the big picture
Now in Theatres
By Ingrid Randoja
August 3
EL CANTANTE (pictured above)
Who’s In It? Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony
Who Directed? Leon Ichaso (Piñero)
What’s It About? Anthony plays real-life Salsa pioneer Héctor Lavoe, who moved to New York from his native Puerto Rico in the early ’70s and became a musical superstar. However, his quick rise to fame led to a nasty drug addiction, which took its toll on both him and his wife Puchi (Lopez).
BRATZ: THE MOVIE
Who’s In It? Malese Jow, Skyler Shaye
Who Directed? Sean McNamara (Raise Your Voice)
What’s It About? The Bratz dolls initially made their mark by stepping all over Barbie’s plastic toes and taking a chunk out of her market share. Now the figurines come to life in this live-action movie that charts their freshman year at Carry Nation High. Best friends Cloe, Sasha, Jade and Yasmin split up to join various school cliques only to realize they’ve sacrificed their individuality, and must band together to oust the school’s reigning mean girl, Meredith Baxter Dimly.
BECOMING JANE
Who’s In It? Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy
Who Directed? Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots)
What’s It About? Poor Jane Austen (Hathaway), her family wants her to marry a wealthy man, but the 20-year-old aspiring writer has her eye on a novice Irish lawyer by the name of Tom Lefroy (McAvoy). Heavens, what shall she do? This bio-pic deals with the late-18th-century novelist’s brief love affair with Lefroy and how it affected her life and her future writing.
UNDERDOG
Who’s In It? Alex Neuberger, Patrick Warburton
Who Directed? Frederik Du Chau (Racing Stripes)
What’s It About? The ’60s cartoon becomes a live-action family flick featuring the voice of Jason Lee as the crime-fighting canine Underdog. Our hero spends most of his time battling mad scientist Simon Barsinister and saving his true love Polly Purebred (voice of Amy Adams) from imminent danger.
HOT ROD
Who’s In It? Andy Samberg, Isla Fisher
Who Directed? Akiva Schaffer (debut)
What’s It About? Accident-prone stuntman Rod Kimble (Samberg) goes from hopping speed bumps to attempting to jump 15 buses in order to earn enough money to pay for his abusive stepdad’s (McShane) heart operation. Check out the hilarious faux website www.stuntmanforever.com to see Rod in action!
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
Who’s In It? Matt Damon, Joan Allen
Who Directed? Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy)
What’s It About? Highly trained secret agent Jason Bourne (Damon) can remember where he parked his car, but that’s about it since the CIA wiped away his long-term memory. The perturbed spy has spent the last two Bourne movies beating the crap out of people while trying to reconstruct his identity, but in this final installment in the series (that’s according to Damon himself), Bourne manages to unlock the key to his memory, which makes the CIA and other nefarious types very nervous. See the Matt Damon interview in this month's Famous.
CHARLIE BARTLETT
Who’s In It? Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr.
Who Directed? Jon Poll (debut)
What’s It About? Rich kid Charlie Bartlett is kicked out of his posh private school and forced to enroll in a public high school where he discovers other kids have problems worse than his own. So with tips (and pills) scored from his own psychiatrist, Charlie opens a counselling office in the boys’ washroom where he dispenses sage advice and fills prescriptions.
ARCTIC TALE
Narrator: Queen Latifah
Who Directed? Sarah Robertson (debut)
What’s It About? Queen Latifah narrates this documentary recounting the adventures of a mother polar bear and her cubs, and mother walrus and her calf, in the frozen Arctic.
August 8
DADDY DAY CAMP
Who’s In It? Cuba Gooding Jr., Paul Rae
Who Directed? Fred Savage (debut)
What’s It About? Two incompetent dads (Rae, Gooding Jr.) take over a rundown summer day camp in order
to spend more time with their sons. This sequel to Daddy Day Care sees Gooding replacing Eddie Murphy and Rae replacing Jeff Garlin.
August 10
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From left: Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan in Rush Hour 3
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RUSH HOUR 3
Who’s In It? Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker
Who Directed? Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand)
What’s It About? This third film of the buddy/cop series sees Carter (Tucker) and Lee (Chan) reunite and head to Paris to take down powerful Chinese Triads operating out of the City of Lights.
STARDUST
Who’s In It? Charlie Cox, Claire Danes
Who Directed? Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake)
What’s It About? The lovesick Tristan (Cox) crosses into the magical land of Faerie to retrieve a fallen star for the beautiful Victoria (Sienna Miller). To his surprise he discovers the star is actually a mysterious woman (Danes) who is being hunted by the inhabitants of the realm, including a pirate (Robert De Niro) and a witch (Michelle Pfeiffer). Based on British author Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel. See the Claire Danes interview in this month's Famous.
