The Time Traveler's Wife - romantic movie
Based on the 2003 best-selling book by Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s wife is a story of true love that transcends time. If that sounds corny, here’s the practical part – it’s due for release on 8th February 2010 at a RRP of £19.99.
Clare (Rachel McAdams) and Henry (Eric Bana) are in love but there is a problem – Henry is a time traveller who has a genetic abnormality that means he shifts back and forth through his lifespan at random. Hence Henry visits his wife during various stages of her life, meeting her first when she is only six years old, so she grows up knowing that he is her one true love even though he meets her chronologically when he’s 28 – oh, it’s complicated - you’ll have to see it yourself!
The film rights were optioned by Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B entertainment even before the book was published and screenwriter Jeremy Leven was hired to convert the story to screen with director Robert Schwentke taking on the project in 2006.
Filming didn’t start until late 2007 due to the fact that Eric Bana had a shaved head for Star Trek, but don’t think about that when you’re watching. It’s probably one of the most romantic movies of all time; The Time Traveler’s Wife is sad, it’s happy at the same time, it’s very confusing - but we promise, you will weep buckets.
Brothers is to be released in January 2010
Toby Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman star in this drama thriller about a renegade younger brother who cares for his sibling’s wife and family after he has gone missing in Afghanistan.
Based on the Susanne Bier’s film Brothers tells the story of Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire), an upstanding Marine and conventional family man married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman), who goes missing overseas.
His younger brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhall), a no-good but charming ex-con who re-enters the family’s life at Sam’s farewell dinner just before he goes missing, steps in to take control of the family with shattering consequences.
It promises to be a story of people, relationships and emotions as the family struggle to deal with their loss and subsequent return of Sam from the dead. Directed by Jim Sheridan, the film sees Tobey Maguire reach new heights as an actor with stellar performances from Natalie Portman and eight-year-old Bailee Madison who plays Sam’s daughter.
Due for a UK release on 22nd January 2010, prepare for some heart-rending stuff and don’t forget to take the box of tissues.
Ninja Assassin contains stylized action
Make way for the Ninja Assassin heading to a cinema near you on 8th January 2010. The story follows Raizo (Rain) an orphan who was taken from the streets to become one of the deadliest Ninjas in the world by the Ozunu Clan, a sinister and secret society whose very existence is a matter of legend.
After his only friend is executed by the Clan, Raizo escapes from their clutches and plans his revenge. His journey brings him into contact with the Europol agent, Mika Coretti (Naome Harris), who has become a target of the Clan after linking the murder of several politicians to them. When she defies her boss’s orders to leave things alone, the Clan send a ruthless team of killers led by Takeshi (Rick Yune) to despatch her into oblivion.
But can Mika trust Raizo to help her escape and survive? The film follows a desperate chase through Europe with plenty of Ninja combat, humour, exciting action sequences and strong bloody stylized violence throughout.
Law Abiding Citizen - crime thriller
This crime thriller starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler is to be released on 27th November 2009 in the UK after a European premiere at the Cineworld Complex in Glasgow, home of Gerard Butler, on November 15th 2009.
After brilliant engineer, Clyde Shelton’s (Butler) wife and daughter are brutally murdered, Assistant DA Nick Rice (Foxx) is persuaded to agree to a 10-year plea bargain sentence for one of their killers. When the murderer winds up dead on his release, it becomes apparent that Clyde was responsible and is himself put in jail. Clyde threatens Nick that he and his family will die unless he corrects the corrupt justice system.
Nick becomes embroiled in a struggle to save his family and the entire DA office as Clyde begins to wreak a terrible vengeance from his prison cell.
Directed by F. Gary Gray from a screenplay written by Kurt Wimmer, Law Abiding Citizen is filmed in and around Philadelphia and took second place in the US in its opening weekend just behind Where the Wild Things Are. Rated certificate 18, the film contains scenes of brutal violence and torture, rape and offensive language but it’s definitely worth a trip out to the cinema if just to see the interaction between two great actors.
The Box stars Cameron Diaz
The Box, a drama mystery thriller starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden is to be released in cinemas on 4th December 2009.
Here’s the dilemma – a suburban couple receives a mysterious wooden box containing $1 million which could belong to them at the press of a button. The catch is that pressing the button will simultaneously cause the death of a stranger somewhere in the world. The box will only be in their possession for 24 hours. What would you do? What should they do? What do they do in fact?
You’ll have to see the film to find out as The Box has as many twists and turns as the Pineapple Garden Maze. The storyline follows the moral dilemma as the couple discover things about themselves they did not know; their humanity, their capacity for good or bad and their trust in each other as they end up facing a terrible choice from which there is “No Exit” – the title of a Sartre play that is chillingly etched in the frost on the windscreen of their car. And believe us, things get curiouser and curiouser…
The Box is based on the 1970 short story, Button, Button by Richard Matheson which was adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone. With an original soundtrack by the Canadian Band Arcade Fire and a 12A rating, director Richard Kelly says of the movie; “My hope is to make a film suspenseful and broadly commercial while still retaining my artistic sensibility.” To discover whether he achieves this or not, you’ll just have to open The Box and find out.
The Informant - a true story starring Matt Damon
The Informant is based on the true story of Mark Whitacre (played by a slightly plump Matt Damon), who became the highest ranking executive in US history to inform on the major food additive company’s price fixing tactics and it’s to be released on 20th November 2009 in the UK.
This dark comedy thriller, directed by Steven Soderbergh of Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13, documents Whitacre’s extensive undercover work at the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in the early 1990s in Illinois, whilst struggling with a severe bipolar disorder that eventually led him to crack under pressure and go into meltdown.
