by Erik Childress
Continue reading up on the Dramas, Family Flicks, attempts at Horror and the Music, Sports and TV-based Films of the Summer 2005 featured in the 2005 eFilmCritic Summer Movie Tournament
ENTER The 2005 eFilmCritic Summer Movie Box Office Tournament
(Click the Predict It! Link above the bracket, sign-up and predict away!)
THE DRAMAS
Crash
Release Date: May 6
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Dashon Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate, Nona Gaye
Director: Paul Haggis
Premise: A Brentwood housewife and her DA husband. A Persian store owner. Two police detectives who are also lovers. A black television director and his wife. A Mexican locksmith. Two car-jackers. A rookie cop. A middle-aged Korean couple... They all live in Los Angeles. And in the next 36 hours, they will all collide... A provocative, unflinching look at the complexities of racial conflict in America, "Crash" is that rare cinematic event – a film that challenges audiences to question their own prejudices. Diving headlong into the diverse melting pot of post-9/11 Los Angeles, this compelling urban drama tracks the volatile intersections of a multi-ethnic cast, examining fear and bigotry from multiple perspectives as characters careen in and out of one another’s lives. No one is safe in the battle zones of intolerance. And no one is immune to the simmering rage that sparks violence – and changes lives... Funny, powerful, and always unpredictable, "Crash" boldly explores the gray area between black and white, victim and aggressor...and finds no easy solutions.
WATCH THE TRAILER
eFilmCritic REVIEWS: READ ‘EM
Everything Is Illuminated
Release Date: August 12
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, Boris Leskin
Director: Liev Schreiber
Premise: Based on the acclaimed, best-selling novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, "Everything is Illuminated" tells the story of a young American Jewish man's quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather--in a small Ukrainian town that was wiped off the map by the Nazi invasion.
Happy Endings
Release Date: July 15 (limited)
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Tom Arnold, Jesse Bradford, Bobby Cannavale, Sarah Clarke, Steve Coogan, Laura Dern, Lisa Kudrow, Jason Ritter, David Sutcliffe and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Director: Don Roos
Premise: Mamie is being blackmailed. This filmmaker named Nick claims to know Mamie's son – the one she gave up for adoption – but Nick won't introduce her to him unless he can film the reunion. Enter Javier, Mamie's massage therapist boyfriend, who convinces Nick to film him instead. Now they're all making a movie about massage. And 'happy endings'... Charley has a longtime boyfriend named Gil. Their best friends, Pam and Diane, once tried using Gil as a sperm donor. They said his sperm didn't take, but Charley thinks those selfish, control-freak lesbians are lying. Pam and Diane's two-year-old son looks exactly like Gil. And it's time to set the record straight... Jude is pissed. Not at anyone in particular. Just in general. When her cousin kicks her out of the house, Jude shacks up with Otis, who's still trying to convince his father, Frank, that he's straight. Frank's a widower. And he's rich. So Jude decides to sleep with him, too. Really. The last thing she expected was to fall in love...
eFilmCritic REVIEWS: READ ‘EM
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Release Date: June 3
MPAA Rating: PG
Cast: Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel, Bradley Whitford, Nancy Travis, Rachel Ticotin, Jenna Boyd
Director: Ken Kwapis
Based on Ann Brashares' best-selling novel about a special 16th summer in the lives of four lifelong friends. The film stars Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrara and Blake Lively as four 16-year-old best friends who are separated for the first time. On a last shopping trip together, the girls find a pair of thrift-shop jeans that fits each of them perfectly and they decide to use these "magic" pants as a way of keeping in touch over the months ahead, each girl wearing the jeans for a week to see what luck they bring her before sending them on to the next. Though miles apart, the four friends still experience life, love and loss together in a summer they'll never forget.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: POSITIVES: (1) Joan Girardi & Rory Gilmore are in it. (2) Co-adapted by Elizabeth Chandler who wrote the scripts for two of the better young lady flicks (A Little Princess & What a Girl Wants.) (3) Looks like it could be a pleasant charmer. NEGATIVES: (1) Ken Kwapis is a great TV director but his film projects include He Said, She Said and The Beautician and the Beast. (2) Co-adapted by Delia Ephron (yes, Nora’s sister). (3) Could be this year’s Now and Then.
