Based on the popular Newbery Award-winning novel, “The Bridge To Terabithia” is a fantasy/adventure story of friendship, family and the power of imagination from the producers of “The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.” Jess Aarons (JOSH HUTCHERSON) is an outsider at school and even in his own family. Jess has trained all summer to become the fastest kid in his middle school class but his goal is unexpectedly thwarted by the new girl in school, Leslie Burke (ANNASOPHIA ROBB) who competes in the “boys only” race and wins.
Despite their awkward introduction, the two outsiders quickly become best friends. Leslie loves to tell stories of fantasy and magic. Jess loves to draw, but until he met Leslie it was something he kept to himself. Leslie opens a new world of imagination for Jess. Together they create the secret kingdom of Terabithia, a magical place only accessible by swinging on an old rope over a stream in the woods near their homes. There, the friends rule the kingdom, fight the Dark Master and his creatures and plot against the school bullies. Thanks to his friendship with Leslie, Jess is changed for good. Brimming with fantastical creatures, palaces and beautiful forests, the world of Terabithia is brought to life by the amazing Academy Award®-winning visual effects wizards at Weta Digital (“The Lord of the Rings,” “King Kong”) – “The Bridge To Terabithia.”
STARRING: Josh Hutcherson, Annasophia Robb, Robert Patrick and Zooey Deschanel
DIRECTOR: Gabor Csupo
STUDIO: Walt Disney/Walden Media
RATING: PG(For situations involving the death of one of the main characters)
Breach” – In the United States, there is an elite group of men and women who is entrusted with the keys to our country. Agents in the Federal Bureau of Investigation are sworn not only to uphold the law, but to serve the United States with the same honor they would their own family.
This is the story of one man who betrayed us all.
Inspired by true events, Breach is a dramatic thriller set inside the halls of the Bureau that serves as gatekeeper of the nation’s most sensitive and volatile secrets.
In February 2001, renowned FBI operative Robert Hanssen was found guilty of treason against America. Over a period of more than two decades, Hanssen systematically and deliberately sold his country’s key intelligence to the former Soviet Union. Today, Academy Award winner CHRIS COOPER (American Beauty, Adaptation) stars as Hanssen, one of the most notorious spies in the history of our country.
RYAN PHILLIPPE (Crash, Flags of Our Fathers) joins Cooper, starring as Eric O’Neill, the young agent-in-training handpicked by the FBI to help draw Hanssen from his cover. When O’Neill is promoted out of his low-level surveillance job and into the headquarters of the FBI, his dream of becoming a full-fledged agent is on the verge of becoming a reality. Even more impressive, O’Neill is selected to work for renowned operative Hanssen within “information assurance,” a new division created to protect all classified FBI intelligence. His enthusiasm, however, quickly turns to anxiety as O’Neill is confronted with the true reason behind his unexpected promotion. Hanssen is the sole subject of a long-term, top-secret investigation; he is a suspected mole who has become extremely dangerous by the sheer global import of the information he is protecting.
The Bureau asks O’Neill to use Hanssen’s growing trust of the apprentice to slowly draw the traitor out of deep cover. Now engaged in a lethal game of spy-versus-spy, O’Neill finds himself fighting to bring down Hanssen before the treacherous double agent can destroy him, his family and the nation they are both sworn to serve.
The actors joining Cooper and Phillippe in bringing this study of betrayal to the screen are Academy Award nominee LAURA LINNEY (Kinsey, You Can Count on Me) as Special Agent Kate Burroughs, the FBI staffer in charge of O’Neill; DENNIS HAYSBERT (Jarhead, Far From Heaven) as Special Agent Dean Plesac, the man who teams with Burroughs to bring Hanssen down; Oscar nominee KATHLEEN QUINLAN (Apollo 13, The Hills Have Eyes) as Hanssen’s devoutly religious and trusting wife, Bonnie; GARY COLE (The Ring Two, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby) as Special Agent Rich Garces; and newcomer CAROLINE DHAVERNAS as Juliana, the strong-minded young woman newly wedded to O’Neill – “Breach.”
STARRING: Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert, Kathleen Quinlan, Gary Cole, Caroline Dhavernas, Bruce Davison, Mary Jo Deschanel, Gary Cole
DIRECTOR: Billy Ray
STUDIO: Universal Pictures
RATING: PG-13 (For violence, sexual content and language)
From Marvel Comics, creators of “Spider-Man,” “Blade” and “X-Men,” comes a new hero… “Ghost Rider.” Long ago, superstar motorcycle stunt rider Johnny Blaze made a deal with the devil to protect the ones he loved most: his father and his childhood sweetheart, Roxanne (Eva Mendes). Now, the devil has come for his due. By day, Johnny is a die-hard stunt rider… but at night, in the presence of evil, he becomes the “Ghost Rider,” a bounty hunter of rogue demons. Forced to do the devil’s bidding, Johnny is determined to confront his fate and use his curse and powers to defend the innocent – “Ghost Rider.”
