Volume IV No. 8/9

A publication of the National Association of Theatre Owners

Advertise in In Focus

©

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

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.

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

"House of Wax" — "Saw"

Current Issue Previous Issues Newswire Search  Table of Contents