August 2005 Movies

"The Chumscrubber" is a surreal cautionary tale about an alienated youth forced to confront the disconnect between parents and teenagers in suburbia, rendered with a razor's edge balance of comedy and drama.

Set in present day, the story follows the adventures of "good old boy" cousins, Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) Duke, who with the help of their eye-catching cousin Daisy (Jessica Simpson) and moonshine running Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), try and save the family farm from being destroyed by Hazzard County's corrupt commissioner Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds). Their efforts constantly find the "Duke Boys" eluding authorities in "The General Lee," their famed 1969 orange Dodge Charger that keeps them one step ahead of the dimwitted antics of the small southern town's Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (M.C. Gainey).

A Chicago art dealer marries a Southerner from an uptight North Carolina family. When she attempts to track down a reclusive back-woods artist, her in-laws get their petticoats in a twist in various and sundry ways.

This is the story of Ralph Walker, a 14-year-old who in 1954 outran everyone's expectations in his bold quest to win the Boston Marathon. His seriously ill mother knows he is waiting to explode into greatness, except that he has no idea where that greatness will manifest itself. Then, an unfortunate incident of self-abuse in the community pool inadvertently points him in the right direction. As penance for his actions, Ralph is conscripted to the cross-country team. Desperate to believe a miracle will bring his mother out of a coma, Ralph becomes a convert to the church of running and sets his sights on winning the Boston Marathon.

In a night pregnant with a strange mix of tension and dizzy abandon, lovers Carla and Martin prowl clubs before drunkenly wandering back to his car. While he comes across as crass nouveau riche, she appears more liberal. Their conspicuous affluence, however, makes them ideal targets for kidnappers, and the trio of Trece, Budu and Niga gets a bead on them and promptly sweeps them up at gunpoint. The kidnappers then demand $20,000 to be delivered in two hours. Carla phones her rich father Sergio to procure the money, but chaos soon ensues. A botched ATM robbery is followed by a stopover at the palatial estate of a gay drug dealer.

In the new film from acclaimed writer/director Jim Jarmusch, which won the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes International Film Festival, Bill Murray stars as Don Johnston. The resolutely single Don has just been dumped by his latest lover, Sherry (Julie Delpy). Don yet again resigns himself to being alone and left to his own devices. Instead, he is compelled to reflect on his past when he receives by mail a mysterious pink letter. It is from an anonymous former lover and informs him that he has a 19-year-old son who may now be looking for his father. Don is urged to investigate this "mystery" by his closest friend and neighbor, Winston (Jeffrey Wright), an amateur sleuth and family man. Hesitant to travel at all, Don nonetheless embarks on a cross-country trek in search of clues from four former flames (Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone, and Tilda Swinton). Unannounced visits to each of these unique women hold new surprises for Don as he haphazardly confronts both his past and, consequently, his present.

He was a writer. He thought he wrote about the future but it really was the past. In his novel, a mysterious train left for 2046 every once in a while. Everyone who went there had the same intention—to recapture their lost memories. It was said that in 2046, nothing ever changed. Nobody knew for sure if it was true, because nobody who went there had ever come back—except for one. He was there. He chose to leave. He wanted to change.

Brian has been crazy about Drew Barrymore since the second grade when he first saw her in "E.T." Now it's 20 years later, and since Drew hasn't come knocking on his door, Brian decided to make the first move. By documenting his quest to meet Drew on video tape, Brian thought he would represent the "everyman," and his quest will seem noble, instead of just desperate. Armed only with steadfast determination, a video camera and $1,100 that he recently won on a game show, Brian summoned the powers of "Six Degrees of Separation," figuring he must know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows Drew. Despite the odds, Brian found encouragement in the words of Drew Barrymore: "If you don't take risks, you'll have a wasted soul." "My Date with Drew" will inspire moviegoers everywhere to follow their dreams.

Comedy veterans and co-creators Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza capitalize on their insider status and invite over 100 of their closest friends--who happen to be some of the biggest names in entertainment, from George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Cary to Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget, Paul Reiser and Sarah Silverman--to reminisce, analyze, deconstruct and deliver their their own versions of world's dirtiest joke, an old burlesque, too extreme to be performed in public, called "The Aristocrats".

In his mesmerizing new film "Grizzly Man", acclaimed director Werner Herzog explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell lived unarmed among the bears for thirteen summers, and filmed his adventures in the wild during his final five seasons. In October 2003, Treadwell's remains, along with those of his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, were discovered near their campsite in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Reserve. They had been mauled and devoured by a grizzly, the first known victims of a bear attack in the park. (The bear suspected of the killings was later shot by park officials.) In GRIZZLY MAN, Herzog plumbs not only the mystery of wild nature, but also the mystery of human nature as he chronicles Treadwell's final years in the wilderness. Herzog uses Treadwell's own startling documentary footage to paint a nuanced portrait of a complex and compelling figure while exploring larger questions about the uneasy relationship between man and nature.