No sooner did the case go to court than Whitacre was also charged with price-fixing, wire fraud and money laundering and although he was brilliantly represented by his first attorney, James Epstein, was sent to prison for three times longer than any of the white collar criminals he had exposed. Ten years later, the former FBI supervisor of the case, Dean Paisley went public saying that Whitacre was a national hero: “Without him the biggest antitrust case we’ve ever had would not have been,” he said.
Something of a mixture between A Beautiful Mind and The Insider, The Informant is very funny, riveting and entertaining and shows off Matt Damon’s consummate acting skills to the hilt.
Paranormal Activity - dare you watch it?
Hold on to your seats and become part of the phenomenon – Paranormal Activity is to be released in the UK on 25th November. This is the movie that caused people in the US to leave the cinemas in droves after they became too frightened to stay at the initial screening.
The horror thriller was made by Oren Peli, a director with no formal film training and a budget of just $15,000 dollars. It has since become the most profitable independent film ever.
The film follows the story of Katie and Micah (played by Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat), a couple who are haunted by a demon in their new home in the middle of suburbia in San Diego, California and attempt to record the paranormal activity that is going on during the night even as they sleep. Filming is via a hand-held camera set up by Micah, in Blair Witch Project style – which brings the action a little closer to home – a little too close for some people! If you think Paranormal Activity sounds like a run of the mill ghost story you are in for a shock. Peli uses atmosphere and tension to create a slow build of sheer terror to an excruciating climax.
Paranormal Activity was first shown at the Screamfest Film Festival in the US in 2007 but languished for a while before being discovered by Jason Blum and Steven Schneider. Steven Spielberg himself took the DVD of the film home to watch overnight and returned convinced that it was haunted itself after his bedroom doors locked by themselves during the screening.
A campaign on the internet asking users to vote where the film should be shown followed – the first time a motion picture studio had used the web to virally market a film. After 1,000,000 hits were registered requesting that the film be released nationwide, it went national in the US and went on to gross $7,900,695 beating Saw Vl.
Old Dogs stars John Travolta and Robin Williams
Released on 19th March 2010 in the UK, this family comedy starring John Travolta tells the story of two hardened business men and best friends, who end up looking after seven-year-old twins and a large dog.
Old Dogs also stars Justin Long, Robin Williams, Matt Dillon and Travolta’s wife Kelly Preston. It is Travolta’s first film since the sudden death of his 16-year-old son, Jett, in January 2009. Still struggling with their devastating loss, the couple have turned the film into a family affair with their nine-year old daughter Ella Bleu, making her début in the comedy which opens in the US on 25th November.
Directed by Walt Becker of Wild Hoggs fame, Old Dogs tells the story of Charlie (Travolta) and Dan (Willliams) who are two co-workers who fail to recognise the value of family life. When Dan’s ex-wife (Preston) turns up after a long period of absence with seven-year-old twins she claims are fathered by Dan, Dan recruits Charlie to help him entertain the twins and dog with outdoor activities and with the help of the larger than life children’s entertainer, Jimmy Lunchbox played by Bernie Mac. Sadly this was Bernie Mac’s last film before his death in August 2009 and Old Dog’s release date was delayed as a result.
But back to the film - the question is, do Charlie and Dan learn true family values and become reformed characters or not? We have an inkling that this could indeed be the case but you never know…
Planet 51 - animated family movie
Planet 51 is an animated, intergalactic family adventure from Sony Pictures that combines comedy, fantasy and adventure and will be released on 4th December 2009, in the UK.
When US astronaut Captain Charles “Chuck” Baker lands on Planet 51, he discovers it’s populated by the alien equivalent of middle America who want to defend their suburban way of life from scary invaders from other worlds … like Chuck. In order to avoid becoming an artefact in the Planet 51 Alien Invaders Space Museum, Chuck has to find his way around the planet aided by his faithful robot, Rover and new friend and resident of Planet 51, Lem.
With voice-overs by Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Gary Oldman and Justin Long, the film is directed by Jorge Blanco and co-directed by Javier Abad with stunning and colourful graphics from Ilion Animation. Some tongue-in-cheek comedy Planet 51 is a spoof that draws some telling parallels with our own, often paranoid, attitudes towards tolerance and acceptance of others. Biel has been quoted as saying that the film will attempt to strike a balance between “super cheesy or really dark,” mixing humorous moments with drama and emotion. Rated PG, Planet 51 contains mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humour and will no doubt become one the “biggies” in cinemas over the Christmas period.
A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey
A Christmas Carol is an animated, 3-D Walt Disney film retelling of Charles Dickens’s classic story about a curmudgeonly miser who undergoes a character transformation. It is to be released on 6th November 2009.
With screenplay by Robert Zemeckis, the film stars Jim Carrey as the mean-minded Ebenezer Scrooge who is haunted by three Ghosts of Christmas Present, Past and Future, also played by Carrey. By showing Scrooge the meanness of his past and the bleak future that awaits him as a consequence, the miser undergoes a character transformation and is reintroduced to the true spirit of Christmas.
The roles of Bob Cratchit, Marley and Tiny Tim are played by Gary Oldman and the film also features Michael J Fox and Colin Firth.
A Christmas Carol is a 3-D film and was produced using a technique called performance capture, a technique used in previous Zemeckis films; The Polar Bear and Beowulf. It describes a process whereby all the actors A Christmas Carol is an animated Walt Disney film retelling of Charles Dickens’s classic story about a curmudgeonly miser who undergoes a character transformation. It is to be released on 6th November 2009.
Carey believes that even though A Christmas Carol was published more than 150 years ago, it’s a great story of transformation and redemption. “When you can bring a story to people in a way that hasn’t been seen before so that it leaps out of the screen and really touches them, then that’s exciting to me…”he told Reuters.
And the world premiere in London coincides with the switching on of the annual Oxford Street and Regent Street lights which will this year, have a Dickens theme.