Final Grade: A- When some directors decide to remake a film, especially a cinematic legend, it ends their careers. Peter Jackson decided to pay homage to one of the most spectacular movies of all time, and in the process created one of the most amazing cinematic experiences since 1933. Carl Denham (Jack Black) is on a search for the film of a lifetime, and the fame and fortune that will surely follow. What he finds is that his career is nearly over and no studio will fund his newest endeavor. Denham decides however, to take matters into his own hands by setting sail for an uncharted, uninhabited island. Playwright Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) finds himself caught up in Denham’s mess and is forced to accompany him to the filming location. What neither the ships crew nor Driscoll knows is that their voyage is to the mysterious Skull Island. The entire film is perfect in Denham’s mind, but the one piece that is missing is a leading actress. Denham convinces Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) to take the part to give her career a jumpstart.

Final Grade: B- Bank heists have been grist for the movie mill for almost as long as there have been movies. With such a long history, any movie in this genre that wants to stand out must choose its path with care to avoid becoming just another in a long tradition of cheap bank robbery flicks. Enter Inside Man, a moderately successful addition to the heist family brought to us by Spike Lee. Denzel Washington plays Detective Keith Frazier (with a ‘z’ as he puts it), a New York cop who must step up to the plate and pinch hit when a hostage situation develops at a local bank and the detective who normally would direct the police response is away. Frazier is eager for a chance to prove himself, as he has been implicated in a check cashing swindle by a drug lord trying to reduce his sentence. With his friend and colleague Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) supporting him, Frazier assumes command of the police barricade outside the bank. At first playing it by the book, Frazier begins to suspect that this robbery is not what it seems. The heist leader played by Clive Owen, exhibits behavior that Frazier can’t quite figure out, but he is sagacious enough to know that there is something more than a robbery and a demand for an airplane going on here. When Jodie Foster’s Madeliene White enters the picture asking to meet with the heist leader, with the full support of the New [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Final Grade: B- When poor Melquiades Estrada, an illegal immigrant and ranch hand from Mexico, is shot and killed, it takes three burials to get the job done right and give him peace. This is the story of his death, his necrography if you will. Julio Cedillo plays the character in the movie’s title, and upon coming to the US he befriends Pete Perkins, played by Tommy Lee Jones. The two become fast friends, and, as if by premonition, Melquiades makes Pete promise to bury him in his small home town in Mexico should he precede Pete in death. Not long after, he is shot by an overly enthusiastic border patrolman, Mike Norton from Cincinnati, played by Barry Pepper. In shock over what he has done, Mike hastily buries Melquiades, but the body is discovered and before long Pete Perkins has tracked down his friend’s killer. In the meantime, Melquiades has been reburied by the state, so Pete takes Mike hostage and forces him to exhume Melquiades. Traveling on horseback the two (or three, depending on how you look at it) begin a trek into Mexico so that Pete can keep his promise to his late friend.

Just this morning I watched for the first time, the trailer for the newly re-titled United 93. This film was very recently called Flight 93. As the title eludes to, this is a film that chronicles the doomed 4th plane that was hijacked on the morning of September 11, 2001. The film is directed by Paul Greengrass, whose previous work includes Bloody Sunday and The Bourne Supremacy. This trailer, unlike the previously released trailer for the film, shows actual footage, including but not limited to the terrorist hijackers and the other planes hitting the World Trade Center. And normally after seeing any trailer, I am left with a sense of whether or not the film looks interesting enough to see. Sadly this film disturbs me. Along with Oliver Stone‘s World Trade Center, this film represents what I can forsee as a upcoming slue of 9/11 films. And I am forced to deal with the internal conflict of whether it is too soon to be seeing movies such as this. I consider of some of the great films that have chronicled horrific tragedies in the history of man, Schindler’s List comes to mind, and I think about their timeliness and relevancy. Schinder’s List was made in 1993, long after the Holocaust had been over. And even though there are some in this world who are forever scared by the events that took place during that time period, there was a significant gap needed before a very powerful and honest film could [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Final Grade: C+ Derailed is one of your more standard psychological twist thrillers. What makes this film different however, is that Clive Owen and Jenifer Aniston’s performances keep your interest throughout the entire film all the way to its gritty ending. Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is an average businessman who makes the daily commute from his quaint suburban home to the bustling streets of Chicago. Charles finds himself merely content with his life and job when his life takes an unexpected turn. Missing his daily train, Charles befriends another commuter Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston) who leads a familiar lifestyle, and the two get to know each other behind the backs of their unsuspecting spouses. On the night that they decide to consummate their infidelity, both of their lives take a turn for the worst. During a series of events, Charles finds himself powerless to the deceit and entrapment in which he has become tangled. Charles is directed like a pawn into surrendering a life-savings and the security of those he loves. It is only when Charles pieces together the puzzle that he decides when and how to get his life back.

