August 2009 Movies

A woman verging on thirty and frustrated in a temp secretary job takes on a yearlong culinary quest: cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." She chronicles her trials and tribulations in a blog that catches on with the food crowd.

A Hawaiian honeymoon turns dangerous for two lovers (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) when they discover they are being stalked by a pair of killers (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez).

Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, whose previous collaboration was the worldwide blockbuster "Transformers," have reunited for another extraordinary action-adventure "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite G.I. JOE team uses the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment to fight the corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organization to prevent them from plunging the world into chaos.

Described as part-documentary, part-scripted comedy about the real-life relationship between Michael Cera and his girlfriend, Charlyne Yi.

During an existential crisis, an actor decides to explore "soul extraction" as a relief from the burdens of daily life.

Body snatchers Arthur Blake and Willie Grimes have pillaged their last grave. With just five hours before Arthur follows Willie to the chopping block, he recounts his life story to Father Francis Duffy. It soon becomes clear that Blake and Grimes are no ordinary grave robbers. And through Arthur's story the priest learns that not all corpses are equal.

A high school outcast's bond with a popular girl over their shared love of music results in them assembling a rock group that looks to win their school's upcoming battle of the bands competition.

An animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human.

The love story focuses on a couple in which the man has a genetic disorder known as "chrono-impairment," a condition that causes him to involuntarily travel through time. Jeremy Leven wrote the adaptation.

Los Angeles is often the customary site for mythmaking in the American cultural iconography. It is a place, for instance, where the legend of the sexual exploits of the male gigolo seems perfectly at home in the decadent universe of Hollywood dreams and nightmares. Surely inspired by the classic tradition of American Gigolo and Shampoo, Spread is such a perfectly tuned, contemporary depiction of the trials and tribulations of sleeping your way to wealth and success that, guilty pleasure or not, it’s irresistible. Especially so since it’s driven by the iconic persona of Ashton Kutcher, who plays Nikki and breathes the charged sexuality, fashion and hipness, and sense of entitlement of the sexual grifter as if he were born to it. Stylishly directed by David MacKenzie (Hallam Foe, Young Adam), Spread is a moral tale in a very-modern sense with its characters of a young man and his middle-aged, well-to-do client (played by Anne Heche), his various associates and conquests, and a waitress whom he begins to really care about (unbeknownst to him, she is playing the same game). The world of money, sex, and privilege is an ephemeral one, and the fall can be as sudden as the ascent. Spread is a finely crafted vision of ambition, indulgence, vanity, and self-realization that epitomizes the lifestyle of a fabled Mecca.

A documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three significant rock musicians: the Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White.

Described as part-documentary, part-scripted comedy about the real-life relationship between Michael Cera and his girlfriend, Charlyne Yi.

In the war-zones of Liberia and Congo, four volunteers with Doctors Without Borders struggle to provide emergency medical care under extreme conditions. With different levels of experience, each volunteer must find their own way to face the challenges, the tough choices, and the limits of their idealism.

After running into something with her car, Vero experiences a particular psychological state when she realizes she might have killed someone.

"Shorts" is set in the suburb of Black Falls, where all the houses look the same and everyone works for BLACK BOX Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated, whose Mr. Black's BLACK BOX is the ultimate communication and do-it-all gadget that's sweeping the nation. Other than keeping his parents employed, however, Mr. Black's BLACK BOX has done nothing for 11-year-old Toe Thompson, who just wants to make a few friends...until a mysterious rainbow-colored rock falls from the sky, hits him in the head and changes everything. The Rainbow Rock does Mr. Black's BLACK BOX one better: it grants wishes to anyone who holds it. Before long, wishes-gone-wrong have left the neighborhood swarming with tiny spaceships, crocodile armies, giant boogers...and outrageous magical mayhem around every corner. But it's not until the grown-ups get their hands on the Rock that the trouble really starts. Now Toe and his newfound friends must join forces to save their town from itself, discovering along the way that what you wish for is not always what you want.

A group of disgraced men in World War II manage to escape the execution squad by going on a daring mission to help the Allies in the fight against the Nazis.

"X Games 3D: The Movie" captures the drama and spectacle that play out every year at the X Games events, highlighting the behind-the-scenes stories of the featured athletes and the sacrifices they make in pursuit of glory and the advancement of their sports on the biggest stage in action sports.

Eternal optimist Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) has the most brutal of wake-up calls when she graduates from college and can't find a job, forcing her back home to live with her oddball family. Frustrated and confused about how her life is supposed to turn out, she soon realizes that her longtime platonic best friend is the only one who makes everything in her crazy life make sense.

Four ambitious and beautiful young women. From four very different corners of Mexico. Just like hundreds of others, they are caught up in the frenzy that sweeps the nation when Alejandro Mateos (Julio Bracho), one of the country's most powerful producers, dreams up a nationwide talent search to cast the lead in his next big movie.

