Thursday, November 15, 2007

Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

OPENING THIS WEEK
Kam's Kapsules:
Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun
by Kam Williams
For movies opening November 16, 2007


BIG BUDGET FILMS

Beowulf (PG-13 for nudity, sexuality, disturbing images, and intense violence) Animated adaptation of the anonymous epic poem (circa 700 AD) stars Ray Winstone in the title role as the mighty warrior who slays the legendary Grendel (Crispin Glover) on behalf of the King (Anthony Hopkins), only to find himself incurring the wrath of the beast’s ruthless mother (Angelina Jolie). Voice cast includes Alison Lohman, Brendan Gleeson, John Malkovich, Chris Coppola and Robin Wright Penn.

Love in the Time of Cholera (R for sexuality, nudity and brief profanity) Screen adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s masterpiece of magical realism, set in Colombia between 1880 and 1930, about a lowly poet’s (Javier Bardem) fifty-year obsession with the attractive aristocrat (Giovanna Mezzogiomo) who married a doctor (Benjamin Bratt) instead of following her heart. Directed by Mike Newell, and with Hector Elizondo, Laura Haring and John Leguizamo.

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (G) Natalie Portman stars in this escapist fantasy as the insecure manager of a magical toy store who inherits the business from her 243 year-old boss (Dustin Hoffman) and then realizes that she has the right stuff to run the place with the help of his accountant (Jason Bateman) and a precocious kid (Zach Mills).


INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

I for India (Unrated) Sandhya Suri explores the issue of assimilation in this bittersweet memoir about her family’s migration from India to England in 1965, well documented due to her father’s having filmed them for the past 40 years with the help of a couple of Super 8 cameras and a tape recorder.

The Life of Reilly (Unrated) Screen adaptation of the late Charles Nelson Reilly’s (1931-2007) one-man, autobiographical, pithy play during which he reminisces about growing up gay with a racist mom and an institutionalized father on the way to becoming a Tony Award-winning actor and a staple of television game shows.

Margot at the Wedding (R for sexuality and profanity) Nicole Kidman handles the titular role in this family skeletons dramedy about a narcissistic writer who causes quite a stir after showing up unexpectedly with her adolescent (Zane Pais) for the impending wedding of her freewheeling sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to an unemployed artist (Jack Black). Cast includes John Turturro, Matthew Arkin (son of Alan) and Halley Feiffer (daughter of Jules).

Park (Unrated) Eventful ensemble dramedy, set during lunch hour in L.A., telescopes in on the tragicomic interactions of ten colorful characters in a secluded park: a suicidal woman (Dagney Kerr), a quartet of nudists (Trent Ford, Anne Dudek, Maulik Pancholy and Melanie Lynskey), a pet groomer (David Fenner), a philandering lawyer (William Baldwin), his mistress (Izabella Miko), his spying spouse (Ricki Lake) and her shoulder to cry on (Cheri Oteri).

Redacted (R for disturbing images, violence, rape, pervasive profanity and sexual references) Brian De Palma directs this drama designed as a montage of vignettes about the media coverage of the Iraq War. With Izzy Diaz, Mike Figueroa and Ty Jones.

Southland Tales (R for sexuality, profanity, violence and drug use) Futuristic apocalyptic epoch, set in a Los Angeles which is a police state and on the brink of economic and environmental disaster in the wake of a nuclear attack on Texas. Plot intertwines the fates of an amnesiac actor (The Rock), a porn star (Sarah Michelle Gellar) pitching a reality show, and a mitotic cop (Seann William Scott) who might be the key to uncovering a vast, right-wing conspiracy.

What Would Jesus Buy? (Unrated) Morgan Spurlock presents this tongue-in-cheek shopumentary which challenges consumers to super-size Christ instead of spending so much time in malls during the holiday season.

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