Meet In The Lobby

What’s more uncomfortable than being a 12-year-old? How about being a 12-year-old preparing for a Bar Mitzvah? Wait, it gets worse. Your Bar Mitzvah is the same day as a major event that has the country in its grip. This is Sixty Six, a 2006 production finally getting a U.S. theatrical release August 1 from First Independent. (click poster for large view)

The year is 1966, the place is North London, and the poor kid is Bernie (Gregg Sulkin, in his debut film), a cute dork born under an awfully bad sign: His Bar Mitzvah date coincides with the World Cup Final and England has some serious World Cup Fever.

The Bar Mitzvah tale has been tackled in cinema recently, from a dumb comedy (Keeping Up with the Steins — see my review) to a documentary about a boy with Down’s Syndrome (Praying with Lior). In Sixty-Six, the Bar Mitzvah is a neurotic, can’t-get-worse comedy of errors affecting the whole family – sort of like a British-Jewish version of Sixteen Candles?

:: CAST
In addition to young Mr. Sulkin, Helena Bonham Carter plays the mom, Eddie Marsan (The Illusionist, Hancock) plays the OCD-suffering dad and Stephen Rea plays poor Bernie’s asthma doctor.

:: DIRECTOR
Brit Paul Weiland. Ready for a bizarre resume? The infamous Leonard Part 6, a handful of Rowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean TV episodes, City Slickers II and a 1999 Blackadder movie called Back & Forth.  

For the record, yes, I had a Bar Mitzvah. My voice was high, my knees shook and my idea of “becoming a man” had nothing to do with getting laid, driving, voting or drinking. A terrifying day.

If you’re in the UK, have you seen Sixty Six? If so, please share your comments below.

June 29th, 2008
Categories: Movie Posters, Trailers, Comedies, Movie Previews, International Cinema . Author: Norm Schrager . Comments: No Comments

THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED. We’re accepting all entries that were posted by the 5pm deadline, and will select a winner some time next week. If you entered, thanks for participating and good luck!

Rachel Weisz. Natalie Portman. Norah Jones. Jude Law. This is definitely not a collection of unattractive people. This is the cast of Wong Kar Wai’s My Blueberry Nights, coming to DVD Tuesday, July 1 from The Weinstein Company’s promising new “Miriam Collection.” And you can enter to win a free copy of the DVD.

My Blueberry Nights is notable for two reasons: First, it’s an English language film for Wong Kar Wai, best known for his Chinese romances Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love and 2046. Second, it marks the acting debut of singer-songwriter Norah Jones, who plays a waitress traveling around the U.S. after a failed relationship.

Win a copy of My Blueberry Nights on DVD: Just post a comment saying you want to win the DVD. We’ll select one entrant at random as the winner. Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, July 2 at 5pm ET.

The DVD special features include a making-of feature, a Q&A with Wong Kar Wai, a still gallery and the theatrical trailer for the film.

Enter to win the My Blueberry Nights DVD

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June 27th, 2008
Categories: Contests, New on DVD, International Cinema . Author: Norm Schrager . Comments: 223 Comments

What’ll it be? A G-rated sci-fi family-pleaser from a remarkable studio with nothing but hits? Or a sexy, hyper, bullet-dodging actioner with a good cast? How about both?

:: WALL-E
Rotten Tomatoes: 98 / 100
Metacritic: 91 / 100
filmcritic.com: 5 / 5

Easily, the most impressive reviews of the year. As spectacular as the visual detail of a Pixar film. There’s a good reason each of Pixar’s movies receives this type of response: Story comes first, then the bells and whistles. Nobody ever called a whiz-bang animated film “relevant” or “heartwarming” because the colors were pretty. These guys are practically invincible, and WALL-E is their new masterpiece.

:: WANTED
Rotten Tomatoes: 73 / 100
Metacritic: 64 / 100
filmcritic.com: 3.5 / 5

Remember The Matrix! That will be the battle cry for many with Wanted, which seems to follow the Wachowskis modern classic in both story and execution. (Hey, there are three guns present in the banner ads alone… not including the ones owned full-time by the stunning Ms. Jolie.) Director Timur Bekmambetov (Russia’s Night Watch) scores points for thrilling action and the occasional fresh approach.

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June 27th, 2008
Categories: Movie Review Roundup, Action Movies, Science Fiction . Author: Norm Schrager . Comments: No Comments

Just wanted to catch everyone up on more goodies from the buzz-nutty Coen Brothers’ dark comedy, Burn After Reading. Clooney, Pitt, McDormand, Malkovich, Swinton… Imagine if these hacks could recruit some real quality talent?!

Brad Pitt and his greatest wardrobe accessory, 1990s hair

George Clooney and Frances McDormand at a Fargo screening (not really)

Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich!

The pillows just scream anti-Establishment

Jeez, he’s pissed.

And here’s the exclusive international trailer for Burn After Reading, possibly one of the coolest trailers we’ve ever seen. I sense some Hudsucker Proxy and some Fargo.

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June 26th, 2008
Categories: Trailers, Comedies, Movie Previews, International Cinema . Author: Norm Schrager . Comments: 1 Comment

In the world of movie marketing, this is definitely bigger than a Happy Meal. To promote Will Smith’s July 4th weekend release, Hancock, Columbia Pictures will pay off one family’s home mortgage.

The hook: The prize, up to $360,000, will go to a “deserving” family that writes a 200-word essay explaining why they should win. If they judge by what passes for “deserving” in today’s culture, with something like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as any blueprint, this family will have to be in some awfully deep doodoo to qualify.

An early Hancock review claims the film will challenge Will Smith’s true ability to draw at the box office (I thought Wild Wild West already did that), and the way the movie’s being marketed is probably part of that. Follow the TV spots and trailers and it’s tough to tell if Smith’s character is an anti-hero, unwilling superhero, or smartass ripping the idea of a cinema hero to shreds.

It’s funny then, when Columbia says: “Hancock’s Helping Hand Mortgage payoff contest was inspired by the film. Hancock is a misunderstood superhero who is encouraged to improve his public image when he meets a good-hearted public relations executive.”

Now that’s the basis of a boring movie! Something tells us that’s not the synopsis Columbia’s promotion team would prefer…

What’s your call on this contest?
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June 25th, 2008
Categories: Contests, Action Movies, Comedies . Author: Norm Schrager . Comments: 3 Comments

You may have read our coverage of Transsiberian, Brad Anderson’s (Session 9, Next Stop Wonderland) newest film, the Opening Night feature at the Independent Film Festival of Boston. Now the strangers-on-a-train thriller (yep, stole that from Norm) will be opening nationwide on July 18, 2008.

Kingsley at the IFFB Q&A

Transsiberian follows an American couple played by Emily Mortimer (Lars and the Real Girl) and Woody Harrelson (No Country for Old Men just one of his latest) who decide to extend their vacation by taking the Trans-Siberian railway from Beijing to Moscow. During the long trip, they keep busy by listening to various horror stories about the severity of the Russian police and by striking up a friendship with a young couple also from North America. Enter deceit, fear, torture and Ben Kingsley.

I actually recommend not watching the trailer. Or at least not the 2nd half. It gives away more than you need to see. But for those who don’t mind seeing most of a film’s good scenes before paying $10 to watch it:

Transsiberian gives you that “knot in the stomach” feeling the whole way through. You’re on the edge of your seat thinking of all the ways this couple, so out of their element, will get mixed up in something bad. But neither the story nor the main characters are as simple and formulaic as we peg them to be.

What do you think? Plan on seeing it?
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June 24th, 2008
Categories: Independent Film, Action Movies, Trailers . Author: Allison . Comments: No Comments