Bee Movie

Distributor: DreamWorks
Release Date: 2007-11-02

Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Alan Arkin, Kathy Bates, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Larry King, William H. Macy, Megan Mullally, Tim Blake Nelson, Patrick Warburton, Oprah Winfrey

Directed by Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith
Produced by Jerry Seinfeld, Christina Steinberg
Written by Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, Andy Robin, Jerry Seinfeld

Having just graduated from college, a bee by the name of Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice – honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bees’ honey for centuries, and ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race for stealing their precious honey.

American Gangster

Rated: R
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Release Date: 2007-11-02

Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Josh Brolin, Armand Assante, RZA, John Ortiz, John Hawkes, Ted Levine

Directed by Ridley Scott
Produced by Brian Grazer
Written by Steven Zaillian

Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas (Oscar® winner Washington), the quiet driver to one of the inner city's leading black crime bosses. But when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade, flooding the streets with a purer product at a better price. Lucas outplays all of the leading crime syndicates and becomes not only one of the city's mainline corrupters, but part of its circle of legit civic superstars.
Richie Roberts (Oscar® winner Crowe) is an outcast cop close enough to the streets to feel a shift of control in the drug underworld. Roberts believes someone is climbing the rungs above the known Mafia families and starts to suspect that a black power player has come from nowhere to dominate the scene. Both Lucas and Roberts share a rigorous ethical code that sets them apart from their own colleagues, making them lone figures on opposite sides of the law. The destinies of these two men will become intertwined as they approach a confrontation where only one of them can come out on top.

Martian Child

Rated: PG
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Release Date: 2007-11-02

Starring: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Sophie Okonedo, Bobby Coleman, Joan Cusack

Directed by Menno Meyjes
Produced by Ed Elbert, David Kirschner, Corey Sienega
Written by Seth Bass, Jonathan Tolins, based on the novel by David Gerrold

The romantic drama Martian Child stars John Cusack as a recently widowed science fiction writer who forms an unlikely family with a close friend (Amanda Peet) and a young boy he adopts that claims to be from Mars. The new couple ignores some sage parenting advice from the widower’s sister (Joan Cusack) and gets more than they bargained for when a series of strange occurrences lead them to believe that the child’s claim may be true.

Darfur Now (An Indifferent World)

Rated: Not Yet Rated
Distributor: Warner Independent Pictures
Release Date: 2007-11-02

Starring: Don Cheadlem Hejewa Adam, Pablo Recalde, Ahmed Mahmoud Abakar, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Adam Sterling.

Directed by Ted Braun
Produced by Don Cheadle
Written by n/a

Six lives transformed by human tragedy. Six people united by a belief that anything is possible. Six people committed to stop the worst crisis of the 21st century. Six ways to save Darfur.
Even the smallest act makes a difference.
Darfur Now is a call to action for people everywhere to help stop the catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan. For the first time in history, the US government has declared a genocide while it is still ongoing. In this documentary the struggles and achievements of six very different individuals bring to light the situation in Darfur and illustrate the absolute need to get involved. From a UCLA graduate in Manhattan Beach, California, to a Darfurian woman who joins rebel forces, to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, to a United Nations humanitarian on the ground in Sudan, to an internationally known actor and activist, and finally to a community leader in a West Darfur refugee camp, the film portrays the heroic efforts of six people trying to resolve a humanitarian tragedy unfolding before our very eyes.

The Kite Runner

Rated: PG-13
Distributor: Paramount Vantage
Release Date: 2007-11-02

Starring: Shaun Toub, Said Taghmoaui, Atossa Leoni, Khalid Abdalla, Navid Negahban, Brian Vowell, Homayon Ershadi

Directed by Marc Forster
Produced by Bill Horberg, Rebecca Yeldham, Bennett Walsh, Walter Parkes
Written by David Benioff, based on the book by Khaled Hosseini

Based on a New York Times best selling novel. An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from the final days of Afghanistan’s monarchy to the atrocities of the Taliban reign.

