A Prairie Home Companion (June 9, 2006)
Rated PG-13 (for risqué humor).
Director Robert Altman and writer Garrison Keillor team up to create a comic backstage fable, A Prairie Home Companion, about a fictional radio variety show that has managed to survive in the age of TV. But Altman and Keillor aren’t alone in this endeavor; they are joined by an all-star cast highlighted by Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin. They play the Johnson Sisters, Yolanda and Rhonda, a country duet that has managed to stay in the public eye. Lindsay Lohan is Meryl’s daughter, Lola, who is a poet that writes about death. Kevin Kline is Guy Noir, a private eye down on his luck who works as a backstage doorkeeper, and Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are Dusty and Lefty, the Old Trailhands, a singing cowboy act. Ah, but let’s not forget about Virginia Madsen, Tommy Lee Jones, Maya Rudolph as a pregnant stagehand and Keillor in the role of hangdog emcee. Combined it makes for a playful tale on a rainy Saturday night in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Why you should see it? Robert Altman is a required taste, I know, and some of you reading probably have no clue who Garrison Keillor is. But for those who enjoyed the backstage antics of A Mighty Wind and are high on moral fiber, you are sure to like Altman’s latest. The cast list alone, of older heavies and young stars, is sure to appeal to a wide demographic.
My Super Ex-Girlfriend (July 21, 2006)
Next to The Break Up with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, this is probably the only other big romantic breakup movie of the summer. Ah, but this has a twist to bring cinephiles in. For the Ivan Reitman comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) thinks he has the perfect girlfriend, the voluptuous Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman). Jenny is a superhero nicknamed G-Girl. When she becomes possessive in the relationship, Matt wants to break up. Big mistake. Jenny uses her uncanny special powers on her ex as she tries to foil Matt’s budding office romance with Hannah (Scary Movie‘s Anna Farris).
Why you should see it? Easy. Uma Thurman is good eye candy. Those who disagree need to pop in The Producers. God bless Sweden, indeed. With Eddie Izzard, Wanda Sykes, and Rainn Wilson rounding out the cast, My Super Ex-Girlfriend is likely to be a big chick flick this summer. What girl wouldn’t like to see Uma Thurman get some revenge on her ex-boyfriend? Though it will be strange not seeing Thurman in Kill Bill revenge mode.
Little Miss Sunshine (July 28, 2006)
Rated R (for language, some sex, and drug content).
The husband-and-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Davis (the renowned directors of The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” music video and The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication” and “Otherside” videos) make their big screen debuts with this hit at Sundance. The film was so popular it caused a bidding war. 20th Century Fox won, paying a reported $10 million dollars for the rights.
Little Miss Sunshine is a family tale, but not geared for children. In it, the Hoover family (including Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, and Adam Arkin) travel from Albuquerque, NM, to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California, to fulfill the deepest wish of 7-year-old Olive (Abigail Breslin), the littlest Hoover. On the way to Redondo the family must deal with heartbreak, crushed dreams, and a broken-down VW bus.
Why you should see it? That synopsis alone already makes it a better movie than RV. This could very well be the sleeper hit of the summer, if not 2006. Those expecting to see Steve Carell be de-virginated again or get his chest waxed better prepare themselves. For Sunshine, he is a grizzled guy who once used to be a college professor. Then he hit rock bottom after he fell in love with one of his grad students. A male grad student. The trailer is a whimsical ride and hopefully the movie will be the same.
Stormbreaker (September 1, 2006)
Based on the best-selling young adult adventure series of books by Anthony Horowitz, Stormbreaker is a family-oriented movie about a teenager who becomes like a young James Bond. Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer) is a 14-year-old orphan who has been trained all his life in the art of espionage by his uncle (Ewan McGregor). When his uncle dies, Alex is forced against his will to take on a dangerous mission for the British secret service and attempts to stop a madman (Mickey Rourke) hell-bent on unleashing a biological weapon, using his high tech Stormbreaker computers.
Why you should see it? James Bond meets Spy Kids. That’s the movie in a nutshell. But I think kids both young and in their teens will like this movie. The cast list features Ewan McGregor, Mickey Rourke, Bill Nighy, Alicia Silverstone, Damian Lewis, and newcomer Alex Pettyfer. Having never read any of books by Anthony Horowitz, I can’t be an accurate judge on the subject matter. What I do know is this: If Stormbreaker is a hit, you can expect five more Alex Rider action-adventure tales on the big screen.
Pathfinder (September 8, 2006)
I don’t know much about this movie, but if anyone has seen the “First Look” feature of Pathfinder in theaters, then you know a lot about the director, Marcus Nipsel. This guy is crazy. He needs B-12 injections to continue with a day of shooting. Takes a combination of apple cider and vinegar to start his mornings. He started growing a beard at the start of production; once they had exhausted all the money, Nipsel shaved his beard and his head. As for the story itself, it’s about a Viking boy who is left behind after his clan battles a Native American tribe. Raised within the tribe, he ultimately becomes their savoir in a fight against the Norsemen. The cast includes Karl Urban (The Chronicles of Riddick; The Bourne Supremacy) plays Ghost, the Indian-raised Viking, Clancy Brown, Moon Bloodgood (Eight Below), and Russell Means (Chingachgook in The Last of the Mohicans).
Why you should see it? From the looks at the picture above, Pathfinder is sure to be a balls out action flick. Considering the shaky past of loin cloth-costumed epics, though, the movie could be hit or miss. Fingers crossed that Pathfinder is at least as good, if not better, than John McTiernan’s 13th Warrior.