FOR THE FAMILY
The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D
Release Date: June 10
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: David Arquette, Kristin Davis, Taylor Dooley, Taylor Lautner, Cayden Boyd, George Lopez
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Premise: The story is about a 10-year-old outcast shunned by classmates and forced to spend summer vacation alone. With his two imaginary friends - the title characters - he goes on a mission to prove that dreams can become reality.
Howl’s Moving Castle
Release Date: June 10 (limited)
MPAA Rating: PG
Cast: (voices) Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons, Christian Bale, Billy Crystal, Lauren Bacall, Blythe Danner, Josh Hutcherson
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Premise: A distinguished cast of actors, under the direction of Pixar's Pete Docter ("Monsters, Inc."), lend their vocal talents to this English-language version of the film. Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer), an average teenage girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome-but-mysterious wizard named Howl (voiced by Christian Bale), and is subsequently turned into a 90-year old woman (voiced by screen legend and two-time Oscar® nominee Jean Simmons) by the vain and conniving Wicked Witch of the Waste (voiced by screen legend and Oscar® nominee Lauren Bacall). Embarking on an incredible odyssey to lift the curse, she finds refuge in Howl's magical moving castle where she becomes acquainted with Markl, Howl's apprentice, and a hot-headed fire demon named Calcifer (voiced by Billy Crystal). Sophie's love and support comes to have a major impact on Howl, who flies in the face of orders from the palace to become a pawn of war and instead risks his life to help bring peace to the kingdom. Extraordinary characters, inventive imagery, and stunning artistry make this latest masterpiece from the visionary Miyazaki an unforgettable filmgoing experience.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Look to the premise if you want to know what the film is actually about, but it only takes a few cells of Miyazaki’s work to sell me; a universal treasure if there ever was one.
Madagascar
Release Date: May 27
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: (voices) Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Gwen Stefani
Directors: Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath
Premise: Alex the Lion (Stiller) is the king of the urban jungle, the main attraction at New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends Marty the Zebra (Rock), Melman the Giraffe (Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Pinkett Smith) have lived their entire lives in blissful captivity, with regular meals provided and an admiring public to adore them. Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty allows his curiosity to get the better of him and, with the help of some prodigious penguins, makes his escape to explore the world he's been missing. Alex, Melman and Gloria go after him, but before they can go wild in the streets, they are captured, crated and put on a ship to Africa... to be ultimately set free. When those plotting penguins sabotage the ship, Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria find themselves washed ashore on the exotic island of Madagascar. Now, these native New Yorkers have to figure out how to survive in the wild and discover the true meaning of the phrase "It's a jungle out there." [br] WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Advertising the big name voice talent hardly worked for Shark Tale (in terms of quality; not dollars). The trailer is spotty, a bit too much Chris Rock attitude, but the animation is solid and the penguins could provide some huge laughs.
March of the Penguins
Release Date: June 24 (limited)
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: A great batch of PENGUINS!!!
Director: Luc Jacquet
Premise: This is the story of one year in the life of an emperor penguin flock - and one couple in particular - as they trek across the Antarctic on an annual journey that invokes just about every major life experience, from birth to death, from dating to mating, from comedy to tragedy, and from love to fighting for survival.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Notes: A very entertaining documentary that played at Sundance this year. Not quite up to the magnificence of Winged Migration, but funny and educational for everybody.
The Perfect Man
Release Date: June 17
MPAA Rating: PG
Cast: Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear, Chris Noth, Mike O'Malley, Ben Feldman, Vanessa Lengies, Carson Kressley
Director: Mark Rosman
Premise: In "The Perfect Man," teenager Holly Hamilton (Hilary Duff) is tired of moving every time her single mom Jean (Heather Locklear) has another personal meltdown involving yet another second-rate guy. To distract her mother from her latest bad choice, Holly conceives the perfect plan for the perfect man...an imaginary secret admirer who will romance Jean and boost her shaky self-esteem. When the virtual relationship takes off, Holly finds herself having to produce the suitor, borrowing her friend's charming and handsome Uncle Ben (Chris Noth) as the face behind the e-mails, notes and gifts. Holly must resort to increasingly desperate measures to keep the ruse alive and protect her mom's newfound happiness... almost missing the real perfect man when he does come along.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Sleepless In A World Where Heather Locklear Can’t Get A Man? It’s hard to buy this movie from the get-go when the first half is about how old Locklear is looking and after loser-after-loser she finds Mr. Big. Please! Put Bonnie Hunt in the role and we might have something interesting. Right now it’s hard to gauge how cloying or melodramatic this thing could be. Could just be harmless mediocrity.
