7 years--seems to be the only voice of reason, even though she's having trouble with her husband, Malik Yoba ("Girlfriends"), too. I'm confident that Perry will deliver yet another heartfelt and funny film about love.
Sleuth
Jude Law and Michael Caine help remake the 70s mystery thriller about two men who try to outsmart each other. Jude plays a man who's stolen the heart of Caine's wife. Instead of being a push-over, Caine decides to con Jude into staging a robbery--he'd get the insurance money and Jude could have the girl--but his real agenda is to kill Jude in "self defense" and solve all his problems at once. However, there's a chance that Jude has something up his sleeve as well. Which one will be the victor?
No comments:
Post a Comment