Upcoming Releases
February 2010
Book-loving cinephiles have plenty to look forward to this month, as February’s Books into Movies roundup is spotlighting three must-see films sure to hit the spot, whether you’re in the mood for weepy romances, heart-pounding thrillers, or kid-friendly action and adventure.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day is the ultimate date movie, Dear John. Based on a novel by the king of tear-jerking romantic dramas, Nicholas Sparks, it chronicles the seven-year romance developed through letters written between a college student and a soldier stationed in the Middle East.
If your tastes steer you more towards mysteries and thrillers, then Shutter Island, releasing on February 19th, is a can’t-miss. Adapted from Dennis Lehane’s bestselling novel about a team of U.S. Marshalls in search of a patient who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane, this fourth Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio pairing already has been getting quite a lot of buzz and promises to deliver a creepy, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.
For lighter fare, take the family to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, in theaters February 12th. Directed by Chris Columbus (who brought us the first two Harry Potter films), this fantasy adventure is based on the first installment of the bestselling children’s series by Rick Riordan, and follows the adventures of a teen who --- upon discovering he’s the son of a Greek God --- finds himself caught up in a war being fought among the other residents of Mount Olympus.
And in case you weren’t able to catch it in its limited release last fall, be sure to check out Coco Before Chanel --- a biopic about the famed creator of “the little black dress” --- which is releasing on DVD this month.
Dear John
Cast: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Henry Thomas, Richard Jenkins, Scott Porter
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Distributor: Screen Gems
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: February 5th (wide)
Based on: DEAR JOHN by Nicholas Sparks
Dear John tells the story of John Tyree, a young soldier home on leave, and Savannah Curtis, the idealistic college student he falls in love with during her spring vacation. Over the next seven tumultuous years, the couple is separated by John’s increasingly dangerous deployments. While meeting only sporadically, they stay in touch by sending a continuous stream of love letters overseas --- correspondence that eventually triggers fatal consequences.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Cast: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Chris Columbus
Distributor: 20th Century Fox Distribution
MPAA Rating: PG
Release Date: February 12th (wide)
Based on: THE LIGHTNING THIEF: Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book One by Rick Riordan
It's the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson's Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they're not happy: Zeus's lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy's mother. As Percy adapts to his newly discovered status as a demi-god (his father is Poseidon), he finds himself caught between the battling titans of Mt. Olympus. He and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy's mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.
Shutter Island
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max von Sydow
Director: Martin Scorsese
Distributors: Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing International
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: February 19th (wide)
Based on: SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane
Two U.S. marshals, Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule, are summoned to a remote and barren island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess from the island's fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane.
March 2010
Alice in Wonderland
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Matt Lucas, Johnny Depp, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Lee, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Alan Rickman
Director: Tim Burton
Distributors: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
MPAA Rating: Not yet rated
Release Date: March 5th (wide)
Based on: ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll
Seventeen-year-old Alice returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter. Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen’s reign of terror.
The Green Zone
Cast: Matt Damon, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Antoni Corone, Nicoye Banks
Director: Paul Greengrass
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: March 12th (wide)
Based on: GREEN ZONE by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller is a rogue U.S. Army officer who must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence hidden on foreign soil before war escalates in an unstable region.
How to Train Your Dragon
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig
Directors: Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: Not yet rated
Release Date: March 26th (wide)
Based on: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON by Cressida Cowell
Set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, and based on the book by Cressida Cowell, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is an action comedy that tells the story of Hiccup, a Viking teenager who doesn’t exactly fit in with his tribe’s longstanding tradition of heroic dragon slayers. Hiccup’s world is turned upside down when he encounters a dragon that challenges him and his fellow Vikings to see the world from an entirely different point of view.
April 2010
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Cast: Zachary Gordon, Steve Zahn, Rachel Harris
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: Not yet rated
Release Date: April 2nd (wide)
Based on: DIARY OF A WIMPY KID by Jeff Kinney
Follows the travails of wise-cracking middle school student Greg Heffley over the course of an academic year.
The Last Song
Cast: Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth, Greg Kinnear, Kelly Preston
Director: Julie Anne Robinson
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Distribution
MPAA Rating: PG
Release Date: April 2nd (wide)
Based on: THE LAST SONG by Nicholas Sparks
Based on the bestselling novelist Nicholas Sparks’s latest novel, The Last Song is set in a small Southern beach town where an estranged father gets a chance to spend the summer with his reluctant teenaged daughter, who’d rather be home in New York. He tries to reconnect with her through the only thing they have in common --- music --- in a story of family, friendship, secrets and salvation, along with first loves and second chances.
The Repo Man
Cast: Forest Whitaker, Jude Law, Alice Braga, Carice van Houten, Liev Schreiber
Director: Miguel Sapochnik
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: April 2nd
Based on: THE REPOSSESSION MAMBO by Eric Garcia
Humans have extended and improved our lives through highly sophisticated and expensive mechanical organs created by a company called The Union. The dark side of these medical breakthroughs is that if you don't pay your bill, The Union sends its highly skilled repo men to take back its property...with no concern for your comfort or survival. Remy is one of the best organ repo men in the business. But when he suffers a cardiac failure on the job, he awakens to find himself fitted with the company's top-of-the-line heart-replacement...as well as a hefty debt.
But a side effect of the procedure is that his heart's no longer in the job. When he can't make the payments, The Union sends its toughest enforcer, Remy's former partner Jake, to track him down. Now that the hunter has become the hunted, Remy joins Beth, another debtor who teaches him how to vanish from the system. And as he and Jake embark on a chase across a landscape populated by maniacal friends and foes, one man will become a reluctant champion for thousands on the run.
