August 04 Movie Preview

Saturday, 15 January 2005

| Written by Dave

Release Dates	Movies
August 6	-Code 46 -Collateral -Little Black Book -Open Water -Stander
August 11th	-Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
August 13th	-Alien vs. Predator -We Don't Live Here No More
August 18th	-Without a Paddle
August 20th	-Exorcist: The Beginning
August 27th	-Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid -Super Babies: Baby Geniuses 2 -Suspect Zero -Hero

August 6

Title: Code 46 (Limited)

Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

Studio: United Artists

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Tagline: How do you solve a crime when the last thing you want to know is the truth?

Website: http://www.mgm.com/ua/code46/

Starring: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Jeanne Balibar, Togo Igawa, Essie Davis, Nina Fogg, Bruno Lastra, Emil Marwa,Nabil Massad, Taro Sherabayani, Christopher Simpson, Benedict Wong

Plot Outline: Code 46 is a love story set in a Brave New World-type near-future where cities are heavily controlled and only accessible through checkpoints. People cannot travel unless they have "papelles," a special travel permit issued by the totalitarianistic government, the "Sphinx". Outside these cities, the desert has taken over and shanty towns are jammed with non-citizens - people without papelles forced to live primitive lives. William is a family man who works as a government investigator. When he is sent to Shanghai to solve a case of fake papelles, he meets a woman named Maria. Although he realizes she is behind the forgeries, he cannot help but fall completely in love with her. He hides her crime and they have a wild, passionate affair that can only last as long as his papelles: 24 hours. Back home, William is obessed with the memory of Maria. When the original investigation is inevitably re-opened a week later and William is sent back to finish the work he started, he tracks her down, only to discover she has been accused of a Code 46 violation and any further relationship is impossible.

Trailer: Trailer

MPAA Rating: R (for a scene of sexuality, including brief graphic nudity)

Title: Collateral

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Studio: DreamWorks Pictures

Director: Michael Mann

Tagline: It started like any other night

Website: http://www.collateral-themovie.com/

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Dennis Farina, Irma Hall, Javier Bardem, Bodhi Elfman
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Plot Outline: A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in LA. He must find a way to save both himself and one last victim.

Trailer: Trailer

MPAA Rating: R (for violence and language)

Title: Little Black Book

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Studio: Columbia Pictures

Director: Nick Hurran

Tagline: Have you ever been tempted to look inside his...

Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/littleblackbook/

Starring: Brittany Murphy, Ron Livingston, Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter, Rashida Jones, Sharon Lawrence, Josie Maran, Julianne Nicholson, Jason Antoon, Samantha Murphy, Rick Overton, Gavin Rossdale, Kevin Sussman

Plot Outline: Stacy Holt (Murphy), an associate producer for a daytime talk show, is confounded by her boyfriend Derek's (Livingston) unwillingness to talk about his previous relationships. Egged on by her co-worker Barb (Hunter), Stacy sneaks a look at his Palm Pilot, scores the names and numbers of his exes, and sets up interviews with them -- all in an effort to get closer to her man. Her plan starts to unravel, however, when she becomes friends with one of the women.

Trailer: Trailer

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for sexual content/humor and language)

Title: Open Water (limited)

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Studio: Lions Gate Films

Director: Chris Kentis

Tagline: Who will save you?

Website: http://www.openwatermovie.com/

Starring: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Estelle Lau, Michael E. Williamson, Cristina Zenaro, John Charles

Plot Outline: Susan and Daniel are a happily married couple hoping to have a memorable vacation in the Bahamas. Their relaxing vacation soon ends when they are left in the middle of the ocean by careless diving boat crew. As the reality of isolation sets in, they turn to one another for support. Unable to support each other, they begin to panic and are soon prompted to question their own fates as encircling sharks start to appear...

Trailer: Trailer

MPAA Rating: R (for language and some nudity)

Title: Stander (Limited)

Genre: Comedy

Studio: Newmarket Films

Director: Bronwen Hughes

Tagline: Good cop. Great criminal.

