Then She Found Me” - Adapted from Elinor Lipman’s novel of the same name, Best Actress Oscar winner Helen Hunt (”As Good As It Gets”) makes her feature directing debut with “Then She Found Me,” a touching story of schoolteacher April Epner (Hent Hunt) and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. Following the separation from her husband (Matthew Broderick) and the death of her adopted mother, April is contacted by her apparent birth mother (Bette Midler), who turns out to be a local talk show host Bernice Graves. As Bernice tries to become the mother to April that she was never able to be, April seems to find solace in the arms of the parent of one of her students (Colin Firth), only to find that the mystery to life’s questions cannot be solved by a simple revelation.
STARRING: Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick
DIRECTOR: Helen Hunt
STUDIO: THINKFilm
RATING: R (For language, sexual content)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): 2
RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD
A Plumm Summer” - Froggy Doo, the wisecracking marionette operated and voiced by Happy Herb, is loved by all the kids – all the kids except young Elliott Plumm. Elliott (13) has outgrown the show and no longer believes in Froggy Doo; in fact, he doesn’t believe in much of anything anymore, least of all himself, which causes a considerable amount of tension between him and his five year-old brother Rocky, who believes in everything – especially Froggy Doo. What’s real for Elliott is the anxiety he feels at home. His father, Mick, an ex-boxer, treats his oldest son as though he’s invisible, and secretly blames the boy for his not going to the Olympics thirteen years ago. His mother, Roxie, loves him dearly, but is so busy trying to keep the bills paid, her husband sober, and her marriage together that she doesn’t have much time left for her firstborn son. Initially, Elliott has no interest in the Frog-napping, but when an odd-looking trailer pulls onto the empty lot next door carrying young Haley (a new neighbor, junior sleuth, and Trixie Belden fan), everything changes. Soon, Elliott, Haley, and Rocky band together and embark on a mission to find Froggy Doo. And what starts out as a lark for Elliott becomes increasingly essential as the stakes for him rise dramatically: if he can crack the case before the FBI, he could win the heart of the girl he’s falling for, bond with his little brother, give his mother the reward money, and maybe, just maybe… earn his father’s love. But the journey is never what we expect, and by the end of the road, everyone has learned a lot more than just who kidnapped Froggy Doo.
STARRING: Jeff Daniels, Wiliam Baldwin, Henry Winkler, Lisa Guerrero, Chris Kelly, Owen Pearce, Brenda Strong, Peter Scolari
DIRECTOR: Caroline Zelder
STUDIO: Newstyle Releasing
RATING: PG (Mild thematic elements)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): TBD
RUNNING TIME: 98 minutes
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD
Harold And Kumar 2″ follows the cross-country adventures of the pot-smoking duo - again - as they try to outrun authorities who suspect them of being terrorists when they try to sneak a bong on board their flight to Amsterdam. Adding to the mayhem - Neil Patrick Harris.
We’re still not quite sure why the sequel was made. The first “Harold And Kumar,” which no one over 30 has ever heard of, let alone seen, amassed a paltry $18 million during its entire theatrical run - in 2004.
STARRING: Kal Penn, John Cho, Rob Corddry, Roger Bart, Paula Garcés, Missy Pyle, Beverly D’Angelo, Neil Patrick Harris
DIRECTORS: Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg
STUDIO: New Line Cinema
RATING: R (For strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, pervasive language and drug use)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): TBD
RUNNING TIME: TBD
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD
Deception” - “Are you free tonight? A simple enough question, but how Jonathan McQuarry (EWAN McGREGOR) answers it will change his life forever. A corporate auditor adrift in a sea of New York’s power elite, Jonathan’s work is his entire life. But a chance meeting with Wyatt Bose (HUGH JACKMAN), a charismatic corporate lawyer, introduces Jonathan to a decadent playground for Manhattan’s executive upper crust. For these power brokers, whose eighteen-hour workdays leave no time for a personal life, there’s “The List” (the original title of ‘Deception”) - a sex club, of sorts, where the right cell-phone number and four simple words (”Are you free tonight?”) can lead to an evening’s sexual fulfillment.
It’s a world of “intimacy without intricacy,” as Jonathan’s first conquest (or vice versa) explains to him, and through The List Jonathan discovers a side of himself that he didn’t know existed. But an affair with a ravishing and mysterious stranger known to Jonathan only by her first initial ‘S’ (MICHELLE WILLIAMS), will expose him to yet another world he never imagined - one of betrayal, treachery and murder.
This is the first movie in which Michelle Williams, the mother of the late Heath Ledger’s daughter, can be seen on the big screen.
STARRING: Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Wiliams, Maggie Q, Natasha Henstridge
DIRECTOR: Marcel Langenegger
STUDIO: 20th Century Fox
RATING: R (For nudity, language, drugs, sex)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): TBD
RUNNING TIME: TBD
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD
Baby Mama” - In a comedy that brings together some of today’s sharpest talent, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler team with writer/director Michael McCullers to tell the story of two women, one apartment and the nine months that will change their lives: “Baby Mama.”
Successful and single businesswoman Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey) has long put her career ahead of a personal life. Now 37, she’s finally determined to have a kid on her own. But her plan is thrown a curve ball after she discovers she has only a million-to-one chance of getting pregnant. Undaunted, the driven Kate allows South Philly working girl Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) to become her unlikely surrogate. Simple enough…
After learning from the steely head (Sigourney Weaver) of their surrogacy center that Angie is pregnant, Kate goes into precision nesting mode: reading childcare books, baby-proofing the apartment and researching top pre-schools. But the executive’s well-organized strategy is turned upside down when her Baby Mama shows up at her doorstep with no place to live.
