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January 2007 Releases
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Snakes on a Plane
SNAKES ON A PLANE's magnificently self-explanatory title triggered a cascade of buzz and anticipation. Jackson stars as Nelville Flynn, an FBI agent escorting a witness (Nathan Phillips) on a flight to Los Angeles. Phillips is supposed to testify against an evil mobster, and a variety pack of poisonous snakes is released mid-flight. To make matters worse, the snakes are crazed and violent because of pheromones.
Street Date: 1/2/2007
Genre:
Action
Rating:
R
Starring:
Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Marguiles, Nathan Phillips, Bobby Cannavale
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Covenant
Renny Harlin (DIE HARD 2, DEEP BLUE SEA) directs this supernatural thriller about descendants of powerful New England families. The sons of Ipswich are legendary at Spenser Academy, the local boarding school. Handsome and popular, these four teenage friends can trace their roots to the founding families of the Ipswich Colony, settled in the late 1600s. For years these Massachusetts families have harbored the secret that they possess supernatural powers. Their descendants--Caleb (Steven Strait), Reid (Toby Hemingway), Tyler (Chace Crawford), and Pogue (Taylor Kitsch)--have inherited magical powers that first manifested themselves when the boys turned 13 years old. In a nutshell, they can do anything. As they approach their 18th birthdays, they are preparing to "ascend," which means their powers will grow stronger. The downside? The magic is seductive and addictive, and causes premature aging with each use.
Ringleader Caleb tries to keep his friends from using magic recklessly, but as the school year begins, strange events and a strong gut instinct convince Caleb that someone is using very powerful magic. Meanwhile, Caleb is exploring his newfound affection for transfer student Sarah (Laura Ramsey). To Caleb's dismay, Sarah becomes a pawn in a power struggle with a descendant of the fifth founding family of Ipswich, a line thought to be lost during Salem's witch trials. Is Caleb strong enough to maintain his power and keep his family and friends safe, or will he yield to this new threat and sacrifice himself?
Street Date: 1/2/2007
Genre:
Thriller
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Steven Strait, Sebastian Stan, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford
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Beer League
An unemployed loser (played by Artie Lange) finally finds his calling in life after his New Jersey softball team is almost kicked out of the league, causing him to rally the troops and sensationally rise through the ranks.
Street Date: 1/2/2007
Genre:
Comedy
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Artie Lange, Ralph Macchio, Laurie Metcalf, Anthony DeSando
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Love's Abiding Joy
Michael Landon Jr. directed this installment of the adaptation of Janette Oke's fiction series, LOVE COMES SOFTLY. Entitled LOVE'S ABIDING JOY, the film follows the journey west of a young couple and their struggles to establish a home and and a family once they get there. Tragedy, faith, and love are threaded through this moving human story.
Street Date: 1/2/2007
Genre:
Western
Rating:
PG
Starring:
Erin Cottrell, Dale Midkiff, Logan Bartholomew
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Crank
Screenwriters and directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor make their feature-film debut in this fast-paced action film. Freelance hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) wakes up with a big problem; a DVD left in his apartment by smalltime gangster Ricky Vanero (Jose Pablo Cantillo) tells him that he has only one hour to live. While Chev was asleep, Vanero injected him with a deadly synthetic drug from China--known as the Beijing Cocktail--as payback for Chev's last hit. Now, Chev's only hope to stay alive is to keep his adrenalin pumping. Dead set on revenge against Vanero, Chev also has to keep his girlfriend, Eve (Amy Smart), out of the mob's hands. To complicate matters, naïve, sweet Eve has no idea that her charming British boyfriend is a hitman. Even worse, Chev's boss, Carlito (Carlos Sanz) has no intention of helping his favorite freelancer.
Luckily, Chev's friend Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam) can offer some temporary lifesaving advice; his drugged pal has to keep moving. Downing cans of Red Bull and popping over-the-counter energy pills, Chev is a crazed man on a mission. He has to exact revenge on Vanero, save his girlfriend, and find an antidote, all while keeping his slowing heart pumping.
Street Date: 1/9/2007
Genre:
Action
Rating:
R
Starring:
Jason Statham, Dwight Yoakam, Efren Ramirez, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Amy Smart
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Illusionist
In 1900 Vienna, a magician named Eisenheim the Illusionist is mystifying audiences with a remarkable magic act that is seemingly too good to believe. Chief Inspector Uhl, who is in the pocket of Crown Prince Leopold--and considers himself somewhat of an amateur conjurer--becomes obsessed with Eisenheim; Uhl is not only desperate to find out the secrets behind Eisenheim's tricks but also worried that the master magician might pose a threat to the crown prince's nefarious plans. In addition, Eisenheim is quickly growing close to Duchess Sophie von Teschen, his childhood love, who is engaged to Leopold. As Eisenheim's act becomes even more amazing--including apparently raising the spirits of the dead--he enrages the crown prince even further, leading to deception and murder.
