Archive for July, 2010

New on DVD – July 20, 2010 – The Runaways and Cop Out

Monday, July 19th, 2010
From Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning's rock biopic, The Runaways, to the Tracy Morgan-Bruce Willis comedy Cop Out, here's an extremely opinionated glance at what is coming out this week on DVD and Blu-ray.

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Twilight's Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning play Joan Jett and Cherie Currie in this attitudinal biopic about the groundbreaking mid-seventies all-girl rock band the Runaways. While our critic was happy enough with the subject matter, he found that the film as a whole was "shopworn and all too familiar."

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Kevin Smith took time out from making films about Jay and Silent Bob to direct this cop-buddy comedy with Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis, which was widely seen as a throwback to the genre classics of the eighties, classic synth score and all. We found it to be "serviceable fodder for a buddy-cop flick, and Willis and Morgan are game, bouncing banter off each other with aplomb."


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Another somewhat tongue-in-cheek eighties homage, this movie is an adaptation of the action-packed comic series about a band of highly-trained special-ops soldiers left for dead in the Bolivian jungle who plan to take revenge on the guy who sold them out. While our critic said "such a throwback mentality is refreshing," he thought the film "kind of limps along, stopping off every now and then to favor us with a gun battle or beat down before continuing on its casual way."

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Our critic sums up his take on this manic stop-motion-animated film this way: "Imagine, if you will, that the Robot Chicken, Wallace, and Gromit had a child. Then imagine you could watch that child in fast motion and that child never stopped screaming. In French."

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Rightfully acclaimed South Korean director Joon-ho Bong (The Host) returns with this bracing small-town procedural about a troubled young man accused of murder and the shocking lengths his mother will go to defend him. We were very impressed by the film's "twisted psychological terrain," calling it a "troubling and ambiguous thriller."

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This Oscar-nominated documentary tells the story of the man who, at the height of the Vietnam War, leaked the sensitive military-planning documents that became known as the Pentagon Papers, which, ultimately, helped lead to the war's end. While the subject matter couldn't have been more dramatic, our critic found the film nothing more than suitable, saying "it fails spectacularly to capture or convey anything that wouldn't be covered in a high-school history class."

David ‘Darth Vader’ Prowse Banned from Lucasfilm Conventions

Monday, July 19th, 2010

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David Prowse, who played the man in the Darth Vader suit during the original Star Wars trilogy, has been banned from Lucasfilm-approved Star Wars conventions, he said in a statement on his website. The statement was posted at the end of June and was originally reported by TheForce.net, but the news has only now received mainstream media coverage.

The actor announced that he wouldn't be appearing at the upcoming Celebration V event after being told of the ban by event organisers. "It is with regret that I have been informed by my friends at C2 Ventures, Ben and Phillip, that I am not to be invited to C5 this year or any other Lucasfilm associated events," he wrote.

He claims he was told he had "burnt too many bridges between Lucasfilm and [him]self."

Continue reading David 'Darth Vader' Prowse Banned from Lucasfilm Conventions

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2010 VH1 Do Something Awards: Ready To Rock

Monday, July 19th, 2010
It’s always an exciting event to behold, and this year’s VH1 Do Something Awards promises to be a very special evening. Hitting the VH1 airwaves live on July 19th, 2010 at 9PM EST, the Do Something Awards will be honoring five nominees for their commitment to social change. In addition, the gig will also feature performances by [...]

