the big picture
Now in theatres
By Ingrid Randoja
July 3
TRANSFORMERS
Who’s In It? Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox
Who Directed? Michael Bay (The Island)
What’s It About? It really doesn’t feel like summer at the movies until a tractor trailer jackknifes, hits a refinery, explodes and takes out a helicopter, now does it? That’s why action fans are salivating to see
blast-master Bay’s big-budget take on the animated TV series that features battling alien robots — Autobots and Decepticons — coming to Earth and disguising themselves as objects such as planes, cars and boats. Shia LaBeouf plays a human who discovers their ruse, and witnesses the damage these transforming robots can inflict. Read the Shia LaBeouf interview in this month's Famous.
July 6
LICENSE TO WED (pictured above)
Who’s In It? Robin Williams, Mandy Moore
Who Directed? Ken Kwapis (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)
What’s It About? Sadie (Moore) and her fiancé Ben (John Krasinski from the American version of The Office) are determined to get married in her family’s church, which means they’ll have to pass Father Frank’s (Williams) outlandish marriage-prep course. Look for appearances from Krasinski’s Office mates Angela Kinsey, Mindy Kaling and Brian Baumgartner.
RESCUE DAWN
Who’s In It? Christian Bale, Steve Zahn
Who Directed? Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man)
What’s It About? Bale plays real-life American fighter pilot Dieter Dengler, who was shot down over Laos in 1966 and imprisoned in a POW camp. He survived the brutal camp only to escape into an equally hostile jungle.
YOU KILL ME
Who’s In It? Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni
Who Directed? John Dahl (Rounders)
What’s it About? Kingsley plays Frank Falenczyk, a Buffalo-based hitman with a drinking problem that’s getting in the way of his work. Shipped off to San Francisco to sober up, he meets a relative of one of his hits (Leoni) and falls in love.
July 11
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
Who’s In It? Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson
Who Directed? David Yates (The Tichborne Claimant)
What’s It About? In this fifth Harry Potter picture, young wizard Harry (Radcliffe) and his pals Hermione (Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) return to Hogwarts knowing the Ministry of Magic’s denial about Voldemort’s return is hogwash, and that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), is a government stooge. So Harry takes it upon himself to secretly train his classmates, preparing them to battle You-Know-Who in case he attacks the school. Read the Emma Watson interview in this month's Famous.
July 13
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From left: Kevin James and Adam Sandler in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
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I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY
Who’s In It? Adam Sandler, Kevin James
Who Directed? Dennis Dugan (The Benchwarmers)
What’s It About? Widowed
firefighter Larry (James) is petrified his kids won’t receive his
pension if he dies, so he convinces his co-worker and friend Chuck
(Sandler) to pretend to be his domestic partner. Their plan might just
work, if only Chuck would stop flirting with the gorgeous female
attorney (Jessica Biel) brought in to fight for their rights.
TALK TO ME
Who’s In It? Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Who Directed? Kasi Lemmons (The Caveman’s Valentine)
What’s It About? This
bio-pic recounts the life of Ralph “Petey” Greene (Cheadle), a former
drug addict and convicted armed robber who is released from prison and
lands his own radio show, “Rapping With Petey Greene,” that helps
empower Washington D.C.’s black community during the turbulent ’60s.
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THE BOSS OF IT ALL
Who’s In It? Jens Albinus, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
Who Directed? Lars von Trier (Manderlay)
What’s It About? Eccentric Danish director von Trier continues to push the filmmaking envelope with this comedy about a sweet-natured computer genius who starts his own company, but hates being a bad guy so creates a fake boss no one ever sees to make all the unpopular corporate decisions. Now that he wants to sell his company, he has to hire an actor to play the boss.
July 20
HAIRSPRAY
Who’s In It? John Travolta, Nikki Blonsky
Who Directed? Adam Shankman (The Pacifier)
What’s It About? The summer of ’78 saw John Travolta rock the movie world in the musical Grease. Now, 29 years later, he appears in this summer’s musical must-see Hairspray, but don’t expect to see him swing his svelte hips here, in fact you may not recognize him at all inside a fat suit playing Edna Turnblad, the mother of
Tracy Turnblad (Blonsky). It’s 1962 and Baltimore teen Tracy beats the odds and lands a place as a dancer on a local TV show where she befriends the program’s black dancers and leads the fight to integrate the show. Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah have supporting roles. Read the Nikki Blonsky interview in this month's Famous.
July 22
WWE-Pay-Per-View
The Great American Bash
Check www.cineplex.com for a list of theatres where you can watch it live, and to buy tickets.
July 27
I KNOW WHO KILLED ME
Who’s In It? Lindsay Lohan, Julia Ormond
Who Directed? Chris Silverton (The Lost)
What’s It About? Aubrey Fleming (Lohan) survives a kidnapping at the hands of a violent serial killer. When she returns home she exhibits a dramatic personality change, which leads her family to ask some uncomfortable questions about her ordeal. YouTube surfers should keep an eye out for the site’s first bona fide star, Lonelygirl15 (a.k.a. Jessica Rose), who landed a small role in the film.
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE
Voices: Dan Castellaneta, Harry Shearer
Who Directed? David Silverman (Monsters, Inc.)
What’s It’s About? The long-awaited film version of the megapopular TV show finally hits screens with its plot being kept under wraps. We do know that Homer does something really stupid...like that helps! Read the Harry Shearer interview in this month's Famous.
NO RESERVATIONS
Who’s In It? Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart
Who Directed? Scott Hicks (Hearts in Atlantis)
What’s It About? This remake of the German film Mostly Martha stars Zeta-Jones as top chef Kate Armstrong, who’s saddled with the responsibility of caring for her young niece (Little Miss Sunshine’s Oscar-nominated Abigail Breslin) after her sister’s death. Eckhart heats up Kate’s lukewarm life playing a hunky chef who gets a job working alongside her.
SKINWALKERS
Who’s In It? Jason Behr, Rhona Mitra
Who Directed? James Isaac (Jason X)
What’s It About? Timothy is a soon-to-be 13-year-old who has no idea that he is half-werewolf, and that within him lies the genetic key to reversing the werewolf curse. On the eve of his birthday, a werewolf war breaks out as both good and bad werewolves want a piece of Timmy.