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 December 25, 2007


BIG BUDGET FILMS

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (R for violence, gore and profanity) There is no peace on Earth this Christmas for the unsuspecting folks in the quiet Colorado town where this sci-fi sequel unfolds pitting the last surviving predator against an army of aliens in a bloody, bestial showdown. With John Ortiz, Steven Pasquale, Shareeka Epps and Reiko Aylesworth.

The Great Debaters (PG-13 for profanity, mature themes, brief sexuality, and the depiction of violence and disturbing images) Denzel Washington directs and stars opposite Forest Whitaker and Kimberly Elise in this fact-based drama, set in 1935, about a professor at a small black college who inspired students to form the school’s first debate team and to challenge Harvard for the national championship.

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (PG for action/peril, mild epithets and brief smoking) Fanciful fable, set during WWII and based on the children’s book by Dick King-Smith, about a lonely Scottish boy (Alex Etel) who finds a magical egg which hatches a curious sea creature he raises till it grows into a towering monster he must release into the Loch Ness where it becomes the subject of an enduring Scottish legend. Cast includes Emily Watson, Brian Cox and Ben Chaplin.


INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

The Bucket List (PG-13 for profanity and a sexual reference) Oscar-winners Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman co-star in this bittersweet end-of-life saga as terminally-ill cancer patients who make a break from the hospital after compiling a checklist of everything they want to do before kicking the bucket. With Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd and Rowena King.

Honeydripper (PG-13 for ethnic slurs, brief violence and suggestive material) Danny Glover stars in this historical drama, set in rural Alabama in the Fifties, as the owner of a nightclub struggling to keep his place afloat by catering to the changing musical tastes of his clientele. Ensemble cast includes Charles S. Dutton, Stacy Keach, Sean Patrick Thomas, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Yaya DaCosta, and the film’s director, John Sayles.

Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (Unrated) Expose’ revisits how Hollywood has handled the Holocaust over the past 60 years, from the industry’s initial reluctance to cover the tragedy to its gradually depicting the tragedy’s unspeakable horrors in increasingly explicit fashion. Narrated by Gen Hackman, and with archival footage and commentary by Steven Spielberg, Liam Neeson, Sidney Lumet and Ben Kingsley.

The Orphanage (R for disturbing content) Supernatural suspense flick about a woman (Belen Rueda) who moves with her family into the abandoned, seaside orphanage where she was raised 30 years ago only to discover that the house is haunted when her young son (Roger Princep) is befriended by a ghost. (In Spanish with subtitles)

Persepolis (PG-13 for sexual references, profanity, mature themes, violent images and brief drug use) Feminist animated adventure, set at the dawn of the Iranian revolution in the late seventies, chronicles the resistance to the oppressive, fundamentalist Islamic regime displayed by a defiant young girl (Chiara Mastroianni) followed from the age of 9 to 24. (In French, Persian, German and English with subtitles)

Smiley Face (R for profanity, sexuality and drug use) Anna Faris stars in this comic misadventure about a day in the life of an aspiring, NYC actress who mistakenly eats a batch of her stoner roommate’s (Danny Masterson) Marijuana-laced brownies before setting out for an audition.

There Will Be Blood (R for violence) Daniel Day-Lewis stars in this adaptation of Oil!, Upton Sinclair’s classic, 1927 novel, a turn of the 20th Century epic chronicling the life of a self-made, California oil tycoon. With Paul Dano, Kevin J. O’Connor and Ciaran Hinds.