War/Dance

Length: 105 min
Rated: Not Yet Rated
Distributor: ThinkFilm
Release Date: 2007-11-02

Starring: documentary subjects

Directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
Produced by Sean Fine, Albie Hecht, Susan MacLaury, Andrea Nix Fine
Written by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

Set in Northern Uganda, a country ravaged by more than two decades of civil war, WAR/DANCE tells the story of Dominic, Rose, and Nancy, three children whose families have been torn apart, their homes destroyed, and who currently reside in a displaced persons camp in Patongo. When they are invited to compete in an annual music and dance festival, their historic journey to their nation’s capital is also an opportunity to regain a part of their childhood and to taste victory for the first time in their lives.

Fred Claus

Rated: PG
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Release Date: 2007-11-09

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Vince Vaughn, Elizabeth Banks, Kathy Bates, Ludacris, Kevin Spacey, Rachel Weisz

Directed by David Dobkin
Produced by David Dobkin, Jessie Nelson, Joel Silver
Written by Dan Fogelman

Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) has lived almost his entire life in his little brother's very large shadow. Fred tried, but he could never live up to the example set by the younger Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), who was just a perfect well a Saint. True to form, Nicholas grew up to be the model of giving, while Fred became the polar opposite: a repo man who then steals what he repossesses. Now Fred's dirty dealings have landed him in jail. Over Mrs. Claus's objections, Nicholas agrees to bail his big brother out on one condition: that he come to the North Pole and work off his debt making toys. The trouble is that Fred isn't exactly elf material and, with Christmas fast approaching, this one bad seed could jeopardize the jolliest holiday of the year. Has Fred finally pushed his little brother to the brink? This time, what Fred may have stolen is Christmas itself, and it is going to take more than Rudolph to set things right.

No Country For Old Men

Length: 122 min
Rated: R
Distributor: Miramax Films
Release Date: 2007-11-09

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald

Directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Produced by Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

The story begins when Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) finds a pickup truck surrounded by a sentry of dead men. A load of heroin and two million dollars in cash are still in the back. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law - in the person of aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell (Jones) - can contain. As Moss tries to evade his pursuers - in particular a mysterious mastermind who flips coins for human lives (Bardem) - the film simultaneously strips down the American crime drama and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible and as bloodily contemporary as this morning's headlines.

Lions For Lambs

Rated: R
Distributor: MGM
Release Date: 2007-11-09

Starring: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Peter Berg, Michael Pena, Derek Luke

Directed by Robert Redford
Produced by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tracy Falco, Andrew Hauptman, Robert Redford
Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan

Lions for Lambs begins after two determined students at a West Coast University, Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Pena), follow the inspiration of their idealistic professor, Dr. Malley (Robert Redford), and attempt to do something important with their lives. But when the two make the bold decision to join the battle in Afghanistan, Malley is both moved and distraught. Now, as Arian and Ernest fight for survival in the field, they become the string that binds together two disparate stories on opposite sides of America. In California, an anguished Dr. Malley attempts to reach a privileged but disaffected student (Andrew Garfield) who is the very opposite of Arian and Ernest. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. the charismatic Presidential hopeful, Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise), is about to give a bombshell story to a probing TV journalist (Meryl Streep) that may affect Arian and Ernest's fates.

Christmas In Wonderland

Distributor: Yari Film Group
Release Date: 2007-11-09

Starring: Patrick Swayze, Carmen Electra, Preston Lacy, Cameron Bright
Directed by James Orr

It’s turning out to be a pretty rotten Christmas for the Saunders family. Having just moved to Edmonton from L.A., they have no friends, no money and, with the exception of the bright-eyed Mary, no Christmas spirit. To make matters worse, their mother is stuck in L.A., stranded by Yuletide over bookings. Therefore, the Christmas shopping duties fall on Dad and the gloomy kids who have to fight Edmonton weather conditions to get to the West Edmonton Mall. But when 12 year old Brian and the 6 year old Mary find a satchel of money in the mall, things start looking up... that is, until the crooks who counterfeited the money start hunting them down!

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Distributor: FoxWalden
Release Date: 2007-11-16

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman

Directed by Zach Helm
Produced by James Garavente, Richard N. Gladstein
Written by Zach Helm

Welcome to Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, the strangest, most fantastic, most wonderful toy store in the world. It’s a tantalizing toy haven in which everything inside literally comes to life – including the store itself – and where marvels of every imaginable, possible kind, and beyond, never cease . . . that is, until now.
When Mr. Magorium, the store’s extraordinary 243 year-old proprietor (Dustin Hoffman), announces that he will at long last hand over the reigns of his wonder-expanding store to his unconfident young manager, Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), the store decides to throw an unusual tantrum. As a skeptical accountant named Henry (Jason Bateman) comes in to audit the Legos® and Lincoln Logs®, not to mention the Whodathoughts and Whatchamacallits, the once sparkling, color-saturated Emporium is suddenly embattled by mysterious changes. The playful toys are all still there, but they’ve turned gray and quiet – and only Mahoney and Henry can revive them if, with the help of a superdexterous 9 year-old (Zach Mills), they can find the source of magic inside themselves.

