the | big | picture - Now in theatres
By Ingrid Randoja
April 1
WWE PAY-PER-VIEW
WrestleMania 23
Check www.cineplex.com for a list of theatres where you can watch it live, and to buy tickets.
April 4
Firehouse Dog
Who’s In It? Josh Hutcherson, Bruce Greenwood
Who Directed? Todd Holland (Kippendorf’s Tribe)
What’s It About? Canine action star Rexxx’s latest big-screen stunt backfires, leaving the pooch stranded in a small town where he finds a home with the local firefighting squad.
Are We Done Yet?
Who’s In It? Ice Cube, Nia Long
Who Directed? Steve Carr (Rebound)
What’s It About? In this sequel to Are We There Yet?, Nick (Ice Cube), Suzanne (Long) and their two kids move into a rundown house in the country where they discover Nick is no handyman and the contractor (John C. McGinley) they hire to complete the work is even less skilled.
April 6
Grindhouse
Who’s In It? Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan
Who Directed? Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez
What’s It About? Movie aficionados Tarantino and Rodriguez join forces to pay tribute to ’70s horror/sexploitation flicks with this “twofer” — two films for the price of one — a format that was popular in the era’s down and dirty theatres called “grindhouses.” Tarantino’s contribution, Death Proof, stars Russell as a stuntman who offs women with his car, while Rodriquez’s effort, Planet Terror, pits a woman (McGowan) — sporting a rapid-fire gun in place of her missing leg — against a horde of zombies.
The Hoax
Who’s In It? Richard Gere, Alfred Molina
Who Directed? Lasse Hallström (Chocolat)
What’s It About? It’s 1970 and novelist Clifford Irving (Gere) and his pal writer Richard Suskind (Molina) concoct a plan to write Howard Hughes’ autobiography believing the reclusive Hughes will never appear in public to dispute the book. They even manage to get McGraw-Hill to pay them almost $1-million in advance for the tome. But there’s only so long this hoax can go undiscovered.
The Reaping
Who’s In It? Hilary Swank, Idris Elba
Who Directed? Stephen Hopkins (Under Suspicion)
What’s It About? Katherine Winter (Swank) makes it her business to discredit religious phenomena, but she’s more than a little mystified when she arrives in a swampy Louisiana town that’s been hit by Biblical-style plagues caused, seemingly, by a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl (AnnaSophia Robb).
Young Triffie
Who’s In It? Fred Ewanuick, Mary Walsh
Who Directed? Mary Walsh (debut)
What’s It About? Set in Newfoundland, circa 1948, this comic murder-mystery stars Ewanuick as a gullible ranger sent to the remote outpost of Swyer’s Harbour to investigate a case of sheep mutilation. But it’s humans, not sheep, that are being killed and the town’s wacky inhabitants are all suspects.
April 13
Disturbia
Who’s In It? Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer
Who Directed? D.J. Caruso (Two for the Money)
What’s It About? Kale (LaBeouf) is sentenced to three months house arrest, which means the inquisitive teen has a whole lot of time to spy on his neighbours. And wouldn’t ya know it, he begins to suspect the man living across the street (David Morse) is a killer. Carrie-Anne Moss pops up as Kale’s mom, sending the president of The Matrix’s “Trinity Rocks My World” fan club into a severe depression.
Year of the Dog
Who’s In It? Molly Shannon, Peter Sarsgaard
Who Directed? Mike White (debut)
What’s It About? Screenwriter White (Orange County, School of Rock, Nacho Libre) makes his directorial debut with this comedy about a secretary (Shannon) whose life is turned upside down when her dog, Pencil, suddenly dies.
Perfect Stranger
Who’s In It? Halle Berry, Bruce Willis
Who Directed? James Foley (Confidence)
What’s It About? Every so often Bruce Willis says yes to a smirky villain role (Mortal Thoughts, The Jackal) and delivers a devilishly delightful performance. Here, he plays a married ad executive who picks up women online. When Ro’s (Berry) friend is murdered, she goes to work undercover in his company to find out if the cheater is also a killer.
Slow Burn
Who’s In It? Ray Liotta, Jolene Blalock
Who Directed? Wayne Beach (debut)
What’s It About? This twist-filled thriller/drama stars Liotta as district attorney Ford Cole, who must decide if his assistant DA (Blalock) killed a man, or if she’s being set up by gang members who want her to stay out of their business.
