Thursday, August 21, 2008 12:00PM - By Mali Elfman
Bring on the comedies! Big, small, bring them all! This weekend you have a TON of new comedies to choose from. From Hamlet 2 with Hamlet and… Jesus? The House Bunny with plenty slightly inappropriate and funny jokes. The Rocker, has Rainn Wilson as a washed up old drummer playing high school gigs. Done, sold.The Longshots, a story about a GIRL playing football, oh come now. For some educated/food humor I Served the King of England is getting great reviews. I.O.U.S.A., well the joke is kind of on us. I think this is a film everyone HAS to see. Sadly, only the people who already understand these problems will go see it, but one can still hope. Then out “serious” film of the week, Death Race, I’m sure you got some SERIOUS explosions in this.
So here they are, this week’s film releases with cast and crew information, reviews, showtimes and tickets, and trailers! Enjoy…
A super agent is in so deep that his real identity is called into question and his own government is hunting him. Now he races against time to unravel a global conspiracy and free himself from a cycle of violent intrigue.
Sound familiar? In plot and style, Traitor(opening August 27th) might as well be Bourneagain, right down to the raw handheld shooting and the icy throb of electronica over soaring, cityscape transitions.
While Bourne wouldn’t have existed without Bond, it seems Ludlum’s freshly-minted movie icon has returned the favor, updating a stale and over-engineered genre with a new quantity of danger. First-time director Jeffrey Nachmanoff (writer of The Day After Tomorrow) can be forgiven for swiping a few trade secrets from Greengrass’s field manual, as whatever the film lacks in head-on collisions and dislocated shoulders is leveraged against a sharp and nuanced original screenplay.
The Wrecking Crew is documentary about contemporary pop history and a must-see for anyone who’s ever picked up an instrument, collected music, or in any way has loved-pop music. The film will be showing at the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood August 22-28. This is most likely your last chance to see this film in LA.
Director/Writer Denny Tedesco’s chronicle of pop music’s Heyday delves back to the late 50s, the 60s and the 70s, an era of all night recording sessions in cramped, smoke-filled rooms, when real musicianship was not only appreciated, it was demanded. Stocked with rare, historical footage and interviews with the groups members along with testimonials from music giants Nancy Sinatra, Lou Adler, Dick Clark, Herb Alpert, Glen Campbell, Cher, Brian Wilson, Jimmy Webb, Roger McGuinn, Gary Lewis among many others.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 12:00PM - By Guest Writer
Trust. Seduction. Betrayal.
Yes ladies and gentleman, I finally have an anti-love film for you. All members of the lonely heart’s club, listen up!
Inspired by William Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece Othello, O conveys a contemporary twist on a captivating, old-school story. The young talents of the handsome Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett, and Julia Stiles grace the screen for the duration of the 94 minute film. The film is set in an all-white boarding high school where Phifer’s character, Odin, plays the basketball star who is deeply in love with Desi (played by none other than our favorite Save the Last Dance star, Stiles).
Not only is Desi the apple of Odin’s eye, but she is the desire of a few others at school. To complete the love triangle, the conniving Hugo (played by Hartnett) creates a series of situations that lead Odin into a jealous rage. The intensity only escalates as the story unfolds, leading to a powerful ending. O will bring you on a wild ride from young love to grown-up envy, from some baller basketball scenes to disturbing sex scenes, from shirtless hot young actors to gunshots. Plus, it’s got a pretty nostalgic soundtrack. 90’s rap, haaaaaay!
Everyone has them. You know, those movies that you secretly love. The ones you would never own (or admit to owning) but you know every word to. When they come on cable on a lazy Sunday afternoon, you can’t help but let out a squeal of delight because you know you’re going to watch the whole darn thing. These films never make the cut for the “Movies I Like” section of your Facebook page. Too embarrassing. But, love them you do. Scandalously! They are your Guilty Cinematic Pleasures!
So, what are they? I don’t want to hear anything like, Shawshank Redemption. That is a total cop-out. We need cringe-worthy favorites, people. Here’s an example. I have a well-respected, classically trained actor friend that whoops with delight when he finds Baby’s Day Out on his TV schedule. He honestly, from his soul, loves that flick. Or, my movie-snob husband can be turned into a 12-year-old boy with one viewing of The Sandlot. We need to get honest here, peeps. I’ll bare my soul first. If What A Girl Wants is on television, your plans with me will be canceled. Yes, I mean the Amanda Bynes movie. Yes, I’m embarrassed. And, yes, I heart it. For sheezie. I also get my kicks from Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,Grandma’s Boyand the occasional viewing of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Wow. I feel lighter. This is like movie therapy but without the $200 bill.
Finally, Heath Ledger’s final film, Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (try saying that after a whiskey sour) is having trouble finding a U.S. distributor because of Gilliam’s somewhat Grimm box office record. Come on, take a chance on this one! You had me at Heath!
Speaking of the Half-Blood Prince, the new Harry Potter movie has been unceremoniously shoved out of its 2008 release date. Instead of a November release this year, the movie is now scheduled for summer 2009. Warner Bros. doesn’t even have a reason like being behind — no, they just want to cash in as much as possible to make up whatever they lost during the writer’s strike. Even though I don’t care about this movie, that’s kind of irritating. I’m glad I don’t have to explain this to my kids
Dark Knight finally falls to number two! Who was the taker? Tropic Thunder! Oh yeah baby. It’s also nice to see a Star Wars film come out and NOT take the #1 spot. Here it is your weekend at the box office!
This is one of my favourite movies ever, and as such this is less a review than a eulogy.. Having a tangentially medical background, I feel no abashment at admitting my fondness for anatomical anomalies (perhaps it also has something to do with seeing Romy Schneider’s webbed fingers in The Trialat an impressionable age) and Freakshas physical abnormalities galore.
The setting is a travelling circus, one of the olden days when the freakshow was de rigeur. The film opens with a hideous half-woman-half-chicken attraction, and the promise of revealing how she got that way. Flashback: Hans the midget is engaged to the similarly-sized Frieda, but pines for the beautiful trapeze artist Cleopatra, herself happy in the ample arms of Hercules, the strongman. Until, that is, Hans comes into a sizable inheritance and Cleopatra starts to show an interest..
That’s right Myke Armstrong covered the Tropic Thunder red carpet this week for LA.CityZine. We had the chance to ask many of the celebs questions and some of them even answered!
Bring on the comedies! Big, small, bring them all! This weekend you have a TON of new comedies to choose from. From Hamlet 2 with Hamlet and… Jesus? The House Bunny with plenty slightly inappropriate and funny jokes. The Rocker, has Rainn Wilson as a washed up old drummer playing high school gigs. Done, sold. The Longshots, a story about a GIRL playing football, oh come now. For some educated/food humor I Served the King of England is getting great reviews. I.O.U.S.A., well the joke is kind of on us. I think this is a film everyone HAS to see. Sadly, only the people who already understand these problems will go see it, but one can still hope. Then out “serious” film of the week, Death Race, I’m sure you got some SERIOUS explosions in this.
Finally, Heath Ledger’s final film, Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (try saying that after a whiskey sour) is having trouble finding a U.S. distributor because of Gilliam’s somewhat Grimm box office record. Come on, take a chance on this one! You had me at Heath!
This is one of my favourite movies ever, and as such this is less a review than a eulogy.. Having a tangentially medical background, I feel no abashment at admitting my fondness for anatomical anomalies (perhaps it also has something to do with seeing Romy Schneider’s webbed fingers in 
