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February 2005 Releases
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The Grudge
A remake of the Japanese horror hit JU-ON (widely considered to be one of the scariest movies ever made), THE GRUDGE is helmed by its original director Takeshi Shimizu. Like its predecessor, this Hollywood version of the film takes place in Tokyo, but most of the main characters are American, including Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), a young social worker, and her peers. When Karen enters a seemingly abandoned home to look after a mentally disturbed resident, she soon discovers that there's an evil--and very aggressive--presence in the house, and it's lashing out at every person that sets foot inside.
Street Date 2/1/2005
Genre:
Thriller
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, Clea DuVall, William R. Mapother, Bill Pullman
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Ray
Jamie Foxx stars in this biopic of legendary soul and R&B singer Ray Charles. Skillfully edited and with a keen eye for period detail, the narrative weaves in and out of the past in an interlocking tapestry of the man's rise to fame in the 1950s and '60s. Growing up poor, black, and blind in the rural south, Charles learns--under the tutelage of his tough-love mother (Sharon Warren)--to turn these handicaps into assets. With this training, Ray eventually plays his way into a major deal with Paramount records and earns icon status as an American legend. Along the way, the high cost of fame leads him to engage in abusive relationships, manipulative behavior, and struggle with personal problems. A strong supporting cast is on hand to back him up, including Larenz Tate as producer Quincy Jones, and Kerry Washington as Ray's long-suffering wife, Regina.
Street Date 2/1/2005
Genre:
Biographical
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Curtis Armstrong, Warwick Davis, Clifton Powell
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Shall We Dance
John Clark (Richard Gere) has everything going for him: a solid career, a beautiful wife (Susan Sarandon) who is both a career woman and Supermom, two great kids, and a gorgeous house in the suburbs. Still, although he hates to admit it, John wants to be happier. Each night during his commute home on the train, he sees the same woman staring forlornly out the window of a dance school. At last, his curiosity gets the better of him, and John finds himself signing up for ballroom dance lessons. Keeping his new secret life from his wife and family, John joyfully discovers his inner Fred Astaire as he and his new friends prepare for an amateur dance competition. At the same time, dance instructor Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), the woman in the window, finds her own passion for dance again.
Street Date 2/1/2005
Genre:
Romance
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci
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Mr. 3000
Comedian Bernie Mac gets his first starring vehicle in this course baseball comedy. He plays Milwaukee Brewer Stan Ross, a self-centered heavy hitter who retires from the game after 3,000 hits, expecting an automatic entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The complication is that when Hall of Fame officials finally--after nine long years--re-do his tally for official consideration, they realize three of his hits where counted twice, so he's only "Mr. 2,997." As his whole life's been revolving around the 3,000 mark, Stan has no choice but to sign up with the Brewers yet again, even though he's now 47 and has not exactly been exercising during his retirement.
Street Date 2/1/2005
Genre:
Comedy
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Paul Sorvino, Bernie Mac, Angela Bassett, Christopher Noth, Michael Rispoli
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Vanity Fair
Reese Witherspoon is surprisingly effective as Becky Sharp in Mira Nair's lush adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's classic novel of Victorian England, VANITY FAIR. Nair, known for the film MONSOON WEDDING, tells the compelling story of a young orphan girl, Sharp, who attempts to rise above her station in very class-conscious British society. Sharp enters this very rich and rigid world as a governess who captures the heart of Rawdon Crawley (James Purefoy), who chooses love over the family fortune, a financial decision that could potentially doom the relationship. Meanwhile, her best friend, Amelia Sedley (Romola Garai), lets true love slip right through her fingers. As war rages on against Napoleon and the French, Sharp continues her ascension, though she's met by naysayers and gossipmongers every step of the way.