STARRING: Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Wes Bentley, Eva Mendes, Matt Long, Sam Elliott, Peter Fonda, Donal Logue
DIRECTOR: Mark Steven Johnson
STUDIO: Columbia Pictures
RATING: PG-13 (For horror violence and disturbing images)
“Music & Lyrics” follows Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant), a washed-up 80s pop star who’s been reduced to working the nostalgia circuit at county fairs and amusement parks. The charismatic and talented musician gets a chance at a comeback when reigning diva Cora Corman invites him to write and record a duet with her, but there’s a problem – Alex hasn’t written a song in years, he’s never written lyrics, and he has to come up with a hit in a matter of days. Enter Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore), Alex’s beguilingly quirky plant lady, whose flair for words strikes a chord with the struggling songwriter. On the rebound from a bad relationship, Sophie is reluctant to collaborate with anyone, especially commitment-phobe Alex. As their chemistry heats up at the piano and under it, Alex and Sophie will have to face their fears – and the music – if they want to find the love and success they both deserve – “Music And Lyrics.”
STARRING: Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Brad Garrett, Campbell Scott
DIRECTOR: Marc Lawrence
STUDIO: Warner Bros.
RATING: PG-13 (For some language and sexual situations)
A romantic drama about family, community and love against the odds, Tyler Perry’s “Daddy’s Little Girls” stars Gabrielle Union (“Running with Scissors,” “Bad Boys II,” “Deliver Us From Eva”) and Idris Elba (HBO’s “The Wire,” “The Gospel,” “Sometimes in April”) in writer/director Tyler Perry’s follow-up to his number one box office hits “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” and “Madea’s Family Reunion.”
A single father, Monty (Elba) is a garage mechanic who lives in a poor neighborhood and struggles to make ends meet as he raises his three young daughters on his own. But when the courts award custody of his daughters to his corrupt, drug-dealing ex-wife, Monty desperately tries to win them back, enlisting the help of Julia (Union), a beautiful – and hard-nosed – attorney he meets during his short stint as a chauffeur. While Monty and the Ivy-League-educated Julia couldn’t be less alike, an unexpected romance blossoms…and it soon begins to feel like true love. But in order for their relationship to survive, the couple must reconcile their two very different worlds – and overcome the forces that threaten to tear Monty’s family apart – “Daddy’s Little Girls.”
STARRING: Gabrielle Union, Idris Elba, Tasha Smith, Gary Sturgis, Tracee Ellis Ross, Lou Gossett, Jr., Malinda Williams, Terri J. Vaughn, Cassie Davis, Juanita Jennings, LaVan Davis
DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
STUDIO: Lionsgate
RATING: PG-13
My name is Norbit Albert Rice, and I was an orphan…” Thus begins the story of Norbit (Eddie Murphy), who was brought up by Mr. Wong (Eddie Murphy) at the Golden Wonton Restaurant and Orphanage. There, Norbit met his true soulmate, the lovely Kate (Thandie Newton). The two became inseparable – that is, until Kate was adopted and left Norbit to begin her new life.
One day, the lonely and easily intimidated nine-year-old Norbit is rescued on the school playground from the taunts of three bullies by hefty Rasputia (Eddie Murphy), age ten, who wields a mean right hook. As Norbit and Rasputia grow up, they marry and Norbit becomes part of her family.
In “Norbit,” the King of Comedy is at it again. Eddie Murphy is Norbit. Eddie Murphy is Rasputia. Eddie Murphy is Mr. Wong. Murphy uses his extraordinary talents to bring these diverse and unforgettable characters to life in this boisterous, ribald comedy.
Dysfunctional at best, Rasputia and her three brothers – Big Jack (Terry Crews), Earl (Clifton Powell) and Blue (Lester “Rasta ” Speight) – run the Latimore Construction Company, an outpost from which the brothers try to run the town of Boiling Springs, Tennessee. They spend most of their time running the good, hard-working people ragged, badgering, them and extorting money from them.
An employee of the construction company, the meek and downtrodden Norbit is treated with disdain by his brutish brothers-in-law and even more contemptuously by his wife. The ravenous Rasputia often sends him to the local Rib Shak – owned by ex-pimps Pope Sweet Jesus (Eddie Griffin) and Lord Have Mercy (Katt Williams) – to pick up her supersized dinner.
