Adam Sandler and Kevin James (TV’s “The King of Queens”) team as two straight guys who stumble down the aisle with the best of intentions in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.” Chuck Ford (Sandler) and Larry Allensworth (James) are the pride of their fire station: two guy’s guys always side-by-side and willing to do anything for each other. Salt-of-the-earth widower Larry wants just one thing: to protect his family. His buddy Chuck also wants one thing: to enjoy the single life. Grateful Chuck owes Larry for saving his life in a fire, and Larry calls in that favor big time when civic red tape prevents him from naming his own two kids as his life insurance beneficiaries. All that Chuck has to do is claim to be Larry’s domestic partner on some city forms. Easy. Nobody will ever know. But when an overzealous, spot-checking bureaucrat becomes suspicious, the new couple’s arrangement becomes a citywide issue and goes from confidential to front-page news. Forced to improvise as love-struck newlyweds, Chuck and Larry must now fumble through a hilarious charade of domestic bliss under one roof. After surviving their mandatory honeymoon and dodging the threat of exposure, the well-intentioned con men discover that sticking together in your time of need is what truly makes a family – “I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry.”
STARRING: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jessica Biel, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Dan Aykroyd
DIRECTOR: Dennis Dugan
STUDIO: Universal Pictures
RATING: PG-13 (For adult situations, language)
Glastonbury” is now the best known, longest running and most pre-eminent music festival in the world. Fuelled by a staggering range of music, the movie will embrace the spirit, characters and overwhelming experiences of the festival as it reflects the extraordinary world changes of the last three decades.
In 1970, a young farmer named Michael Eavis opened his 150-acre farm to 1,500 people who paid one pound each to watch a handful of pop and folk stars perform all weekend long, and the Glastonbury Festival was born. The following year, several rich hippies, including Winston Churchill’s granddaughter, provided funds to enlarge the event, and 12,500 people turned up to see David Bowie and Joan Baez. For most of the past 30 years, the Worthy Farm in Glastonbury has provided a delirious outdoor concert for thousands of people over the summer-solstice weekend at the end of June. Julien Temple (director of the Sex Pistols documentary “The Filth and the Fury”) spent a few years collecting footage from every single Glastonbury Festival, ranging from professional outtakes from the film Nicolas Roeg made about the 1971 event to amateur home videos collected from the attendees themselves, often retrieved from forgotten corners of closets and attics. Interweaving images of impromptu art happenings, skeptical locals, and stirring performances by music legends, not to mention the unbridled energy of each successive generation of youthful music fans, Glastonbury skillfully chronicles the evolution of the longest-running music festival in the world – “Glastonbury.”
STARRING: David Bowie, Coldplay, Radiohead, Oasis, Chemical Brothers, Velvet Underground, Primal Scream, The Cure
DIRECTOR: Julien Temple
STUDIO: THINKFilm
RATING: R (For nudity, drug use, language and some sexual content)
Gray Matters” is a romantic comedy about a brother, a sister and the girl of their dreams.
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
– Dr. Seuss
This above all: To thine own self be true.
– William Shakespeare
They finish each other’s sentences, dance like Fred and Ginger, and they’re all hearing wedding bells. All? No ménage-a-tois here — just siblings Gray and Sam (Heather Graham and Tom Cavanagh), thirty-something New Yorkers so compatible they share a downtown loft, love to watch the same classic movies, jog together, look out for each other and, to their biggest surprise, wind up falling in love with the same woman.
But while Charlie (Bridget Moynahan) adores her sister-in-law to be, and Sam has finally found the perfect mate, Gray has feelings for Charlie that are turning her life inside out. And why not? Charlie’s a successful zoologist with a wit as sharp as her looks. She’s the girl next door that any guy would fall for, so why is Gray so preoccupied with her? Whatever the reason, she’s certainly not going to tell anybody about it.
The darling of her advertising firm, Gray has to keep her focus on her clients – especially the fussy, gorgeous, really important, sexy, lose-your-job-if-you’re-not-attentive-to clients like Julia Bartlett (L Word glamour girl Rachel Shelley). Yes, Gray’s got to keep her mind on her work and deal with this emerging sexuality stuff later. After all, as her therapist Dr. Sydney (Oscar winner Sissy Spacek) is quick to point out, Gray might be just misguided or simply suffering from a case of sibling rivalry gone awry.