Street Date 2/1/2005
Genre:
Period Piece
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Reese Witherspoon, James Purefoy, Jonathan Rhys-Myers, Romola Garai, Gabriel Byrne, Eileen Atkins, Jim Broadbent, Bob Hoskins
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Mulan II
The Chinese folktale lives on in this sequel to Disney's MULAN. After protecting her beloved country from the Huns, Mulan receives an unexpected marriage proposal from General Shang. But before any wedding bells can ring, Mulan must accompany Shang on a perilous journey in order to transport three princesses to a faraway land. The trip proves difficult for the couple, who have trouble getting along under the pressure of such great responsibility. Making matters even more complicated is Mushu, Mulan's lovable dragon sidekick, whose job depends on keeping Mulan unmarried.
Street Date 2/1/2005
Genre:
Kids
Rating:
G
Starring:
Michelle Kwan, Ming-Na Wen, Noriyuki Morita, Donny Osmond, George Takei
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Balto III - Wings of Change
Half-wolf, half-husky, BALTO is back for his most exciting animated adventure yet. When a pilot brags that he can transport packages with more speed than BALTO'S sled-dog team, a vicious competition begins. Determined to prove that dogs are just as fast as planes, the team sets out on a race to the finish. But when the plane's pilot gets lost in the Alaskan wilderness, BALTO must prove something even greater, that he is a hero.
Street Date 2/1/2005
Genre:
Kids
Rating:
G
Starring:
Sean Astin, Jean Smart, Kathy Najimy, David Paymer, Keith Carradine
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Carolina
In this romantic comedy, Carolina (Julia Stiles) loves her crazy family, but wants a more normal life. She sets off from the South to move to California, where she hopes for peace and calm, but things soon become chaotic again when two attractive suitors fight for her affections. Featuring solid performances by teen dream Stiles and Shirley MacLaine as wacky Grandma Mirabeau, this comedy has appeal for all generations.
Street Date 2/1/2005
Genre:
Comedy
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Julia Stiles, Alessandro Nivola, Shirley MacLaine, Randy Quaid
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Shark Tale
Will Smith brings hip-hop zest to the voice of Oscar, a fast-talking everyfish who rejects his life at the whale wash and longs for fortune and fame in this animated film from Dreamworks. A combination of FINDING NEMO and GOODFELLAS set in New York, here sharks are old-school gangsters who prey on the local citizenry and hang out in the wreck of the Titanic. Martin Scorsese does the voice of Mr. Sykes, Oscar's blowfish boss, who owes head Shark Don Lino (Robert De Niro) a lot of clams. Don Lino wants to turn over his reign to his two sons, but youngest Lenny (Jack Black) is a closet vegetarian. The plot thickens when Oscar takes credit for the accidental death of Lenny's brother, and suddenly finds the fame and fortune he's been seeking, only it's based on the lie that he's "the shark slayer."
Street Date 2/8/2005
Genre:
Family
Rating:
PG
Starring:
Will Smith, Renée Zellweger, Jack Black, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie
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The Notebook
Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, THE NOTEBOOK tells the story of a young couple who overcome insurmountable odds to experience the true power of love. In a modern-day nursing home, a kindhearted man (James Garner) reads a tender story to another patient (Gena Rowlands). The story begins during one glorious summer in small-town South Carolina in the early 1940s. Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) is a blue-collar log mill worker who courts the wealthy and sheltered Allie Nelson (Rachel McAdams). Before long, sparks are flying and the pair is in love. But eventually Allie's snobby parents force their separation, and when World War II arrives, Noah heads overseas to serve his country. In the meantime, Allie becomes a nurse and falls for another man (James Marsden), to Noah's dismay. Nonetheless, he buys and fixes up the mansion he promised Allie he would one day restore, and when he and Allie reunite just before her wedding, their love blossoms once again.
Street Date 2/8/2005
Genre:
Romance
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Sam Shepard, Joan Allen, James Marsden
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Eulogy
The Collins patriarch (Rip Torn) has died, leaving behind a video will and an assorted bunch of nutcases, which makes straitlaced college student Kate Collins (Zooey Deschanel) think she was born into the wrong family. Her father (Hank Azaria) is a former child actor now making adult films. Her aunt Lucy (Kelly Preston) is finally going to marry her longtime companion, which interests brother Skip, played by a mustached Ray Romano, the father of annoying twins (Curtis and Keith Garcia) who like the way their aunt Kate is developing. The obnoxious Alice Collins (Debra Winger) annoys everyone with her insistence on pushing everyone's button, resulting in an hysterical fight at the dinner table with Lucy.