Louis – Trailer

Monday, July 19th, 2010
  Louis - Trailer
Shot by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond as a modern re-imagining of early silent film, LOUIS is an homage to Louis Armstrong, Charlie Chaplin, beautiful women and the birth of American music. The grand Storyville bordellos, alleys and cemeteries of 1907 New Orleans provide a backdrop of lust, blood and magic for 6 year old Louis (Anthony Coleman) as he navigates the colorful intricacies of life in the city. Young Louis's dreams of playing the trumpet are interrupted by a chance meeting with a beautiful and vulnerable girl named Grace (Lowry) and her baby, Jasmine. Haley, in a performance reminiscent of the great comic stars of the silent screen, plays the evil Judge Perry who is determined not to let Jasmine's true heritage derail his candidacy for governor.
Directed by: Dan Pritzker
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Shanti Lowry, Anthony Coleman

Smash His Camera – Trailer

Monday, July 19th, 2010
  Smash His Camera - Trailer
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sued him, Marlon Brando broke his jaw and Steve McQueen gave him a look that would have killed, if looks could kill. To the celebrities he pursued, photographer Ron Galella was the beast who threatened beauty. As it turned out, he gave them a strange and lasting beauty they might never have known without him. Inherent in the story of this notorious paparazzo are the complex issues of the right to privacy, freedom of the press and the ever-growing vortex of celebrity worship. He sneaked around and invaded and bribed and held up his camera and shot till he dropped (or someone dropped him). His was the artistry of the sniper. Yet Galella found something essential in his real-life subjects, and he gave it permanence.
Directed by: Leon Gast
Starring: Ron Galella, Marlon Brando, Jacqueline Kennedy

The Sicilian Girl – Trailer

Monday, July 19th, 2010
  The Sicilian Girl - Trailer
Based on the true story of Rita Atria, THE SICILIAN GIRL tells the gripping story of a seventeen-year-old girl who broke the Sicilian Mafia’s code of silence and testified against the “family business” after both her father and brother were murdered by a rival family.
Directed by: Marco Amenta
Starring: Veronica D’Agostino, Gerard Jugnot

Prince of Broadway – Trailer

Monday, July 19th, 2010
  Prince of Broadway - Trailer
Prince of Broadway is the story of Lucky, a charismatic hustler eking out a living in the underbelly of New York's wholesale fashion district. An illegal immigrant from Ghana, Lucky makes ends meet by soliciting shoppers on the street with knock-off brand merchandise. Life is good for Lucky, but his dreams are suddenly upended when a child is thrust into his world by a woman who insists the toddler is his son. A tender comedy of fatherhood, family and love set in the shadow of the Flatiron building and soaked in the colorful bustle of urban realism, Prince of Broadway reveals unseen lives creating their own knock-off of the American Dream.
Directed by: Sean Baker
Starring: Prince Adu, Karren Karagulian, Aiden Noesi

Nowhere Boy – Trailer 2

Monday, July 19th, 2010
  Nowhere Boy - Trailer 2
Imagine… John Lennon's childhood. Liverpool 1955: a smart and troubled fifteen year—old is hungry for experience. In a family full of secrets, two incredible women clash over John: Mimi, the buttoned—up Aunt who raised him, and Julia, the prodigal mother. Yearning for a normal family, John escapes into the new and exciting world of rock n' roll where his fledgling genius finds a kindred spirit in the teenage Paul McCartney. Just as John begins his new life, tragedy strikes. But a resilient young man finds his voice — and an icon explodes into the world.
Directed by: Sam Taylor Wood
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff, Thomas Sangster, David Threlfall

Waiting for Superman – John Legend Clip

Monday, July 19th, 2010
  Waiting for Superman - John Legend Clip
For a nation that proudly declared it would leave no child behind, America continues to do so at alarming rates. Despite increased spending and politicians’ promises, our buckling public—education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children. Oscar®—winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) reminds us that education “statistics” have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN.” As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop—out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems. However, embracing the belief that good teachers make good schools, Guggenheim offers hope by exploring innovative approaches taken by education reformers and charter schools that have—in reshaping the culture—refused to leave their students behind.
Directed by: Davis Guggenheim
Starring:

Box Office top 10

Monday, July 19th, 2010
  • A wizard (Nicolas Cage) trains a reluctant protege to help him fight a powerful adversary.
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  • Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller centers on the premise of corporate espionage by way of dream invasion.
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office