Grendelscott's Movie Corner: 10/17/05

grendelscott · 10-18-2005, 04:28 AM

The Top Ten For The Weekend Ending 10/16/05
Earnings are in Millions

The Fog $12.2
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit $11.7
Elizabethtown $11.0
Flightplan $6.5
In Her Shoes $6.1
Domino $4.7
Two for the Money $4.6
A History of Violence $3.6
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride $3.5
Waiting… $2.9

Due Out This Week

DOOM (Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

Something has gone wrong at a remote scientific research station on Mars. All research has ceased. Communication has failed. And the messages that do get through are less than comforting. It's a level 5 quarantine and the only souls allowed in or out are the Rapid Response Tactical Squad - hardened Space Marines armed to the teeth with enough firepower to neutralize the enemy... or so they think. The research being done at Odluval station has unwittingly opened a door and all hell has broken loose. A legion of nightmarish creatures of unknown origin lurk behind every wall and stalk the countless rooms and tunnels of the facility, killing what few people remain.

Sealing off the portal to Earth, Sarge (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), Reaper (Karl Urban) and their team must use every weapon at their disposal - and some they find along the way - to carry out their orders: nothing gets out alive.

The game that electrified a generation leaps from the computer screen to the big screen as a terrifying science-fiction action adventure that will transport moviegoers to a dark and disturbing future with all the visceral excitement and horror that made its gaming predecessor a global phenomenon.

“Doom,” the landmark videogame that electrified a generation, leaps from the computer screen to the big screen as a terrifying sci-fi horror action adventure, transporting audiences to a dark and disturbing future with all the visceral excitement and horror that made its gaming predecessor a global phenomenon.

The action takes place at Olduvai Research Station, a remote scientific facility on Mars, where something has gone terribly wrong. All experiments have ceased, and communication has failed. The few messages that do get through are less than comforting. It's Level 5 Quarantine, and the only souls allowed in or out are the Rapid Response Tactical Squad (RRTS) -- hardened Marines armed to the teeth with enough firepower to neutralize any enemy...or so they think.

The researchers at this Red Planet station have unwittingly opened a door, and all hell has broken loose. A legion of nightmarish creatures of unknown origin lurks in every corner and stalks the countless rooms and tunnels of the facility, killing what few people remain. A hellish zoo of demons, Imps, Barons and Hell Knights has taken over Olduvai. And they’re not giving it back without a fight.

Sealing off the portal to Earth, Sarge (The Scorpion King’s DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON), Reaper (The Lord of the Rings’ KARL URBAN) and their mercenary team must use every weapon at their disposal -- and some they find along the way -- to carry out their orders: nothing gets out alive. Unfortunately, these things never go as planned…

Doom stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (The Scorpion King, The Rundown, Walking Tall) as Sarge; Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Bourne Supremacy) as John Grimm, a.k.a. Reaper; and ROSAMUND PIKE (Die Another Day, Pride & Prejudice) as Dr. Samantha “Sam” Grimm. The film also stars RAZ ADOTI, DEOBIA OPAREI, BEN DANIELS, RICHARD BRAKE, YAO CHIN and AL WEAVER as members of the RRTS, and DEXTER FLETCHER as a wheelchair-bound communications officer.

Doom stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (The Scorpion King, The Rundown, Walking Tall) as Sarge; Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Bourne Supremacy) as John Grimm, a.k.a. Reaper; and ROSAMUND PIKE (Die Another Day, Pride & Prejudice) as Dr. Samantha “Sam” Grimm. The film also stars RAZ ADOTI, DEOBIA OPAREI, BEN DANIELS, RICHARD BRAKE, YAO CHIN and AL WEAVER as members of the RRTS, and DEXTER FLETCHER as a wheelchair-bound communications officer.
DREAMER: INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY (Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

Kurt Russell ("Miracle," "Sky High"), Dakota Fanning ("War of the Worlds," "Man on Fire") and Kris Kristofferson ("Lone Star") star in a drama about a father who, for the love of his daughter, sacrifices almost everything to save the life of an injured racehorse and bring the promising filly back to her former glory.

Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) was once a great horseman, whose gifts as a trainer were now being wasted on making other men's fortunes. Soñador—called Sonya—was a great horse whose promising future on the racetrack was suddenly cut short by a career-ending broken leg. Considered as good as dead to her owner, who also happens to be Ben's boss, Sonya is given to Ben as severance pay, along with his walking papers. Now, it will take the unwavering faith and determination of Ben's young daughter, Cale (Dakota Fanning), to bring these two damaged souls together in a quest for a seemingly impossible goal: to win the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Kristofferson stars as Ben Crane's father whose strained relationship with his son is bridged by their mutual hopes for Sonya. The main cast also includes Oscar® nominee Elisabeth Shue ("Leaving Las Vegas"), David Morse ("The Green Mile"), Freddy Rodriguez (HBO's "Six Feet Under"), Luis Guzmán ("Traffic") and Oded Fehr ("The Mummy").

"Dreamer: Inspired By a True Story" was written by John Gatins, who is also making his directorial debut on the movie. Mike Tollin ("Radio") and Brian Robbins ("Varsity Blues") are the producers, with Ashok Amritraj, Jon Jashni, Bill Johnson, Stacy Cohen and Caitlin Scanlon executive producing. The film will be distributed domestically by DreamWorks Pictures, with Hyde Park Entertainment handling the international release.
NORTH COUNTRY (Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

When Josey Aimes (Academy Award winner CHARLIZE THERON) returns to her hometown in Northern Minnesota after a failed marriage, she needs a good job. A single mother with two children to support, she turns to the predominant source of employment in the region – the iron mines.

The mines provide a livelihood that has sustained a community for generations. The work is hard but the pay is good and friendships that form on the job extend into everyday life, bonding families and neighborhoods with a common thread.

It’s an industry long dominated by men, in a place unaccustomed to change.

Encouraged by her old friend Glory (Academy Award winner FRANCES McDORMAND), one of the few female miners in town, Josey joins the ranks of those laboring to blast ore from rock in the gaping quarries. She is prepared for the back-breaking and often dangerous work, but coping with the harassment she and the other female miners encounter from their male coworkers proves far more challenging.

Times are tough. The last thing the miners want is women competing for scarce jobs – women who, in their estimation, have no business driving trucks and hauling rock anyway. If these newcomers want to work the mines they’ll have to do it on the terms set by the veteran workforce and it won’t be easy. Take it or leave it.

When Josey speaks out against the treatment she and her fellow workers face she is met with resistance – not only from those in power but from a community that doesn’t want to hear the truth, her disapproving parents and many of her own colleagues who fear she is only making things worse. In time, even her friendship with Glory will be tested, her already difficult connection with her father, a lifelong miner, will be pushed to its limit and elements of her personal life exposed to scrutiny. The fallout from Josey’s battle to make a better future for herself and her children will affect every aspect of her life, including her relationship with her young daughter and her sensitive teenage son, who must first cope with the embarrassment of his mother’s sudden notoriety and then face harsh details of her past she was hoping he would never have to know.

Through these struggles Josey will find the courage to stand up for what she believes in – even if that means standing alone.

Inspired by a true story, North Country follows Josey’s journey on a road that will take her farther than she ever imagined, ultimately inspiring countless others, and leading to the nation’s first-ever class action lawsuit for sexual harassment.
SHOPGIRL (Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

“As Ray Porter watches Mirabelle walk away, he feels a loss. How is it
possible, he wonders, to miss a woman who he kept at a distance, so that
when she was gone, he would not miss her? Only then does he realize how
in wanting part of her but not all of her, he had hurt them both, and he
cannot justify his actions except that, well, it was life.”

From one of today’s most beloved entertainers, Steve Martin, comes a very poignant and bittersweet look at modern relationships. SHOPGIRL follows the intertwined lives of three people searching for connection; but it is neither a conventional comedy nor a typical fairy-tale romance. Instead, it is a disarmingly tender exploration of love in the real world, of the confusion and miscommunication between men and women that throw a wrench in the works of so many contemporary love affairs. It is a story that raises provocative, conversation-sparking questions about the different things we want from love -- and about how sometimes we settle for what we need.