Final Grade: A- “Everything is illuminated in the light of the past” is a quote taken from possibly one of the most under-rated films of 2005, Everything is Illuminated. The film is a genuine, heartfelt, and humorous look at the self discovery one can only achieve through uncovering the past. Jonathan Safran Foer (Elijah Wood) maintains the memories of his relatives in individual baggies pinned on a wall in his home. When his dying grandmother shows Jonathan a photograph of his grandfather Safran and a mysterious woman named Augustine, he begins to question his roots and beginnings. Jonathan sets out for the Ukraine to discover more about his grandfather and the woman who saved his life from the Nazis during World War II. There he meets a family that runs a guide business catering to Jewish families that are trying to find the same things as Jonathan. Alex (Eugene Hutz) and his melancholy grandfather are employed to guide Jonathon towards his destination, and a clash of American and Eastern European cultures ensues. Alex has a keen interest in American culture, but Eastern Europe’s perspective of American way of life sadly consists mostly of 1980′s pop culture. Clad in Adidas jumpsuits and multiple gold necklaces, Alex embraces Americana by idolizing Michael Jackson, break-dancing, and the film Risky Business. Upon meeting Jonathon however, Alex’s view of Americans and wealthy Jews eventually changes for the better, and both men take an enlightening journey into the heart of their interweaving pasts.

This seems to be a very pathetic New Release Tuesday in my opinion. What makes a great set of new releases, you ask? It would have to be the fact that there are multiple great choices for consumers as they travel to their retail destinations to pick up the most recent renditions of theatrical greatness. And while this week’s releases include on of the absolute best films of 2005 in Capote, the excitement seems to die off there. Unfortunate is the fact that my runner up this week for “Pick of the Week” was the 50th Anniversary Edition of Cecil B. Demile’s The Ten Commandments, in which Charlton Heston is Moses. And while I do not feel that this week’s gathering of releases is strong, there are a few niche films that will draw out small crowds of fans who enjoy some of the quirky nuances of the film industry.

Final Grade: B- DVD Release Date: March 7, 2006 Prime is a sophisticated, character driven comedy set in New York City about a divorced woman dating a younger man, which is a basic enough story until it turns out the man she is dating, is her therapist’s son. The Film Newly divorced Rafi (Uma Thurman), 37, is a Manhattan businesswoman who’s surprised at how quickly love finds her, especially when it’s with a younger man of 23, Dave (Bryan Greenberg) an artist from Brooklyn. Dave’s mother (Meryl Streep) meanwhile is putting pressure on him to marry a Jewish girl within their faith. His mother is also Rafi’s psychiatrist. Yet, not knowing that Rafi is dating her son, she at first encourages her to ignore the age difference and to enjoy the new relationship, but when she hears her son is dating someone older she tells him to drop this now. Thus, problems ensue outside of their control despite being in love; especially when Rafi unknowingly and unabashedly tells Meryl about her sex life with her son.