An unstoppable force meets an immovable object as structured Kate tries to turn vibrant Angie into the perfect expectant mom. In a comic battle of wills, they will struggle their way through preparation for the baby’s arrival. And in the middle of this tug-of-war, they’ll discover two kinds of family: the one you’re born to and the one you make.
STARRING: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Sigourney Weaver, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor
DIRECTOR: Michael McCullers
STUDIO: Universal Pictures
RATING: PG-13 (For adult situations, language)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): TBD
RUNNING TIME: TBD
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD
Zombie Strippers” - In the not too distant future a secret government re-animation chemo-virus gets released into conservative Sartre, Nebraska and lands in an underground strip club. As the virus begins to spread, turning the strippers into “Super Zombie Strippers” the girls struggle with whether or not to conform to the new “fad” even if it means there’s no turning back.
“Zombie Strippers,” starring Robert Englund (read the WAM interview with Robert Englund) hits select theaters for a limited engagement April 18, 2008.
STARRING: Robert Englund, Jenna Jameson, Roxy Saint, Joey Medina, Shamron Moore, Penny Drake, Jennifer Holland, John Hawkes, Jeannette Sousa, Whitney Anderson, Carmit Levité, Calvin Green, Zak Kilberg, Catero Colbert, Jen Alex Gonzalez
DIRECTOR: Jay Lee
STUDIO: Sony Pictures
RATING: R (For gratuitous nudity, violence, foul language, drug use)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): 25
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr., 34 minutes
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD
Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden” - If Morgan Spurlock has learned anything from over 30 years of movie-watching, it’s that if the world needs saving, it’s best done by one lone man willing to face danger head on to take it down, action hero style. So, with no military experience, knowledge or expertise, he sets off to do what the CIA, FBI and countless bounty hunters have failed to do: find the world’s most wanted man. Why take on such a seemingly impossible mission? Simple — he wants to make the world safe for his soon to be born child. But before he finds Osama bin Laden, he first needs to learn where he came from, what makes him tick, and most importantly, what exactly created bin Laden to begin with.
STARRING: Jeremy Chilnick, Morgan Spurlock
DIRECTOR: Morgan Spurlock
STUDIO: The Weinstein Co.
RATING: R (For language, violent images)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): TBD
RUNNING TIME: TBD
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD
Pathology” - “Pathology,” starring Alyssa Milano and Milo Ventimiglia (he was played Rocky’s son in “Rocky Balboa”)- is about a group of medical students who hatch a scheme to see who can commit the perfect crime — one that even a fellow pathologist couldn’t unravel. Will it be DOA? Or will “Pathology” be the first big hit for MGM? We’d venture to say the low budget movie “Pathology,” if marketed properly, could make its money back. But with the recent releases and bombings of “Hostel 2,”“Captivity,”“The Condemned” and every other slasher/horror film last year, we are a bit skeptical.
STARRING: Alyssa Milano, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren Lee Smith, Johnny Whitworth
DIRECTOR: Marc Schoelermann
STUDIO: MGM
RATING: R (For gruesome violence, language and adult situations)
Life Before Her Eyes” - Based on the best-selling novel by Laura Kasischke, “Life Before Her Eyes” is a dramatic thriller about Diana (Oscar-nominee Uma Thurman), a suburban wife and mother who begins to question her seemingly perfect life–and perhaps her sanity–on the 15th anniversary of a tragic high school shooting that took the life of her best friend. In flashbacks, Diana is a vibrant high schooler (played by Evan Rachel Wood of THIRTEEN and THE UPSIDE OF ANGER) who, with her shy best friend Maureen, plot typical teenage strategies–cutting class, fantasizing about boys–and vow to leave their sleepy suburb at the first opportunity. The older Diana, however, is haunted by the increasingly strained relationship she had with Maureen as day of the school shooting approached. These memories disrupt the idyllic life she’s now leading with her professor husband Paul and their young daughter Emma. As older Diana’s life begins to unravel and younger Diana gets closer and closer to the fatal day, a deeper mystery slowly unravels.
STARRING: Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood, Eva Amurri
DIRECTOR: Vadim Perelman
STUDIO: Magnolia Pictures
RATING: R (For violent and disturbing content, language and brief drug use)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): TBD
RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD
Kiss The Bride” - In high school, Matt and Ryan were best friends. More than friends, actually. But in the ensuing ten years, they’ve lost contact. So when Matt receives an invitation to Ryan’s wedding he’s surprised - especially that Ryan is marrying a woman! Matt interrupts his ideal alternative lifestyle to return to his hometown. He plans to rescue his former love from whatever “she-devil” has trapped him into this huge mistake. On the other hand, Ryan’s perky fiancé Alex takes quite the liking to Matt. Is she very cunning, disarmingly ditzy, completely adorable - or all three? As Matt tries to rekindle the old flame, Ryan is intent on putting out any sparks. Ryan dismisses their old romance as just a high school thing, but Matt realizes Ryan may still be the love of his life. All the while, Matt must deal with “his new best friend” Alex, the two families, and a hometown he thought he’d left entirely in the past. As the wedding day fast approaches (like a meteor hurtling toward ground zero), old feelings resurface and secrets are revealed. Each of them must balance the past with the present, and make a choice that will determine the rest of their lives. “Kiss the Bride” is a sexy, fun, romantic comedy, proving the boundaries of love, sexuality and identity are never constant.
STARRING: Tori Spelling, Joanna Cassidy, Tess Harper, Philipp Karner, James O’Shea, Robert Foxworth, Amber Benson
DIRECTOR: C. Jay Cox
STUDIO: Regent Releasing
RATING: R (Language, sexual situations, nudity)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): TBD
RUNNING TIME: TBD
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD
