"ROCK N ROLLA'

Directed by : Guy Ritchie
Running time: 117 mins.
Release date: Oct. 10, 2008
Genre: Action, Crime and Comedy
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

From writer/director Guy Ritchie who is known for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch comes a story of sex, thugs, real estate and rock 'n roll. This is a tricky, action comedy that takes a dangerous ride into high crime and low life criminals in contemporary London. Rather than drugs being the means of corruption, real estate property is the gimmick. Small-time crook One Two (Gerard Butler) hooks up with billionaire Russian mob boss Uri Obomavich (Karel Roden) and his embezzling Stella (Thandie Newton) in a scam to rip-off London's old-school underworld boss Lenny Cole (Tom Wilderson). With millions of euros up for grabs and a lucky painting, London's bad people conspire, collude and collide with one another. However, the big prize falls into the hands of Johnnie Quid (Tobie Kebbell), a junke stepson of Lenny who presumed to be dead.
With a large cast of ant-heroes (good badguys), this is one of Guy Ritchie's best outings in this genre in quite some time and proves him the best on the action crime movie circuit by way of the U.K..


"BODY OF LIES'

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Running time: 126 mins.
Release date: Oct. 10, 2008
Genre: Action and Adventure
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

In today's high-stakes global espionage, power is measured not by weaponry or technology, but by the amount of vital information one can acquire and control - or appear to. This film is based on the novel with the same title by author David Ignatius, a veteran journalist who covered the CIA and Middle East affairs for 10 years.
Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the best man U.S. Intelligence has on the ground, in places where human life is worth no more than the information it can get you. In operations that take him around the globe, Ferris' life often depends on the voice at the other end of a secure phone line from CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). In this fast pace spy flick Ed Hoffman orchestrates strategy from a laptop in he Washington D.C. suburbs. Hoffman is on the trail of an emerging terrorist leader who has ties to bombings while eluding the most sophisticated intelligence network in the wold. Ferris must go undercover and penetrate this dangerous world and lure the terrorist out into the open. With great supporting performances by Mark Strong, Iranian actress Golshifteh, Oscar Isaac and Simon McBurney this gripping movie will demand the audience attention to stay up on all the twists and turns it offers. Along with exciting action sequences that director Ridley Scot is known for in such films as Black Hawk Down, Gladiator and Thelma & Louise this is a movie that lives up to his reputation.

FOR MORE FILM REVIEWS by Gerald Wright go to [url=http://www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html]www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html

"EAGLE EYE in IMAX"

Directed by: D.J. Caruso
Running time: 1 hr. 58 mins.
Release date: September 26, 2008
Genre: Drama and Thriller
Distributor: DreamWorks SKG/Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

A 23 year old slacker Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeout) and single mother of an 8 year old Rachel Holloman (Mchelle Monaghan) are two strangers thrown together by a mysterious phone call from a woman they never met. Threatening their lives and their family, she pushes the two into a series of increasingly dangerous situations-using technology of everyday life to track and control their every move. As the situation escalates, Jerry and Rachel who are ordinary people become the country's most wanted fugitives, who must work together to discover what's really happening-and more importantly, why. They are pursued by relentless FBI agent Thomas Morgan (Billie Bob Thornton) and OSI Air Force Special Agent Zoe Perez (Rosario Dawson). On an IMAX screen this action adventure with great car chase scenes is filled with thrills and chills in a large proportion.

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"CHOKE"

Directed by: Clark Gregg
Running time: 1 hr. 32 mins.
Release date: September 26, 2008
Genre: Comedy, Drama and Adaptation
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

This subversively comedic tale is of Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell), a medical school dropout, con artist, sex addict and 18th century Colonial village re-enactor. He and his friend sex addicted buddy Denny (Brad William Henke) find their life adrift without a purpose. Victor's mother Ida (Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston) is in hospital care and the cost is hard for Victor to come up. His real problem is that he wants to know who his real father was. Victor cruises sex addiction recovery workshops for his action and finds a doctor at his mother's hospital who also gives him action. Between the sexaholic meetings and his encounters in various obscure locations, his life is a mess. This is a fine adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel by the same title. This ensemble cast give brilliant performances in this cathartic and romantic satire about uncontrolled lust, lost faith, childhood trauma and second chances.


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"BLINDNESS"

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles
Running time: 2 hrs.
Release date: September 26, 2008 (NY), October 3, 2008 (wide)
Genre: Art/Foreign, Drama, Thriller and Adaptation
Distributor: Miramax Films

This film is based on the international bestseller by Jose Saramago by the same title. The tale is when a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city and a small group of the afflicted band together to overcome horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine. This compelling story of humanity in the grip of an epidemic of mysterious blindness focuses on an optical doctor's wife (Julianne Moore) who has not been affected but has to pretend she is blind in order to stay beside her husband (Mark Ruffalo). Armed with increasing courage and the will to survive, she will lead a makeshift family of seven people on a journey, through horror and love, depravity and warfare. Their journey is well performed and shines a light on both the dangerous fragility of society and the exhilerating spirit of humanity.

