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Volume
IV No. 8/9
A
publication of the National Association of Theatre Owners
Advertise
in In Focus
©
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| Around
the Bend
Drama about four generations of men who embark on
a road trip to uncover a family secret. Jordan Roberts
makes his directorial debut from his own screenplay.
With Michael Caine (“The Statement”),
Christopher Walken (“The Stepford Wives”),
Josh Lucas (“Wonderland”), Glenne Headly
(“Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen,” “Eulogy”),
Preston Marsh and Jonah Bobo. R: Language. Oct. 15.
Warner Independent Pictures.
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Being
Julia
Drama, set within the theatrical community of 1930s
London, about a revered 46-year-old actress who
finds her life upended by a quiet stranger. Based
on the novel “Theatre” by W. Somerset
Maugham (“Up at the Villa”). Directed
by István Szabó (“Sunshine,” “Taking
Sides”) from a screenplay by Ronald Harwood
(“Taking Sides,” “The Statement”).
With Annette Bening (“Open Range”),
Jeremy Irons (“And Now Ladies & Gentlemen”),
Bruce Greenwood (“Hollywood Homicide,” “I,
Robot”), Maury Chaykin (“Owning Mahowny”),
Miriam Margolyes (“Chasing Liberty”),
Sheila McCarthy (“The Day After Tomorrow”)
and Michael Gambon (the “Harry Potter” series, “Sky
Captain and the World of Tomorrow”). Oct.
15. Sony Pictures Classics.
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The
Child I Never Was
German-language drama based on a true story of
Juergen Bartsch, who between 1962 and 1966 tortured
and killed four boys in Germany’s Ruhr
District. Based on the book by Paul Moor. Written
and directed by Kai Pieck. With Sebastian Urzendowsky,
Tobias Schenke, Ulrike Bliefert, Walter Gontermann,
Jürgen Christophe Kamcke and Roland Riebeling.
83 min. Oct. 8 in New York and Los Angeles. Strand.
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Criminal
Remake of the Argentine drama about two con artists
who join in a high-profile scam involving counterfeit
stamps. Producer and longtime assistant director
Gregory Jacobs (“Full Frontal,” “Solaris”)
makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay
by Jacobs and Steven Soderbergh (“Nightwatch,” “Solaris”).
With Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Mona Lisa Smile”),
Diego Luna (“The Terminal”), John
C. Reilly (“The Hours”), Peter Mullan
(“Young Adam”), Brandon Keener (“Catch
Me If You Can”), Zitto Kazann (“Thirteen
Days”) and Jonathan Tucker (“Stateside”).
R: Language. Sept. 10. Warner Independent Pictures.
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Dig!
Documentary about the complicated friendship shared
by two rock & roll frontmen: The Dandy Warhol’s
Courtney Taylor and Brian Jonestown Massacre’s
Anton Newcombe. Written and directed by Ondi Timoner.
110 min. Oct. 1. Palm.
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Eulogy
Comedy about three generations of relatives who
happen upon long-lost secrets and stories while
gathered at the funeral of their family’s
patriarch. Michael Clancy makes his feature
directorial debut from his own screenplay.
With Hank Azaria (“Along Came Polly”),
Zooey Deschanel (“Elf”), Famke
Janssen (“X2”), Jesse Bradford
(“Swimfan”), Glenne Headly (“Confessions
of a Teenage Drama Queen,” “Around
the Bend”), Kelly Preston (“Dr.
Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat”), Rip
Torn (“Welcome to Mooseport”),
Paget Brewster (“The Specials”),
Piper Laurie (“The Faculty”), Michael
Panes (“The Anniversary Party,” “Fabled”),
Debra Winger (“Radio”) and Ray
Romano (“Welcome to Mooseport”).
Flat. R: Language; sexual content; drug use.
Oct. 29. Lions Gate.
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The
Final Cut
Science-fiction thriller, set in a world where
people have life-recording microchips implanted
into their brains, about a man in charge of
the “final cuts” of recorded lives,
and the information he discovers that puts
his life in danger. Written and directed by
Omar Naim. With Robin Williams (“Insomnia”),
Mira Sorvino (“Gods and Generals”),
Jim Caviezel (“Bobby Jones: Stroke of
Genius,” “I Am David”), Stephanie
Romanov (“Thirteen Days”), Mimi
Kuzyk (“The Human Stain”) and Geneviere
Buechner. Scope. PG-13: Mature thematic material;
some violence; sexuality; language. Sept. 10
in New York and Los Angeles. Lions Gate.
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The Flight
of the Phoenix
Action thriller,
set in the Mongolian desert, about a group of plane-crash
survivors who are doomed to perish if they cannot
build a flight-worthy vehicle from their plane’s
wreckage. A remake of the 1966 action adventure.