Overall Rating: B In the post 9/11 world, can you imagine a major movie release in which the hero is a bomb planting terrorist/freedom fighter in a life and death struggle with his own government? Just such a bold movie is now in wide release, penned by the Wachowski brothers (Andy and Larry) and directed by their assistant director from the Matrix trilogy, James McTeigue. V for Vendetta, the first film to be helmed by James McTeigue, stars Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond and Hugo Weaving as V. The movie is set a few decades in the future, in a world where the US has collapsed into civil war and Britain, following a turbulent time referred to as The Reclamation, is now in the hands of one Adam Sutler, played by John Hurt. A strictly religious nationalist, Sutler has turned Britain into a right leaning police state in which dissent and diversity are not tolerated. Evey Hammond is a young woman who works for a television station who, despite the strictly enforced curfew, ventures out one night only to be accosted by a few men from an organization known as The Fingers. They are meant to enforce order in the society, and like many men with power they abuse it. With Evey they decide to have their way with her, but their plans are violently interrupted by V.

Final Grade: B I believe there is something to be said about the recent slue of romantic comedies to emerge from the depths of Hollywood’s money hungry elite. They have very often become event films, meant to draw a man and his date out of the confines of a creative evening on the town and into a show where men are put on trial for their inabilities in love. When you look at films like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Hitch, or even the very recent Failure to Launch you see an assortment of films that expose men as clumsy, incapable, and severely unlikely heroes in love. This seems to be the one factor that links all romantic comedies together, the screenwriter’s play on a man’s idiocy in his pursuit of love, laughter and happiness. It is often both entertaining and despicable in a very seamless way. How to Lose Your Lover, a film directed by Jordan Hawley, whose previous notoriety comes from penning various episodes of ephemeral television sitcoms, is a film that does not try to hide what it truly is: another romantic comedy with intentions of making its hero look like the most inept man of love in the entire world, and then bring him back to his reality and deliver love to his doorstep with only a few minor bumps and bruises to his formally large ego.

Woody Allen offers us his latest opus in Match Point. A tale at times foreboding, its purpose and tone remain veiled behind the conventions of another genre until a delicious plot twist reveals the true nature of the film. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Chris Wilton, a former professional tennis player who has realized he is not going to go far on the pro circuit of his chosen sport and so gives it up to become the local pro at a country club in London. There he befriends Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), a charming and elegant young man of wealth. They discover a shared interest in opera and as their friendship grows Chris starts seeing Tom’s sister Chloe, played by Emily Mortimer. Before a serious relationship blooms between them, Chris meets Tom’s fianc©e during a party at the Hewett estate. Played by Scarlett Johansson, the American Nola Rice is an aspiring young actress who is very versatile in the game of tease and seduction. It is to Chris’ great dismay that he soon learns she has promised herself to another, her unspoken yet virtual invitation to Chris notwithstanding. As the story progresses, Chris dances the line between playful flirting and outright seduction even as his relationship with the sweet and affable Chloe grows more serious.

Here are some trailers that you should be looking at for the upcoming week: A Scanner Darkly [Trailer]I was very intrigued by Richard Linklater’s earlier work, Waking Life. He has since committed near career suicide in his direction of a half-witted remake of The Bad News Bears. But even with that recent shortfall he seems to be coming back strong with another visually stunning feature in A Scanner Darkly. Keanu Reeves is less annoying now that the Matrix trilogy is complete, so it looks to be a solid one. V for Vendetta [Trailer]This seems to be one of the most anticipated films of the spring, right behind X-Men 3. From the Wachowski Brothers, whom you may be familiar with from the Matrix trilogy. V is the story of a freedom fighter in futuristic Britain who uses terrorist tactics to fight intollerance. The visual effects are sure to be world class, and with Natalie Portman thown in for support, you can’t go wrong. Scary Movie 4 [Trailer]Let’s see if we can repeat the success of the most recent Scary Movie flop… No Wayans brothers, but this one does include someone trying to kill Dr. Phil. And as much as that interests me, I don’t know if this one will escape being sentenced to weeks buried in my Netflix que. Poseidon [Trailer]Believe it or not, this is the first chance that I have had to look at the upcoming film, Poseidon. The trailer is very exciting, and the film appears to be [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Release Date: March 14, 2006 “A simple enough beginning, a record received as a Christmas gift. A record with a highly unusual title: The Mysterious Tale of How I Shouted Wrong-Eyed Jesus. It was record so full of strangeness you had to wonder. in a shrinking world. where this music comes from. This film sets out to look for that place.” The film, Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus is exactly what the above quotation describes. Jim White, the artist who made the mentioned record, guides the audience on a musical journey through the south. The typical stereotypes of the South are somewhat negative, but this film scratches past the surface. White helps you find beauty in a world that he never found beautiful until he left it behind. He and the film crew pile into a rusted 1970 Chevy and embark on a journey into the heart of the South.

