Opening in Wide release:
- "Ghost Town" - After being dead for seven minutes, a man is miraculously revived to discover that he has the annoying ability to see ghosts. Think kind of a romantic comedy version of "The Sixth Sense." Looks kinda so-so, but the casting of Ricky Gervais in the lead role (he played the equivalent of Michael Scott on the original British version of "The Office") definitely adds some potential for laughs. Rated PG-13.
- "Igor" - A hunchback lab assistant has big dreams of becoming a mad scientist and winning first place at the annual Evil Science Fair. This animated film looks like it could be fun for younger kids, but I don't understand why the studio didn't wait until Halloween to release this. Rated PG.
- "Lakeview Terrace" - Samuel L. Jackson is a tightly-wound LAPD officer who terrorizes the young interracial couple that moves into the house next door. Movies like this usually start off strong before degenerating into violent action. Whether that happens with this film is unknown to me, but Jackson almost always makes the films he's in worth watching. I also love that they apparently filmed this movie while the wildfires were blazing out of control: watching the world burn behind the characters definitely adds to the incendiary elements of the film.
- "My Best Friend's Girl" - Kate Hudson stars as a dream girl who poses a dilemma for a lovestruck ex (Jason Biggs) and his best buddy (Dane Cook), the master "rebound specialist." None of the characters seem likable at all, and seems to feed into the douche-bag persona that Cook likes to portray himself as being. I liked him in "Dan In Real Life," but I'm staying far away from this one. Rated R.
Opening in Selected release:
- "Appaloosa" - Ed Harris (who also directs) and Viggo Mortensen are gunmen hired to police a small, lawless town suffering at the hands of a renegade rancher. Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons also star. I'm normally not a huge fan of westerns, but this one looks pretty awesome. And I'm definitely up for seeing Harris and Mortensen re-team; their scenes together in 2005's "A History of Violence" were the best parts of that film. "Appaloosa" looks like a sure-fire winner. Rated R.
- "Battle in Seattle" - The true story of what happened at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999, when what was planned to be a peaceful protest turned into a full-scale riot. Not a lot of people understand what really happened at these protests, and this looks to be a very well-made recreation of these events. The film stars Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson and Andre Benjamin of Outkast, among others. Rated R.
- "The Duchess" - Keira Knightley stars as the Duchess of Devonshire, and 18th century aristocrat who becomes involved in a passionate affair that threatens to erupt into scandal. It wouldn't be another year with Knightley appearing a film wearing some kind of corset and/or crazy wig. That being said, there aren't many other actors out there who can do it as well as she can. Looks worth seeing if you like this kind of thing. Also stars Ralph Fiennes and Hayley Atwell. Rated PG-13.
- "Hounddog" - Dakota Fanning stars as a young girl who survives her tough life in 1950s rural Alabama by listening to the music of Elvis Presley. This movie sparked major controversy when it was shown in film festivals because it features Fanning in a very disturbing rape scene. From what I saw in the trailer, the movie looks to be kind of strange and disjointed. Fanning has a similar-looking (but far less dark) film coming out next month called "The Secret Life of Bees;" I'd avoid "Hounddog" and wait for "Bees." Rated R.
- "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers" - A retired widower from Beijing decides to visit his recently divorced daughter, who is less-than-pleased about his prying into her life. This looks to be a very good film about the relationships between people, whether they're family members or complete strangers. If you don't mind slower-paced movies, I strongly recommend looking out for this one. Not rated, and looks to contain nothing particularly objectionable.
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