Directed by John Moore (“Behind Enemy Lines”)
from a screenplay by Scott Frank (“Out of Sight,” “Minority
Report”). With Dennis Quaid (“The Day
After Tomorrow”), Giovanni Ribisi (“Cold
Mountain,” “Sky Captain and the World
of Tomorrow”), Jacob Vargas (“Dragonfly”),
Tony Curran (“The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”),
Miranda Otto (“Close Your Eyes”) and
Tyrese (“2 Fast 2 Furious”). Oct. 22.
Fox. |
Friday Night
Lights
Comedy-drama,
set over an entire football season, about the obsession
with high school gridiron hoopla and pageantry in
Odessa, Texas. Based on the 1990 bestseller by H.G.
Bissinger. Directed by Peter Berg (“The Rundown”)
from a screenplay by Berg and David Aaron Cohen (“The
Devil’s Own”). With Billy Bob Thorton
(“The Alamo”), Derek Luke (“Spartan”),
Garrett Hedlund (“Troy”), Jay Hernandez
(“Torque,” “Ladder 49”),
Lucas Black (“Cold Mountain”), Connie
Britton (“The Next Big Thing”) and country
music singer Tim McGraw. Oct. 15. Universal. |
The Grudge
Thriller
about a young woman who stumbles across a chain of
people who inexplicably become consumed with uncontrollable
rage, then die. An English-language remake of the
hit Japanese thriller “Ju-on.” Takashi
Shimizu, who wrote and directed “Ju-on,” directs
from a screenplay by Stephen Susco. With Sarah Michelle
Gellar (“Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”),
Jason Behr (“The Shipping News”), Clea
DuVall (“A Slipping Down Life”), Kadee
Strickland (“The Stepford Wives,” “Anacondas:
The Hunt for the Blood Orchid”), Bill Pullman
(“Twentynine Palms”), Ted Raimi (the “Spider-Man” series”),
Rosa Blasi (TV’s “Strong Medicine”),
Grace Zabriskie (“Armageddon”), Yuya
Ozeki (“Ju-on,” “Ju-on 2”)
and Takako Fuji (“Ju-on,” “Ju-on
2”). Flat. R: Some disturbing images. Oct.
29. Sony. |
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After
Midnight
Italian-language drama, set in Turin, Italy, about
a young woman who, while hiding from the police
in the National Museum of Cinema, falls for a film
buff who works as a guard there. Written and directed
by Davide Ferrario. With Giorgio Pasotti (“The
Last Kiss”), Francesca Inaudi, Francesca
Picozza, Fabio Troiano and Ladis Zanini. Also known
as “Dopo Mezzanotte.” 89 min. Sept.
24. Avatar.
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Asylum
Drama, set at a maximum-security psychiatric
house in the London suburbs during the summer
of 1959, about what happens when the wife of
the facility’s superintendant falls for
one of the patients. Based on the novel by Patrick
McGrath (“Spider”). Directed by David
Mackenzie (“Young Adam”) from a screenplay
by Patrick Marber. With Natasha Richardson (“Maid
in Manhattan”), Marton Csokas (“The
Bourne Supremacy”), Sean Harris (“24
Hour Party People”), Ian McKellen (the “Lord
of the Rings” series), Hugh Bonneville
(“Iris,” “Stage Beauty”)
and Joss Ackland (“K-19: The Widowmaker”).
Oct. 29 limited. Paramount Classics.
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Cellular
Thriller about a young man who decides to help a
stranger: a kidnapped woman who says she doesn’t
know where she is – and is contacting him on
a cell-phone with a dying battery. Directed by David
Ellis (“Final Destination 2”) from a
screenplay by Chris Morgan. With Chris Evans (“The
Perfect Score”), Kim Basinger (“The Door
in the Floor”), William H. Macy (“Spartan”),
Jason Statham (“The Italian Job”), Jessica
Biel (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) and
Eric Christian Olsen (“Dumb and Dumberer: When
Harry Met Lloyd”). Sept. 17. New Line.
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The
Cookout
Comedy about a basketball star who, having been
plucked as the NBA’s number-one draft pick,
invites all of his friends over to his mansion
for a raucous celebration. Lance Rivera makes
his feature directorial debut from a screenplay
by Ramsey Gbelawoe, Jeffrey Brian Holmes and
Laurie Turner. With Ja Rule (“Scary Movie
3”), Queen Latifah (“Barbershop 2:
Back in Business,” “Taxi”),
Tim Meadows (“Mean Girls”), Danny
Glover (“The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Saw”),
Farrah Fawcett (“Dr. T & the Women”),
Eve (“Barbershop 2: Back in Business”),
Meagan Good (“You Got Served”), Jonathan
Silverman (“Made”), Quaran Pender
and Godfrey Danchimah (“Soul Plane”).