Sky High
Release Date: July 29
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Lynda Carter, Michael Angarano, Danielle Panabaker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Bruce Campbell, Dave Foley, Steven Strait
Director: Mike Mitchell
Premise: When you're the son of the world's most legendary superheroes The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston), there is only one school for you - Sky High, an elite high school that is entrusted with the responsibility of molding today's power-gifted students into tomorrow's superheroes. The problem is that Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) is starting with no superpowers of his own and, worst of all, instead of joining the ranks of the "Hero" class, he finds himself relegated to being a "Sidekick." Now he must somehow survive his freshman year while dealing with an overbearing gym coach (Bruce Campbell), a bully with super speed and an dangerous rebel with a grudge (and the ability to shoot fire from his hands)... not to mention the usual angst, parental expectations and girl problems that accompany teenage life. But when an evil villain threatens his family, friends and the very sanctity of Sky High, Will must use his newfound superpowers to save the day and prove himself a "Hero" worthy of the family tradition.
Notes: The Incredibles meets Spy Kids? Cool to see Kurt Russell AND Bruce Campbell on board, but director Mike Mitchell is responsible for not only Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo but SURVIVING CHRISTMAS!!!
Valiant
Release Date: August 19
MPAA Rating: PG
Cast: (voices) Ewan McGregor, Sir Ben Kingsley, Jim Broadbent, Rupert Everett, Hugh Laurie, John Hurt, Ricky Gervais, John Cleese, Tim Curry, Olivia Williams
Director: Gary Chapman
Premise: The animated comedy tells the story of a lowly wood pigeon named Valiant, who overcomes his small size to become a hero in Great Britain's Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service during World War II. The RHPS advanced the Allied cause by flying vital messages about enemy movements across the English Channel, while evading brutal attacks by the enemy's Falcon brigade.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: If you can understand the international trailer, let me know what was said. That obstacle aside, it looks like Chicken Run with pigeons that starts off looking funny and builds to some cool-looking action. Delayed from April to August. Late August. Maybe not the best sign, but I’m down.
THE HORROR, THE HORROR
The Cave
Release Date: August 19
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Cast: Cole Hauser, Morris Chestnut, Eddie Cibrian, Rick Ravanello, Marcel Lures, Lena Headey, Piper Perabo
Director: Bruce Hunt
Premise: Deep in the Romanian forest, a team of scientists stumbles upon the ruins of a 13th century Abbey. On further inspection, they make a startling discovery - the Abbey is built over the entrance to a giant underground cave system. Local biologists belive the cave could be home to an undiscovered eco-system, so they hire a group of American cave-explorers to help them investigate its depths. But what they find deep inside the caves is not just a new eco-system, but an entirely new species altogether...
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Delayed from April into the summer. Can’t be as bad as an Uwe Boll flick, but when even the trailer refers to them as “expert cave explorers” we’re probably looking at some serious MST3K fodder. How intense can that creature violence be with a PG-13?
Cry Wolf
Release Date: August 5
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: Julian Morris, Lindy Booth, Jared Padalecki, Jon Bon Jovi
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Premise: When a young woman is found murdered, a group of local high school students decide to further scare their classmates by spreading online rumors that a serial killer called “The Wolf” is on the loose. By describing “The Wolf’s” next victims, the students’ game is to see how many people they can convince – and if anyone will uncover the lie. But when the described victims actually do start turning up dead, suddenly no one knows where the lies end and the truth begins. As someone or something begins hunting the students themselves, the game turns terrifyingly real.
Notes: Trying for that late (and dead) final week of August where the Jeepers Creepers and Anacondas money awaits.
The Devil’s Rejects
Release Date: July 22
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: William Forsythe, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, Sheri Moon, Irwin Keyes, Robert Allen Mukes, Ken Foree, Michael Berryman, Tyler Mane, Danny Trejo, Natasha Lyonne, Rosario Dawson, M.C. Gainey, Leslie Easterbrook
Director: Rob Zombie
Premise: The sequel to "House of 1000 Corpses" centers on a band of bounty hunters led by Sheriff Wydell's brother who is fueled by revenge when he finds out that his kin was slain by the Firefly family. The film will pick up shortly after the first with the Firefly clan going on the road after their house is burned down and a few family members have been gunned down during a police raid.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: I have no idea why I’m looking forward to this film considering Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses is a serious piece of garbage. Maybe it’s the hard “R” compared to all the kiddie “PG-13” we’ve been inundated with. Plus Lt. Callahan is in it. I don’t know why that’s worth mentioning. But it’s a fact.
