“Tekkonkinkreet” - In Treasure Town, orphans Black and White rule the mean streets through violence and terror. These lost boys are direct opposites: Black being a streetwise punk who embodies everything wrong about the city, while White is a innocent dope, out of touch with the world around him. Together, they’re unstoppable as they take on petty thugs, religious fanatics and brutal yakuza. But when a corporation called “Kiddy Kastle” tries to tear down and rebuild Treasure Town to fit its own goals, the boys must save the soul of their beloved city, that is if they can save themselves from inner demons. Based on Taiyo Matsumoto’s serialized manga “Black and White.”
Stay tuned to find out if “Tekkonkinkreet” gets a “2008 Oscar Nomination” for Best Animated Film!
STARRING The Voices of: Yû Aoi, Yusuke Iseya, Kankurô Kudô, Sanchu Mori, Masahiro Motoki, Kazunari Ninomiya, Yoshinori Okada, Nao Omori, Min Tanaka
DIRECTOR: Michael Arias
STUDIO: Sony Pictures
RATING: R (For violent and disturbing images, and brief animated sexuality)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): 2
RUNNING TIME: 111 minutes
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: $6,000
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: 9/25/2007
After taking audiences on incredible journeys to the worlds of cars, superheroes, fish and toys, only the amazing storytellers at Pixar Animation Studios (”Cars,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles”) could create an entirely new and original world where the unthinkable combination of 5-star restaurants and rats come together for the ultimate fish-out-of-water tale.
In the new animated-adventure, “Ratatouille,” a rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unlikely - and certainly unwanted - visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Remy’s passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting rat race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down.
Remy finds himself torn between his calling and passion in life or returning forever to his previous existence as a rat. He learns the truth about friendship, family and having no choice but to be who he really is, a rat who wants to be a chef - “Ratatouille.”
STARRING The Voices of: Patton Oswalt, Brian Dennehy, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm
DIRECTOR: Brad Bird
STUDIO: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios
RATING: G
When Shrek married Princess Fiona, becoming the next King and Queen of Far, Far Away wasn’t part of the plan. So when his father-in-law, King Harold, falls ill, it is up to Shrek to find a suitable heir or he will be forced to give up his beloved swamp for the throne. Recruiting Donkey and Puss In Boots for a new quest, Shrek sets out to bring back the rightful heir to the throne, Fiona’s rebellious cousin Artie. Back in Far, Far Away, Fiona’s jilted Prince Charming storms the city with an army of fairy tale villains to seize the throne. But they have a surprise in store because Fiona, together with her mother, Queen Lillian, has drafted her fellow fairy tale heroines to defend their “happily ever afters.” As Shrek, Donkey and Puss work on changing Artie from a royal pain in the you-know-what into a future king, Fiona and her band of princesses must stop Prince Charming to ensure there will be a kingdom left to rule - “SHREK 3″
STARRING THE VOICES OF: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Justin Timberlake, Eric Idle, John Krasinski, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Amy Sedaris, Ian McShane
DIRECTORS: Raman Hui and Chris Miller
STUDIO: Dreamworks Animation
RATING: PG (For crude jokes and language)
Twenty-nine year old Dr. Atsuko Chiba is an attractive but modest Japanese research psychotherapist whose work is on the cutting edge of her field. Her alter-ego is a stunning and fearless 18 year old “dream detective,” code named PAPRIKA, who can enter into people’s dreams and synchronize with their unconscious to help uncover the source of their anxiety or neurosis. At Atsuko’s lab, a powerful new psychotherapy devise known as the “DC-MINI” has been invented by her brilliant colleague, Dr. Tokita, a nerdy overweight genius. Although this state-of-art device could revolutionize the world of psychotherapy, in the wrong hands the potential misuse of the devise could be devastating, allowing the user to completely annihilate the dreamer’s personality while they are asleep. When one of the only four existing DC-MINI prototypes is stolen in the final stages of research around the same time that Dr. Tokita’s research assistant Himuro goes missing, Atsuko suspects it’s not a coincidence. If the DC MINI isn’t found, this could lead to the government’s refusal to sanction the use of the machine for psychotherapy treatment. When several of the remaining researchers at the lab start to go mad, dreaming while in their waking states, haunted by a Japanese doll which featured heavily in the dreams of one of Himuro’s schizophrenic patients, Atsuko knows for sure that whoever is manipulating the machines has a more evil purpose. The DC MINI is being used to destroy people’s minds.
STARRING: Megumi Hayashibara, Tôru Furuya, Kôichi Yamadera, Katsunosuke Hori, Toru Emori, Akio Ôtsuka, Hideyuki Tanaka, Satomi Koorogi, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Mitsuo Iwata, Rikako Aikawa, Shinichirô Ôta, Satoshi Kon, Yasutaka Tsutsui
DIRECTOR: Satoshi Kon
STUDIO: Sony Classics
RATING: R (For violent and sexual images)
50’s, “Hair High” is the legend of a teenage couple murdered on prom night who returns as undead skeletons one year later for revenge. The film is a unique romantic high-school comedy with a zombie-horror twist.
STARRING The Voices of: Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Silverman, David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Beverly D’Angelo, Martha Plimpton, Eric Gilliland, Ed Begley Jr.
