June 2007
(as seen in the Scottsdale Airpark News)
Movies in theaters are alive and well as Hollywood
continues to release some very exciting films. Why see these films
in a theater instead of at home on your great home theater system?
Some movies are best experienced on a massive screen with amazing
sound, with audience interaction, or maybe that guilty pleasure
-- with hot liquid butter poured all over that big bag of popcorn.
There could be one annoyance though -- deciding just what to see,
given there are often five or more new movies released every week.
So with your busy life, if you could see just one newly released
movie per week, which five in June should they be?
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For the weekend of June 1st, it is “Mr.
Brooks” starring Kevin Costner, William Hurt,
Demi Moore, Marg Helgenberger (CSI), and Dane Cook (Employee
of the Month). A crime drama / thriller, rated R.
The plot: Mr. Brooks (Costner) is a relatively normal man
with a wife (Helgenberger) and a daughter. Buried beneath
the ordinary façade, however, is an emotionally tortured
soul of a person harboring a dark secret. Mr. Brooks’
devious alter ego Marshall (Hurt) loves murder and mayhem
and pushes Mr. Brooks to commit heinous deeds. As much as
he is determined to remain disciplined and to fight the
sinister urges, Mr. Brooks cannot fully resist Marshall’s
influence and lives a second life as a serial killer. His
rampage catches the attention of detective (Moore), a tough
cop devoted to her craft and to catching the culprit. His
intelligence, however, gains her respect and eventually
leads to a strange symbiotic relationship between the two.
There are six other new releases this weekend: Crazy
Love, Day Watch, Gracie,
Knocked Up, Pierrepoint,
and Rise.
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For the weekend of June 8th, it is “Ocean’s
Thirteen” starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt,
Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Ellen Barkin, Al Pacino, Don Cheadle,
Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, and Elliott Gould. A comedy / crime
drama, rated PG-13.
The plot: When Reuben Tishkoff (Gould) makes the mistake of
building a hotel with one of Las Vegas’ most hated businessman,
Willy Banks (Pacino), he gets cut out of the deal and ends
up in the hospital after a heart attack. Danny Ocean (Clooney)
tries to help his old friend out by giving Banks a chance
to restore Reuben’s share of the hotel, but Banks dismisses
him without any regard. Six months later, with Banks’
investment thriving as the richest hotel in the city and the
ultimate spot for high rollers, Ocean and his crew decide
to bring him down. With the help of their former nemesis,
casino owner Terry Benedict (Garcia), who is also out to settle
the score against Banks, his fierce rival, they scheme to
find a way to bankrupt Banks on his casino’s opening
night. This time, they are not in it for the money, but rather
for revenge
There are three other new releases this weekend: Hostel:
Part II, La Vie en rose, and Surf's
Up. |
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For the weekend of June 15th, it is “Fantastic
4: Rise of The Silver Surfer” starring Michael
Chiklis, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Jessica Alba, Julian
McMahon (Nip / Tuck), and the voice of Laurence Fishburne.
An action / adventure / sci-fi, rated PG.
The plot: Reed Richards (Gruffudd), AKA Mr. Fantastic, Sue
Storm (Alba), AKA The Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm (Evans),
AKA The Human Torch, and Ben Grimm (Chiklis), AKA The Thing,
return as the superhero group known as The Fantastic Four.
After dispatching Dr. Victor Von Doom (McMahon), the foursome
learns that they are not the only ones with special powers
when the enigmatic galactic traveler known as the Silver Surfer
(Fishburne) arrives on earth to prepare it for total annihilation.
The Surfer is actually only a pawn as he serves a far mightier
being, the planet-eating creature known as Galactus. While
the four heroes struggle to find a way to defeat this new
and unfamiliar power, they also have to cope with the surprising
return of Dr. Doom, who has quite a few surprises still in
store.
There are four other new releases this weekend: DOA:
Dead or Alive, Eagle vs Shark, Fido,
and Nancy Drew. |
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For the weekend of June 22nd, it is “Evan
Almighty” starring Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman,
Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), and John Goodman. A comedy
/ fantasy rated PG.