Release Date: March 14, 2006 The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio stars Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson and is based on a true story and book, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less, which describes the focus of the movie. The Film Evelyn Ryan (Moore) is a devoted housewife and mother of 10 in the 1950s; A time period perfect for Moore since she looks so classic and has played a 50s housewife in Far From Heaven and The Hours. Her husband (Harrelson) can’t seem to make ends meet, especially since most of his paycheck goes to liquor. The mortgage payments and putting food on the table falls to Evelyn, defying conventions of the day. She continually finds a way to keep her family together by applying her resourcefulness and wit to winning poetry contests and writing jingles for prize competitions. She wins a supermarket shopping spree and other contests that provided washing machines and numerous other appliances the family couldn’t afford to buy on their own. The contests even delivered small sums of cash to pay the milk man. The film focuses on the era general sweepstakes that were open at the time and a common pursuit/hobby among housewives. This was interesting to me since I didn’t realize how almost every brand offered sweepstakes in order to entice consumers.

Have you ever wondered how people get into those test screenings that studios hold during the post-production process? Have you ever wondered what happens inside of the afore mentioned screenings? Well it seems that Chris Beaumont, a fellow BlogCritics.com contributor has the scoop on a recent experience that he had with a test screening: After expressing my interest, the next step was to try and get any information about the film that I could. Turns out, there was very little they were willing, or able, to offer. All that she would say was that it was a comedy. OK, I can deal with that; I just had to wait a few days in anticipation. Monday came, and I got to the theater, and was disappointed by what I saw. Yes, the screening was still going on, but there was a very small turnout. At 5:30, those who had shown up seemed to be mainly the friends and family of the students involved in organizing it. I got myself a seat in the middle towards the front of the auditorium and watched the film. Check out his entire review about a movie whose identity cannot be revealed. This article is a very awesome look inside the world of test screenings. I would definitely recommend reading it, and also checking out his other work on BlogCritics. Enjoy! Technorati: Movie Review, BlogCritics, Film, Cinema, Entertainment, Critic, Review, Test Screening, Production, Film Industry

Here is a quick rundown of what DVDs you should be heading to your local retailer to pick up on this Tuesday morning: Neil’s Pick of the Week: Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition) My personal pick for Best Director this year was George Clooney for his reverent and compelling biopic of Edward R. Murrow’s fight against Senator Joseph McCarthy and his anti-communist propaganda machine. This film moves similar to its soundtrack with a smooth and jazzy touch of a director on the verge of greatness. The film also delivers the amazing performance of David Strathairn, who played Murrow. His performance is both captivating and natural as the rigid yet idealistic Murrow. With all the hype and acclaim that this film was adorned, it is a no-brainer pick of the week. Our 2 Cents: Click Here to read Brian Gibson’s Review of the DVD. Click Here to buy Good Night, and Good Luck from Amazon.com Other Notable Releases after the jump…

Release Date: March 14, 2006 What if you woke up one day and mobsters from the east coast were accusing you of being someone from their past? What if they threaten you and your family if you don’t admit to being the person that they say you are? This film simply asks, what would you do? Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a family man living in the small rural town of Millbrook, Indiana. Tom has a beautiful wife (Mario Bello), two kids and a small diner to his name. When two psychopaths cross Tom’s path one fateful night in his small diner, he did what any man would do. His actions launched him into the media as an ‘American Hero’, and brought a large flow of visitors into his diner ranging from townspeople, reporters, and mobsters.