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2 DAYS IN PARIS
Who’s In It? Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg
Who Directed? Julie Delpy (Looking For Jimmy)
What’s It About? Marion (Delpy) and Jack (Goldberg) live in New York City but travel to her hometown of Paris during a so-far disastrous trip to Europe. However, any chance of getting their relationship back on track is derailed when Jack meets a string of Marion’s ex-beaus and her overbearing parents.
August 17
SUPERBAD
Who’s In It? Jonah Hill, Michael Cera
Who Directed? Greg Mottola (The Daytrippers)
What’s It About? Canuck writer/actor Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) looks to continue his Hollywood hot streak with this teen flick he co-wrote with pal Evan Goldberg. The comedy focuses on nerdy pals Seth (Hill) and Evan (Cera), who plan one final party before graduation, where Evan hopes to hook up with his secret crush Becca (Martha MacIsaac), and Seth hopes to score with, well, anyone. See the Martha MacIsaac interview in this month's Famous.
THE INVASION
Who’s In It? Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig
Who Directed? Oliver Hirschbiegel (The Downfall)
What’s It About? The sci-fi chestnut The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (filmed in 1956 and again in 1978) returns once more, re-imagined for 21st-century audiences. Kidman stars as a psychiatrist who believes an alien virus is turning people into robotic creatures, while Craig plays a doctor enlisted by Kidman to help find a cure for the pandemic before it’s too late. See the Daniel Craig interview in this month's Famous.
THE HUNTING PARTY
Who’s In It? Richard Gere, Terrence Howard
Who Directed? Richard Shepard (The Matador)
What’s It About? Based on an Esquire article this film was originally titled Spring Break in Bosnia, which should give you some idea of the tone. Gere and Howard play a couple of journalists trying to track down a Bosnian war criminal.
August 24
THE LAST LEGION
Who’s In It? Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley
Who Directed? Doug Lefler (debut)
What’s It About? Set in 480 A.D., this swords and sandals pic stars Firth as Aurelius, a Roman legionnaire left with the task of protecting the child emperor Romulus.
RESURRECTING THE CHAMP
Who’s In It? Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett
Who Directed? Rod Lurie (The Last Castle)
What’s It About? A sportswriter (Hartnett) discovers a homeless man (Jackson) who calls himself “Champ” is actually boxing legend Bob “Bombardier” Satterfield, who everyone thought had died years ago.
WAR
Who’s In It? Jet Li, Jason Statham
Who Directed? Phillip G. Atwell (debut)
What’s It About? F.B.I. agent Jack Crawford (Statham) searches for the reclusive assassin Rogue (Li), the man responsible for killing his partner.
MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY
Who’s In It? Rowan Atkinson, Willem Dafoe
Who Directed? Steve Bendelack (The League Gentleman’s Apocalypse)
What’s It About? In his second feature film, Mr. Bean wins a trip to Cannes where he manages to disrupt the renowned film festival with his usual antics.
August 26
WWE-Pay-Per-View
Summerslam
Tempers are sure to flare inside New Jersey’s Continental Airlines Arena when WWE stars take to the mat for their annual August bout. Watch as Jackass challenges the Samoan Bulldozer, Umaga, and prepare for the return of the legendary Triple H. Check www.cineplex.com for a list of theatres where you can watch it live, and to buy tickets.
August 31
HALLOWEEN
Who’s In It? Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell
Who Directed? Rob Zombie (The Devil’s Rejects)
What’s It’s About? Rob Zombie treads on hallowed horror ground with his remake of the 1978 classic Halloween. Zombie will likely bring a heightened sense of gruesome sadism to the story of masked serial killer Michael Myers, who escapes from a psychiatric hospital and heads home to see his sister (Taylor-Compton), the only member of his family he didn’t murder.
DEATH SENTENCE
Who’s In It? Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston
Who Directed? James Wan (Saw II)
What’s It About? After his son is killed by a gang member, a mourning father (Bacon) is disgusted to learn the murderer will only serve six months in prison, so daddy dearest metes out his own brand of justice.
BALLS OF FURY
Who’s In It? Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken
Who Directed? Phillip G. Atwell (debut)
What’s It About? The sports comedy genre is officially entering its “What the...” stage with this unlikely pic about a ping-pong whiz (Fogler) sent to infiltrate Mr. Feng’s (Walken) deadly ping-pong tournament. As usual, Walken shows no on-screen shame, seemingly taking delight in the fact he’s dressed like Sonia Braga in Kiss of the Spider Woman. Gotta love the guy.