George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
Release Date: June 24
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy
Director: George A. Romero
Premise: "George A. Romero's Land of the Dead" is the acclaimed director's long-awaited return to the horror genre he invented, beginning with the seminal "Night of the Living Dead" and continuing with "Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead". In this new tale, Romero creates a harrowing vision of a modern-day world where the walking dead roam an uninhabited wasteland and the living try to lead "normal" lives behind the walls of a fortified city. A new society has been built by a handful of enterprising, ruthless opportunists, who live in the towers of a skyscraper, high above the hard-scrabble existence on the streets below. But outside the city walls, an army of the dead is evolving. Inside, anarchy is on the rise. With the very survival of the city at stake, a group of hardened mercenaries is called into action to protect the living from an army of the dead.
Notes: The master returns with a last-minute addition to the summer season. What serious horror fan ISN'T excited about this one?
High Tension
Release Date: June 3
MPAA Rating: NC-17
Cast: Cécile De France, Maïwenn Le Besco, Philippe Nahon, Franck Khalfoun, Andrei Finti, Oana Pellea, Marco Claudiu Pascu, Jean-Claude de Goros, Bogdan Uritescu, Gabriel Spahiu
Director: Alexandre Aja
Premise: The film centers on two teen girls who settle in for a relaxing weekend at a country farmhouse, unaware that a violent intruder is speeding toward them to transform their dreams into a relentless, bloody nightmare.
WATCH THE TRAILER
eFilmCritic REVIEWS: READ ‘EM
Red Eye
Release Date: August 19
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy
Director: Wes Craven
Premise: Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) hates to fly, but the terror that awaits her on the night flight to Miami has nothing to do with a fear of flying. Moments after takeoff, Lisa's seatmate, Jackson (Cillian Murphy), menacingly reveals the real reason he's on board: He is an operative in a plot to kill a rich and powerful businessman... and Lisa is the key to its success. If she refuses to cooperate, her own father will be killed by an assassin awaiting a call from Jackson. Trapped within the confines of a jet at 30,000 feet, Lisa has nowhere to run and no way to summon help without endangering her father, her fellow passengers and her own life. As the miles tick by, Lisa knows she is running out of time as she desperately looks for a way to thwart her ruthless captor and stop a terrible murder.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Slyly deceptive trailer lures you into what looks like a remake of Turbulence. But Wes Craven is due after getting past the whole Cursed debacle and while it may not sound as much fun as Snakes on a Plane, this could be a late summer surprise.
The Skeleton Key
Release Date: August 12
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, John Hurt, Joy Bryant[br]
Director: Iain Softley
Premise: Set largely in the dark atmospheric backwoods just outside of New Orleans, "The Skeleton Key" stars Hudson as Caroline, a live-in nurse hired to care for an elderly woman's (Rowlands) ailing husband (Hurt) in their home...a foreboding and decrepit mansion in the Louisiana delta. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple, their mysterious and secretive ways and their rambling house, Caroline beings to explore the old mansion. Armed with a skeleton key that unlocks every door, she discovers a hidden attic room that holds a deadly and terrifying secret. Peter Sarsgaard portrays Luke, the local attorney working on the couple's estate, and Joy Bryant plays Jill, Caroline's best friend.
Notes: The writer of The Ring 2 and Reindeer Games meets the director of K-PAX. Wake me when it gets scary.
Undead
Release Date: July 1 (limited)
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay, Rob Jenkins, Lisa Cunningham, Emma Randall, Dirk Hunter
Director: Michael & Peter Spierig
Premise: Peaceful, rustic Berkeley is a charming fishing community where life is sweet and the people friendly. All that is about to change. After losing her childhood farm to the bank, local beauty Rene decides to leave town and head for the big city. Suddenly, an avalanche of meteorites races through the sky, bombarding the town and bringing an otherworldly infection. Departing is going to be much more difficult than she had planned. The living dead are awakened and Rene is now caught in a nightmare of zombies hungry for human flesh. She manages to find salvation in a small isolated farm house owned by the town loony, Marion. There she is met with four other desperate survivors. Together they battle their way through a plague of walking dead and discover that there is more transpiring than just an infection.