Such is Norbit’s lot, until his world undergoes a dramatic change when the grown-up and beautiful Kate returns to Boiling Springs. Kate has come back to buy the orphanage from the retiring Mr. Wong. But she is being bamboozled. Her seemingly adoring fiancé, Deion (Cuba Gooding, Jr. ) turns out to be a phony. He is secretly in cahoots with the conniving Latimores. They are planning to turn the orphanage into a strip club – The Nipplopolis.
But steadfast Norbit sees through their façades with a dawning realization that all is not right in Boiling Springs and in the Norbit household. With the reawakening of his feelings for Kate, Norbit gains a newfound assertiveness, rejecting the role of downtrodden, exploited milquetoast in favor of the crusading hero who knows how to dress sharp, please the ladies and ride a bike.
Will he finally stand up to the Latimores and save his true love from marrying the wrong guy? Will the mild-mannered mouse find his inner lion and set things right in Boiling Springs? And will he ever lose the yoke of servility imposed by the overwhelming, overpowering and overeating Rasputia? Therein lies a tale that can only be told by a masterful storyteller – “Norbit.”
At once a political thriller and human drama, THE LIVES OF OTHERS begins in East Berlin in 1984, five years before Glasnost and the fall of the Berlin Wall and ultimately takes us to 1991, in what is now the reunited Germany. THE LIVES OF OTHERS traces the gradual disillusionment of Captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe, best known for his lead roles in Michael Haneke’s FUNNY GAMES and as Dr. Mengele in Costa-Gavras’ AMEN), a highly skilled officer who works for the Stasi, East Germany’s all-powerful secret police. His mission is to spy on a celebrated writer and actress couple, Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck).
Five years before its downfall, the former East- German government (known as the GDR, German Democratic Republic) ensures its claim to power with a ruthless system of control and surveillance via the Stasi, a vast network of informers that at one time numbered 200,000 out of a population of 17 million. Their goal is to know everything about “the lives of others.”
Devoted Stasi officer and expert interrogator Wiesler is given the job of collecting evidence against the famous playwright Georg Dreyman. The job begins after Lieutenant Colonel Anton Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur), a former classmate of Wiesler’s who now heads the Culture Department at the State Security, invites Wiesler to accompany him to the premiere of the new play by Dreyman, also attended by Minister Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme). Minister Hempf tells Grubitz that he has doubts about the successful playwright’s loyalty to the SED, the ruling Socialist Unity Party, and implies that he would approve of a full-scale surveillance operation. Grubitz, eager to boost his own political future, entrusts the monitoring, or “Operative Procedure,” to Wiesler, who promises to oversee the case personally. Wiesler is also convinced that Dreyman cannot possibly be as loyal to the Party as has always been assumed.
However, Hempf’s distrust of Dreyman is not politically motivated. Hempf cannot take his eyes off the attractive lead actress Christa-Maria Sieland, Dreyman’s girlfriend.
While Dreyman is away from their home, his apartment is systematically bugged. A neighbor who notices the operation is forced to keep silent by a personal threat. Wiesler sets up his surveillance headquarters in the attic of Dreyman’s apartment building, thus beginning
Wiesler’s cold and calculating observation of the lives of the playwright and his girlfriend.
At first Weisler’s observations show that, unlike most of his artistic peers, Dreyman does not display any outwardly disdain for the GDR. Dreyman’s position slowly changes however, as he discovers that Christa-Maria has been pressured into a sexual relationship with Minister Hempf. When his close friend, theater director Albert Jerska (Volkmar Kleinert) is driven to suicide after seven years of unofficial “blacklisting” by the government, Dreyman can no longer remain silent about the GDR. Now determined to alert the outside world about the conditions of life under the GDR, he begins a plot to place an article with the famous West German publication Der Spiegel, exposing the GDR’s policy of covering up the high suicide rates under the regime.
Wiesler, who has been monitoring all of Dreyman’s activities, finally has the proof he needs to destroy his subject and to serve the GDR by foiling Dreyman’s plot. But Wiesler’s unemotional façade is showing signs of erosion. While he observes the day-to-day life of Dreyman and Christa-Maria, he begins to be drawn into their world, which puts his own position as an impartial agent of the GDR into question. His immersion in “the lives of others,” in love, literature and freethinking, also makes Wiesler acutely aware of the shortfalls of his own existence.
When the anti-GDR article is published, the regime is thoroughly embarrassed and Grubitz is ordered to discover the identity of the article’s author. Dreyman is one of the prime suspects, but Grubitz cannot believe that the trustworthy Wiesler would have failed to discover the plot. At the same time, Hempf’s discovery of Christa-Maria’s drug addiction forces her to expose her lover as the author of the Der Spiegel article, but a search of Dreyman’s apartment does not yield any incriminating evidence. Convinced that Weisler knows more than he is revealing, Grubitz summons him to interrogate Christa-Maria in order to find the one item linking Dreyman to the Der Spiegel article. Wiesler, who has known all along about the source of the article and purposely failed to disclose the information to his superiors, must now decide where his allegiances lie. If he does not extract the information from Christa-Maria, his life and his career as an elite Stasi officer will undoubtedly be over. If he succeeds, Dreyman’s fate will be sealed.
