Friday, February 29, 2008 10:15AM - By Guest Writer
What do you get when you mix Will Ferrell and basketball (or for that matter anything) together? I tell you what you get, a fun movie experience. Will Ferrell keeps hitting the funny bone of America. Semi-Pro is a riot from beginning to end. The song “Love Me Sexy” during the intro is hilarious and a great way to begin the flick. But, Semi-Pro isn’t just funny, it also teaches team work and other morals, you just won’t really be thinking about that while your laughing.
Jackie Moon (Ferrell) is a player, promoter and owner of the ABA Flint Tropics, which he bought with the money from his popular song Love Me Sexy. With the ABA losing money and fan base, the league decides to merge with the ever popular and growing NBA. Problem is only the 4 teams (Spurs, Nuggets, Nets and Pacers) with the biggest upside get to merge with the NBA and the other teams are done for.
Moon isn’t having any of that though and convinces the commissioner that the top 4 teams in the league should be the ones that merge with the NBA. With the Tropics at the bottom of the standings they have their work cut out for them. Their goal isn’t to win the championship, oh no, they just want to get to 4th place. This is their time to come together as a team and show that team work, mixed with fighting and dancing, can propel even the worst team into 4th place.
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Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:00PM - By Mali Elfman
The Oscars have come and gone, awarding the best films of the year and exposing movies many didn’t know about. However, if you’re looking for something more, if you’re just yearning to discover films beyond the glitz and glamor, then head on over Santa Monica, as the Aero Theatre and American Cinematheque present “2007’s Best Underrated Films.”
The full schedule includes:
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Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:00PM - By Guest Writer
This month the list of films presented at Arclight Cinemas focuses on “Politics in Cinema” (Hollywood) and “Sports at the Movies” (Sherman Oaks).
Included during the month of March are two director screenings for the films Snow Angels and The Wonder of It All.
Arclight Hollywood: Politics in Cinema
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — March 5th at 8PM.
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962) — March 12th at 8PM.
- The Parallax View — March 19th at 8PM.
- All the President’s Men — March 26th at 8PM.
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Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:00PM - By Mali Elfman
There are four very unique films out this week, and with two of them starring Eric Bana, how could you go wrong. The Other Boleyn Girl and Romulus, My Father, both look like great films with with amazing casts. Penelope may have a great cast, but I don’t know how far along a pig noised girl scaring off men can keep one entertained. For those of you looking for something “mindless” and fun, Semi-Pro with Will Ferrel is the film for you!
Trailers and summaries below:
The Other Boleyn Girl Starring: Eric Bana, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield, Juno Temple and directed by Justin Chadwick. “A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history.” Aside from the fact that I don’t know what bloodline could ever make Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman sisters, this looks to be an great film for those who love history dramas.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008 8:00AM - By Matt Hansen
Well the Oscars are over. This of course means you have about 8 months to focus on not so serious films. A very good thing considering the mindless mush, popcorn blockbusters, and buddy comedies that will be thrown at you, oh so soon. The (Action Adventure) genre seems to be heavy hitting this year, maybe even more so than those close election stats that will be covered on Fox News and CSPAN. I don’t know about you, but Wolf Blitzer gives me the creeps. So without giving away any spoiler details, here’s an early reminder of four films you should be on the lookout for.
The Dark Knight- The last time Batman swung into theatres, he did so with a vengeance. Writer and director Christopher Nolan gave us a wake up call that this time things were going to be different. As long as this series continues to stay in his capable hands, we can rest easy that there will be no repeats of (Batman and Robin). Christian Bale is always in top form and with Heath Ledgers final performance as the Joker, this promises to be the stuff of Cinema greatness. Maggie Gyllenhaal enters the cast hopefully replacing Katie Holmes, who while not hurting the last film, didn’t really add anything to it either.
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Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:00PM - By Mali Elfman
Well it’s a big week in DVD releases. With a range of films from The Darjeeling Limited to The Smurfs: Season One, Volume One, there’s got to be something for you out there. Goya’s Ghosts which apparently came out in Spain in November 2006, stars newly named Academy Award winner Javier Bardem and Natalie Portman. 30 Days of Night should give you a good scare and Ben Foster is always enjoyable, even if he’s only in the film for a short while. If you’re a sports fan, than you’ll be happy to know that Super Bowl XLII comes out this week, if you’re more of a Keira Knightley fan, than try Silk (although it got an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes-Ouch).
Without further ado! This week in DVD’s!
Monday, February 25, 2008 1:00PM - By Mali Elfman
Well, there was a lot of money to be had at the box office this weekend, even though the Oscars glued almost everyone to their TV sets on Sunday. Vantage Point opened this weekend to a respectable numbers even though it was slatted by critics. Although if you want to talk about being loved by the audience and pummeled by critics Jumper is your film. It just goes to show, the people, not the critics choose what stays in theaters. Everything else seems to be pretty typical, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Step Up 2 the Streets, Fool’s Gold, and Definitely, Maybe are all hanging on to those top 6 spots like they were last week. Be Kind Rewind is bound to be a grower, not a show-er, so we’ll see how that fairs next week. I’m glad to see There Will be Blood, clawing it’s way back onto the list, hopefully with Daniel Day-Lewis‘ best actor award, it will stay there for a while. Then of course there’ good old Juno, this movie just won’t quit! It’s managed to stay in theaters for nearly nine weeks and doesn’t look like it’s ready to leave.
So hear it is, you box office top 10 after the jump:
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Monday, February 25, 2008 12:10PM - By Guest Writer
The awards have been given out, the parties have all happened, and the show was only 3.5 hours long! The 80th Academy Awards came in with controversy with the recently resolved writers strike, and ended with everyone talking about the upsets, the fashion, the host, and of course, the winners. So how was it? What was the best moment? How did Jon Stewart do? Ladies and Gents, a LA.CityZine recap…
The Host: You have to hand it to Jon Stewart. With only 11 days to prepare a show that usually takes 7 months, Stewart and his team of writers managed to come up with pretty funny bits. While his opening monologue was hit or miss (make-up sex, anyone?), he seemed to gain momentum and get better as the show went on, firing off one liners that have endeared him to audiences. Stewart shined when he played off of others, as when he joked about John Travolta’s plane being parked on La Brea and when he stated how “arrogant” Glen Hansard (Winner for Best Original Song) was after Hansard gave one of the more humble speeches of the night.
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Monday, February 25, 2008 8:00AM - By Guest Writer
Now that the writers strike is over and the Oscars are over where do we go from here? How about back to the movie theaters to see the next group of contenders? One of my pet peeves when I go to the movies is someone who brings a very young child/baby in to a very serious, scary movie and then of course the baby begins to fuss and cry. For those of us who do not have children we have not yet learned the art of tuning out the shrill cries that most parents seem to be able to ignore. My thanks to Pacific Theatres at The Grove for offering an alternative to the mommies who want to keep up with the new movies and prefer not to leave the baby with a sitter or daycare. On Monday mornings babies are welcome to come along with mom or dad to see the films that are offered at Monday Morning Mommy Movies.
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