Street Date: 1/9/2007
Genre:
Thriller
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell
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Night Listener
Inspired by a real-life experience of author Armistead Maupin (on whose book the film is based), THE NIGHT LISTENER is a dark drama that derives its strengths as much from the places it doesn't go as the places it does. Spare and tense, it tells the story of Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams), a storyteller with a national late-night radio show. Gay and recovering from a breakup with his much younger lover, Jess (Bobby Cannavale), Gabriel is experiencing writer's block. His life takes on a strange new wrinkle, though, when a literary agent (Joe Morton) passes on a manuscript he's received from a young fan of Gabriel's--an AIDS-stricken 14-year-old boy, Pete (Rory Culkin), who has written a detailed account of the prolonged sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his parents and their friends. Gabriel develops a friendly phone relationship with the boy, but soon senses that something is unusual about Pete and his caretaker, Donna (Toni Collette), and ventures to Wisconsin to figure out exactly what's going on.
Street Date: 1/9/2007
Genre:
Thriller
Rating:
R
Starring:
Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Bobby Cannavale, Joe Morton, Rory Culkin, Sandra Oh
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Broken Bridges
Musician Toby Keith plays a man returning to his hometown in this bittersweet drama. On arrival he meets his childhood sweetheart and is also introduced to a young girl who turns out to be his daughter.
Street Date: 1/9/2007
Genre:
Drama
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Toby Keith, Lindsey Haun, Daniel Newman, BeBe Winans
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Bandidas
Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek play south-of-the-border Thelma and Louise in this comedy/action film. Fed up with being pushed around, the ladies take up bank-robbing and find new leases on life.
Street Date: 1/9/2007
Genre:
Action
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Penélope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Steve Zahn, Dwight Yoakam
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Idiocracy
Mike Judge (BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD, OFFICE SPACE) makes his second directorial foray into live-action comedy with IDIOCRACY. When a none-too-bright fighter pilot (Luke Wilson) volunteers for a military experiment that propels him 1000 years into the future, he finds himself in a dumbed-down society in which he is the smartest member.
Street Date: 1/9/2007
Genre:
Comedy
Rating:
R
Starring:
Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard
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Gridiron Gang
In 1990, coaches Sean Porter and Malcolm Moore took the Kilpatrick Mustangs--a football team of hard-core juvenile offenders from California's Camp Kilpatrick juvenile detention center--through their inaugural season, in which they reached the regional championships. In 1993, an Emmy-winning documentary, GRIDIRON GANG, aired on U.S. television. In this fictionalized version of the same name, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars as Porter, the coach who uses sports as a means to instill self-esteem into a group of boys for whom crime is a way of life.
A former troubled youth who used football as a means to stay off of the streets, Porter, along with Malcolm Moore (Xibit) now presides over Camp Kilpatrick, where the inmates are gang members, murderers, and drug dealers. Among them are Willie Weathers (Jade Yorker), a gang member doing time for a botched act of revenge. Showing that old rivalries hold true even away from the streets, fellow inmate and rival gang member Calvin Owens (David Thomas) won't let Willie forget that they are sworn enemies. But once Porter introduces football as an outlet, the common goal of winning unites them in ways that no one expected.
Street Date: 1/16/2007
Genre:
Drama
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Jade Yorker, The Rock, Xzibit, Vanessa Ferlito, L. Scott Caldwell
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Texas Chansaw Massacre: The Beginning
Though it's spawned a handful of sequels, it took more than 30 years for Tobe Hooper's ever-potent horror classic to get an "origin" story. Why is Leatherface so angry? Whose face does he wear as a mask? How did his family get their taste for human flesh? A 2003 remake revisited the original film, painted with post-millenial gloss by former music video director Marcus Nispel. For his second feature, director Jonathan Liebesman (DARKNESS FALLS) follows suit, though wisely eliminating the heavy rock soundtrack of the remake.
The film opens with the 1949 birth of the child who would become Leatherface--to an obese slaughterhouse worker. She dies during childbirth and the deformed baby is later found in a dumpster by his adoptive mother. Twenty years later, Chrissy (Jordana Brewster), Dean (Taylor Handley), Bailey (Doira Bird), and Eric (Matthew Bomer) are driving cross country before Dean leaves for his second tour of duty in Vietnam. A run-in with some bikers leads to an intervention by crazed cannibal clan leader Hoyt (R.Lee Ermey), who has just killed the sheriff of the dwindling Texas town and taken on the mantle himself. The chainsawing begins soon after.
