August 2008
(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 August should they be?
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For
the weekend of August 1, and the Scottsdale Airpark Movie
of the Month, it is “The Mummy: Tomb of the
Dragon Emperor”, starring Brendan Fraser,
Jet Li, Maria Bello (The Jane Austin Book Club), Luke Ford
(McLeod’s Daughters) and Michelle Yeoh (Memoirs of
a Geisha), directed by Rob Cohen (Stealth). Genre: action
/ adventure, fantasy, rated PG-13. The plot: in the 1940's,
treasure hunting Rick (Fraser) is retired, but his grown
son Alex (Ford) has taken over where he has left off. Alex
is now in his early 20's and just like his father, he is
a wisecracking adventure seeker. Unfortunately, his reckless
attitude allows him to be tricked into awakening the mummy
of Qin Shihuang. Shihuang was a powerful emperor who ruled
all of China with an iron fist until he and his army of
warriors were trapped in suspended animation inside terracotta
(claylike red ceramic) dolls by a sorceress. As time passed,
Shihuang's thirst for power grew. When finally freed from
his terracotta prison, the emperor begins amassing an army
of otherworldly warriors in order to rule the world. Alex
decides that he must fix his mistake, but he cannot do it
alone, so he does what any young son who screwed up would
do: crawl to his parents for help. Now, they will work together
to stop emperor Shihuang and his massive army.
The other four movies opening this weekend are: Frozen
River, The Midnight Meat Train,
The Rocker, and Swing Vote. |
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For the
weekend of August 8, it is “Pineapple Express”,
starring Seth Rogen (Superbad), James Franco (Spider-Man 3),
James Remar (Dexter), Danny McBride (Drillbit Taylor), Gary
Cole (Breach), and Rosie Perez (Lackawanna Blues), directed
by David Gordon Green (Snow Angels). Genre: comedy, rated
R. The plot: Lazy stoner Dale (Rogen) has only one reason
to visit his equally lazy dealer Saul (Franco): to purchase
a rare new strain of weed called Pineapple Express. But when
Dale becomes the only witness to a murder by a crooked cop
(Perez) and the city's most dangerous drug lord (Cole), he
panics and dumps his roach of Pineapple Express at the scene.
To Dale’s dismay, the weed is so rare that it can be
traced back to him and/or Saul. So Dale and Saul run for their
lives, and they quickly discover that they’re not suffering
from weed-fueled paranoia. The crooks really are hot on their
trail and are determined to kill them both.
The other five movies opening this weekend are: Bottle
Shock, Elegy, Hell Ride,
The Perfect Game, and The Sisterhood
of the Traveling Pants 2. |
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For the
weekend of August 15, and the Scottsdale Airpark Movie of
the Month, it is “Tropic Thunder”,
starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick
Nolte, Brandon Jackson (Envy), Steve Coogan (Night at the
Museum), Danny McBride (Drillbit Taylor), Bill Hader (Saturday
Night Live), and Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up), directed by Ben
Stiller. Genre: comedy, rated R. The plot: five actors, each
representing a Hollywood stereotype, are cast to star in the
most expensive Vietnam War movie ever made based on a book
written by an actual soldier. These are: an action star (Stiller)
who is famous for making five sequels to one movie like Sylvester
Stallone and Rambo; a comedic actor and a drug addict (Black)
who is known for doing multiple parts in his movies and wearing
fat suits, a satire of Eddie Murphy; a serious Australian
thespian (Downey) who’s part is written for a black
person, so he undergoes a cosmetic procedure to make him look
black; then an unknown actor trying to make it big; the last
is a rapper turned actor. However the director and writer
get fed up with their cast and decide to dump them in the
middle of the jungle to toughen them up. In the jungle, the
actors get involved in a real conflict with a drug trafficking
militia but continue to think that it is all part of their
training, not realizing that the war is all real.
The other four movies opening this weekend are. Henry
Poole is Here, Mirrors, Star
Wars: The Clone Wars, and Vicky Christina
Barcelona. |
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For the
weekend of August 22, it is “Hamlet 2”,
starring Steve Coogan (Night at the Museum), Elisabeth Shue,
Catherine Keener (Capote), Amy Poehler (Baby Mama), and David
Arquette (The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl), directed
by Andrew Fleming (Nancy Drew). Genre: comedy, rated R. The
plot: a failed actor that is an even worse high school drama
teacher (Coogan) rallies his Tucson, AZ students as he conceives
and stages an amazingly politically incorrect musical sequel
to Shakespeare's "Hamlet."
The other four movies opening this weekend are Death
Race, Fly Me to the Moon, The
House Bunny, and The Longshots. |
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For the
weekend of August 29, it is “Traitor”,
starring Don Cheadle (Reign Over Me), Guy Pearce (Factory
Girl), Jeff Daniels, Neal McDonough (88 Minutes), and Archie
Panjabi (A Mighty Heart), directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (The
Day After Tomorrow). Genre: suspense drama, not yet rated.
The plot: an elusive former U.S. Special Operations officer
(Cheadle) that seems to be working with a terrorist group
responsible for multiple crimes against society, becomes the
target of a CIA manhunt around the globe by a straight arrow
& truth obsessing FBI agent (Pearce).
The other three movies opening this weekend are Babylon
A.D., College, and Disaster
Movie. |
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These are
expected to play at the multiplexes in the Scottsdale, AZ - Airpark
area including:
Harkins Scottsdale 101 at 7000 E. Mayo Blvd. 480-538-1707
AMC Desert Ridge 18 at 21000 N. Tatum Blvd. 480-606-0806
United Artists (Regal) Sonora Village 10 at 15512 N. Pima
Rd. 480-998-1300
Farrelli’s Cinema Supper Club at 14202 N. Scottsdale
Rd. 480-905-7200
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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