Happy holidays, everyone! Those willing and able to drag themselves away from the huge pile of swag under the tree can enjoy the late Heath Ledger’s final performance, a Jude Law double bill and a drolly comic Romanian police procedural underneath among other holiday presents that await at the multiplex. “Alvin and The Chipmunks: The…
This week we can immerse ourselves in tales of American sentiment, French fantasy, English history, Italian romance and alien invasion. “Avatar” After more than a decade on hiatus, James Cameron returns from his days as “King of the World” with a mind on conquering a few new ones in this sci-fi epic that the director…
This week sees an impressive list of heavy-hitters make a late December showing as Clint Eastwood and Peter Jackson deliver their latest, Werner Herzog assembles the unlikely pairing of Udo Kier and Verne Troyer, and Tom Ford unveils his directorial debut. “According to Greta” Hilary Duff adds the title of executive producer to her résumé…
This week’s slate gathers together so many big name stars in one place you’d think it was Oscar night already. Download this in audio form (MP3: 15:48 minutes, 14.5 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “Across The Hall” A stripped-down neo-noir with a twist, this feature debut for filmmaker Alex Merkin began…
Families arriving at the multiplex for a little pre/post-turkey entertainment have two choices — separate off into your respective age/gender demographics and indulge yourselves, or stick together in a tragic statement of family unity and purchase seven tickets for “Old Dogs.” The choice, it is yours. Download this in audio form (MP3: 10:52 minutes, 10…
Holiday festivities are about to kick into full gear, but you wouldn’t know it looking at this angst-ridden release slate, since the closest we come to Christmas is Nicolas Cage’s “Bad Lieutenant” doing a lot of “snow.” Instead, planets are discovered, new moons rise and suns set. Download this in audio form (MP3: 18:21 minutes,…
Richard Curtis sets out to the high seas to rock our world, Roland Emmerich just obliterates it and Wes Anderson reenvisions it in stop-motion animation, while as a group of documentaries ponder real world issues of war, God, poverty and Glenn Gould. Download this in audio form (MP3: 16:59 minutes, 15.6 MB) Subscribe to the…
A week loaded with oh-so-worthy awards season contenders is offset with the comic relief of Jim Carrey’s performance captured flailing, George Clooney’s self-deluded staring, and the teasing promise of an affordable(!) trip to the ballet. Download this in audio form (MP3: 16:59 minutes, 15.6 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “The Box”…
A Halloween week surprisingly light on horror sees instead some romantic dust-ups, courtroom showdowns and an epic battle of egos waged across the vast cosmic expanse of time and space. Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:23 minutes, 13.2 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “Aladin” While much of Bollywood’s output has…
This week finds early awards season contenders lining up alongside a queer cinema double bill, a troupe of unorthodox vampires and a horror movie franchise that’s become torturous in more ways than one. Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:15 minutes, 13.1 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “Amelia” Awards season takes…
This week in theaters finds some late-to-the-party summertime silliness lining up alongside a couple of titles arriving three weeks early for Halloween. Elsewhere the arthouse scene provides a strong showing with Chilean maids, Filipino mothers and some good ol’ New York psychos. Download this in audio form (MP3: 15:25 minutes, 14.1 MB) Subscribe to the…
This week’s releases arrive draped in a pervasive air of dissatisfaction — Chris Rock’s daughter is unhappy with her hair, a ’70s feminist movement is unhappy with their options, and Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler are unhappy with each other. Elsewhere, British cultural icons are talked up while global corporate interests are torn down. Download…
This week’s offerings give us the choice of walking with death or battling the undead. For those taking it easy this week, there’s also roller skating with Ellen Page and having fun playing God (or inventing him, at any rate) with Ricky Gervais. Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:51 minutes, 13.6 MB) Subscribe to…
This week, contrasting approaches to filmmaking bring about balance and equilibrium. Experimentalism (Sally Potter’s “Rage” and Michael Almereyda’s “Paradise”) collides head on with tried and tested formulas (the Clive Owen starrer “The Boys Are Back” and a remake of “Fame”). Download this in audio form (MP3: 18:27 minutes, 16.9 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters…
With the Venice Film Festival having just concluded and Toronto now underway, the award season’s wheels begin to roll with big name players, both indie and arthouse, making a showing, with Steven Soderbergh and Jennifer Aniston keeping things light at the multiplex. Download this in audio form (MP3: 20:11 minutes, 18.5 MB) Subscribe to the…
As the super-serious prestige season begins to gear up in Telluride, Toronto and Venice, an odd blend of matters spiritual, ecological, supernatural, and extraterrestrial are coming to a theater near you this week. Download this in audio form (MP3: 16:03 minutes, 14.7 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “9″ After his Oscar-nominated…
If Labor Day’s coming up, that must mean there’s a new Mike Judge movie on the way. It’s also that time of year when a few distributors dust off some well-traveled festival films as the summer winds down and the start of the school year is underway. Download this in audio form (MP3: 12:03 minutes,…
This week’s slate reinvents the wheel, so to speak, unveiling a vast array of twists, tweaks, role reversals and reinventions to satisfy all tastes. Download this in audio form (MP3: 12:46 minutes, 11.7 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “At The Edge of The World” Made famous by the weekly embedded correspondence…
Another monster release slate this week finds, amongst other things, interpretations of the Irish troubles, both real and imagined. Also, we meet the real life Mad Men, QT’s Basterds and the godfather of African-American indie film as a bearded ten-year-old boy. Download this in audio form (MP3: 15:35 minutes, 14.3 MB) Subscribe to the In…
This week offers animation from Asia, science fiction from South Africa, horror from Europe and romance on the home continent. Download this in audio form (MP3: 16:23 minutes, 15 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “Bandslam” Despite the odd detour to pen such fare as the unpleasant 1993 remake of “The Vanishing,”…
This week’s new releases include a Latin American double bill on the nature of the fame game, a British one-two centered on the macabre and a global smattering of meditations on love young and old. Download this in audio form (MP3: 13:04 minutes, 12 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “Beeswax” Following…
This week plays host to a release slate so big that when it’s finished doing the rounds in theaters we expect it to climb out of the sea and attack Japan. Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:50 minutes, 13.6 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “Act of God” Following “Manufactured Landscapes,”…
A small smattering of romantic fare amongst the new releases this week lines up alongside some caustic political satire, a couple of dark chillers, somber documentaries, and a string of grouchy gurus. Download this in audio form (MP3: 13:52 minutes, 19.1 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “The Answer Man” Having quietly…
Just a couple of blockbusters this week, one of which we’ve seen most of already. For everybody else, there is a strong selection of international art house pics to go with a couple of homegrown indies. Download this in audio form (MP3: 9:33 minutes, 13 MB) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [XML] [iTunes] “(500)…