Street Date 2/8/2005
Genre:
Comedy
Rating:
R
Starring:
Hank Azaria, Jesse Bradford, Zooey Deschanel, Glenne Headly, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Kelly Preston, Ray Romano, Rip Torn, Debra Winger
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Saw
Adam Leigh (Whannell) and Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) are chained in a vile, disgusting bathroom, separated by a bloody corpse holding a gun and a tape recorder. They are each given a saw--the only obvious way out is to cut one of their feet off. A serial killer who specializes in torturing morally bereft strangers is playing a game with them: Gordon has less than eight hours to kill Adam or else the doctor's wife (Monica Potter) and daughter (Mackenzie Vega) will be murdered. As the two men engage in a battle of wits, alternately trying to help each other and secretly attempting to win the game, a series of flashbacks reveals the history of the madman and the pair of detectives (Danny Glover and Ken Leung) handling the case.
Street Date 2/15/2005
Genre:
Thriller
Rating:
R
Starring:
Cary Elwes, Monica Potter, Danny Glover, Dina Meyer
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Taxi
Jimmy Fallon gets his first starring role with TAXI, an action-packed comedy that finds the former Saturday Night Live showman teaming up with Oscar-nominated rapper-turned-actress Queen Latifah (CHICAGO). Fallon is Washburn, a truly pathetic New York City cop who can't seem to wake up in the morning without bumbling busts and breaking whatever he touches. After his most recent debacle, his boss and former flame, Lieutenant Marta Robbins (Jennifer Esposito), revoked his license. Latifah is Belle, a retired bike messenger who is about to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a bona fide cab driver. When Fallon commandeers Belle's services after hearing of a nearby bank robbery, a partnership is formed. Unfortunately, even when he means well, Washburn is nothing but trouble. Against her better judgment, Belle finds herself doing what she can to help out the pitiful Washburn, even though the bank robbers (led by supermodel Gisele Bundchen) are several steps ahead of the game.
Street Date 2/15/2005
Genre:
Comedy
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, Henry Simmons, Jennifer Esposito, Ann-Margret, Gisele Bundchen
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The Motorcycle Diaries
In 1952, a young medical student and a biochemist from Argentina set off on a road trip across South America. As they straddled their beaten up motorcycle, the men talked in awed tones of the sights they were about to experience. The record of their trip may have disappeared into the ether if one of the riders departing on that fateful day hadn't been the future insurrectionary figurehead of the Cuban revolution, Ernesto "Che" Guevara (played here by Gael Garcia Bernal). The young Che's companion on the trip was his best friend, Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna), with their simple goals being to enjoy themselves, and meet some girls along the way. As the trip unfolds at the behest of their spluttering motorcycle, the boys discover more about themselves than they ever imagined possible. Based on the books THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (by Guevara) and TRAVELLING WITH CHE GUEVARA (by Granado).
Street Date 2/15/2005
Genre:
Road Movies
Rating:
R
Starring:
Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna, Mia Maestro, Mercedes Moran, Jorge Chiarella
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Raise Your Voice
Terri Fletcher (Hilary Duff) is your typical sweet-hearted, small-town girl and she always obeys her intensely overprotective dad (David Keith), but when she gets accepted to a summer program at a prestigious Los Angeles music school and he forbids her to go, she realizes it's time to break away. With the help of her cool aunt (Rebecca De Mornay), Terri figures out a ruse to sneak off to LA and seize the chance to actualize her musical dreams. Once there, it's harsh wake-up time however, as she realizes being naive, adorable, blonde, un-pierced, and un-tattooed means being ostracized in this too-cool musical community. Luckily John Corbett, a sympathetic music teacher, is there to help, and there's time for romance to bloom with a British classmate (Oliver James). Before this little star can truly blossom though, she still has to cope with the trauma of losing her brother in a car accident and then there's the matter of telling the truth to her furious father.
