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Title:
Alice in Wonderland
Stars:
Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp
Studio:
American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Plot:
19-year-old Alice (Wasikowska) returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.
Buzz:
I am one of those people who feels that Tim Burton's artistic vision is directly in line with Lewis Carroll's novels, and he is one of few filmmakers who can get away with asserting that a likable movie adaptation has never been made of this story. It is, of course, interesting to hear this from the man who made Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ...
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Title:
Green Zone
Stars:
Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear
Studio:
Universal Pictures
Plot:
Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer (Damon) to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons on Mass Destruction in an unstable region.
Buzz:
Entertainment writers are worked up about (1) Universal's box-office slump and (2) the studio's decision to move Green Zone out of the 2009 Oscar zone. To me, this is a sign that the movie actually might be entertaining and not some bore, a la most every other recent Iraq War picture aside from the most recent Best Picture winner. Meanwhile, we're wondering if Jason Bourne's fans will accept Matt Damon as a solider, especially since the proposed fourth Bourne adventure isn't a signed deal at this stage.
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Title:
She's Out of My League
Stars:
Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve
Studio:
Paramount Pictures
Plot:
A guy (Baruchel) lets his insecurities pick away at his fledgling relationship with the perfect gal (Eve).
Buzz:
Someone please help me understand why DreamWorks/Paramount execs think that a romantic comedy with no known stars, a green director, and a screenplay from the guys behind Sex Drive is a money-making idea. (Note: We'd love to be surprised about this movie's quality and proved wrong about its chances for success.)
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Title:
Remember Me
Stars:
Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin
Studio:
Summit Entertainment
Plot:
A romantic drama centered on two new lovers: Tyler (Pattinson), whose parents have split in the wake of his brother's suicide, and Ally (de Ravin), who lives each day to the fullest since witnessing her mother's murder.
Buzz:
You know, RPattz's Little Ashes performed well given its subject matter and lack of major-studio muscle. It's quite possible a romantic story with a relatable premise (sorry, How to Be) from the studio that brought us Edward Cullen could lure plenty of the Twilight audience into theaters over this weekend and beyond. Good thing there was a seasoned cast and crew on what was widely reported as a difficult NYC shoot, given the thousands of fans who tracked R.P.'s every move. This is the first screenplay from Will Fetters, who currently is tinkering on A Star Is Born for Warner Bros. and director Nick Cassavetes (rumored to feature Russell Crowe and ... are you ready for this? ... Beyonce).
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Title:
Shutter Island
Stars:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo
Studio:
Paramount Pictures
Plot:
When a psychotic killer (Mortimer) disappears from a mental institution on Shutter Island, a pair of U.S. Marshals (Ruffalo and DiCaprio) race against the clock in order to track her down.
Buzz:
Strike through all those notions of awards-season glamor for this reunion of Marty and Leo, since reports of marketing-budget shortfalls and promotional challenges (aka DiCaprio's availability) shuttled the movie into the middle of winter. Don't think it'll hurt the thriller's box-office, though, since it's been testing through the roof. Nikki Finke digs out the scoop.
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Title:
Our Family Wedding
Stars:
America Ferrera, Forest Whitaker, Carlos Mencia
Studio:
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Plot:
The weeks leading up to a young couple's wedding is comic and stressful, especially as their respective fathers (Whitaker and Mencia) try to lay to rest their long-standing feud.
Buzz:
Not to oversimplify things here, but it's surprising how long it has taken other studios (aside from Lionsgate) to reach the audience that Tyler Perry entertains once or twice a year. The relatable premise, combined with a cast of movie and TV stars and the savvy marketing of Fox Searchlight could yield a small-scale hit.
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Title:
Avatar
Stars:
Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez
Studio:
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Plot:
A paraplegic former marine (Worthington) accepts a unique mission that sends him to the planet Pandora, where, through a connection to a remotely controlled biological body, he learns the way of the indigenous Na'vi people. His link to this world puts him in direct opposition with his orders to infiltrate the Na'vi and remove the barrier between them and the precious ore desired by military and corporate interests.
Buzz:
James Cameron's response to upping the world of visual effects? He takes a new approach to 3D -- all the way down to creating his own cameras -- and augments the natural world by introducing new plant life and creatures to the aforementioned band of humans. It's the kind of anticipation that even makes President Roslin swoon. Meanwhile, Sam Worthington quietly has become new face of sci-fi. That makes us swoon.
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Title:
Brooklyn's Finest
Stars:
Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke
Studio:
Overture Films
Plot:
In Brooklyn, New York, three veteran cops (Gere, Hawke, and Cheadle) struggling with their own personal and professional dilemmas dispatched to a notorious housing project, where they will each collide with destiny.
Buzz:
Overture Films lost a bundle with Righteous Kill but the reunion of Ethan Hawke and his Training Day director Antoine Fuqua is pretty much a can't-miss shot at success, right? The trailer offers equal doses of machismo, stress, and style, though I paid the most attention when Don Cheadle shared the screen with Wesley Snipes, since their wedge of the story reads as though it has the most layers -- even though we've watched an infinite number of cops get way-too-undercover over the years. Also: Couldn't Mr. Fuqua direct a film like this in his sleep at this point in his career?
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Title:
Cop Out
Stars:
Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan
Studio:
Warner Bros. Pictures
Plot:
A comedy about a veteran NYPD cop (Willis) whose rare baseball card is stolen. Since it's his only hope to pay for his daughter's upcoming wedding, he recruits his partner (Morgan) to track down the thief, a memorabilia-obsessed gangster.
Buzz:
So this is first time Kevin Smith has directed someone else's screenplay; technically we could get behind this idea if co-writers Robb and Mark Cullen were a little less green (they're making the jump from ho-hum TV shows). We hear the script was blacklisted, but nothing we've seen on celluloid makes us believe this story is a precious resource. Considering the project originally was set to star Robin Williams -- back when it was known as A Couple of Dicks -- and that Kevin Smith has received more attention for being too girth-y for Southwest Airlines than for being a movie director, maybe Warner Bros. was right to bury this one in the snow.
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Title:
The Crazies
Stars:
Radha Mitchell, Timothy Olyphant, Danielle Panabaker
Studio:
Overture Films
Plot:
As a toxin begins to turn the residents of Ogden Marsh, Iowa into violent psychopaths, sheriff David Dutton (Olyphant) tries to make sense of the situation while he, his wife (Mitchell), and two other unaffected townspeople band together in a fight for survival.
Buzz:
As distributor Overture Films is about to be sold off by its corporate parent, direct Breck Eisner is preparing to remake both Flash Gordon and The Brood as his next projects -- further proof that Hollywood's water supply is full of insanity-inducing toxins.
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