fall preview - DECEMBER
December Movie Listings
December 7
SPOTLIGHT
THE GOLDEN COMPASS
When writer/director Chris Weitz (About a Boy) announced that The Golden Compass, based on the first book of author Philip Pullman’s celebrated His Dark Materials trilogy, would shy away from mentioning God or
religion so as not to upset religious groups, the book’s fans were not
amused.
Although the fantasy tale takes place in a parallel world to ours,
it points out the narrow-mindedness of Western Christian thinking and
the damage it inflicts on people, especially the young.
The plot follows 10-year-old tomboy Lyra (newcomer Dakota Blue
Richards) and her dæmon Pantalaimon (a dæmon is an animal companion
specific to each person) as she runs away from school and heads for the
far north in search of her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), and to
rescue her friend who has been kidnapped by the child-stealing
Gobblers. Using the compass-like alethiometer to guide her, Lyra
encounters witches, talking polar bears and the evil Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), who is compelled to stop Lyra’s mission.
Interestingly, Weitz resigned from the project in 2004, wary of the
movie’s huge technical challenges. He was replaced by director Anand
Tucker, who left in 2006 due to artistic differences with the studio,
opening the door for Weitz’s return.
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ATONEMENT
Who’s In It? Keira Knightley, James McAvoy
Who Directed? Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice)
What’s It About? Set in 1930s England, this drama (based on Ian McEwan’s acclaimed novel) finds precocious 13-year-old Briony Tallis mistakenly accusing Robbie (McAvoy) — the young man in love with her sister, Cecilia (Knightley) — of rape, which sets off a series of events that change both her life, and the lives of her family and friends.
WALK HARD
Who’s In It? John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer
Who Directed? Jake Kasden (Orange County)
What’s It About? Kasden and Judd Apatow wrote this spoof of musical bio-pics that casts Reilly as Dewey Cox, a singer-songwriter who climbs to the top of the music biz. Highly anticipated cameos include White Stripes’ front man Jack White playing Elvis, and an appearance by the Beatles — Paul McCartney (Jack Black), John Lennon (Paul Rudd), George Harrison (Justin Long) and of course, Ringo Starr (Jason Schwartzman).
LEATHERHEADS
Who’s In It? George Clooney, Renée Zellweger
Who Directed? George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck.)
What’s It About? Clooney is said to have watched tons of old screwball comedies in order to replicate that lost cinematic art form for this romantic-comedy about the coach (Clooney) of a 1920s football team who recruits a star college player (John Krasinski) to boost his fledging pro team. (In the first half of the 19th-century college football drew the huge crowds, while professional football was considered barbaric and was mostly ignored by the public.) Zellweger plays a journalist who finds Clooney’s attempt at pigskin legitimacy distasteful.
December 14
PERFECT CHRISTMAS
Who’s In It? Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union
Who Directed? Lance Rivera (The Cookout)
What’s It About? A struggling singer-songwriter (Chestnut) takes a part-time job as a shopping mall Santa and is asked by a little girl to find her divorced mother (Union) a new husband.
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS
Who’s In It? Jason Lee, David Cross
Who Directed? Tim Hill (Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties)
What’s It About? Not to be judgmental or anything Jason, but Alvin and the Chipmunks? Dude, seriously. We’ve got three words of warning for you: Cuba... Gooding...Jr. ’Nuff said. This live action - CGI hybrid flick stars Lee as nice guy David Seville, the manager of singing chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore.
JUNO
Who’s In It? Ellen Page, Michael Cera
Who Directed? Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking)
What’s It About? When eccentric teenager Juno MacGuff (Page) discovers she’s pregnant she sets out to find the perfect couple — Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman — to adopt her unborn child.
I AM LEGEND
Who’s In It? Will Smith, Salli Richardson
Who Directed? Francis Lawrence (Constantine)
What’s It About? Scientist Robert Neville (Smith) believes he’s the lone, unscathed survivor of a viral outbreak that killed most of the people on the planet. The remaining victims have morphed into vampire-like creatures who prowl the night trying to kill Neville, while he desperately searches for a way to reverse the infection. Author Richard Matheson wrote the novel on which the film is based in 1954, and in the book the epidemic takes place in the then far-off year of 1979. See Will Smith interview.