WATCH THE TRAILER
eFilmCritic REVIEWS: READ ‘EM
THE MUSIC OF SUMMER
Hustle & Flow
Release Date: July 15
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: Terrence Dashon Howard, DJ Qualls, Ludacris, Taryn Manning, Anthony Anderson, Isaac Hayes, Taraji P. Henson, Elise Neal, Paula Jai Parker
Director: Craig Brewer
Premise: Djay is a pimp suffering a midlife crisis, yearning to be a rap star, and after being galvanized by a gospel song, he gets to work, finding it a very hard road to fame and respect.
WATCH A CLIP
eFilmCritic REVIEWS: READ ‘EM
Mad Hot Ballroom
Release Date: May 13 (limited)
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Marilyn Agrelo
Premise: Eleven-year-old New York City public school kids journey into the world of ballroom dancing and reveal pieces of themselves and their world along the way. Told from their candid, sometimes hilarious perspectives, these kids are transformed, from reluctant participants to determined competitors, from typical urban kids to "ladies and gentlemen", on their way to try to compete in the final city-wide competition. Providing unique insight into the incredible cultural diversity that is New York City, this film profiles several kids from three schools (out of 60) at this dynamic age, when becoming that "cool" teenager vies for position with familiar innocence, while they learn the Merengue, Rumba, Tango, Foxtrot and Swing.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: This looks like it could be the charmer of the season. The buzz is high and is destined to be talked about by documentary fans.
Rock School
Release Date: June 3 (limited)
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: Paul Green
Director: Don Argott
Premise: "Rock School" follows an entire season of classes, in the process establishing school founder, director, and self-proclaimed "überlord" Paul Green as one of the most complex, contradictory, and unforgettable characters in recent films. A whirling dervish of manic, pinball-machine energy, Green is at once sensitive and verbally abusive; generous-spirited and mercilessly critical. As tornado-like as his tantrum-filled teaching style can be, however, Paul's commitment to his student's goal of achieving musical greatness is never in doubt.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Notes: A wonderfully entertaining documentary and the dedicated insanity of Rock School instructor, Paul Green. You’ll never want your children to attend here, but you’ll laugh and wince at the abuse he uses to turn the kids who do attend into guitar gods.
AND THE SPORTS
(And this doesn’t even include The Bad News Bears or The Longest Yard.)
Cinderella Man
Release Date: June 3
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Cast: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Bruce McGill, Paddy Considine
Director: Ron Howard
Premise: Russell Crowe stars in the story inspired by the life of legendary athlete Jim Braddock, a once- promising light heavyweight boxer forced into retirement after a string of losses in the ring. As the nation enters the darkest years of the Great Depression, Braddock accepts a string of dead-end jobs to support his wife, Mae (Renée Zellweger), and their children, while never totally abandoning his dream of boxing again. Thanks to a last minute cancellation, Braddock finds himself back in the ring against the second-ranked world contender--and to everyone's amazement, Braddock wins in the third round. Despite being pounds lighter than his opponents and repeated injuries to his hands, Braddock continues to fight against challengers and win. Carrying on his shoulders the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised masses, Braddock, dubbed the "Cinderella Man," faces his toughest challenger in Max Baer (Craig Bierko), the heavyweight champion of the world, renowned for having killed two men in the ring.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Universal is going for that summer Seabiscuit money after taking it out of the 2004 Oscar race. After Seabiscuit and Miracle, this is another sports story that “brought America to its feet” at a time it was down in the dumps. This looks to be more of a contender than a bum, but how many Caddyshack jokes will be made about the title?
Kicking & Screaming
Release Date: May 13
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, Mike Ditka, Kate Walsh, Jim Turner, Jarrad Paul
Director: Jesse Dylan
Premise: "Kicking & Screaming" stars Ferrell as Phil Weston, an average Joe who's had to put up all his life with his overly competitive father, Buck (Robert Duvall). When Phil decides to coach his 10-year-old son's soccer team, he goes head-to-head for the league championship against Buck, who coaches his own young son on the preeminent team of the league. Old scores come into play as Phil and Buck find themselves going to extreme measures to win the championship trophy.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Unless its directed by Stephen Chow, soccer hasn’t had the greatest success on the big screen. But Will Ferrell has, and now with another family film, I smell some Daddy Day Care-type money.