Set largely in the dark atmospheric backwoods just outside of New Orleans, "The Skeleton Key" stars Kate Hudson as Caroline, a live-in nurse hired to care for an elderly woman's (Gena Rowlands) ailing husband (John Hurt) in their home, a foreboding a decrepit Gothic mansion in the Louisiana delta. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple, their mysterious and secretive ways and their rambling house, Caroline begins to explore the old mansion. Armed with a skeleton key that unlocks every door, she discovers a hidden attic room that holds a deadly and terrifying secret.

"Pretty Persuasion" is a dark satire of our present day do-it-yourself scandal, manipulate-the-media, easy fix pill-popping, overnight celebrity obsessed culture. When worldly-wise beyond her years high school student Kimberly Joyce (Evan Rachel Wood) accuses her English teacher (Ron Livingston) of sexual harassment, she turns her exclusive Beverly Hills private school, and everything else in her wake, upside down. Hell hath no fury like a teenager scorned...

Rob Schneider is seduced back to his unlikely pleasure-for-pay profession, when his former pimp T.J. Hicks (Eddie Griffin) is implicated in the murders of Europe's Greatest Gigolos. Deuce must go back to work in order to clear his good friend's name. Along the way, Deuce must compete against the powerful European Union of Prosti-dudes and court another bevy of abnormal female clients including the beautiful Eva, who suffers from acute obsessive-compulsive disorder.

After their adoptive mother is murdered during a grocery store holdup, the Mercer brothers - hotheaded Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), hard-edged Angel (Tyrese Gibson), family man and businessman Jeremiah, and hard rocking Jack (Garrett Hedlund) - reunite to take the matter of her death into their own hands. As they track down the killer, they quickly realize that their old ways of doing business have new consequences. The four brothers come together to discover that they are bound by ties thicker than blood.

Set in the Philippines in 1945, "The Great Raid" tells the true story of the 6th Ranger Battalion, under the com-mand of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) who undertake a daring rescue mission against all odds. Traveling thirty miles behind enemy lines, the 6th Ranger Battalion aims to liberate over 500 American prisoners-of- war from the notorious Cabanatuan Japanese POW camp in the most audacious rescue ever.

Faced with the suspicious death of their father, two brothers must motivate one another to get back on their bikes and take the Las Vegas Motocross Championships by storm.

Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) hates to fly, but the terror that awaits her on the night flight to Miami has nothing to do with a fear of flying. Moments after takeoff, Lisa's seatmate, Jackson (Cillian Murphy), menacingly reveals the real reason he's on board: He is an operative in a plot to kill a rich and powerful businessman…and Lisa is the key to its success. If she refuses to cooperate, her own father will be killed by an assassin awaiting a call from Jackson. Trapped within the confines of a jet at 30,000 feet, Lisa has nowhere to run and no way to summon help without endangering her father, her fellow passengers and her own life. As the miles tick by, Lisa knows she is running out of time as she desperately looks for a way to thwart her ruthless captor and stop a terrible murder.

Moments after takeoff, Lisa's seatmate, Jackson (Cillian Murphy), menacingly reveals the real reason he's on board: He is an operative in a plot to kill a rich and powerful businessman…and Lisa is the key to its success. If she refuses to cooperate, her own father will be killed by an assassin awaiting a call from Jackson. Trapped within the confines of a jet at 30,000 feet, Lisa has nowhere to run and no way to summon help without endangering her father, her fellow passengers and her own life. As the miles tick by, Lisa knows she is running out of time as she desperately looks for a way to thwart her ruthless captor and stop a terrible murder.

Stella Raphael, a cultured and elegant but restless young woman, lives with her husband, Max, a forensic psychiatrist, and their small son, Charlie, at a high-security mental hospital in rural England. Isolated from the urban excitement she craves, Stella is unhappy with her husband and her life, and when she comes into contact with the brilliant and attractive sculptor Edgar Stark, a patient who is engaged in rebuilding the asylum's decrepit Victorian conservatory, she begins to fall in love. Her discovery that Edgar was confined to the hospital after he brutally murdered and disfigured his wife in a psychotic, jealous rage fails to deter Stella from her growing passion, and eventually her love for Edgar is pitted against her husband, her child, the institution, and the entire fabric of her society. Finally Stella makes her choice, precipitating an appalling tragedy and changing the course of several lives.

40-year-old Andy Stitzer (Steve Carrell) has done quite a few things in his life. He's got a cushy job stamping invoices at an electronics superstore, a nice apartment with a proud collection of action figures and comic books, good friends, a nice attitude. But there's just one little thing he hasn't quite gotten around to doing yet--something most people have done by his age. Done a lot. Andy's never, ever, ever had sex--not even by accident. So is that such a big deal?