Street Date: 1/16/2007
Genre:
Horror
Rating:
R
Starring:
Jordana Brewster, Andrew Bryniarski, Cyia Batten, Diora Baird
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Employee of the Month
For customers of Super Club, the largest high-volume, bulk-discount retailer in the country, membership has its privileges. For workers at the cavernous store, the most coveted honor is the "Employee of the Month" award, and having one's photo immortalized on the wall of fame in the staff lounge. Enter Zack Bradley (Dane Cook) and Vince Downey (Dax Shepard), two ultra competitive Super Club workers whose ten years of employment have resulted in drastically different career paths. While Vince - with the aid of his trusty sidekick Jorge (Efren Ramirez) -- has advanced to become head cashier and winner of 17 consecutive "E of M" awards, Zack is the ultimate slacker whose scruffy appearance and laid back attitude has made him popular with his colleagues, but kept him stuck in the lowly ranks of the store's box boys. The duo's longtime rivalry comes to a bitter head when Amy (Jessica Simpson) - a beautiful new cashier with a reputation of only dating "Employee of the Month" winners - transfers to the store, immediately becoming the object of both Zack and Vince's affection and often comical gamesmanship. While Vince instantly impresses Amy with his crowd pleasing, flamboyant style behind his checkstand register, Zack's feeble attempts to charm his beautiful new co-worker quickly backfire against him. With the race to win Amy's affections slipping away, Zack determines his only chance rests in winning the store's next "Employee of the Month" award. A battle to the end, this film shows that the only failure in life is when one fails to try.
Street Date: 1/16/2007
Genre:
Comedy
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, Dax Shepard, Efren Ramirez
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The Protector
This sequel to 2005's ONG-BAK: THE THAI WARRIOR sees director Prachya Pinkaew returning to tell an action-packed story that revolves around a missing elephant that turns up in Australia.
Street Date: 1/16/2007
Genre:
Action
Rating:
R
Starring:
Tony Jaa, Petchthai Wongkamlao
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Saw III
Jigsaw has disappeared; and with his new apprentice Amanda--the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police--he has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Dr. Lynn Denlon is unaware that she is about to become the latest pawn on his vicious chessboard. One night, after finishing a shift at her hospital, Lynn is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw, bedridden and on the verge of death. She is told that she must keep the madman alive for as long as it takes another one of his victims, Jeff, to complete a game of his own. Racing against the ticking clock of Jigsaw's own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each of their vicious tests, unaware that he has a much bigger plan for both of them.
Street Date: 1/23/2007
Genre:
Horror
Rating:
R
Starring:
Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh
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The Guardian
Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher star in THE GUARDIAN, the powerful, action-packed drama that takes you inside the never-before-seen world of the elite Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. Reeling with grief in the wake of a mission gone tragically wrong, legendary Rescue Swimmer Ben Randall (Costner) is given a mission he doesn't want: training raw recruits. Once there, he knocks heads with cocky Jake Fischer (Kutcher), a swimming champ driven by a painful secret, who's more interested in breaking Ben's records than saving lives. But Ben also sees Jake has what it takes to be the best of the best. Filled with spectacular rescues in the lethal waters of the Bering Sea, THE GUARDIAN is a riveting and compelling story that dives straight into the heart and soul of real heroes, the unsung guardians of the sea.
Street Date: 1/23/2007
Genre:
Drama
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Costner, Dule Hill, Neal McDonough
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One Night with the King
A visually beautiful film, ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING depicts the biblical tale of a Jewish peasant, Hadassah (Tiffany Dupont), and her journey to become the legendary Queen Esther. Her parents were murdered when she was a young girl and she was taken in by her uncle, Mordecai (John Rhys-Davies); he raised her in Susa, a city of the ancient empire of Persia. Hadassah--beautiful, intelligent and passionate--was summoned among many of the kingdom's virtuous young women to be groomed as a possible new queen for the powerful and handsome King Xerxes (Luke Goss). Hadassah hides her Jewish heritage under advisement from her uncle, and changes her name to Esther. She impresses the King. He falls in love with her and chooses her to be his bride, and she becomes Queen of Persia. Soon after, Hamen the Agagite (James Callis), the King's Prime Minster, proclaims his goal of wiping out all the Jews of Persia, and he convinces the King to approve the plan. It is up to Queen Esther to announce her Jewish heritage and come to the rescue of her people.