The plot: Squeaky-clean Buffalo television newscaster Evan
Baxter (Carell) is headed for Washington D.C. after being
elected a United States congressman. Together with his wife
(Graham) and kids, he sets out for suburban northern Virginia
to start his new life. The best laid plans sometimes have
a way of not quite working out, and as it turns out, it isn’t
long before Evan’s happiness is rudely interrupted by
the mysterious appearance of God (Freeman). Apparently, another
massive flood is coming and God has chosen Evan to follow
in Noah’s footsteps and build an ark enormous enough
to house his family, and two of every species on earth. As
outrageous as the situation may seem, Evan has good reason
to believe that God is not leading him astray and so he begins
the monumental construction. While he seems to have found
new spiritual enlightenment, his family and neighbors start
to think that he has actually gone insane. It may simply be
a wild mid-life crisis, or perhaps Evan is acting to serve
humanity.
There are five other new releases this weekend: 1408,
A Mighty Heart, Black Sheep,
Broken English, and You Kill Me. |
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For the weekend of June 29th, it is “Ratatouille”
starring the voices of Patton Oswalt (The King of Queens),
Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Peter OToole, Brad Garrett, Janeane
Garofalo, James Remar (Dexter), and John Ratzenberger (Cheers).
An animated comedy from Disney / Pixar, rated G.
The plot: Remy (Oswalt) is a young rat with a rather atypical
affinity toward fine cuisine. Fortunately for him, he lives
in the Parisian sewers, directly below the restaurant made
famous by his idol, Chef Auguste Gusteau (Garrett). His
deepest desire is to follow in his culinary hero’s
footsteps, but there are two substantial obstacles in his
way. His father (Dennehy) has no tolerance for Remmy’s
refined tastes when he sees so much perfectly decent garbage
all around them to feast on. He worries that Remmy’s
passion could split up the rat family. A much bigger obstacle,
however, is the simple fact that Remmy is a rat and that
no self-respecting person would ever want to eat food prepared
by a rodent, no matter how good of a cook he may be. Despite
all this, Remmy makes friends with a garbage boy that works
at the restaurant, finds his way into the kitchen, and risks
his life preparing the most extraordinary soup. His first
successful concoction proves that he may have a knack at
cooking after all. Unfortunately, Remmy is playing a risky
game because the jealous head-chef and all of the restaurant’s
employees want him eliminated as soon as possible.
There are four other new releases this weekend: Evening,
Live Free or Die Hard, Sicko,
and Vitus. |
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And now a look back to May, a must see film
before it leaves theaters: “Shrek the Third”
starring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz,
Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, John Cleese, and Justin
Timberlake. An animation / comedy, rated PG.
The plot: When we last saw him, King Harold (Cleese) had turned
into a frog. Now that he has fallen ill, his daughter, Princess
Fiona (Diaz), and her husband Shrek (Myers) are the next in
line to rule as the Queen and King of Far, Far Away. Since
he finds difficulty in the new position and longs to return
to his swamp, Shrek is delighted to hear that he may have
a way out of this predicament. There is one other person who
could rightfully claim King Harold’s throne –
Fiona’s troublesome cousin Artie (Timberlake). With
his friends Donkey (Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Banderas) beside
him, Shrek sets out to find the rebellious teen. Suddenly,
the jilted Prince Charming (Everett), who was thrown out of
Far, Far Away last time, makes his way back to the kingdom,
looking for revenge. Together with a group of fairy tale villains,
he hopes to seize back the castle and the throne. Fiona assembles
a band of princesses to help her stop the Prince’s assault,
but with Shrek away on his mission, the kingdom is in grave
danger. |
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If you miss any of these in the first few weeks
of release at the big multiplexes in the Airpark area including
Harkins, AMC or United Artists / Regal, you might catch some of
them at Farrelli’s Cinema Supper Club where you can have
a full dinner or cocktails, and Thursdays are Classic Movie night.
Furthermore, gong to the movies still gives you the most entertainment
“bang for the buck” when compared to a similar two
hour venture at any professional sporting event, play or music
performance.
See you at the movies!
Note: While the release dates & ratings for
these movies were correct at the time of printing, studios sometimes
make last-minute changes. If this happens, we apologize for any
inconvenience.
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