Still, Gray needs to talk to someone about it. Surely her friend and co-worker Carrie (Saturday Night Live Emmy nominee Molly Shannon) would understand . . . but then the whole office would find out. She could certainly go to her brother, but he’s kind of busy these days. Not only is he a vascular surgical intern at Mount Sinai, but he’s also getting married and dealing with matters of his own heart. No, best not to talk to the groom if you’re dying to kiss his bride . . . again!
But Gray’s simply got to confide in someone – or maybe denial would just be easier. Yes, that’s the answer. She’ll just head straight for the next guy she finds remotely attractive. She’ll make herself available to men like never before, and sooner or later that old familiar sexuality of hers is bound to kick in. Right?
Wrong – even the friendly cabdriver Gordy (Tony award winner Alan Cumming), who has been shuttling Gray to and from her mismatches, can see she needs to start looking for love in different places. In fact, Gray’s predicament is so black and white to Gordy, he’s willing to be her wingman and put on a dress to drag her where she needs to go.
Set in the city of New York, itself a character, “Gray Matters” features a wonderful supporting cast and a special performance of “I Will Survive” by Grammy-winner Gloria Gaynor. A charming romance, a tender comedy, the story of Gray’s quest to find out who she really is gives a whole new meaning to love . . . and destiny – “Gray Matters”
STARRING: Heather Graham, Tom Cavanagh, Bridget Moynahan, Molly Shannon, Sissy Spacek, Alan Cumming, James Marsden, Saffron Burrows, Jane Krakowski
DIRECTOR: Sue Kramer
STUDIO: Yari Film Group
RATING: PG-13 (For language and sexual content)
Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to be clever,” Brian Jackson confesses in voice over at the start of “Starter For Ten.” A working-class student from Essex navigating his first year at Bristol University, Brian (James McAvoy) has a lot to prove. While his hometown mates(1) worry about him turning into a poncey(2) wanker(3), Brian’s biggest concern is making the team for the long-running British television quiz show University Challenge. (The game show, which began in 1962 and is something like the UK’s answer to Jeopardy, pits four-member teams from posh(4) universities against each other. “Starter” questions, worth ten points each, give the film its title.)
Amidst Tarts & Vicars(5) dances, anti-Apartheid rallies, minging(6) dorm rooms and puffs of marijuana smoke, Brian also finds himself romantically torn between two very different co-eds: ultra-fit(7) blonde bombshell and University Challenge teammate Alice (Alice Eve), and thoughtful, politically-conscious Rebecca Epstein (Rebecca Hall in Christopher Nolan’s THE PRESTIGE).
With Margaret Thatcher’s economically depressed Blighty(8) as a backdrop, and a killer, pitchperfect New Wave soundtrack — featuring music by The Cure, Wham!, Bananarama, Yaz, The Smiths, New Order, Tears For Fears, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Buzzcocks, and The Psychedelic Furs — in the foreground, STARTER FOR 10 is the great British teen 80s movie that never was. . .
It is also altogether delightful, with UK comedy sensation Catherine Tate co-starring as Brian’s steadfast mum(9), and James McAvoy (“The Chronicles of Narnia,” Mr. Tumnus the Faun) delivering the kind of charming, humorous performance that reinvigorates a genre. Though Brian Jackson knows everything, like all honest coming-of-age stories, “Starter For Ten” is ultimately about its hero discovering the difference between knowledge and wisdom - “Starter For Ten.”
STARRING: James McAvoy, Ian Bonar, Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Benedict Cumberbatch, Charles Dance, Alice Eve, Raj Ghatak, Rebecca Hall, Julian Hensey, Elaine Tan, Catherine Tate, Simon Woods
DIRECTOR: Tom Vaughan
STUDIO: Picturehouse
RATING: PG-13 (For sexual content, language and a scene of drug use)
You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.” That was William Wilberforce’s conclusion to his three hour debate in the Houses of Parliament before Members of Parliament voted on his Abolition Bill in 1789. And this is how “Amazing Grace” became a song no one will ever forget.
