Thursday, March 20, 2008

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 March 28, 2008


BIG BUDGET FILMS

21 (PG-13 for violence, sexuality and partial nudity) Vegas casino caper recalls the real-life exploits of a quintet of card-counting MIT students who, with the help of their math professor (Kevin Spacey), beat the house for millions in winnings. Cast includes Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Jim Sturgess and Aaron Yoo.

Run, Fatboy, Run (PG-13 for crude humor, profanity, sexuality, nudity and smoking) David Schwimmer makes an impressive directorial debut with this romantic comedy about a chubby loser (Simon Pegg) looking for a second chance to impress the ex-fiancĂ©e (Thandie Newton) he’d abandoned at the altar on their wedding day five years ago after getting cold feet because she was pregnant. Supporting cast includes Hank Azaria, Harish Patel and India de Beaufort.

Stop Loss (R for graphic violence and pervasive profanity) Iraq War saga about the emotional toll exacted on an honorably-disharged veteran (Ryan Phillippe) and his family when he is ordered by the Army to return to Baghdad for another tour of duty. With Rob Brown, Channing Tatum and Ciaran Hinds.

Superhero Movie (PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, crude humor, slapstick violence and drug references) Leslie Nielsen, Tracy Morgan and Pamela Anderson are among the large ensemble cast in this parody of the superhero genre which satirizes a host of comic book screen adaptations including Fantastic Four, X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman.


INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Alexandra (Unrated) Man’s inhumanity to man is the theme of this introspective road flick revolving around an elderly Russian woman’s (Galina Vishnevskaya) visit to the army base in Chechnya where her grandson’s (Vasily Shevtsov) battle-hardened unit is stationed. (In Russian and Chechen with subtitles)

American Zombie (Unrated) Horror comedy, directed by Grace Lee (The Grace Lee Project) chronicles the efforts of a couple of filmmakers (John Solomon and Grace Lee) to document the challenging daily lives of four zombies facing discrimination in Los Angeles.

Backseat (Unrated) Buddy road comedy revolving around the male-bonding opportunity afforded when a couple of thirty-something slackers (Robert Bogue and Josh Alexander) opt to drive from NYC to Montreal to try to meet actor Donald Sutherland.

Chapter 27 (R for profanity and sexuality) Grim drama reconstructs events unfolding in the life of assassin Mark David Chapman (Jared Leto) in the days leading up to the killing of John Lennon (Mark Lindsay Chapman). With Lindsay Lohan as an obsessed Beatle fan, Mariko Takai as Yoko, Judah Friedlander as Paul, and Lauren Milberger as Gilda Ratner.

The Cool School (Unrated) Beat Generation documentary revisits the rise of California‘s “Cool School” of modern artists who emerged in the Fifties with the help of the legendary Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.

Flawless (PG-13 for brief profanity) Crime caper, set in London in 1960, about a disgruntled executive (Demi Moore) at a diamond importer who is enlisted by the company’s about-to-retire janitor (Michael Caine) in a scheme to steal a cache of priceless jewels from their employer.

My Brother Is an Only Child (Unrated) Something must have gotten lost in the translation of the oxymoronic title of this dysfunctional family comedy, set in rural Italy in the Sixties, chronicling the relationship of two siblings, one (Elio Germano), a neo-Fascist, the other (Ricardo Scamarcio), a Communist Party organizer. (In Italian with subtitles)

Priceless (PG-13 for nudity and sexuality) Audrey Tautou stars in this French farce as a scheming gold digger in search of a wealthy sugar daddy who seduces a shy bartender (Gad Elmaleh), mistakenly believing him to be a multi-millionaire. (In French with subtitles)

Shotgun Series (PG-13 for violence, mature themes and brief profanity) The death of a patriarch who fathered seven sons with a couple of different women sparks a bloody family feud between his two warring strains of heirs in this Shakespearean tragedy set amidst the cotton fields of a sleepy, Southern Arkansas town.

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