
We have quite a few choices this week for films to review. Last week’s pick of Green Zone was a good choice; it’s hard to say at this moment if this week will have anything that lives up to its action-packedness. Let the voting begin!
Bounty Hunter
Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler), a down-on-his-luck bounty hunter, gets his dream job when he is assigned to track down his bail-jumping ex-wife, reporter Nicole Hurly (Jennifer Aniston). He thinks all that’s ahead is an easy payday, but when Nicole gives him the slip so she can chase a lead on a murder cover-up, Milo realizes that nothing ever goes simply with him and Nicole. The exes continually one-up each other — until they find themselves on the run for their lives. They thought their promise to love, honor and obey was tough — staying alive is going to be a whole lot tougher. Andy Tennant (‘Hitch,’ ‘Sweet Home Alabama’) directs.
City Island
Set in a quaint fishing community on the outskirts of New York City, ‘City Island’ is a hilarious and touching tale about a family whose comfortable co-existence is upended by surprising revelations of past secrets and present day lies.
Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) is a lifelong resident of the tiny, tradition-steeped Bronx enclave of City Island. A family man who makes his living as a corrections officer, Vince longs to become an actor. Ashamed to admit his aspirations to his family, Vince would rather let his fiery wife Joyce (Julianna Margulies) believe his weekly poker games are a cover for an extramarital affair than admit he’s secretly taking acting classes in Manhattan.
When Vince is asked to reveal his biggest secret in class, he inadvertently sets off a chaotic chain of events that turns his mundane suburban life upside down. Inspired by the exercise, he decides to bring his long-lost ex-con son Tony (Steven Strait) home to meet the family, and it soon becomes clear that everyone–including his college student daughter (Dominik Garcia-Lorido), teenaged son Vinnie, Jr. (Ezra Miller), charismatic acting partner (Emily Mortimer) and drama coach (Alan Arkin)–has something to hide. A perfect storm of deception, half truths and confusion makes Vince and his family members realize that the truth may not set them free, but it is easier to keep track of than all their well-intentioned white lies.
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, ‘City Island’ spins a web of misrepresentations, misinterpretations and misunderstandings into a smart and charming comedy about a family that stops at nothing to avoid the truth.
The Runaways
The story of the groundbreaking ’70s female rock group the Runaways is recounted in this River Road Entertainment production focusing on the duo of guitarist/vocalist Joan Jett (portrayed by Twilight’s Kristen Stewart) and lead vocalist/keyboardist Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) as they navigate a rocky road of touring and record label woes under the malevolent eye of abusive manager Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) during their teen years. Acclaimed video artist Floria Sigismondi directs from her own script, with Scout Taylor-Compton co-starring as guitarist Lita Ford.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
A discredited journalist and a mysterious computer hacker discover that even the wealthiest families have skeletons in their closets while working to solve the mystery of a 40-year-old murder. Inspired by late author Stieg Larsson’s successful trilogy of books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets under way as Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander are briefed in the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, whose uncle suspects she may have been killed by a member of their own family. The deeper Mikael and Lisbeth dig for the truth, however, the greater the risk of being buried alive by members of the family who will go to great lengths to keep their secrets tightly sealed.
Hot Tub Time Machine
‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ follows a group of best friends who’ve become bored with their adult lives: Adam (John Cusack) has been dumped by his girlfriend; Lou (Rob Corddry) is a party guy who can’t find the party; Nick’s (Craig Robinson) wife controls his every move; and video game-obsessed Jacob (Clark Duke) won’t leave his basement. After a crazy night of drinking in a ski resort hot tub, the men wake up, heads’ pounding, in the year 1986. This is their chance to kick some past and change their futures — one will find a new love life, one will learn to stand up for himself with the ladies, one will find his mojo, and one will make sure he still exists!
Vincere
This unusual and offbeat historical drama rests on a little-known conceit. Though seldom discussed in history books (and reportedly undisclosed for half a century), fascist dictator Benito Mussolini conceived an illegitimate son by a woman named Ida Dalser — a son Mussolini allowed to be born, acknowledged, and then promptly denied for the duration of his life. The tale begins in early 20th century Milan, with Benito (Fabrizio Costella) working as the socialist editor of a controversial newspaper called Avanti. His dream in life involves triumphantly leading the Italian masses away from monarchy and toward a “socially emancipated future.” He met the young and wealthy Ida (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) once before, in Trento — where they enjoyed a brief exchange; they re-encounter one another during Mussolini’s period at Avanti and it becomes clear that Ida has fallen deeply in love with Benito; she believes wholeheartedly in his ideals and his future as the leader of Italy — to such an extent that she sells everything she has (her apartment, furniture, jewelry, and the beauty salon she owns) to fuel the development of his newspaper, Popolo d’Italia. While the two become romantically entangled, with Ida positively magnetized by Benito’s charisma and Benito hooked on a lust for power, Benito quickly switches spiritual and political allegiances overnight, changing from an atheistic socialist to a deeply Catholic fascist — Catholic, because an allegiance with the Vatican will enable him to wrest and retain control over Italy’s government. Benito and Ida marry and parent a son together, Benito Albino Mussolini (circa 1915), but the marriage certificate soon conveniently disappears and Ida learns, to her horror, that Benito has married someone else. She unwisely begins to protest the situation — so loudly and persistently that she’s first forced into house arrest and then shoved permanently into an insane asylum — raising key questions about the fate and future of her young son. On a stylistic level, director Marco Bellocchio films this historical material with the passion, theatricality, lyricism, and tragedy of a classicist Italian opera.
Season of the Witch
Lionsgate’s supernatural thriller, ‘Season of the Witch’, stars Nicolas Cage as medieval knight Behmen who undertakes a mission pitting him against an devious witch and making him the last hope for the world against an ancient and dark force. His faith broken by years of battle as a crusader, Behmen returns to central Europe to find his homeland decimated by the Black Plague. While searching for food and supplies at the Palace at Marburg, Behmen and his trusted companion, Felson (Ron Perlman) are apprehended and ordered by the dying Cardinal to deliver a young peasant girl believed to be the witch responsible for the Plague – to a remote abbey where her powers can be destroyed. Behmen agrees to the assignment but only if the peasant girl is granted a fair trial. As he and five others set off on this dangerous journey, they realize with mounting dread that the cunning girl is no ordinary human, and that their mission will pit them against an evil that even in these dark times they never could have imagined.
Which film should we discuss for the weekend of 3/19/10?
- Hot Tub Time Machine (100%, 1 Votes)
- The Bounty Hunter (0%, 0 Votes)
- City Island (0%, 0 Votes)
- The Runaways (0%, 0 Votes)
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (0%, 0 Votes)
- Season of the Witch (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 1
Synopses from moviefone.


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