Volume V No. 2

A publication of the National Association of Theatre Owners

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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 (“Bright Young Things”), Gerard Butler (“The Phantom of the Opera”), Sharon Small (“About A Boy”), Jack McElhone (“Young Adam”), Mary Riggans and Sean Brown. Flat. 104 min. PG-13: Language. March 4 in New York and Los Angeles. Miramax.

 

Guess Who
Ethnicity-reversed remake of the 1967 comedy “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner,” this time about a young white man’s battle to win over the father of the black girlfriend he wants to marry. Kevin Rodney Sullivan (“How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” “Barbershop 2: Back in Business”) directs from a screenplay by Jay Scherick & David Ronn (“I Spy,” “National Security”) and Peter Tolan (“Analyze That,” “Stealing Harvard”). Ashton Kutcher (“The Butterfly Effect”), Bernie Mac (“Ocean’s Twelve”), Zoe Saldana (“The Terminal”), Jessica Cauffiel (“White Chicks,” “D.E.B.S”), Chad Gabriel (“After the Sunset”) and Judith Scott (“Dunston Checks In”) star. Flat. 104 min. March 25. Sony.

 

 

Hostage
Drama about a cop who, haunted by a botched LAPD hostage negotiation, retreats to a quiet job in an upscale suburb’s two-man police department – only to endure a personal nightmare when his own wife and daughter are kidnapped. Based on the novel by Robert Crais (“El Secuesto”). Directed by Florent Emilio Siri (“Nid de guepes”) from a screenplay by Doug Richardson (“Die Hard 2,” “Bad Boys,” “Money Train”). With Bruce Willis (“The Whole Ten Yards”), Kevin Pollak (“The Whole Ten Yards”), Ben Foster (“The Punisher”), Serena Scott Thomas (“The World is Not Enough”), Rumer Willis (“The Whole Nine Yards”), Kim Coates (“Assault on Precinct 13”), Marshall Allman (“Little Black Book”), Michelle Horn (“Stuart Saves His Family”), Jonathan Tucker (“Criminal”) and Johnny Messner (“Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid”). R: Strong graphic violence; language; some drug use. March 11. Miramax.

 

The Jacket
Supernatural thriller about an imprisoned clairvoyant who embarks upon a strategy of survival after he learns his violent death will occur in one week. Directed by John Maybury (“Love is the Devil”) from a screenplay by Massy Tadjedin. With Adrien Brody (“The Village”), Keira Knightley (“King Arthur”), Jennifer Jason Leigh (“The Machinist”), Kris Kristofferson (“Blade: Trinity”), Kelly Lynch (“Joe Somebody”), Daniel Craig (“Enduring Love”), Stephen Mackintosh (“The Mother”), Tara Summers (“Alfie”), Brad Renfro (“Deuces Wild”) and Mackenzie Phillips (“More American Graffiti”). Scope. R: Violence; language; brief sexuality/nudity. March 4. Warner Independent Pictures.

 

 

A League of Ordinary Gentlemen
Documentary about pro bowlers and their lives following the near-disappearance of televised bowling tournaments in the late 1990s. Christopher Browne makes his feature directorial debut. With appearances by Wayne Webb (“Latter Days”) and Walter Ray Williams, considered by many the best bowler of all time. Flat. 100 min. March 18. Picture This.

 

Be Cool
Comedy about how Chili Palmer, the Miami mob enforcer (and film producer) at the center of “Get Shorty,” helps a struggling singer on the run from the Russian mafia. Based on the novel by Elmore Leonard (“Get Shorty,” “Out of Sight” “The Big Bounce”). Returnees from “Get Shorty” include John Travolta (“Ladder 49,” “A Love Song for Bobby Long”) as Chili and Danny DeVito (“Big Fish”) as Martin Weir. Newcomers to the franchise include director F. Gary Gray (“A Man Apart,” “The Italian Job”), screenwriter Peter Steinfeld (“Drowning Mona,” “Analyze That”), and actors Uma Thurman (the “Kill Bill” series), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (“Walking Tall”), Cedric the Entertainer (“Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”), Harvey Keitel (“National Treasure”), Vince Vaughn (“Anchorman”), Christina Milian (“Torque,” “Man of the House”), Andre Benjamin (“Hollywood Homicide”), Robert Pastorelli (“Bait”), Paul Adelstein (“Collateral”) and Debi Mazar (“Collateral”). Scope. PG-13: Violence; sensuality; language including sexual references. March 4. MGM.

