Volume V No. 3

A publication of the National Association of Theatre Owners

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April’s Shower
Comedy about a young woman whose bridal shower takes an unexpected turn when her best friend unexpectedly confesses her true love to the bride-to-be. Written and directed by Trish Doolan. With Doolan, Maria Cina (“The Amati Girls”), Randall Batinkoff (“As Good as it Gets”), Denise Miller, Zack Ward (“Resident Evil”), Honey Labrador (“Strange Days”) Arly Jover (“Impostor”), Molly Cheek (“American Wedding”) and Joe Tabbanella. 98 min. April 8. Regent.

 

 

The Cave
Action-adventure about a group of divers who, after finding themselves trapped underwater, must battle life-threatening cave creatures. Longtime second unit director Bruce Hunt (“Dark City,” “The Matrix”) makes his first-unit directorial debut from a screenplay by Michael Steinberg (“Sleep with Me”) and Tegan West. With Cole Hauser (“Paparazzi”), Piper Perabo (“Cheaper by the Dozen”), Morris Chestnut (“Ladder 49”), Eddie Cibrian (“Say it Isn’t So”), Daniel Dae Kim (“Spider-Man 2”), Marcel Iures (“Hart’s War,” “Layer Cake”) and Rick Ravanello (“Hart’s War”). Also known as “Prime Evil.” Scope. 110 min. PG-13: Intense creature violence. April 8. Sony.

 

 

Eros
Anthology comprised of three short films about love and lust. 1) “The Dangerous Thread of Things,” co-written and directed by Michelangelo Antonioni (“Beyond the Clouds”) and starring Christopher Buchholz (“The House on Carroll Street”), Regina Nemni and Luisa Ranieri, is a drama about a ménage-a-trois undertaken by a couple and a young woman on the coast of Tuscany. 2) “Equilibrium,” written and directed by Steven Soderbergh (“Solaris,” “Ocean’s Twelve”) and starring Robert Downey Jr. (“Gothika”), Alan Arkin (“America’s Sweethearts”) and Ele Keats (“There Goes My Baby”), is about a stressed-out ad exec who discusses a recurring erotic dream with his psychiatrist. 3) “The Hand,” written and directed by Kar Wai Wong (“In the Mood For Love,” “Happy Together”) and starring Li Gong (“Zhou Yu’s Train”) and Chen Chang (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), is a drama about a young tailor’s long-time unrequited love for a beautiful Hong Kong courtesan. R: Strong sexual content including graphic nudity; language. April 8 limited. WIP.

 

 

Gunner Palace
Documentary, shot four months after the United States declared the Iraq War’s “major combat” operations had ended, about the U.S. soldiers stationed in the bombed out Central Baghdad palace of Sadaam Hussein’s son. Co-directed by Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker. Flat. 86 min. PG-13: Language. March 4 limited; wider in April. Palm.

 

 

 

House of Wax
Thriller about a group of young motorists who, while passing through a small town, encounter killers who like to coat their victims with wax. A remake of the 1953 horror classic “House of Wax 3-D.” Commercial director Jaume Serra makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay by Carey & Chad Hayes (TV’s “Baywatch”). With Elisha Cuthbert (“The Girl Next Door”), Jared Padalecki (“Flight of the Phoenix”), Chad Michael Murray (“A Cinderella Story”), Jon Abrahams (“My Boss’s Daughter”), Paris Hilton (“Raising Helen”), Damon Herriman (“Son of the Mask”), Robert Ri’chard (“Coach Carter”), Emma Lung (“Garage Days”) and Brian Van Holt (“Man of the House”). R: Horror violence; some sexual content; language. April 29. Warner Bros.

 

 

Julie Johnson
Drama about a thirtysomething housewife and high-school dropout who decides to pursue an education, kick out her disapproving husband, and contemplate a lesbian affair with her best friend. Based on the play by Wendy Hammond. Directed by Bob Gosse (“Niagra, Niagra”) from a screenplay by Gosse and Matthew Weiss. With Lili Taylor (“High Fidelity”), Courtney Love (“Trapped”), Mischa Barton (“Lost and Delirious”), Noah Emmerich (“Cellular”), Spalding Gray (“Kate & Leopold”) and Gideon Jacobs (“Mr. Deeds,” “House of D”). 94 min. April 1. Regent.

 

 

Kontroll
Comic Hungarian-language action-thriller, set against the Budapest subway system, that follows a young ticket inspector, a brutal killer and a mysterious young woman in a race against time. American-born Nimród Antal directs from a screenplay by Antal and Jim Adler. With Sándor Csányi, Zoltán Mucsi, Csaba Pindroch, Sándor Badár, Zsolt Nagy, Bence Mátyási, Gyözö Szabó, Eszter Balla, Lajos Kovács, György Cserhalmi, Zsolt László, Balázs Mihályfi, Péter Scherer and János Kulka. Flat. 106 min. R: Language; some violence; brief sexuality. April 22 in New York. ThinkFilm.

 

The Amityville Horror
Remake of the 1979 horror thriller about the residents of a Long Island suburb’s haunted house. Directed by Andrew Douglas from a screenplay by Scott Kosar (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Machinst”). With Ryan Reynolds (“Blade: Trinity”), Melissa George (“Down with Love”), Jimmy Bennett (“Daddy Day Care,” “Hostage”), Philip Baker Hall (“In Good Company”), Rachel Nichols (“Dumb and Dumberer”), Jesse James (“The Butterfly Effect”) and Chloe Moretz (TV’s “The Guardian”). R: Violence and terror; sexuality; language; brief drug use. April 15. MGM.