The comedy stars Jason Schwartzman as Marc Pease, a man 10 years out of high school and still living in the past, when he was the star in his high school's musicals. Ben Stiller will play his former teacher/mentor, Mr. Gribble while Anna Kendrick will play a high school senior romantically involved with both of their characters.

The project stars A.J. Cook (CBS' "Criminal Minds") as a religious conservative who receives a message from God telling her to act as a surrogate mother for two gay men desiring to raise a child.

Two men struggle to come to terms with the murder of a fellow 19-year-old Catholic soldier years after the conflict that raged between Republican and Loyalist paramilitary groups, the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Lance Clayton is a man who has learned to settle. He dreamed of being a rich and famous writer, but has only managed to make it as a high school poetry teacher. His only son Kyle is an insufferable jackass who won't give his father the time of day. He is dating Claire, the school's adorable art teacher, but she doesn't want to get serious -- or even acknowledge publicly that they are dating. Then, in the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst tragedy and greatest opportunity of his life. He is suddenly faced with the possibility of all the fame, fortune and popularity he ever dreamed of, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.

The work and wisdom of some of the people who've profoundly impacted culture, yet are virtually unknown outside their industry. Exploding forth from advertising's "creative revolution" of the 1960s, these artists and writers all brought a surprisingly rebellious spirit to their work in a business more often associated with mediocrity or manipulation: George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney and others featured in the film were responsible for "Just Do It," "I Love NY," "Where's the Beef?," "Got Milk," "Think Different," and brilliant campaigns for everything from cars to presidents. They managed to grab the attention of millions and truly move them. Visually interwoven with their stories, TV satellites are launched, billboards are erected, and the social and cultural impact of their ads are brought to light in this dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.

Sikandar Raza dreams of a better life for his family by realizing his football talent, but he is a loner at school and an easy target for the school bullies. One day on his way home from a school football match, Sikandar finds a gun lying on the path.

The new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee. A 1969-set true story about a man, Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the famed happening it was. Working as an interior designer in Greenwich Village during culturally and politically exciting times, Mr. Tiber felt empowered by the gay rights movement. But he was also still staked to the family business – a Catskills motel. Upon hearing that a planned concert had lost its permit from the neighboring town of Wallkill, NY, Mr. Tiber called producer Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) at Woodstock Ventures to offer his motel. Soon the Woodstock staff was moving into the El Monaco; half a million people were on their way to Mr. Tiber’s neighbor’s Max Yasgur’s (Eugene Levy) farm in White Lake, NY; and Mr. Tiber found himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and American culture, forever.

Picks up at the exact moment the first movie stopped and follow the aftermath of Michael Myers murderous rampage through the eyes of heroine Laurie Strode.

On what should have been a fun-filled day at the races, Nick O'Bannon has a horrific premonition in which a bizarre sequence of events causes multiple race cars to crash, sending flaming debris into the stands, brutally killing his friends and causing the upper deck of the stands to collapse on him. When he comes out of this grisly nightmare Nick panics, persuading his girlfriend, Lori, and their friends, Janet and Hunt, to leave...escaping seconds before Nick's frightening vision becomes a terrible reality. Thinking they've cheated death, the group has a new lease on life, but unfortunately for Nick and Lori, it is only the beginning. As his premonitions continue and the crash survivors begin to die one-by-one--in increasingly gruesome ways--Nick must figure out how to cheat death once and for all before he, too, reaches his final destination. The film marks the latest in the highly popular "Final Destination" series, and its first 3D installment, giving horror fans an especially visceral thrill ride.

The new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee. A 1969-set true story about a man, Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the famed happening it was. Working as an interior designer in Greenwich Village during culturally and politically exciting times, Mr. Tiber felt empowered by the gay rights movement. But he was also still staked to the family business – a Catskills motel. Upon hearing that a planned concert had lost its permit from the neighboring town of Wallkill, NY, Mr. Tiber called producer Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) at Woodstock Ventures to offer his motel. Soon the Woodstock staff was moving into the El Monaco; half a million people were on their way to Mr. Tiber’s neighbor’s Max Yasgur’s (Eugene Levy) farm in White Lake, NY; and Mr. Tiber found himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and American culture, forever.

Jeff Bridges, Justin Timberlake and Mary Steenburgen will star in "The Open Road", about a young man trying to reconnect with his father, a legendary athlete, as he struggles to get him home to his ailing mother's bedside.

Josh Harris started an experiment in New York City where 100 people lived together and have their lives broadcast on the net.

Paul Aufiero, a hardcore New York Giants football fan, struggles to deal with the consequences when he is beaten up by his favorite player.

A group of kid detectives called The Mystery Team struggle to solve a double murder to prove they can be real detectives before they graduate from high school.

Grown children visit their elderly parents one summer day. They gather to commemorate the tragic death of the eldest son, who drowned in an accident 15 years ago.