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"NIGHTS IN RODANTHE"

Directed by: George C. Wolfe
Running time: 98 mins.
Release date: September 26, 2008
Genre: Drama, Romance and Adaptation
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Diane Lane as Adrienne Wills a divorced mother of two children and Richard Gere as Dr. Paul Flanner a surgeon who just lost a patient, reunite (3rd time) in this romantic drama. Adrienne, a woman with her life in chaos, retreats to a tiny coastal town of Rodanthe, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to tend to her friend Jean's (Viola Davis) inn for the weekend. Here she hopes to find peace of mind and rethink the conflicts of her exhusband Jack's (Christopher Meloni) plee to return home and a rebellious teenage daughter who resents every decision she makes. Soon after she settles in at the resort, Paul arrives as the only guest. He's there to escape pressures of work and to face his own crisis of conscience. He must answer questions to the widowed Robert Torrelson (Scott Glenn), whose wife died on Dr. Flanner's operating table. When a storm closes in, the two turn to each other for comfort and a life changing romance begins that will resonate throughout the rest of their lives. The performances of Diane Lane and Scott Glenn are brilliant and is the only reason of watching this film.


FOR MORE FILM REVIEWS by Gerald Wright go to [url=http://www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html]www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html

"TOWELHEAD"

Directed by: Alan Ball
Running time:1 hr. 56 mins.
Release date: September 12, 2008
Genre: Drama and Adaptation
Distributor: Warner Independent Pictures
MPAA Rating: R

Adapted from Alicia Erian's 2005 novel by the same title is a film filled with dark humor and could be considered an abuse story. Abuse in the sense of physical, sexual with a strong influence on prejudice and peer pressure.
Jasira (Summer Bishil), a 13 year old Arab-American girl born from a racially mixed couple lives a confusing and often scary life. During this point in her life she is enduring a sexual awakening. However, after an incident when her mother's boyfriend shaves her pubic hair, her insecure mother Gail (Maria Bello) decides to send Jasira away from their Syracuse, NY home to live with her strict and quick tempered Lebanese father Rifat (Peter Macdissi) in Houston, Texas.
When Jasira attempts to settle in suburban Houston the results are a funny, dark, bold and harrowing look at the misguided sexual exploration of a young girl. Jasira's new classmates who along with the kid next door whom she babysits tauts her with racial slurs. Adding to her misery is her father's attitude towards Americans. She finds comfort in an African-American schoolmate and boyfriend named Thomas (Eugene Jones), but realizes her "colonial minded" father does't approve of the boy and considers him a subordinate person. While this readjustment takes place, Jasira's sexual journey unfolds when Mr. Vuoso (Aaron Eckhart), a 30-ish army reservist and father of her babysitting brat shows attention towards her. As he catches her glancing through his Playboy magazines, his response is to be sexual aroused. This unforgiveable impulse leads to statutory rape. Meanwhile, her father disapproves of the type of feminine pads she uses, slaps her in the face and forces her to leave home. She runs to a thoughtful, concerned and pregnant neighbor Melina (Toni Collette), who gives a brilliantperformance as a caring adult in a disturbingly funny film that needs some anchored reality checks.
The film explores Jarisa's acceptance of a sexual intercourse with an adult, but clearing dictates the moral fact that she is a child and it's wrong. With fine acting by Summer Bishil and Peter Macdissi in father and daughter debating scenes along with a solid performance by the cast, I found this to be a very powerful film to digest. This is a film I thoroughly enjoyed.


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"THE WOMEN"

Directed by: Diane English
Running time: 114 mins.
Release date: September 12, 2008
Genre: Comedy, Adaptation and Remake
Distributor: Picturehouse
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Claire Boothe Luce's 1937 play was original made for screen in 1939 by MGM which starred the great female actresses Norma Shear, Joan Crawford, Rosiland Russell, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Marjorie Main, Ruth Hussey and Hedda Hopper as a columnist. Actually there were over 130 roles in this movie all played by women. The film focused on a dysfunctional marriage causing adultery, a pregnant woman and a shopgirl.
In this remake, a star studded cast of fantastic actresses such as Meg Ryan Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Medler, Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman and Debi Mazar lead the ensemble of fine characters in a contemporary setting in New York City's modern whirl of fashion and publishing. Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), a beautiful mother of an adorable 11 year old daughter, wife of a rich and successful financier finds from her best friend Sylvie Fowler (Annette Bening), who leads a happy single life as an editor of a prominent magazine, that Mary's husband is having an affair with a salesgirl named Crystal Allen (Eva Mendes) from Saks Fifth Avenue. With help from her friends including mega-mom Edie Cohen (Debra Messing)and author Alex Fisher (Jada Pinkett Smith) they want to put a stop to this. But it seems the problem is mark of gossip in the salon where Tanya the nail specialist spills out the information.
Similar in theme as the original 1939 film, this showcases the best and brightest female actors in the business. Eventhough, this may not be the classic 1939 movie, it has a good solid structure. The performances are great and the film is very entertaining. Hooray for the ladies!