DIRECTOR: Bill Plympton
STUDIO: E.D. Distribution
RATING: Not Rated (Adult Situations involving animated characters)
Aqua Teen Movie,” or what the producers want you to know the film as, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters” is an action-adventure epic that tackles the mysterious circumstances that brought Meatwad, Frylock and Master Shake together. An immortal piece of exercise equipment threatens the balance of galactic peace, and it is up to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force to run away from it. Complicating matters, the Plutonians team up with the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past for ultimate control of the deadly device.
Spanning the globe, outer space and even time itself, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters” was written and produced by Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis. It is based on their successful Adult Swim series. Reprising their roles in the movie will be Willis (voice of Carl, Meatwad and Ignignokt) and Maiellaro (Err, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past), Dana Snyder (Master Shake), Carey Means (Frylock), Andy Merrill and Mike Schatz (The Plutonians) - “Aqua Teen Movie.”
STARRING The Voices of: Matt Maiellaro, Dave Willis, Dana Snyder, Carey Means, Andy Merrill, Mike Schatz, Bruce Campbell, Neil Peart
DIRECTORS: Matt Maiellaro, Dave Willis
STUDIO: First Look Pictures
RATING: R (For every objectionable, vile thing you can imagine - and then some!)
If you think your family is different, wait until you “Meet The Robinsons,” the family from an amazing, hilarious, inventive future where anything is possible. In this time-traveling blast of a comedy event, Walt Disney Feature Animation’s latest digital animation technology will jet audiences to an inventive, unexpected techno realm of tomorrow where the wildest dreams come true . . . including those of a young inventor in search of a home.
The story begins with Lewis, a boy-genius with a love of gizmos and gadgets and an undying hope of finding the family he never knew. But Lewis’ journey is about to take him to a place even he couldn’t have imagined, a place where the impossible no longer exists: the future. When Lewis encounters a mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson, he’s in for the time-travel of his life and will be whisked off to meet a family unlike any other – the sublimely fun and futuristic Robinsons – who will help him to discover a series of amazing and heartfelt secrets about his own limitless potential. But his incredible trip will also bring him into conflict with a villain who gives evil a bad name: the bungling Bowler Hat Guy, who steals Lewis’ only way home. Filled with unforgettable characters, clever contraptions, classic villains and all kinds of eye-popping exuberance, “Meet The Robinsons” continues in the beloved Disney legacy of looking ahead to a dazzling world of tomorrow – as it unfolds a story about believing in family, yourself and the wide open future.
The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” return from the sewer to the big screen as never before in an all-new CGI action adventure, written and directed by Kevin Munroe. After the defeat of their old arch nemesis, The Shredder, the Turtles have grown apart as a family. Struggling to keep them together, their rat sensei, Splinter (Mako), becomes worried when strange things begin to brew in New York City. Tech-industrialist Maximillian J. Winters (Patrick Stewart) is raising up an army of ancient monsters, and only one super-ninja fighting team can stop them—Leonardo (James Arnold Taylor), Michelangelo (Mikey Kelley), Donatello (Mitchell Whitfield) and Raphael (Nolan North)! With the help of old allies April O’Neil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Casey Jones (Chris Evans), the Turtles are in for the fight of their lives as they once again must face the mysterious Foot Clan, who have put their own ninja skills behind Winters’ endeavors. Making this new incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles truly cutting-edge, the film was created entirely with state-of-the-art CG animation, giving them a completely new look for the 21st century - “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
STARRING: Patrick Stewart, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Chris Evans, Ziyi Zhang, Kevin Smith, Mako, James Arnold Taylor, Mikey Kelley, Mitchell Whitfield, Nolan North
DIRECTOR: Kevin Munroe
STUDIO: Warner Bros.
RATING: PG (For animated action violence, some scary cartoon images and mild language)
Tired of the status quo, an unholy alliance of bad guys led by Frieda, Cinderella’s evil stepmother, takes on the good guys. Cinderella (aka Ella) starts out as a damsel in distress (your typical Prince dreamer), but when her own fairy tale takes a radical left turn she is forced to form and eventually lead a resistance group without her Prince Charming.
Set against a backdrop of fractured fairy tales spinning wildly out of control, Ella and her unknown true love Rick, the palace dishwasher, ultimately must choose their own destinies in a world of happy endings gone wrong.
The race for control of the kingdom is on, and the power mad Frieda, fuelled by a total disdain for goodness, is set to change the age-old storyline to “Happily Never After”!
STARRING THE VOICES OF: Sigourney Weaver, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., George Carlin, Michael McShane, Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, Wallace Shawn, Jon Polito
DIRECTOR: Paul J. Bolger
STUDIO: Lionsgate
RATING: PG (For some mild action and rude humor)
An adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s 1954 children’s book, “Horton Hears a Who” is about an imaginative elephant (Jim Carrey) who hears a cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. Suspecting there may be life on that speck and despite a surrounding community that thinks he has lost his mind, Horton is determined to help. Steve Carell voices the mayor of Who-ville, a distinguished figure of a very small size, too small to be seen by the elephant’s eyes. “Horton Hears A Who” just may become one of 2008’s highest grossing animated films.