Release Date: March 14, 2006 A film shown in black and white, set in the 1950′s, and primarily with a subject matter concerning the birth of television news journalism would usually be considered boring. Except in this film, George Clooney’s homage to truth and accuracy in the mass media provides an experience that can be considered anything but boring. One of this years Oscar gems, Good Night, and Good Luck brings the world the inside story into one of the most intriguing media controversies in American History. It is the story of broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow and his producer, Fred Friendly. In the early 1950′s senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin began his witch hunt to expose the roots of Communism that he believed existed in the United States. His tactics included the use of intimidation and loose interpretation of the law. His parade of anti-communist sentiment was successful in exploiting the fears of the American people until the day that CBS reporter Murrow (David Strathairn) and Producer Friendly (George Clooney) decided to risk it all in order to bring light to the American people as to the undue prejudice that McCarthy was bringing on innocent Americans. What followed was one of the most explosive media controversies in history, and this is its story. This plot of Good Night, and Good Luck takes us through the early days of the resistance to McCarthyism that is put up by Murrow on his CBS show. The story is a steadily paced homage [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

There are so many issues that plague the everyday lives of most men in their mid 30′s: Should I be on time to work today? What should I pick up off of the floor and wear out tonight? When am I going to find the answers to inner peace? When should I move out of my parents’ house? Wait a minute, that last one doesn’t seem to be a very common quandry placed in the hands of your average man in his mid-30′s. But it is, however, the subject of the most recent romantic comedy from Paramount Pictures, appropriately named Failure to Launch. Failure to Launch is the story of Trip (Matthew McConaughey), the fearless and stubborn momma’s boy who is completely comfortable living at home with his parents. Much of Trip’s reluctance to spread his wings and move out of the house is based in the fact that he is able to carry on a worry-free existence. Trip’s mother Sue (Kathy Bates) does his laundry, cleans his room, cooks him breakfast in the morning, and along with his father Al (Terry Bradshaw) she allows Trip to stay home without worry or the slightest possibility of rent. On top of that, Trip’s two friends Ace (Justin Bartha) and Demo (Bradley Cooper) share in his glory of live at home bliss. That is until Trip’s folks decide to take action, hiring professional “motivator” Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker) to simulate a romance with Trip and cause him to man up and move [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Release Date: February 28, 2006 Going with the recent industry trend of making old films, comes yet another remake but of the family classic Yours, Mine and Ours, (which didn’t need to be remade in the first place but nonetheless has) and delivers another cute family film that unfortunately pales in comparison to the original 1968 version starring Lucille Ball and Peter Fonda. The Film A widowed Coast Guard Admiral who likes order and a tight ship falls in love and marries a free-spirited widow handbag designer, much to the dismay of her 10 and his 8 children. Unlike the original, the two parents have met before and were in fact high school sweethearts, which help explains their hasty marriage a bit more in today’s world. The new version also tries to explain the fact that Rene Russo’s character has 10 children and still looks the way she does by having several of her children be adopted from foster care. Thus adding another new element to the film, diversity, and more mismatched children. Basically like the recent remake of Cheaper by the Dozen, Yours, Mine and Ours is another “too many out-of-control children in one big loving home” story. Whereas the original focused on both the parents love story and the children trying to like each other story effectively, this film only dabbles in both and fails to create a whole package and instead relies on slapstick and child high-jinx for humor. It’s important to note that it’s produced by [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]