A League of Ordinary Gentlemen
Release Date: May 13
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Cast: Wayne Webb, Pete Weber, Walter Ray Williams, Steve Miller, Chris Barnes
Director: Christopher Browne
Premise: Tracing the historical arc of the professional bowling tour, the film includes archival footage from the sport's glory days in the 1950s and '60s, through its near extinction in 1997. The story takes a twist when newly installed CEO Steve Miller sets about modernizing the PBA. In addition to Miller, the chronicle focuses on four pro bowlers: Pete Weber, bowling bad-boy and son of legendary bowler Dick Weber whose conservative style doesn't jibe with the direction Miller is taking the new PBA. Pete's nemesis is Walter Ray Williams Jr., a straight-laced six-time world horseshoe-pitching champion and, with 36 PBA titles to his name, the dominant player on the tour. Also, there's Chris Barnes, a young father of newborn twins, who must leave his wife and sons at home and hit the road to compete for the winnings that his young family is depending upon. Finally there's Wayne Webb, a 20-time PBA champion who has fallen on hard times and hopes to squeeze one more good season out of his career to stave off bankruptcy.
eFilmCritic REVIEWS: READ ‘EM
Lords of Dogtown
Release Date: June 3
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Victor Rasuk, John Robinson, Michael Angarano, Nikki Reed, Heath Ledger, Rebecca De Mornay, Johnny Knoxville, America Ferrera, Jeremy Renner, Eddie Cahill, Shea Whigham
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Premise: In the 1970s, a group of teenage surfers from a tough neighborhood known as "Dogtown" in Venice, California pioneered a revolutionary new style of skateboarding. Riding the waves at the Pacific Ocean Park pier, the Z-Boyz, known for their aggressive style and hard street attitude, combined the death-defying moves of surfing with the art of skateboarding and became overnight sensations and local legends. With empty pools as their canvas, the Z-boyz paved the way to what is now referred to as "extreme sports," and created a lifestyle that spread infectiously to beomce a worldwide counterculture phenomenon. But all of this fame would take its toll on the friendships that they thought would last a lifetime as the sport that started out as an afternoon hobby turned into big business.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Did they really “change everything”, other than have a bunch of annoying skateboarders clogging up the streets? Maybe the skateboarding footage is phenomenal, but does anyone remember Gleaming the Cube or Grind? And yes, I know it’s a true story, but who cares other than those who skateboard?
Murderball
Release Date: July 8
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Directors: Henry Alex Rubin & Dana Adam Shapiro
Premise: Murderball (aka quad rugby) combines the finesse of soccer with the bone-jarring collisions of a demolition derby. The athletes use custom wheelchairs that look like something out of a Mad Max movie. Players careen around the court with reckless abandon, slamming into each other, fueled by an unrivaled competitive spirit. Their ultimate goal is to win a gold medal at the Paralympics. Team USA has dominated the sport for years. But when Joe Soares, a gold medalist in 1996 and one of the best ever to play the sport, gets cut from the team, he becomes coach of Team Canada with one goal: beat Team USA at the 2004 Athens games. What follows is a roller-coaster ride of human drama, athletic excellence, and heart-stopping competition that couldn't have been scripted any better.
eFilmCritic REVIEWS: READ ‘EM
Rebound
Release Date: July 1
MPAA Rating: PG
Cast: Martin Lawrence, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Breckin Meyer, Horatio Sanz, Megan Mullally
Director: Steve Carr
Premise: Old school meets middle school in this feel-good family comedy starring Martin Lawrence ("Big Momma's House") as the ultimate "fish out of water." Lawrence plays a high-strung college basketball coach who must redeem himself following a public meltdown, by leading a junior high school team.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Speaking of Daddy Day Care, well, Steve Carr directed it. As for the movie – did someone just take the Juwanna Mann script and rewrite key passages? And did I hear Lawrence actually use the Gene Hackman “scoreboard…winners” line from Hoosiers? How dare you?! How dare you, sir?!! I’ve got Kicking & Screaming with a spread of minus 40 over Rebound. Any takers?
FROM TV TO THE BIG SCREEN
Bewitched
Release Date: June 24
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Kristin Chenoweth, Jason Schwartzman, Steve Carell, Joan Plowright, Todd Stashwick, Jim Turner, Jarrad Paul, Heather Burns
Director: Nora Ephron
Premise: An all-star cast led by Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell cast their spell on the movie version of one of TV's most memorable and geuiling shows, "Bewitched".