William Wilberforce was born into the age of the Great British Empire, when the country’s influence around the globe was at its most powerful. It was, however, an age when the rumblings of social discontent were emerging and a time when reformers faced an uphill struggle to be heard.
A good friend and staunch colleague of England’s youngest ever Prime Minister, Pitt the Younger, Wilberforce was entrusted with the policy for the Abolition of Slavery. Torn between a life of spirituality and a career in politics, he was inspired to take his desire for the equality of all mankind into the House of Commons. Seeking the advice of John Newton, a former slave trader who turned to the Church in order to atone for his earlier life, Wilberforce became the rallying voice in Parliament for a fragmented group of like-minded people to fight for the cause and make the people of Britain, and ultimately the world, acknowledge the horror of the Slave Trade.
The sugar trade was at the heart of the British economy, and it depended entirely on slave labour. With the majority of MPs representing the sugar and slave trades opposing Wilberforce in the House of Commons, he faced a mammoth task in attempting to persuade them to abolish slavery. His prowess as an orator, coupled with his firm belief that abolition was his vocation, made Wilberforce a formidable opponent. Throughout his turbulent career, he was keenly supported and inspired by his wife Barbara’s love and commitment to the cause.
“Amazing Grace” follows Wilberforce’s career through his 20′s and 30′s, when he and his fellow humanitarians made the issue of slavery a talking point, not only in political circles, but also throughout the country. They waged the first modern political campaign, using petitions, boycotts, mass meetings and even badges with slogans to take their message to the country at large. Wilberforce steered this cause through the corridors of power and ultimately opened the way for the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire. His success came after decades of fighting when Parliament finally passed the first anti-slavery bill in 1807 – “Amazing Grace.”
STARRING: Ioan Gruffudd, Albert Finney, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Gambon, Romola Garai
DIRECTOR: Michael Apted
STUDIO: IDP
RATING: PG (For thematic material involving slavery, and some mild language)
The Astronaut Farmer” – From the time he was a child, Charles Farmer (BILLY BOB THORNTON) had only one goal: to be an astronaut. Earning his degree in aerospace engineering and joining the Air Force as a pilot, Farmer was a natural for NASA’s astronaut training program and was well on his way when a family situation forced him to drop out and return home-effectively ending his career.
But Farmer was not a man to let anything stand in the way of a dream.
He spent the next decade and every cent he had building his own rocket in a barn on his ranch in Story, Texas, working toward the day when he could triumphantly launch it into space. By himself.
Sharing his vision are his wife Audie (VIRGINIA MADSEN) and their children-daughters Sunshine and Stanley, and 15-year-old Shepard, already a budding engineer and eager to serve as “mission control” on the big day. Even Audie’s father Hal (BRUCE DERN), on hand to lend moral support, can see how his son-in-law’s unwavering commitment has inspired the family with a common dream-something he himself, as a father, was never able to achieve.
On the eve of the long-anticipated launch, an unexpected problem arises. Farmer’s efforts to secure 10,000 pounds of high-grade fuel catches the attention of the FBI…and subsequently the media, who encamp in droves outside his gate, speculating wildly about this “space cowboy” and his homemade rocket. Farmer finds himself depicted on TV screens worldwide as a renegade hero, inspiring an outpouring of popular support, while simultaneously drawing heavy fire from the FBI, CIA, FAA, NASA and the U.S. Military, all of whom see him as a threat and will do anything they can think of to shut him down.
But Farmer knows this is his only chance-not only to reach his goal of breaking through the Earth’s atmosphere but to instill in his children the courage to pursue their own ideals and never give up…no matter the odds. He will not let himself be grounded again – “The Astronaut Farmer.”
STARRING: Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, Bruce Dern, Tim Blake Nelson
DIRECTOR: Michael Polish
STUDIO: Warner Bros.
RATING: PG (For thematic material, peril and language)
On behalf of the Reno Sheriff’s Department, we would like to address the film entitled “Reno 911 Miami.” THIS FILM IS NOT ENDORSED IN ANY WAY BY THE RENO SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT.
