Grendelscott's Movie Corner: 11/22/05

[grendelscott]

The Top Ten For The Weekend Ending 11/20/05
Earnings are in Millions

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire $101.4
2. Walk the Line $22.4
3. Chicken Little $14.8
4. Derailed $6.5
5. Zathura $5.1
6. Jarhead $4.8
7. Get Rich or Die Tryin' $4.4
8. Saw II $3.9
9. The Legend of Zorro $2.3
10. Pride & Prejudice $2.1

Due Out This Week

THE ICE HARVEST

(Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

The Ice Harvest

Back to The Ice Harvest
"The Ice Harvest" is a wickedly funny thriller about thick thieves and thin ice.

It's Christmas Eve in rainy, icebound Wichita, Kansas, and this year Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) just might have something to celebrate. Charlie, an attorney for the sleazy businesses of Wichita, and his unsavory associate, the steely Vic Cavenaugh (Billy Bob Thornton), have just successfully embezzled $2,147,000 from Kansas City boss Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid).

Even so, the real prize for Charlie would be the stunning Renata (Connie Nielsen), who runs the Sweet Cage strip club. Charlie's fondest Christmas wish is to slip out of town with Renata. But, as daylight fades and a storm whirls, everyone from Charlie's drinking buddy Pete Van Heuten (Oliver Platt) to the local police begin to wonder just what exactly is in Charlie's Christmas stocking. For Charlie, the 12 hours of Christmas Eve are filled with nonstop twists and turns, both on the ice and off.

IN THE MIX

(Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

When New York's hottest nightclub deejay Darrell (Usher) saves a mob boss's life (Chazz Palminteri), he is rewarded for his bravery with the responsibilty of watching over the don's beautiful daughter Dolly (Emmanuelle Chriqui). The sparks soon begin to fly between this attractive couple from very different worlds, against her formidable father's wishes. Meanwhile, the don has other things on his mind—quashing a potential war with an arch-rival and controlling a young, ruthless challenger to his throne. In the end, all's fair in love and gangster warfare in this hip, romantic comedy, IN THE MIX. Directed by Ron Underwood and produced by John Dellaverson, the film's executive producers include Usher, Bill Borden, and Holly DavisCarter and Michael Paseornek.

JUST FRIENDS

(Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

“The ‘friend zone’ is like the penalty box of dating, only you
can never get out. Once a girl decides you’re her ‘friend,’ it’s
game over. You’ve become a complete non-sexual entity in
her eyes, like her brother, or a lamp.”
-Chris Brander

Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) has it all -- money, good looks and a flashy job as an LA music executive. But things weren’t always this way for him...

Back in high school in New Jersey in the 1990’s, Chris was shy, overweight and the butt of the cool crowd’s jokes. The only bright spot in his life was his friendship with Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart) a super-popular cheerleader and the hottest girl in school. For four years, these two best buds were inseparable, save for the occasional jock boyfriend of Jamie’s coming between them. But throughout high school, Chris was harboring a secret -- he was hopelessly in love with his best friend, Jamie. On the night of their high school graduation, Chris finally works up his courage and makes his feelings known. In
response, a surprised Jamie tells Chris that she loves him...like a brother. She proceeds to give him the “Just Friends” speech, the most painful words known to man. Enraged and humiliated, Chris declares himself no longer friends with Jamie and storms off.

Ten years later, Chris has reinvented himself as a smooth talking lady-killer, living large in Los Angeles. Chris’s boss, KC (Stephen Root), has just given him his most challenging job assignment yet -- turning spoiled socialite, diva and magazine pin-up girl Samantha James (Anna Faris) into a pop-singing sensation. The well-known fact that Chris and Sam used to date, and that she still carries a torch for him, makes it all the more hellish. But what Chris doesn’t realize is that his nightmare is just beginning.