 

 

Bomb The System
Drama, based on a true story, about a young New York graffiti artist whose work lands him on the radar of the local art galleries and the NYPD vandal squad’s “most wanted” list. Adam Bhala Lough makes his feature directorial debut from his own screenplay. With Mark Webber (“People I Know”), Jaclyn DeSantis (“Road Trip”), Gano Grills (“Bamboozled”), Jade Yorker (“Snow Day”), Joey Dedio (“Trick”), Al Sapienza (“Cellular”), Kumar Pallana (“The Terminal”). R: Pervasive language; drug use; some violence; sexuality/nudity. April 8 in New York and Los Angeles. Palm.

 

 

Dust To Glory
Action documentary about the Baja 1000 – an annual, off-road race held in Baja, Mexico, famous for drawing hundreds of contestants to one of the world’s toughest desert courses. Directed by Dana Brown (“Step into Liquid”). With Mario Andretti, Sal Fish, Jimmy Roberts, Chad McQueen, J.N. Roberts, and Malcolm Smith, as well as archived footage of James Garner and Steve McQueen. Flat. 90 min. PG: Racing action and peril; some language. April 1. IFC.

 

 

Fever Pitch
Romantic comedy about a successful businesswoman who, with the arrival of baseball season, finds her otherwise “perfect” romance with a high school teacher threatened by the man’s obsession with the Boston Red Sox. Based on the novel by Nick Hornby (“High Fidelity,” “About a Boy”). Directed by brothers Bobby & Peter Farrelly (“Shallow Hal,” “Stuck on You”) from a screenplay by Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel (“Where the Heart Is,” “Robots”). With Jimmy Fallon (“Taxi”), Drew Barrymore (“50 First Dates”), KaDee Strickland (“The Grudge”), Lenny Clarke (“Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”), Evan Helmuth (“Garfield”), Isabella Fink (“Don’t Say A Word”), Jack Kehler (“Under the Tuscan Sun”) and Ione Skye (“But I’m A Cheerleader”). April 8. Fox.

 

 

House of D
Drama about a Paris-based artist who returns home to New York’s Greenwich Village and finds himself revisiting the unresolved issues of his youth. Actor David Duchovny (“Connie and Carla”) makes his feature directorial debut from his own screenplay. With Duchovny, Robin Williams (“Final Cut”), Zelda Williams (“Nine Months”), Anton Yelchin (“Hearts in Atlantis”), (“Magali Amadei (“Taxi”), Téa Leoni (“Spanglish”), Erykah Badu (“The Cider House Rules”), Gideon Jacobs (“Mr. Deeds,” “Julie Johnson”) and Mark Margolis (“Daredevil”). Flat. 97 min. PG-13: Sexual and drug references; thematic elements; language. April 15. Lions Gate.

 

 

The Interpreter
Thriller about a U.N. translator who, after overhearing an assassination plot, teams with a federal agent to save the life of an African leader. Directed by Sydney Pollack (“Sabrina,” “Random Hearts”) from a screenplay by Scott Frank (“Minority Report,” “Flight of the Phoenix”), Charles Randolph (“The Life of David Gale”) and Steven Zaillian (“A Civil Action,” “Hannibal,” “Gangs of New York”). With Nicole Kidman (“Birth”), Sean Penn (“The Assassination of Richard Nixon”), Catherine Keener (“S1m0ne,” “The Ballad of Jack and Rose”), David Zayas (“Washington Heights”), Maz Jobrani (“13 Going on 30”), Tsai Chin (“Red Corner”), Doug Aguirre (“Hitch”) and Yusuf Gatewood (“Wonder Boys”). Scope. April 22. Universal.

 

 

 

King’s Ransom
Comedy-drama about a wealthy businessman who arranges his own kidnapping in an attempt to thwart the 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 & Kumar Go to White Castle”), Regina Hall (“Scary Movie 3,” “The Honeymooners”), Leila Arcieri (“Daddy Day Care”), Nicole Ari Parker (“Brown Sugar”), Glenn Bang (“Mimic”), Larry Day (“Jack Paradise”), Loretta Devine (“Woman Thou Art Loosed”), Brooke D’Orsay (“Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”) and Ilona Elkin (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”). PG-13: Crude and sexual humor; language. April 22 limited. New Line.

 

 

Layer Cake
British crime thriller about a wealthy young drug dealer who, on the verge of early retirement, reluctantly agrees to track down the beautiful missing daughter of a powerful criminal. Matthew Vaughn makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay by J.J. Connolly. With Daniel Craig (“The Jacket”), Michael Gambon (“The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou”), Tom Hardy (“The Reckoning”), Sally Hawkins (“Vera Drake”), Sienna Miller (“Alfie”), George Harris (“Black Hawk Down”), Francis Magee (“I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”) and Colm Meaney (“Intermission,” “The Boys From Country Clare”). R: Strong brutal violence; sexuality; nudity; pervasive language; drug use. April 15. Sony Pictures Classics.

 

 

 

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