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: There’s probably a great satire buried in here somewhere, but this revisionist approach to the old TV show looks very confused and unworthy of the talent it has. Kinda like last year’s Stepford Wives.
The Dukes of Hazzard
Release Date: June 24
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds, Willie Nelson, Lynda Carter, M.C. Gainey, Michael Weston, Nikki Griffin
Director: Jay Chandrasekhar
Premise: Set in present day, the story follows the adventures of "good old boy" cousins, Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) Duke, who with the help of their eye-catching cousin Daisy (Jessica Simpson) and moonshine running Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), try and save the family farm from being destroyed by Hazzard County's corrupt commissioner Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds). Their efforts constantly find the "Duke Boys" eluding authorities in "The General Lee," their famed 1969 orange Dodge Charger that keeps them one step ahead of the dimwitted antics of the small southern town's Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (M.C. Gainey).
Notes: Sue me but I’m looking forward to this. I think the casting is perfect. Jay Chandrasekhar really proved something with his work on Club Dread. We’ll see once the trailer is unleashed.
The Honeymooners
Release Date: June 10
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps, Gabrielle Union, Regina Hall, Eric Stoltz, John Leguizamo
Director: John Schultz
Premise: "The Honeymooners," a feature-length comedy, is the story of two best friends – bus driver Ralph Kramden (Cedric the Entertainer) and sewer worker Ed Norton (Mike Epps) – who hatch a get-rich-quick scheme to get them out of Brooklyn and onto easy street. Standing by their husbands are devoted wives Alice (Gabrielle Union) and Trixie (Regina Hall), who help their guys make ends meet by waitressing at a neighborhood diner.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Notes: This is the last straw. What a way to crap on one of the greatest sitcoms in history. I’m done with Cedric the Entertainer. Let’s move on.
Jiminy Glick In Lalawood
Release Date: May 6 (limited)
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: Martin Short, Jan Hooks, Linda Cardellini, Janeane Garofalo, John Michael Higgins, Elizabeth Perkins
Director: Vadim Jean
Premise: Jiminy Glick (Martin Short), an entertainment critic for a television station in Butte, Montana, arrives at the Toronto Film Festival, a complete unknown, intent on finding fame among the rich, famous and fabulous. His dreams of becoming the most celebrated and renowned star interviewer are realized when he is granted an exclusive with elusive young megastar Ben DiCarlo (Corey Pearson). This catapults Jiminy from obscurity to being the most talked about guy in town. Filmmakers and studio executives want to schmooze him and every actor wants to be interviewed by him, including fading Hollywood star Miranda Coolidge (Elizabeth Perkins). When Miranda is later found dead in Jiminy's bed, he thinks he is to blame and suddenly gets embroiled in a murder mystery whodunit complete with sex, scandal, rappers and glamorous celebrities.
Notes: Heard OK things from the Toronto Film Festival last year, but the character was never as funny as the celebs reacting to his interviews and there certainly isn’t much of a cult status to bring this to the big screen.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Release Date: June 10
MPAA Rating: n/a
Cast: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Adam Brody, Angela Bassett, Keith David
Director: Doug Liman
Premise: A sexy, action-packed thrill ride about a bored married couple who discover that they are enemy assassins. John and Jane Smith are an ordinary suburban couple with an ordinary, lifeless suburban marriage. But each of them has a secret -- they are actually both legendary assassins working for competing organizations. When the truth comes out, John and Jane end up in each other's cross-hairs.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Trailer Notes: Everyone thought The Bourne Identity was going to be a disaster too and Doug Liman really reigned it in. If people stop trying to “Proof of Life”-it and calling Jolie a homewrecker, this could be a lot of fun. Does anyone remember the Scott Bakula/Maria Bello series on CBS this is loosely based on?
ENTER The 2005 eFilmCritic Summer Movie Box Office Tournament
(Click the Predict It! link above the bracket, sign-up and predict away!)
(Credit for the film information is due in large part to www.comingsoon.net, which keeps you up-to-date on all the latest theatrical releases.)
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link directly to this feature at http://www.efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=1432
originally posted: 04/02/05 06:15:26
last updated: 04/13/05 03:39:37
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