Southland Tales

Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release Date: 2007-11-16

Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Cheri Oterri, Will Sasso, Miranda Richardson, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Smith, Wallace Shawn

Directed by Richard Kelly
Produced by Bo Hyde, Sean McKittrick, Kendall Morgan, Matthew Rhodes
Written by Richard Kelly

Los Angeles, 2008;
The city stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. SOUTHLAND TALES is an epic story set over the course of three days that culminate in a massive 4th of July celebration.
A large ensemble cast of characters includes Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), an action star stricken with amnesia, Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.

Southland Tales worries me, and it’s not because the few who saw an early print seemed to hate it. I’m worried because of Donnie Darko. No, not the good version that ended up in theaters. I’m talking about the modified directors cut, which Richard Kelly wasted a bunch of money on and re-released after his nearly perfect film had already become a massive cult hit.
Here’s why that worries me: Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko Director’s Cut made his movie worse. It didn’t ruin it, Donnie Darko is too good a film for some flashy, unnecessary effects to destroy it. But it lessened it, and it lessened it because, frankly it seemed as if Richard Kelly had no idea what it was about his movie that made it so good. His Directors Cut made him seem clueless, and that makes me wonder whether Donnie Darko was so good because he’s an amazing talent or if maybe, just maybe, the film was nothing but a fluke.

Beowulf

Rated: PG-13
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: 2007-11-16

Starring: Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman

Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Produced by Steve Bing, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis
Written by Neil Gaiman, Roger Avary

There's a part of me that's skeptical about Robert Zemeckis's ability to do this well. After the creepy CG of The Polar Express and those souless eyes, it just seems like a challenge to do this well. The animation is pretty dead on for the actors, making me wonder why Zemeckis wants to bother with all of the animation – why not just hire the actors to act, and film this as a standard movie?
Still, that creepy CG that plagued The Polar Express doesn’t seem so prevalent. I mean, it’s still there in a few places, but there is also some pretty damn cool looking stuff here. Some of these shots are downright artistic, like a painting coming to life, which makes sense considering the historical legacy of the story of Beowulf. I think I’m starting to understand why Zemeckis wanted to go this animated route now.
The true test will be in the end product shown on the big screen. Can it pay proper respects to one of the oldest known pieces of literature, or will this just be another product that falls short? Either way, it can't be worse than Christopher Lambert's take, right?

Margot at the Wedding

Rated: R
Distributor: Paramount Vantage
Release Date: 2007-11-16

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Jack Black, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and John Turturro

Directed by Noah Baumbach
Produced by Scott Rudin
Written by Noah Baumbach

Margot Zeller (Academy Award® winner NICOLE KIDMAN), a savagely bright, razor-tongued short-story writer who creates chaos wherever she goes, sets off on a surprise journey to the wedding of her estranged and free-spirited, unassuming sister Pauline (Golden Globe® nominee JENNIFER JASON LEIGH).
Margot, with her all-too-rapidly maturing son Claude (newcomer ZANE PAIS) in tow, arrives with the gale force of a hurricane. From the minute she meets Pauline's fiancé – the unemployed artist Malcolm (JACK BLACK) – Margot starts to plant seeds of doubt about the union.
As the wedding approaches, one complication crashes into the next: vengeful neighbors, a beloved tree in the backyard and Margot's own marital turmoil. The two sisters, find themselves at the precipice of an unexpected transformation ultimately revealing that even when your family is about to implode . . . the one thing you can cling to for solace and comfort is your imploding family.