Well, for Andy's buds at the store, it sure is. Although they think he's a bit of an oddball, there's certainly a planetful of stranger (and homelier) guys who've at least had one go at having a go. They consider it their duty to help Andy out of his dire situation and go to great lengths to help him. But nothing proves effective enough to lure their friend out of lifelong chastity until he meets Trish (Catherine Keener), a 40-year-old mother of three. Andy's friends are psyched by the possibility that "it" may finally happen...until they hear that Andy and Trish have begun their relationship based on a mutual no-sex policy.

From Tsui Hark, the legendary filmmaker who defined two decades of Asian Cinema and Yuen Wo-Ping, the visionary martial arts master behind "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" comes "Zu Warriors". In the world beyond our world there lies a mystic realm that guards the mortal universe—the kingdom of Zu.

A deaf-mute man, Ryu, works in a smelting factory and inhabits his own silent world, oblivious to the din both at work and in his downscale apartment building. He idolizes his sister, who urgently needs a kidney transplant, and when he's laid off and then tricked out of his savings by organ traffickers, his wacko girlfriend, Yeong-mi, suggests kidnapping his former boss's daughter to pay for his sister's operation. Yeong-mi sees it as social revenge. Ryu, initially scared of the consequences, finally agrees after seeing another laid-off worker attempt hara-kiri outside the boss's home. After kidnapping the boss's daughter, their whole plan starts to quickly unravel with horrible consequences.

A brave-but-undersized pigeon, named Valiant, dreams of joining the elite Royal Homing Pigeon Service and serving crown and country during World War II. Despite his small stature, Valiant's ambitions are enormous as he keeps a stiff upper beak and endures rigorous training in preparation for a dangerous mission to deliver vital messages to troops behind enemy lines. With a shortage of wingpower in the royal fleet due to increased attacks by a brigade of vicious enemy falcons--led by the ruthless General Von Talon--the mission falls to Valiant and the unlikely heroes of Squad F to try and save the day. With a wing and a prayer, Valiant and his fine feathered pals fly into harm's way and prove that it's not the size of the wingspan that counts, but the size of the spirit.

Set in the world of up-and-coming artists, "Undiscovered" is a heartfelt and comic film that tells the story of an aspiring model who falls in love with a struggling musician when they suddenly cross paths on a NY subway train. Having achieved success as a NY model, Brier (James) decides to move to L.A. to launch an acting career. With the support of her acerbic agent and sometimes surrogate mom, Carrie (Fisher), Brier lands a spot in a highly sought after acting class where she befriends another would-be actress, Clea (Simpson). While out on the town discovering the music scene, Brier again crosses paths with Luke (Strait), a singer/songwriter who has been toiling for years without a record deal. Brier and Clea decide to help Luke and unbeknownst to him, they set out to create some L.A. style hype to get him noticed. As Luke's profile rises, so do the demands of his budding new career. When Luke and Brier can't hide the spark that was always there, they both discover that the price of fame may be higher than anyone expected.

A dark fantasy about the two "Brothers Grimm" (Matt Damon, Heath Ledger) who travel around the Napoleonic countryside vanquishing fake monsters and demons in exchange for cash. When the French government figures out what they're up to, they force the brothers to deal with the real thing—a number of murders being committed under mysterious circumstances in the northern woods between Germany and France. It is there that they have to try and discover what's really happening and deal with it before more people are killed or their lack of success leads to the guillotine.

Deep in the Romanian forest, a team of scientists stumbles upon the ruins of a 13th century Abbey. On further inspection, they make a startling discovery - the Abbey is built over the entrance to a giant underground cave system. Local biologists belive the cave could be home to an undiscovered eco-system, so they hire a group of American cave-explorers to help them investigate its depths. Jack (Cole Hauser) and his brother Tyler (Eddie Cibrian) are thrill-seeking professional cave explorers who run a team of the top divers in the world. They arrive in Romania with all the latest equipment, including a new type of scuba tank allowing a diver to remain submerged for up to 24 hours. The crack unit, which also includes Charlie (Piper Perabo) and Buchanan (Morris Chestnut), immediately begin their exploration. But what they find deep inside the caves is not just a new eco-system, but an entirely new species altogether...

Chronicles the anxiety-ridden two weeks leading to the marriage of Elliot Sherman who is the quintessential Baxter—the nice guy who never gets the girl.

When a British diplomat's wife—a socially-conscious lawyer—turns up dead in Kenya, he sets out to find the truth surrounding her murder. In the process, he finds out that his wife had been compiling data against a multinational drug company that uses helpless Africans as guinea pigs to test a tuberculosis remedy with unfortunately fatal side effects. Therefore those who may have had the most reason to silence her are closer to home than he ever imagined.