Street Date 2/15/2005
Genre:
Teen
Rating:
PG
Starring:
Hilary Duff, Jason Ritter, John Corbett, Rebecca De Mornay, David Keith, Rita Wilson
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The Yes Men
With poker-faced impersonation as their weapon, and World
Trade Organization officials as their target, the Yes Men pull off one bold prank after another in an
effort to raise political consciousness. And when their outrageous stunts are actually swallowed -
hook, line and sinker - the Yes Men must up the satirical ante and push the art of public spectacle to
hilarious new heights.
Street Date 2/15/2005
Genre:
Documentary
Rating:
R
Starring:
Andy Bichlbauer, Mike Bonanno
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Control
Ray Liotta stars in this gripping thriller as Lee Ray, a sociopathic killer serving time on death row. He is secretly given a rare second chance when the brilliant Dr. Miles Copeland (Willem Dafoe) offers to use him as a test subject for a new drug designed to squelch violent proclivities. Lee agrees, and they go through the motions of lethal injection, and the former criminal assumes a new life with a new identity. Soon, however, things start to go horribly awry.
Street Date 2/15/2005
Genre:
Action
Rating:
R
Starring:
Ray Liotta, Kathleen Robertson, Michelle Rodriguez, Willem Dafoe, Stephen Rea
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National Lampoon's Blackball
National Lampoon takes on the staid world of lawn bowling in this
uproariously funny send up of a sport our English cousins have enjoyed, fought over and bet on for
years. Think Caddy Shack meets bocce ball and you'll have a comedy that will be right up your alley!
Street Date 2/15/2005
Genre:
College
Rating:
R
Starring:
Vince Vaughn, Paul Kaye
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Into the Sun
This fast-paced action film stars Steven Seagal as Travis Hunter, a former American special agent who was raised by the Yakuza. When the governor of Tokyo is murdered, Hunter is called upon to investigate; forced to re-enter the perilous underworld of his youth, he uncovers a terrorist ring spearheaded by a Yakuza leader with ties to the Chinese mafia.
Street Date 2/15/2005
Genre:
Action
Rating:
R
Starring:
Steven Seagal, Takao Osawa, Ken Lo, William Atherton, Chiaki Kuriyama
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I Heart Huckabees
With his fourth film, I HEART HUCKABEES, Russell continues to defy easy definition, mixing physical comedy, existential philosophy, corporate satire, and quixotic quest. Jason Schwartzman, proving that he is capable of more than simply reviving his iconic RUSHMORE character, plays Albert, an environmental activist prone to bad poetry and self-doubt. During his campaign to stop Huckabees, a suburban superstore, from destroying marshland, Albert's group is taken over by one of the store's vapidly charming salesmen, a pitch-perfect Jude Law. Utterly distraught and questioning the meaning of life, Albert seeks the help of a bizarre husband-and-wife team of "existential detectives." By spying on Albert's daily life, they seek to help him answer that most elemental of human questions, "Why am I here?"
Street Date 2/22/2005
Genre:
Comedy
Rating:
R
Starring:
Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Naomi Watts, Isabelle Huppert, Mark Wahlberg, Jude Law
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Cube Zero
An intelligent horror film that is equal parts mathematical acumen and very realistic gore, CUBE ZERO is the third installment in the popular Canadian indie CUBE series. A prequel to the first, the central scheme is the same: a diverse group of individuals prone to infighting wake up in a booby trap-laden cube where one identical chamber leads to another. With no exit in sight, they are forced to get along and make use of their respective talents, but many--usually those with the most antagonistic personalities--are lost along the way. This installment, however, provides some answers the mystery of the Cube, with a subplot involving a technician on the "other side" who experiences a change of heart, and undertakes to save the group in a most unexpected way.
Street Date 2/22/2005
Genre:
Thriller
Rating:
R
Starring:
Zachary Bennett, David Huband, Martin Roach, Stephanie Moore
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