FOR MORE FILM REVIEWS by Gerald Wright go to [url=http://www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html]www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html

"SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO"

Directed by: Takashi Miike
Running time: 121 minutes
Release date: August 29, 2008 (NY), September 12, 2008 (LA,SF,SanDiego&Seattle)
Genre: Western, Action and Comedy
Distributor: First Look Studios
MPAA Rating: Unrated

The background of this film stems from Sergio Corbucci's 1966 cult classic Django of the subgenre of spagetti westerns. This movie is a tibute to this genre, but in the Asian culture it's better known as macoroni westerns. Actually, the 1966 masterpiece was frowned upon by the Italian film censors, because it was extremely violent in its imagery. It was this thought in mind why Quentin Tarantino jumped into the making of this film.
The opening scenes of this film is with Ringo (Quentin Tarantino) in a ridiculous and unrealistic gunfight with several men. After this outrageous shootout he settles down at the campfire for a bite of sukiyaki (a popular Japanese dish made with beef and soy sauce, bean curd and greens, cooked in a single pot) and spinning a tale about the Genpei Wars. This is a legendary of two wild west (or should I say, two wild east) gangs battling for a treasure hidden in a desolate mountain town. The two clans, the white Genji gang, led by Yoshitsune (Yusuke Iseya), and the red Heike gang led by Klyomori (Koichi Sato) fight for the right to run a rundown town that is near the treasure. However, reminiscent of The Pale Rider, a no name lone gunman (Hideaki Ito) rides into town and has clues concerning the where abouts of the treasure. With incredible shooting skills this gunman maneuvers his way into the confidence of everyone who wants the treasure including Ruriko aka Grandma Bloody Benton, who happens to be Ringo's old girlfriend. The silly dialogue spoken in English with an Asian accent and campy western settings made this not just a spagetti western but a macaroni eastern. This movie's direction pushes the limits in every way a film can, by going over the top in action, violence, comedy, plot and character development. Illogical as this film may be, it is one hell of a fun flick to watch.

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"DISASTER MOVIE"

Directed by: Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer
Running time: 90 minutes
Release date: August 29, 2008
Genre: Comedy
Distributor: Lionsgate
MPAA Rating: PG-13

This madcap follie follows the comic misadventure of the hits Date Movie, Epic Movie and Meet The Spartans with the same filmmaking team.
A group of ridiculously attractive twenty-somethings during one fateful night as they try to make their way to safety while every known natural disaster and catastrophic event (asteriods, twisters and earthquakes) hits the city and their path as they try to solve a series of mysteries to end the mass destruction.
The silly cast is Will (Matt Lanter) who is in love with Amy (Vanessa Minnillo), Calvin (Gary "G-Thang" Johnson) who is in love with Lisa (Kim Kardashian) and Enchanted Princess (Nicole Parker) and Juney (Crista Flanagan) a Juno look-a-like. Actually, this movie takes aim at everything and everyone, from Indiana Jones, 10,000 B.C. known as 10,001 B.C., High School Musical and Hancock to Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson. Of course, Carmen Electra returns to the series in a small scene of girl wrestling bearing cleavage. The followers of the series will find this movie not as good as the prior films, however this flick satirizes everything imaginable.

FOR MORE FILM REVIEWS by Gerald Wright go to [url=http://www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html]www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html

Directed by Maria Ana Tappeiner
Running time: 94 minutes
Release date: August 20, 2008
Genre: Documentary in English & German with English subtitles
Produced by: Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)- Premieres at Film Forum, NY

This documentary portrait of one of the world's leading sculptors. The artist is wonderfully articulate, whether talking about his early paintings, that Brancusi's influence guided him in his historical context in which his work developed, or the public controversies and even hostility his work has engendered. He elucidates how "matter imposes form on form", the unique qualities of steel, and how a space may move simultaneously in two directions - with a lexion that includes gravitational vectors, open and closed volume, tectonics, conical sections and torqing ellipes. The creation of "The Matter of Time,' a $20 million site-specific installation, commissioned by the Guggenheim Museum Bilboa, consisting of several 40 ton plates of steel, highlights this elegant portrait of the art world's man of steel. Unlike many visual artists, Serra is an American minimalist scultor and video arist known for working with large scale assemblies of sheet metal.
German filmmaker/art historian Maria ana Tappeiner captures the brilliant artist explaining his reasons why he and minimal artists of his generation turned to unconventional, industrial materials and accentuated the physical properties of their work. Freed from the traditional pedestal or base and introduced into the real space of the viewer, where as the sculpture took on a new relationship to the spectator. At his showing and exhibits the viewers are encouraged to move around-and sometimes on, in and through the work and encounter it from multiple perspectives.
This is truly an amazing film that is breathtaking and very informative.

FOR MORE FILMS by Gerald Wright go to [url=http://www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html]www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html