Street Date: 1/23/2007
Genre:
Drama
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
Tiffany Dupont, John Rhys-Davies, Luke Goss, Tiny Lister
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SherryBaby
Maggie Gyllenhaal is mesmerizing as a recovering addict in writer-director Laurie Collyer's feature-length fiction-film debut, SHERRYBABY. Gyllenhaal stars as Sherry Swanson, a troubled woman who has just been released from prison, where she spent three years for robbery to support her heroin addiction. Determined to regain control of her life, she moves into a halfway house and starts looking for a job, being carefully watched by her tough parole officer (Giancarlo Esposito). At an AA meeting, she is drawn to Dean Walker (Danny Trejo), a gritty older man who befriends her--but his ties to her dangerous past life threaten to pull her back in. Sherry's main desire is to reestablish a relationship with her young daughter, Alexis (Ryan Simpkins), who is being raised by Sherry's brother, Bobby (Brad William Henke), and his wife, Lynnette (Bridget Barkan)--but Lynnette doesn't trust Sherry, wanting to keep Alexis for her own. As Sherry struggles to get back on track, she plays by her own rules, with drugs and a return to prison waiting just around the corner.
Street Date: 1/23/2007
Genre:
Drama
Rating:
R
Starring:
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brad Henke, Giancarlo Esposito, Sam Bottoms
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Open Season
OPEN SEASON, an animated action-adventure, follows the fortunes of two forest-animal misfits. Boog (Martin Lawrence) is a gentle and domesticated bear; Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) is an absentminded and accident-prone deer who has been shunned by his herd. Together, they struggle to adapt to the ways of life in the wild and on their own. Boog longs to return to the cushy conditions he had with Beth (Debra Messing), an animal-loving park ranger who rescued him and raised him as a pet from the time he was a cub. Desperate to please his new friend, who spared him from an overzealous hunter (Gary Sinise), Elliot tries to help lead Boog back to the mountainside town, but instead they are met with hostility by their fellow forest creatures, including a combative squirrel, McSquizzy (Billy Connelly); a perfectionist beaver, Reilly (Jon Favreau); and a machismo-fueled deer, Ian (Patrick Warburton), who is Elliot's nemesis. Now, with hunting season upon them, they must all align to defend themselves against the hunters that annually plague their domain.
Street Date: 1/30/2007
Genre:
Kids
Rating:
PG
Starring:
Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Patrick Warburton, Billy Connolly, Jon Favreau
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Flyboys
In 1914, "The Great War" - WWI - began in Europe. By 1917, the Allied powers of France, England, Italy and others were on the ropes against the German juggernaut. Some altruistic young Americans disagreed with the war. They volunteered to fight alongside their counterparts in France; some in the infantry, some in the Ambulance Corps. A handful of others had a different idea: they decided to learn how to fly. The first of them - a squadron of only 38 - became known as the Lafayette Escadrille. This is their story. Forced to abandon his family's ranch, Blaine Rawlings finds his future in a newsreel chronicling the adventures of young aviators in France. At a small train station in rural Nebraska, William Jensen promises to make his family proud. In New York, spoiled Briggs Lowry embarks on a trans-Atlantic passage. Meanwhile, in France, black expatriate boxer, Eugene Skinner, vows to repay his debt to his adopted racially tolerant country. Together, these American boys arrive at an aerodrome in France, eager to learn how to fly. What they didn't realize was that they were about to embark on a great, romantic adventure, becoming the world's first combat pilots.
Street Date: 1/30/2007
Genre:
Action
Rating:
PG-13
Starring:
James Franco, Martin Henderson, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker
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The Gathering
Christina Ricci plays a car accident victim who is taken in by a kindly family in a small British town. All is cozy until scay visions make her doubt her own sanity.
Street Date: 1/30/2007
Genre:
Thriller
Rating:
R
Starring:
Christina Ricci, Ioan Gruffudd, Kerry Fox, Stephen Dillane
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Unknown
Five men awaken in a warehouse with no way out and no recollection of how they got there, only to struggle with their suspicion of each other as they try to piece together their story from available clues. One (Greg Kinnear) has a broken nose, while another (Jeremy Sisto) is handcuffed to a pipe and slowly dying from a gunshot wound. Two (Barry Pepper and Jim Caviezel) are unhurt, while the fifth (Joe Pantoliano) is tied to a chair--which is how the group wish to keep him until they figure out why he got that way. Meanwhile, the police are tracking a sinister man in snakeskin boots (Peter Stormare) with a connection to the group, and a worried wife (Bridget Moynihan) of one of the men searches desperately for her husband. But will the men kill each other out of suspicion before finding a way out of the warehouse?
Street Date: 1/30/2007
Genre:
Thriller
Rating:
R
Starring:
Greg Kinnear, Joe Pantoliano, Jim Caveziel, Barry Pepper
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