The less than talented Sam doesn’t feel she can “create” unless Chris whisks her off to Paris. En route, a plane malfunction causes them to make an unexpected pit-stop in New Jersey – the first time Chris has been back in 10 years. Chris takes the opportunity to drop in on his overly excitable mom (Julie Hagerty) and smart-aleck brother, Mike (Christopher Marquette). However, Chris’ plans to only stay the night are detoured when he runs into Jamie Palamino working at the local bar. Suddenly faced with the chance to undo the past and “seal the deal” with the “just friends” girl of his dreams, Chris finds himself postponing Paris. This sets off a chain of events in which Chris tries to woo Jamie, all the while distracting the suspicious Samantha. Unbelievably, Chris is finding it more difficult to romance Jamie than it was 10 years ago.

The harder Chris tries, the deeper he finds himself entrenched in the ‘friend zone,’ the purgatory of dating where only platonic relationships flourish. When Dusty Dinkleman (Chris Klein), another ‘just friends’ guy from high school shows up, Chris’ fate seems doomed. Can one escape the clutches of the ‘friend zone?’ Is it possible to go from ‘just friend’ to boyfriend? Chris is about to find out the hard way...

RENT

(Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

“Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.
No other road. No other way.
No day but today.”

Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning revolutionary rock opera Rent tells the story of a group of bohemians struggling to express themselves through their art and “measuring their lives in love.” Against the gritty backdrop of New York’s East Village, these friends strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.

Rent’s diverse and unconventional community is made up of impassioned and defiant individuals. Roger (ADAM PASCAL) is an aspiring songwriter who has emotionally shut down after his girlfriend’s suicide. Despite his attraction, he is reluctant to start a new romance with his downstairs neighbor Mimi Marquez (ROSARIO DAWSON), an exotic dancer struggling with “baggage of her own.” Roger’s roommate Mark (ANTHONY RAPP) is a filmmaker trying to balance art and commerce. His girlfriend Maureen (IDINA MENZEL), a self-indulgent performance artist, recently left him for a lawyer named Joanne (TRACIE THOMS).

Also part of this close-knit circle is Tom Collins (JESSE L. MARTIN), a professor of philosophy who, after being mugged, is rescued by his soul mate, a high-spirited, street drummer, Angel Shunard (WILSON JERMAINE HEREDIA). Benny, (TAYE DIGGS), who alienated his friends after he married their landlord’s daughter, has reneged on his promise to provide rent-free artist space to his bohemian friends. Once a close friend, he is now viewed as the enemy, threatening them with eviction.

Inspired by Puccini’s classic opera “La Boheme,” “Rent” won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Obie Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, four Tony Awards and three Drama Desk awards -- all following the tragic, untimely death of its creator, Jonathan Larson, who passed away of an aortic aneurysm on the eve of the play’s first preview. The play went on to become a phenomenal success -- launching the careers of its stars and bringing a sense of excitement back to Broadway by introducing a young and eager audience to a musical theater work that carried with it a message of hope and love.

continued...

[grendelscott]

YOURS, MINE & OURS

(Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

In this family comedy, single parents Frank (Dennis Quaid) and Helen (Rene Russo) tie the knot... but with 18 children between them trying to sabotage the marriage, they discover that marriages -- and families -- can’t be built in a day.

When Frank Beardsley (DENNIS QUAID), a widower with eight children, runs into his high school sweetheart, Helen North (RENE RUSSO), it’s as if thirty years never passed! Helen, also a widow with ten kids of her own that include the six she and her husband adopted, feels the attraction as well. It’s no wonder they rush into marriage without telling their kids. True love can conquer all -- right?

Unfortunately for Frank and Helen, the families don’t mesh quite as easily as the newlyweds had hoped. They probably should have seen the culture clash coming: the disciplined Beardsleys run things by the book; for the energetic and vivacious Norths, there is no book. Helen’s kids aren’t pleased about moving and sharing rooms with a bunch of uptight strangers. Frank’s children have nothing in common with the unruly Norths. Since both sets of kids aren’t happy, they devise a plan to undermine the marriage and team up to plot the breakup. East meets west as the two families find a way to work together -- in order to separate!

Just when it appears that the kids have succeeded, they realize they like each other despite their differences -- they don’t want their families to split up! Can they save Frank and Helen’s marriage after they so brilliantly split them up? It’s up to Frank and Helen...

That's it for this week. Let me know what you think of the new format - like it, hate it, or otherwise...

[Ghost]

I like it alot GS. Shame that there's a limit on the pic posting but otherwise I like it. Nice update!