Website: http://www.standerfilm.com/

Starring: Thomas Jane, Ashley Taylor, David O'Hara, Dexter Fletcher, Deborah Unger, Marius Weyers, At Botha, Lionel Newton, Melanie Merle, Hannes Muller, Shaeleen Tobin, Sean Else

Plot Outline: In the early 1980's, a white police officer (Andres Stander, played by Thomas Jane) in Johannesburg suffers a crisis of conscience due to his involvement in apartheid and becomes a notorious bank robber on the run. Then from 1983 to 1984, the "Stander gang" (Stander, Alan Heyl & Patrick McCall) rob as many as four banks a day.

Trailer: Trailer

MPAA Rating: R (for violence, language, some sexuality and nudity)

August 11th

Title: Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Director: Garry Marshall

Tagline: She needs the rock to rule.

Website: http://www.princessdiaries2.com/

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Hector Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, John Rhys-Davies, Callum Blue, Caroline Goodall, Sean O'Bryan, Joel McCrary, Chris Pine

Plot Outline: Where the smash hit "The Princess Diaries" ended, the fun begins as Mia (Hathaway) is ready to assume her role as princess of Genovia. But no sooner has she moved into the Royal Palace with her beautiful, wise grandmother Queen Clarisse (Andrews) than she learns her days as a princess are numbered - Mia's got to lose the tiara and immediately take the crown herself. As if getting ready to rule wasn't enough, the stakes for Mia have never been higher - with Genovian law stating that princesses must be married before being crowne, Mia's in for a parade of suitors who'd all like to be her king. In the quest for a groom, comedy and complications rule the day as the cast and filmmakers behind the first film, including director Garry Marshall ("Pretty Woman," "Runaway Bride"), return for this hilarious romantic comedy.

Trailer: Trailer

MPAA Rating: G (for general audiences)

August 13th

Title: Alien vs. Predator

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Tagline: Whoever wins... We lose.

Website: http://www.avp-movie.com/

Starring: Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen, Ewen Bremner, Colin Salmon, Agathe De La Boulaye, Tommy Flanagan, Carsten Norgaard, Joseph Rye, Sam Troughton, Tom Woodruff Jr.

Plot Outline: The iconic monsters from two of the scariest film franchises ever, battle each other on Earth for the first time on film. The discovery of an ancient pyramid buried in Antarctica sends a team of scientists and adventurers to the frozen continent. There, they make an even more terrifying discovery: two alien races engaged in the ultimate battle. No matter who wins, we lose.

Trailer: Trailer

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for violence, language, horror images, slime, and gore)

Title: We Don't Live Here Anymore (Limited)

Genre: Drama, Romance

Studio: Warner Independent Pictures

Director: John Curran

Tagline: Ordinary lives. Extraordinary emotions.

Website: http://wip.warnerbros.com/index.html?site=wedontlive

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, Peter Krause, Naomi Watts, Sam Charles, Haili Page, Jennifer Bishop, Jim Francis, Amber Rothwell

Plot Outline: A Warner Independent Pictures release of a Renaissance Films presentation of a Front Street Pictures presentation. Based on the short stories "We Don't Live Here Anymore" and "Adultery" by Andre Dubus, the film stars Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, Peter Krause and Naomi Watts, is directed by John Curran and written by Larry Gross, produced by Harvey Kahn, Naomi Watts and Jonas Goodman, executive produced by Ruth Epstein, Mark Ruffalo, Larry Gross and co-produced by Ken Lawson, Robert Lee and Sanford Rosenberg.

Trailer: Trailer

MPAA Rating: R (for sexual content and language)

August 18th

Genre: Comedy

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Director: Steven Brill

Tagline: The call of the wild, the thrill of adventure. The mistake of a lifetime.

Website: http://www.withoutapaddlemovie.com/

Starring: Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, Dax Shepard, Ethan Suplee, Abraham Benrubi, Rachel Blanchard, Burt Reynolds, Christina Moore, Bonnie Somerville, Danielle McCormack, Liddy Holloway, Morgan Reese Fairhead, Mia Blake, Tony Brown, Kody Shaw, Cameron Wakefield

Plot Outline: A high-speed comedy-adventure in which three young guys go into the Oregon wilderness in search of lost treasure. They take a canoe upriver and everything that can go wrong does. Hunted by two backwoods dope farmers, they encounter death-defying rapids, tree-hugging hippie chicks and a crazy old mountain man played by Burt Reynolds.

Trailer: Trailer

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for drug content, sexual material, language, crude humor and some violence)