Flat. PG-13: Drug content; sexual references;
language. Sept. 3. Lions Gate.
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Dear
Frankie
Drama, set in coastal Scotland, about a single
mother who finds herself relying on a stranger
to reinforce a lie she has long told her 9-year-old
deaf son. Directed by Shona Auerbach from a screenplay
by Andrea Gibb. With Emily Mortimer (“Young
Adam,” “Bright Young Things”),
Gerard Butler (“Timeline”), Sharon
Small (“About a Boy”), Jack McElhone
(“Young Adam”), Mary Riggans and Sean
Brown. 102 min. PG-13: Language. Oct. 22 in New
York and Los Angeles. Miramax.
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Enduring
Love
British drama about a man who finds his relationship
with his girlfriend imperiled after a deranged
man becomes obsessed with him. Based on the novel
by Ian McEwan (“The Innocent,” “First
Love, Last Rites”). Directed by Roger Michell
(“The Mother”) from a screenplay by
Joe Penhall. With Daniel Craig (“The Mother”),
Rhys Ifans (“Once Upon a Time in the Midlands,” “Danny
Deckchair,” “Vanity Fair”), Samantha
Morton (“In America,” “Code 46”),
Susan Lynch (“Casa de Los Babys”),
Corin Redgrave (“Close Your Eyes”),
Roger Frost (“The Bourne Identity”)
and Bill Nighy (“Underworld”). Sept.
17 limited. Paramount Classics.
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Fabled
Thriller about a man whose guilt, paranoia, madness
and fear of “monsters” grow more intense
after he breaks up with his girlfriend. Ari Kirschenbaum
makes his feature directorial debut from his own
screenplay. With Desmond Askew (“Go”),
Katheryn Winnick (“50 First Dates”),
J. Richey Nash, Michael Panes (“The Anniversary
Party,” “Eulogy”), Douglas Wert
(“The Object of My Affection”), Tony
Cucci (“The Thomas Crown Affair”) and
Deven May. Flat. 84 min. Oct. 8. Indican.
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Finding
Neverland
Drama
based on the true story of how J.M. Barrie was
inspired to write “Peter Pan” by the kids next
door, whose father had left them and whose mother
was dying. Based on the play “The Man Who Was
Peter Pan” by Allan Knee. Directed by Marc
Forster (“Monster’s Ball”) from
a screenplay by David Magee. With Johnny Depp (“Secret
Window”), Kate Winslet (“Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind”), Julie Christie (“Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”), Dustin
Hoffman (“Runaway Jury,” “I Heart
Huckabees”), Ian Hart (“Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer’s Stone”), Kelly Macdonald
(“Intermission”) and Radha Mitchell (“Man
on Fire”). PG: Mild thematic elements; brief
language. Oct. 22. Miramax.
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The
Forgotten
Thriller
about a grieving mother who, after discovering her
8-year-old son mysteriously disappeared during an
airplane crash, learns with the help of a psychoanalyst
that her son never actually existed. Directed by
Joseph Ruben (“Money Train,” “Return
to Paradise”) from a screenplay by Gerald DiPego
(“Angel Eyes”). With Julianne Moore (“Laws
of Attraction”), Dominic West (“Mona
Lisa Smile”), Gary Sinise (“The Big Bounce”),
Alfre Woodard (“Radio”) and Anthony Edwards
(“Northfork”). Flat. Sept. 24. Sony. |
Ghost
in the Shell 2: Innocence
Animated
Japanese sci-fi thriller about an idealistic cyborg
who is called to investigate a malfunctioning and
life-threatening female robot. Based on the comic
book series “Koukaku-Kidoutai” by Masamune
Shirow. Returnees from the 1996 original include
director-screenwriter Mamoru Oshii. PG-13: Violence;
disturbing images; brief violence. Sept. 17. Go Fish. |
Head
in the Clouds
Epic
romantic drama, set in 1930s Europe, about a pair
of Brits – a Cambridge student and a fashion
photographer – who find their youthful romance
rekindled when they’re reunited in war-torn
Spain. Written and directed by John Duigan (“Lawn
Dogs,” “Molly”). With Charlize
Theron (“Monster”), Stuart Townsend (“The
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”), Penélope
Cruz (“Gothika”), Thomas Kretschmann
(“The Pianist,” “Resident Evil:
Apocalypse”) and Amy Sloan (“The Day
After Tomorrow”). Sept. 17. Sony Pictures Classics. |
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