Love in the Time of Cholera

Rated: R
Distributor: New Line
Release Date: 2007-11-16

Starring: Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Benjamin Bratt, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Hector Elizondo, Liev Schreiber, Fernanda Motenegro with Laura Harring and John Leguizamo

Directed by Mike Newell
Produced by Scott Steindorff
Written by Ronald Harwood, based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez’

Based on Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ novel and adapted by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ronald Harwood (The Pianist), Love In The Time Of Cholera is one of the world’s most romantic stories. The drama traces the Job-like vigil of Florentino Ariza, who waits for more than half a century to claim the hand of Fermina Daza, the woman he loves.

Enchanted

Rated: PG
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Release Date: 2007-11-21

Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey,James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Rachel Covey and Susan Sarandon

Directed by Kevin Lima
Produced by Barry Josephson, Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by Bill Kelly

A classic Disney animated fairy tale meets with the modern, live-action romantic comedy in Walt Disney Pictures ENCHANTED. Featuring an all-star cast, the film follows the beautiful princess Giselle (AMY ADAMS) as she is banished by an evil queen (SUSAN SARANDON) from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer (PATRICK DEMPSEY) who has come to her aid -- even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince (JAMES MARSDEN) back home, she has to wonder: can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

August Rush

Rated: PG
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Release Date: 2007-11-21

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Robin Williams, Terrence Howard

Directed by Kirsten Sheridan
Produced by Richard Barton Lewis
Written by Nick Castle, James V. Hart

A charismatic young Irish guitarist (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and a sheltered young cellist (Keri Russell) have a chance encounter one magical night above New York’s Washington Square, but are soon torn apart, leaving in their wake an infant, orphaned by circumstance. Years later, performing on the streets of New York and cared for by a mysterious stranger (Robin Williams) who gives him the name August Rush, the child (Freddie Highmore) uses his remarkable musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth.

Hitman

Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 2007-11-21

Starring: Timothy Olyphant (Agent 47), Dougray Scott, Robert Knepper, Olga Kurylenko, Ulrich Thomsen, Michael Offei

Directed by Xavier Gens
Produced by Adrian Askarieh, Luc Besson, Chuck Gordon, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam
Written by Skip Woods

Based on the top-selling, award-winning videogame franchise, the "Hitman" is a genetically-engineered, elite assassin known only as Agent 47. His hallmarks are a lethal grace, unwavering precision, and resolute pride in his work. But even 47 couldn't anticipate a "random equation" in his life of exactitude: the unexpected stirrings of his conscience and the unfamiliar emotions aroused in him by a mysterious Russian woman.

Timothy Olyphant just doesn’t sell himself as a big, bad, bald hitman. He looks like a quasi-weakling trying to pass himself off as a big, bad, bald hitman. I have great faith in Olyphant, but every time I’ve seen him being bad ass it’s with hair. Can he pull off the same style without it? I don’t know. The trailer doesn’t sell me on it, but I’ve got enough interest to still give the film a try instead of just writing it off as a near Uwe Boll level fiasco.

Stephen King's The Mist

Distributor: The Weinstein Company
Release Date: 2007-11-21

Starring: Thomas Jane, Laurie Holden, Frances Sternhagen, Nathan Gamble, Jeffrey DeMunn, Marcia Gay Harden, William Sadler, Andre Braugher

Directed by Frank Darabont
Produced by Frank Darabont, Liz Glotzer, Martin Shafer
Written by Frank Darabont (based on the short story by Stephen King)

Three-time Oscar®-nominee Frank Darabont (“The Green Mile,” “The Shawshank Redemption”) reunites with horror-master Stephen King to write and direct this chilling adaptation of the author’s original short story. Following a violent thunderstorm, artist David Drayton and a small town community come under vicious attack from creatures prowling in a thick and unnatural mist. Local rumors point to an experiment called the ‘The Arrowhead Project’ conducted at a nearby top-secret military base, but questions as to the origins of the deadly vapor are secondary to the group’s overall chances for survival. Retreating to a local supermarket, Drayton and the survivors must face-off against each other before taking a united stand against an enemy they cannot even see!

I'm Not There

Distributor: The Weinstein Company
Release Date: 2007-11-21

Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw

Directed by Todd Haynes
Produced by John Goldwyn, Jeff Rosen, John Sloss, James D. Stern, Christine Vachon
Written by Todd Haynes, Oren Moverman

An interesting take on the life of Bob Dylan that features seven different actors playing Dylan, or at least an aspect of him. Supported by the musician, the movie depicts his rise from folk singer to cultural icon and even the later move into solitude.