Pathfinder
Who’s In It? Karl Urban, Nathaniel Arcand
Who Directed? Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
What’s It About? Sometime around 1000 A.D., a shipload of Vikings set foot on North American soil, massacre the helpless natives living there and leave behind a small boy. He is adopted by the surviving natives and proves to be their saviour when the marauding Norsemen return 15 years later.
April 20
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Above: Rose McGowan and Kurt Russell in Grindhouse. This picture: Rosamund Pike and Ryan Gosling in Fracture
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Fracture
Who’s In It? Ryan Gosling, Anthony Hopkins
Who Directed? Gregory Hoblit (Hart’s War)
What’s It About? Prosecutor Willy Beachum (Gosling) boasts a 97% conviction rate. However, that number takes a hit when a man (Hopkins) who tried to kill his wife is freed on a technicality. So disgruntled Willy sets out to right that wrong.
Vacancy
Who’s In It? Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson
Who Directed? Nimród Antal (Kontroll)
What’s It About? Beckinsale and Wilson play a couple that rents a room in a dingy, out-of-the-way motel. They get hooked on the slasher flicks shown on TV only to realize all of them were shot in their room, meaning they better check out before they’re done in.
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Hot Fuzz
Who’s In It? Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
Who Directed? Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead)
What’s It About? From the team behind Shaun of the Dead comes this comedy about a hotshot London cop (Pegg) who’s shipped off to a sleepy village and saddled with a dim-witted partner (Frost). However, his superior police skills come in handy when he confronts a series of suspicious deaths.
Kickin’ It Old Skool
Who’s In It? Jamie Kennedy, Vivica A. Fox
Who Directed? Harvey Glazer (debut)
What’s It About? In 1986, Justin (Kennedy) suffers a tragic breakdancing accident that leaves him comatose. When he suddenly wakes up 20 years later he faces a world in which Molly Ringwald is no longer queen of the screen, painter pants are déclassé and breakdancing is so not cool.
In the Land of Women
Who’s In It? Adam Brody, Meg Ryan
Who Directed? Jon Kasden (debut)
What’s It About? A TV writer (Brody) gets dumped by his girlfriend and flees sunny California for chilly Michigan, where he cares for his ailing grandmother (Olympia Dukakis) and becomes caught up in the daily drama of the family across the street.
April 27
The Invisible
Who’s In It? Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva
Who Directed? Dave S. Goyer (Blade: Trinity)
What’s It About? After a teenager (Chatwin) is attacked and left for dead he finds himself in limbo, invisible to the living and racing against time to find his body before he truly perishes.
Next
Who’s In It? Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore
Who Directed? Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day)
What’s It About? Cris Johnson (Cage) was born with the ability to see two minutes into the future, which is something FBI agent Callie Ferris (Moore) thinks could be useful when a terrorist group threatens to nuke Los Angeles. Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1954 short story “The Golden Man.”
The Condemned
Who’s In It? Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones
Who Directed? Scott Wiper (A Better Way to Die)
What’s It About? Former WWE wrestler Austin teams with former British soccer star Jones in this testosterone-fuelled tale of 10 condemned killers let loose on a remote island where they’re forced to fight one another.
April 28
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA
Il Trittico
Check www.cineplex.com for a list of theatres where you can watch it live, and to buy tickets.
April 29
WWE PAY-PER VIEW
Backlash
Check www.cineplex.com for a list of theatres where you can watch it live, and to buy tickets.
May 4
Away from Her
Who’s In It? Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent
Who Directed? Sarah Polley (debut)
What’s It About? Awww, our little girl is all grown up. Sarah Polly, the child-star-turned-actor makes her feature film directorial debut with this sensitive study of aging couple Fiona and Grant (Christie, Pinsent), who must come to terms with Fiona’s advancing Alzheimer’s.
Spider-Man 3
Who’s In It? Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst
Who Directed? Sam Raimi (Spider-Man 2)
What’s It About? Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spidey (Maguire), plans to marry M.J. (Dunst), but the wedding will have to wait while he battles three villains — Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Venom (Topher Grace) and a new Green Goblin (James Franco) — copes with an alien infection that’s turned his personality dark and brooding, and deals with the emergence of another love interest (Bryce Dallas Howard). Whew!