We were told by the good people (pronounced: dirty liars) at Twentieth Century Fox that the documentary film about our trip to the National Police Convention in Miami Beach would be called: American Heroes: South Beach Edition.
Turns out this was classic Hollywood bullshit. The film that has been made from the footage of us is an outrageous web of lies. The brave men and women of the Reno Sheriff’s Department have been edited together in a way that makes us look like we’re brain damaged. (We, aren’t!)
YES, there were some unfortunate events that took place during our time in Miami. Yes, people got hurt. Yes, property got destroyed. And yes, one nude person and some passers-by got parts of an exploded narwhale on them.
But… the truth is: we also did a lot of good. And, none of us is sure it was really a narwhale. It might have been a sperm whale, or some other kind of whale.
We would also like to address the title of the film.
“Reno 911 Miami”
WTF? That must be the stupidest title in the history of cinema. That’s like calling something Las Vegas Justice Minneapolis. Or Philadelphia Emergency St. Louis. IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE.
If you understand the title, please call us, because we do not.
We urge you to tell the Fox and Twentieth Century Fox people to STOP THE LIES.
Your servant,
Lt. Jim Dangle, Reno Sheriff’s Department. Reno NV.
STARRING: Thomas Lennon, Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney, Cedric Yarbrough, Carlos Alazraqui, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Niecy Nash, Mary Birdsong, Paul Rudd, Nick Swardson
DIRECTOR: Ben Garant
STUDIO: 20th Century Fox
RATING: R (For sexual content, nudity, crude humor, language and drug use)
The psychological thriller “The Number 23″ stars Jim Carrey as a man whose life unravels after he comes into contact with an obscure book titled “The Number 23.” As he reads the book, he becomes increasingly convinced that it is based on his own life. His obsession with the number 23 starts to consume him, and he begins to realize the book forecasts far graver consequences for his life than he could have ever imagined – “The Number 23″
STARRING: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Danny Huston, Logan Lerman, Rhona Mitra, Maile Flanagan, Patricia Belcher, Lynn Collins, Mark Pellegrino, Tara Karsian
DIRECTOR: Joel Schumacher
STUDIO: New Line Cinema
RATING: R (For violence and strong language)
In “The Abandoned,” an American film producer named Marie returns to her homeland, Russia, where her mother’s dead body has been found under bizarre circumstances. She never knew her, having been adopted and brought to America as a baby. The only clue to what might have happened is an isolated, abandoned farm in the mountains that supposedly belonged to her natural parents – “The Abandoned.”
STARRING: Jordanka Angelova, Kalin Arsov, Paraskeva Djukelova, Valentin Ganev, Valentin Goshev, Anastasia Hille, Anna Panayotova, Carlos Reig-Plaza, Karel Roden, Svetlana Smoleva
DIRECTOR: Nacho Cerdà
STUDIO: Lionsgate
RATING: R (For for violence/gore, some disturbing images, nudity and language)
Directed and co-written by Daniele Thompson (“La Bûche,” “Jet Lag”), and selected as France’s Official Entry for this year’s Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar, “Avenue Montaigne” centers around Jessica (Cecile de France) a beautiful young woman from the provinces who comes to Paris and lands a job waiting tables at a chic bistro on fabled Avenue Montaigne, the city’s nexus for art, music, theater and fashion. Jessica’s customers include a popular TV actress (Valérie Lemercier) who is courting a major Hollywood director (Sydney Pollack) for her first serious film role; a wealthy art collector (Claude Brasseur) who is about to liquidate a lifetime’s worth of treasures at auction; and an illustrious classical pianist (Albert Dupontel) who is at odds with his manager/wife (Laura Morante) as to where his career is headed. Precisely because Jessica doesn’t know how celebrated these people are, her guileles
and completely unintimidated engagement in their lives has a transforming effect on them – and ultimately her – “Avenue Montaigne.”
STARRING: Cecile de France, Valérie Lemercier, Claude Brasseur, Albert Dupontel, Laura Morante, Sydney Pollack
DIRECTOR: Daniele Thompson
STUDIO: THINKFilm
RATING: PG-13 (For some strong language and brief sexuality)
