District 9
directed by Neill Blomkamp
After more than a year of viral campaigning, we are going to find out what Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 and its extraterrestrials are all about. The faux doc takes place in South Africa where an alien race has been of living as refugees 28 years. The movie, expanded from Blomkamp’s short film Alive in Joburg, was produced by Peter Jackson after the two moviemakers stumbled in their bid to make a film adaptation of the ultra-successful video game Halo. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, marking Blomkamp as a young moviemaker to watch.
Ponyo
directed by Hayao Miyazaki
The world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki is bringing Ponyo to the U.S. This animated film, presented by Walt Disney Pictures and very reminiscent of The Little Mermaid is about Ponyo, a mermaid who wants to be a human and falls in love with a little boy, five-year-old Sosuke, as they go on an adventure to balance the ocean. The film was released in Japan in 2008, but this one includes different voice actors including Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey and Cloris Leachman.
Bandslam
directed by Todd Graff
Here comes another tween band movie from director Todd Graff, who made his directorial debut with the similarly themed Camp. Smartly, Summit Entertainment has stolen Disney actresses Vanessa Hudgens and Alyson Michalka for this attempt to start teeny bopper cults of their own. The movie is about the new kid in town, an offbeat outsider and popular girl coming together for the love of rock music… and the biggest battle of the bands ever. There’s adventures of finding bandmates, love and hopefully beating an ex-boyfriend’s band at the Bandslam. Oh yeah, it also has the first trailer for Twilight sequel New Moon attached to it; good move Summit.
The Time Traveler’s Wife
directed by Robert Schwentke
Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams seem to be retreading some ground here. Part time traveling adventure (like Bana’s Star Trek), part tear-jerking romance (like McAdam’s The Notebook) the flick is based on Audrey Niffenegger’s bestseller of the same name. Bana’s character can’t control his time traveling, which (understandably) leads to a complicated love life with McAdams. Will she stay with him or will she move on? More importantly, is a Deloreon involved?
Paper Heart
directed by Nicholas Jasenovec
What is love? Is it a fantasy? Or is it something that moviemakers make up? Charlyne Yi is on an adventure to find out the answers in this documentary/narrative/movie. Yi and Nicholas Jasenovec (who is portrayed in the movie by actor Jake M. Johnson) pair up as writers, directors, musicians and executive producers to show the copious views on modern romance and love in this Sundance Film Festival award-winning movie. Yi is pessimistic about love at first, but things look like they will change after she meets Michael Cera, her (maybe) real-life boyfriend. The crew goes around the nation, all while Cera and Yi’s relationship blooms.
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
directed by Neal Brennan
Don Ready (Jeremy Piven) has a gift: He can sell anything. He could sell a steak to an animal-loving vegan. Ready is hired to save a failing auto dealership right in time for their Fourth of July sale… outrageous acts and crude humor ensue. But what can else can you expect from a movie directed by Neal Brennan, a writer/creator on “Chappelle’s Show,” and produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay?
It Might Get Loud
directed by Davis Guggenheim
Producer Thomas Tull pulled together an all-around award-winning production. Davis Guggenheim, the Oscar-winning director of An Inconvenient Truth, directs a “cast” comprised of three generations of rock stars in this documentary capturing the passion and love of the electric guitar as told through the experiences of Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White. We get to see locations influential to each guitarist and witness a get-together on an empty soundstage where the three men chit chat and have a epic jam session. Judging by the trailer, you’ll probably want to pick up the guitar and start rockin’ out after you see this documentary.
Spread
directed by David Mackenzie
Playing a lady’s man isn’t a hard for Ashton Kutcher; that’s kind of what he is in real life. But to make this role an even better fit for him, his character is in a relationship with “cougar,” Anne Heche.This Sundance film follows Nikki’s (Kutcher) gigolo ways in Hollywood. He spreads the legs of many rich, older women, until he meets the perfect girl (Margarita Levieva) who is doing the exact same thing to men. Don’t know how he found time to shoot this and keep Tweeting, though…
Grace
directed by Paul Solet
Writer and director Paul Solet (Fangoria: Blood Drive II, Means to an End) is sticking to his horror film shtick with this movie about Madeline Matheson (played by Jordan Ladd) an expectant mother who insists on carrying her miscarried baby to full term. Miraculously the baby lives, but there’s one catch: She only lives off of blood. Bummer. The trailers make this movie seem like a creepy thriller (mom dragging dead bodies, etc.), but Solet tried to convince us that it’s more of a character study.
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