Written by Martin (based on his novella) and directed by acclaimed British director Anand Tucker (“Hilary and Jackie”), SHOPGIRL begins as three disparate Los Angelenos’ paths unexpectedly collide. Sweet but as yet unspectacular Mirabelle, played by one of the leading ladies of her generation, Claire Danes (“The Hours”), works in the unfrequented glove department at Saks Fifth Avenue by day and toils alone at her unfulfilled dreams of being an artist by night. All she wants is to be loved. When she meets Jeremy, portrayed by indie star Jason Schwartzman (“Rushmore”), a hapless young font-maker of little ambition and zero means, she begins an awkward relationship with him. Then along comes Steve Martin’s Ray Porter -- the older, wealthier, far more worldly charmer who sweeps Mirabelle completely off her feet.

Like a 21st century Jane Austen, Martin observes this unlikely trio as their completely different interpretations of who one another are and what their relationships mean lead to a tangle of misunderstandings and unexpected realizations. In the end, what happens to Mirabelle, Jeremy and Ray might not have been what any of them dreamed but, well, it was life.

Steve Martin writes, produces and stars in SHOPGIRL, based on his 2000 novella of the same name. The film is directed by Anand Tucker and produced by Ashok Amritraj and Jon Jashni for Hyde Park Entertainment, along with Martin. Andrew Sugerman serves as executive producer and Marcus A. Viscidi as co-producer. Bridgette Wilson-Sampras also stars in the film, along with Sam Bottoms, Frances Conroy and Rebecca Pidgeon.

In the year 2000, writer, actor, comic and entertainer Steve Martin made his debut as a novelist with a slim, even minimalist, 130-page-long story entitled Shopgirl. Although he had published several books of acclaimed essays previously, this deceptively simple tale was by far Martin’s most intimate and revealing work to date, exploring the funny choices and undoable mistakes people make in the universal human quest to find connection. The book was lauded by critics for its insightful look at the hopes, dreams -- and especially the delusions -- of men and women looking for love in the big city.

At the center of the story was an unusual heroine -- the shopgirl herself, Mirabelle, a naïve young Vermonter set adrift in Los Angeles’ numbing world of isolation until she suddenly meets Ray Porter, a smart, highly successful, 50-something millionaire who becomes enchanted by her. Ray shows Mirabelle the affection for which she has so long yearned…then turns her life completely upside down as she realizes that they have completely misunderstood one another. What she saw as a fairy-tale dream, he saw as a temporary pleasure -- and both of them, it seems, were wrong.
STAY (Trailer) (Official Site)

Source: Movie Web

In the space between desire and fear, between reality and illusion, between life and death lies a whole other alternate world that is brought to life in the mind-bending thriller STAY. From the acclaimed director of the award-winning Monster’s Ball and Finding Neverland, Marc Forster, comes this moving and mesmerizing double story that plunges beneath the surface of ordinary experience to take a man on a spiraling descent through the mysteries of identity, dreams and the very fabric of existence.

STAY appears at face value to be the suspenseful story of dedicated New York psychiatrist Sam Foster (EWAN McGREGOR) and his urgent attempt to stop a secretive and unusual young patient he inherited, Henry Lethem (RYAN GOSLING), from carrying out a planned suicide on the eve of his 21st birthday. But behind the primary tale of STAY lies a far more unsettling and surreal mystery: that of the reality-shattering effect that investigating Henry starts to have on Sam. As Sam is drawn deeper into the web of Henry’s life -- and then into the labyrinth of his subconscious -- at first it simply puts stress on Sam’s relationship with his artist girlfriend and former patient Lila (NAOMI WATTS). But soon Sam’s own tightly-held grip on the rational world begins to melt away. Faced with increasingly surreal encounters and a Manhattan transformed into a wildly shifting dreamscape, Sam can no longer figure out what is true and what is happening only in his head, nor where he begins and Henry ends.

So just who is Henry Lethem and why is he fracturing Sam’s reality so profoundly?

As clues and suspense simultaneously build to the story’s climax on the Brooklyn Bridge, both Sam -- and the audience -- must grapple with thought-provoking questions about perception, awareness, forgiveness and final moments of redemption. For it soon becomes clear that what is happening to Sam and Henry is taking place not in this world but in the twilight state between living and dying . . . a place where no one can stay for long.

With STAY, director Marc Forster creates a truly psychologically-based thriller -- forging an intensely symbolic and hypnotically visual world of dreams, delusions and the most unsettling states of mind human beings ever experience.

That's it for this week...