In 1991, two years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dreyman is in for a rude awakening when he runs into ex-minister Hempf and learns that he had been the subject of a Stasi surveillance. Immediately afterward, he finds the cables and microphones secretly installed years earlier behind the wallpaper in his apartment. In disbelief, he sets out to research and discovers the different reality of his past, which not only has a profound impact on his life but also surprises him with shocking revelations.
STARRING: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Muehe, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur
DIRECTOR: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
STUDIO: Sony Classics
RATING: R (For Sexuality and nudity)
When a mysterious man “absolves” her grandmother’s sins by eating bread and wine at her grave, 10-year-old Cadi wants the same redemption – while she’s still alive! But in her quest for deliverance she uncovers a dark secret that threatens to divide her family. What will happen when the two face each other – and the One who can truly save them? The movie“The Last Sin Eater,” is based on the award winning novel of the same name by Francine Rivers – “Last Sin Eater.”
STARRING: Louise Fletcher, Henry Thomas
DIRECTOR: Michael Landon Jr.
STUDIO: Fox Faith
RATING: PG-13 (For Adult Themes)
In RED DRAGON we learned who he was. In SILENCE OF THE LAMBS we learned how he did it. Now comes the most chilling chapter in the life of Hannibal Lecter – the one that answers the most elusive question of all – why?
“HANNIBAL RISING” marks the first time in the award-winning series, best selling author Thomas Harris (“Red Dragon,” “Silence of the Lambs”) writes the screenplay – reaching back to explore the origins of Lecter’s rage, terror and savagery.
The story begins in Eastern Europe at the desperate end of World War II. For many it was no longer a conflict of nations but one of individual survival – at any cost. A young Hannibal watches from only steps away as his parents’ violently die, leaving his cherished young sister in his care. This horrific moment will soon pale in comparison to the atrocities he is forced to witness and perhaps survive as a result of.
Alone and without any means of support, he is forced to live in a Soviet Orphanage that once served as his family’s beloved home. He flees to Paris to find his uncle has died but his beautiful and mysterious Japanese widow, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li) welcomes him. Even her kindness and love cannot soothe the nightmares and sorrows that plague him. Showing a cunning aptitude for science he is accepted into medical school, which serves to hone his skills and provide the tools to exact justice on the war criminals that haunt him day and night. This quest will ignite an insatiable lust within a serial killer who was not born, but made – “Hannibal Rising.”
STARRING: Gaspard Ulliel, Gong Li, Rhys Ifans, Richard Brake, Kevin McKidd
DIRECTOR: Peter Webber
STUDIO: The Weinstein Co.
RATING: R (strong grisly violent content and some language/sexual references)
If you spend any time at all in the workplace you’re going to get laid off, down-sized, let go, out-sourced, axed, terminated, canned, cancelled, dismissed… “FIRED.”
When actress Annabelle Gurwitch was fired from a play by Woody Allen she wondered how she would cope with being fired by a cultural icon. Turning to friends in show business she was assured she was not alone. Once the subject had been broached, everyone she knew from her rabbi and gynecologists to her colleagues had advice and their own accounts of getting the boot to offer. This set her off on a journey to answer the question: was being fired going to be the best thing or worst thing that had happened in her working life.
Gurwitch began researching and traveling the country, interviewing people as diverse as Tim Allen, Sarah Silverman, Jeff Garlin, Anne Meara, David Cross and GM workers in Lansing, Michigan whose perspectives ranged from the tragically comedic to proving that old adage when one door closes another door opens, to the just plain tragic. Annabelle attended job fairs, received “outplacement services”, interviewed human resource directors, downsizers, and the downsized who were seeking new jobs.
“Fired” reminds us that all great success come out of failure and being fired can be a part of the growth process, that humor helps, and that if you’re employed in America today your firing may be the best and the worst thing that can happen in your working life – “Fired.”
STARRING: Annabelle Gurwitch, Tim Allen, David Cross, Andy Dick, Tate Donovan, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Garlin, Richard Kind, Anne Meara, Bob Odenkirk, Robert Reich, Jeffrey Ross, Harry Shearer, Ben Stein, Sarah Silverman
DIRECTORS: Chris Bradley and Kyle LaBrache
STUDIO: Shout! Factory
RATING: Not Rated (Strong Language)