 

D.E.B.S
Action comedy about popular high school girls recruited to serve as top government spies for an elite national defense agency. Angela Robinson makes her directorial debut from her own screenplay. With Sara Foster (“The Big Bounce”), Jordana Brewster (“The Fast and the Furious”), Devon Aoki (“2 Fast 2 Furious”), Jill Ritchie (“Breakin’ All the Rules”), Meagan Goode (“The Cookout”), Michael Clarke Duncan (“Daredevil”), Holland Taylor (“Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over”), Jessica Cauffiel (“White Chicks”), Jenny Mollen (TV’s “Angel”) and Roger Fan (“Stuck on You”). Scope. 91 min. PG-13: Sexual content; language. March 25. IDP.

 

The Honeymooners
Comedy, set in New York City, about bus driver Ralph Kramden and his feisty wife Alice, who, together with their best friends Trixie and Ed Norton, have big plans to get rich quick – until Ralph loses all their money in a crazy scheme meant to impress Alice. Based on the classic Jackie Gleason-Art Carney TV series. Directed by John Schultz (“Like Mike”) from a screenplay by Barry Blaustein & David Sheffield (the “Nutty Professor” series), Don Rhymer ( “The Santa Clause 2,” “Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London”), Saladin K. Patterson (“The Fighting Temptations”) and Danny Jacobson (TV’s “Mad About You”). With Cedric the Entertainer (“Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Be Cool”), Mike Epps (“Resident Evil: Apocalypse”), Regina Hall (“Scary Movie 3”), Gabrielle Union (“Breakin’ All the Rules”), Eric Stoltz (“The Butterfly Effect”), John Leguizamo (“Assault on Precinct 13”), Jon Polito (“The Last Shot”) and Anne Pitoniak (“Unfaithful”). March 11. Paramount.

 

 

Ice Princess
Romantic comedy-drama about an awkward teen whose hopes of becoming a champion figure skater are tied to the help of a disgraced coach. Directed by Tim Fywell (“I Capture the Castle”) from a screenplay by Hadley Davis (TV’s “Scrubs”). With Michelle Trachtenberg (“Eurotrip”), Hayden Panettiere (“Racing Stripes”), Joan Cusack (“Raising Helen”), Kim Cattrall (“Crossroads”), Trevor
Blumas and Juliana Cannarozzo. Scope. March 18. Buena Vista.

 

 

King’s Ransom
Comedy-drama about a wealthy businessman who arranges his own kidnapping in an attempt to thwart his money-hungry wife, who intends to divorce him. Directed by Jeff Byrd from a screenplay by Wayne Conley (TV’s “Kenan & Kel). With Anthony Anderson (“Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle”), Leila Arcieri (“Daddy Day Care”), Glenn Bang (“Mimic”), Larry Day (“Jack Paradise”), Loretta Devine (“Woman Thou Art Loosed”), Brooke D’Orsay (“Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle”), Ilona Elkin (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”) and Nicole Ari Parker (“Brown Sugar”). PG-13: Crude and sexual humor; language. Feb. 25 limited. New Line.

 

Melinda
and Melinda

Comedy-drama about a group of dining companions who, over dinner, twice concoct the tale of a troubled young Midwestern woman looking for love in Manhattan – telling the story alternately as a tragedy and as a comedy. Written and directed by Woody Allen (“Hollywood Endings,” “Anything Else”). With Will Ferrell (“Anchorman”), Radha Mitchell (“Finding Neverland”), Amanda Peet (“The Whole Ten Yards”), Vinessa Shaw (“40 Days and 40 Nights”), Chloë Sevigny (“Shattered Glass”), John Lee Miller (“Dracula 2000”), Steve Carrell (“Anchorman”), Josh Brolin (“Hollow Man”), Zak Orth (“Wet Hot American Summer”), Wallace Shawn (“The Haunted Mansion”), Gene Saks (“Deconstructing Harry”), Brooke Smith (“Bad Company”), Chiwetel Ejiofor (“She Hate Me”) and David Aaron Baker (“Two Weeks Notice”). Flat. March 11 limited. Fox Searchlight.

 

 

 

 

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