Past Releases
January 2010
January’s Books into Movies feature spotlights four very different but equally compelling films to start off 2010 with plenty of inspirational drama, romance, historical flavor and offbeat humor in anticipation of the exciting year ahead for literary-based blockbusters.
Already in theaters is Youth in Revolt, starring Michael Cera, Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta and Justin Long. This fish-out-of-water comedy chronicles the (mis)adventures of a sex-obsessed teen who falls in love with a girl way out of his league. The Last Station, hitting the big screen in limited release on January 15th, follows the last year in the life of Leo Tolstoy, as he tries to reconcile his success and privileged lifestyle with his newly discovered philosophy of humility and chastity. January 22nd marks the release of two
more films based on true events: Extraordinary Measures, which details the complicated partnership between an unconventional scientist and a father whose children are stricken with a rare, fatal disorder; and Creation, a biopic of scientist Charles Darwin and his struggle to complete his legendary ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES while mourning the death of his daughter.
And in case the harsh winter weather is keeping you indoors, be sure to check out Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Whip It! and I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, which are new on DVD this month.
Youth in Revolt
Cast: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Justin Long, Ray Liotta, Steve Buscemi
Director: Miguel Arteta
Distributor: MGM Distribution Company
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: January 8th (wide)
Based on: YOUTH IN REVOLT by CD Payne
As a teenage fan of Albert Camus and Jean-Luc Godard, Nick Twisp is most definitely out of his element when his mother and her boyfriend move the family to a trailer park. When a pretty neighbor named Sheeni plays records by French crooners, it's love at first sight for frustrated virgin Nick. Upon learning that Sheeni is already dating someone, Nick launches a hilarious quest to find his way into Sheeni's heart, and bed.
The Last Station
Cast: Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti, Anne Marie-Duff, Kerry Condon, James McAvoy
Director: Michael Nolan
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: January 15th (limited)
Based on: THE LAST STATION: A Novel of Tolstoy's Final Year by Jay Parini
After almost 50 years of marriage, the Countess Sofya, Leo Tolstoy’s devoted wife, passionate lover, muse and secretary --- she’s copied out WAR AND PEACE six times...by hand! --- suddenly finds her entire world turned upside down. In the name of his newly created religion, the great Russian novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family in favor of poverty, vegetarianism and even celibacy. After she’s born him 13 children!
When Sofya then discovers that Tolstoy’s trusted disciple, Chertkov --- whom she despises --- may have secretly convinced her husband to sign a new will, leaving the rights to his iconic novels to the Russian people rather than his very own family, she is consumed by righteous outrage. This is the last straw. Using every bit of cunning, every trick of seduction in her considerable arsenal, she fights fiercely for what she believes is rightfully hers. The more extreme her behavior becomes, however, the more easily Chertkov is able to persuade Tolstoy of the damage she will do to his glorious legacy.
Into this minefield wanders Tolstoy’s worshipful new assistant, the young, gullible Valentin. In no time, he becomes a pawn, first of the scheming Chertkov and then of the wounded, vengeful Sofya as each plots to undermine the other’s gains. Complicating Valentin’s life even further is the overwhelming passion he feels for the beautiful, spirited Masha (Kerry Condon), a free thinking adherent of Tolstoy’s new religion whose unconventional attitudes about sex and love both compel and confuse him. Infatuated with Tolstoy’s notions of ideal love, but mystified by the Tolstoys’ rich and turbulent marriage, Valentin is ill equipped to deal with the complications of love in the real world.
A tale of two romances, one beginning, one near its end, The Last Station is a complex, funny, rich and emotional story about the difficulty of living with love and the impossibility of living without it.
Creation
Cast: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Jeremy Northam, Toby Jones, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martha West
Director: Jon Amiel
Distributor: Newmarket Films
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: January 22nd (limited)
Based on: DARWIN, HIS DAUGHTER & HUMAN EVOLUTION by Randal Keynes
A psychological, heart-wrenching love story, Creation is based on ANNIE’S BOX, a biography penned by Darwin’s great-great grandson Randal Keynes using personal letters and diaries of the Darwin family. The film takes a unique and inside look at Darwin, his family and his love for his deeply religious wife, as, torn between faith and science, he struggles to finish his legendary book ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology.
Extraordinary Measures
Cast: Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser, Keri Russell, Meredith Droeger, Jared Harris
Director: Tom Vaughn
Distributor: CBS Films
MPAA Rating: PG
Release Date: January 22nd (wide)
Based on: THE CURE: How a Father Raised $100 Million and Bucked the Medical Establishment in a Quest to Save His Children by Geeta Anand
In the tradition of great inspirational dramas like the Academy Award-nominated film Erin Brockovich and The Pursuit of Happyness, Extraordinary Measures is inspired by the true story of John Crowley, a man who defied conventional wisdom and great odds, and risked his family’s future to pursue a cure for his children’s life-threatening disease. From his working-class roots, John Crowley has finally begun to taste success in corporate America. Supported by his beautiful wife Aileen and their three children, John is on the fast track. But just as his career is taking off, Crowley walks away from it all when his two youngest children, Megan and Patrick, are diagnosed with a fatal disease. With Aileen by his side, harnessing all of his determination, Crowley teams up with a brilliant, but under-appreciated and unconventional scientist, Dr. Robert Stonehill.
Together they form a bio-tech company focused on developing a life-saving drug. Once driven to prove himself and his theories, the other by a chance to save his children, this unlikely alliance eventually develops into mutual respect as they battle the medical and business establishments in a fight against the system and time. But, at the last minute, when it appears that a solution has been found, the relationship between the two men faces a final test --- the outcome of which will affect the fate of John’s children.
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