|
Click on the title for details. |
MARCH 7 - MARCH 13, 2006
|
||||||
|
|
MARCH 7 - MARCH 13, 2006 |
|
||||
|
|
THE APE (dir: James Franco, Not Rated) – James Franco from FREAKS & GEEKS and SPIDER-MAN makes his directorial debut and stars in this low-budget comedy about a writer who can’t get any work done due to the fact that his roommate is a gorilla. |
|
BREAKING NEWS (dir: Johnnie To, Not Rated) – Legendary Hong Kong director Johnie To helms this breakneck action-thriller. After the police are humiliated by a daring bank robbery, a standoff involving thousands of cops and the robbers becomes a live TV spectacle. | |||
|
|
CAKE (dir: Nisha Ganatra, R) – Poor Heather Graham. So pretty, yet so untalented. In this drab rom-com she plays a party girl who inexplicably becomes the editor of a bridal magazine. |
|
THE EXONERATED (dir: Bob Balaban, Not Rated) – It’s generally our policy here at the Explosion not to get made-for-Court TV films. However, most made-for-Court TV films don’t boast a cast including Susan Sarandon, Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover and Aidan Quinn. | |||
|
|
FAQS (dir: Everett Lewis, Not Rated) – A vigilante drag queen saves a teenage runaway from a gay bashing and they, along with a lesbian named Lester, form an unconventional but strangely functional surrogate family. |
|
FIRST DESCENT (dir: Kevin Harrison / Kemp Curley, PG-13) – Five of the world’s top snowboarders head for the unexplored mountains of Alaska in search of that sweet, sweet virgin powder. | |||
|
|
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (dir: Mike Newell, PG-13) – The one where Harry gets Hermione preggers. |
|
^HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (dir: Hayao Miyazaki, PG) – Hayao Miyazaki, the director of SPIRITED AWAY and PRINCESS MONONOKE, returns with another enchanting masterpiece. You can watch it with the original Japanese audio or listen to the dubbed version featuring the vocal stylings of Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall and Billy Crystal. | |||
|
|
*JARHEAD (dir: Sam Mendes, R) – Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Jamie Foxx star in this fact-based account of marines preparing for the Gulf War. Perhaps the first war movie that takes place entirely before the war starts, JARHEAD instead focuses on the training and stultifying boredom of a long wait in an empty desert. |
|
JUST FRIENDS (dir: Roger Kumble, PG-13) – Ryan Reynolds stars as a formerly overweight nerd trying to woo his high school crush (Amy Smart) while also keeping reigns on a ditzy pop singer, played by the undervalued and tragically overlooked Anna Faris. All she needs is a decent role in a good movie and she’ll instantly be America’s sweetheart. | |||
|
|
KIDS IN AMERICA (dir: Josh Stolberg, PG-13) – Proving that Paris Hilton isn’t the only one with acting chops, Nicole Richie heads up an ensemble of high-schoolers battling an oppressive principal. |
|
OCCUPATION: DREAMLAND (dir: Garrett Scott / Ian Olds, Not Rated) – The directors of this documentary were given unrestricted access to the Army’s 82nd Airborne on the ground in Iraq and emerged with an unflinchingly candid look at what happened in the city of Falluja in the weeks leading up to its fateful siege. | |||
|
|
PAPER CLIPS (dir: Elliot Berlin / Joe Fab, G) – This powerful documentary shows how a group of youngsters studying the Holocaust in Tennessee ended up building a lasting memorial that captured the imaginations of people around the world. |
|
PRIME (dir: Ben Younger, PG-13) – Uma Thurman starts dating a younger guy but complications arise when it emerges that he’s the son of her therapist, played by Meryl Streep. Goodness! | |||
|
|
10TH DISTRICT COURT (dir: Raymond Depardon, Not Rated) – Have you been hoping that a film would emerge and finally take us behind the closed doors of the French legal system? Well, here it is anyway. |
|
UNDERTAKING BETTY (dir: Nick Hurran, R) – Brenda Blethyn plays a woman determined to break free of her marriage by faking her own death. Alfred Molina and Christopher Walken play funeral directors competing for her affections. | |||
|
|
THE WARRIOR (dir: Sung-Soo Kim, R) – Asian goddess-type Ziyi Zhang stars in this epic tale of battling dynasties in the year 1375. |
|
ZU WARRIORS (dir: Tsui Hark, PG-13) – Yuen Wo Ping, the martial arts master responsible for all the stuff that blew your mind in THE MATRIX and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON teams up with Tsui Hark for this fight-filled fantasy between the immortal clans of the Zu mountains and some powerful demons with predictable designs on world domination. | |||
| * = Greg's pick of the week ^ = Bart's pick of the week | ||||||