December 16
WWE ARMAGEDDON
Check www.cineplex.com to buy tickets and for a list of theatres where you can watch the event live.
December 21
BE KIND REWIND
Who’s In It? Jack Black, Mos Def
Who Directed? Michel Gondry (The Science of Sleep)
What’s It About? You have to love the premise of writer/director Gondry’s (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) daft new comedy: Mike’s (Def) pal Jerry (Black) accidentally de-magnetizes every VHS cassette in Mike’s video store, so the pair decide to re-enact the movies their most loyal customer — a woman (Mia Farrow) with developing dementia — enjoys the most, such as Ghostbusters, Rush Hour 2 and The Lion King.
NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS
Who’s In It? Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger
Who Directed? Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure)
What’s About? Treasure hunter Benjamin Gates’ (Cage) great, great grandfather is erroneously linked to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. To clear his name, Gates and his gal (Kruger), father (Jon Voight) and wisecracking sidekick (Justin Bartha) kidnap the American President (Bruce Greenwood) to get their hands on the Book of Secrets. The book, given to every U.S. President, is a conspiracy nut’s dream, containing the truth about Lincoln and Kennedy’s assassinations, the missing Watergate tapes and Area 51.
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Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter
in Sweeney Todd
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SWEENEY TODD
Who’s In It? Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter
Who Directed? Tim Burton (Corpse Bride)
What’s It About? Can Johnny Depp’s pipes carry one of Broadway’s
most difficult singing roles? We’ll find out when Depp and Burton team
up for the sixth time to film the 1979 Broadway opera about a barber
named Sweeney Todd (Depp), who murders his customers and sends their
bodies to the neighbouring pie shop owned by Mrs. Lovett (Bonham
Carter), who in turn uses the remains to make her meat pies. Yum.
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P.S. I LOVE YOU
Who’s In It? Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler
Who Directed? Richard LaGravenese (Freedom Writers)
What’s It About? After Holly’s (Swank) husband Gerry (Butler) dies, she discovers he’s arranged to have 10 messages sent to her, one per month, with each message containing a task she must complete in order to get on with her life.
December 25
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Who’s In It? Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner
Who Directed? Julian Schnabel (Before Night Falls)
What’s It About? Audiences in Cannes cried rivers of tears after viewing this heart-wrenching bio-pic of Elle France’s editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Amalric), who, at the age of 43, suffers a stroke that leaves him paralyzed everywhere except his left eye. By mastering a blinking pattern he is able to dictate his memoirs, which form the basis of the film.
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2
Who’s In It? John Ortiz, Steven Pasquale
Who Directed? Colin and Greg Strause
What’s About? The sequel to AvP brings the creatures from Alien and Predator to a small Colorado town where they enact a monster mash for the ages.
THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP
Who’s In It? Emily Watson, Ben Chaplin
Who Directed? Jay Russell (Ladder 49)
What’s It About? Families that don’t want to spend Christmas day watching monsters rip each other to bits will enjoy this sweet monster film about a Scottish boy who finds an egg that hatches a legendary sea creature. As the cute little critter grows, the boy and his family decide to hide it in a loch, or lake. You may have heard of it, Loch Ness.
CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
Who’s In It? Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts
Who Directed? Justin Chadwick (Sleeping With the Fishes)
What’s It About? Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Hanks) was known for his liberal leanings and partying ways (he was nicknamed Good Time Charlie). However, he was also a keen political strategist who, in the 1980s, helped channel millions of CIA dollars to Afghan rebels fighting their Soviet invaders, which ultimately helped bring down the Soviet regime.
December 26
THE SAVAGES
Who’s In It? Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney
Who Directed? Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills)
What’s It About? An estranged brother (Hoffman) and sister (Linney) reunite in order to take care of their father (Philip Bosco) who is in the early stages of dementia.
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA
Roméo et Juliette
Live performance: Saturday, December 15 at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT).
Encore performance: Saturday, January 5 at 1:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. PT).
Last year, Cineplex introduced live (and encore) performances straight from New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and audiences came out in droves. So, no surprise, the opera is back! The 2007/2008 season kicks off with a sensual interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays (few will have trouble following this narrative). Plácido Domingo conducts composer Charles Gounod’s take on the tragic love story, with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón in the title roles. Check www.cineplex.com for a list of theatres where you can watch it live, and to buy tickets.