Paprika

Release Date:May 25th, 2007
Satoshi Kon (dir.)
Trailer

This may be the first Anime film not by Studio Ghibli that looks like it could be a classic. It looks like it's got a lot of imaginative animation and the story looks pretty good. It's usually pretty hard to catch these films when they come out, because they don't get any marketing and the general audience doesn't quite know what to do with them because they're too complex for little kids and the fact that it's animated turns off adults. I'll to my best to see this on the big screen.

Anticipated Rating: 7/10

Pathfinder

Release Date: April 13th, 2007
Marcus Nispel (dir.)
Trailer

Somehow, I missed all the hype for this movie, and today's viewing of the trailer was my first exposure to the film. It looks good. I'll probably try to go see it in the next couple weeks. I have a thing for epic period films with sword fighting and really evil looking enemies, and this movie promises not to disappoint.

Anticipated Rating: 8/10

Eagle vs Shark

Release Date: June 1, 2007
Taika Waititi (dir.)
Loren Horsley
Jemaine Clement
Trailer

This movie looks hilarious. I'm distinctly reminded of Napoleon Dynamite, but the film doesn't really seem to bite ND's style at all. It just fits into that type of film and compliments it very well. Instincts told me to pass this up based on the poster and the synopsis, but the trailer blew all that away. I can't wait to see this. It'll be one of the rare ones that I see in the theatre AND get on DVD.

Anticipated Rating: 10/10

Day Watch

Release Date: June 1st, 2007
Timur Bekmambetov (dir.)
Trailer

Due to lies handed me by the Fox Searchlight PR guy, I never saw Night Watch. He promised to send me free tickets when he couldn't get us into the sneak preview that we'd RSVP'd for. I missed my chance to see the film while I waited for those tickets to show up.

The sequel to that film, Day Watch (see the pattern?), looks just as amazing as the first. I definitely won't miss this one in the theatre, and I'm going to make a point of renting Night Watch on DVD before then. As absurd as the effects are and as crazy and disjointed as the film probably is, I think that it will all come together in an entertaining and visually stunning way.

Anticipated Rating: 10/10

Penelope

Release Date: August 17th, 2007
Mark Palansky (dir.)
Christina Ricci
James McAvoy
Reese Witherspoon
Trailer

What I like about this trailer is that while they tell you that Christina Ricci has a pig nose, and they kill any doubt that she'll wind up with the guy at the end of the film and live happily ever after (it IS a fairy tale, afterall), they don't actually SHOW the nose. It looks like a movie aimed at a teen girl audience, and since I'll eventually have a teenaged daughter, I might as well familiarize myself with the genre. This movie is certainly more palatable than many of the similar Disney offerings. I don't think this movie will lose anything being shown at home, and that's where I'll wind up seeing it.

Anticipated Rating: 6/10

Journey From the Fall

Release Date: Coming Soon
Ham Tran (dir.)
Trailer

This movie looks great. I think that it is appropriate to show how much of a clusterfuck Vietnam turned out to be, so that people can be reminded of what kind of fiasco war is and what will likely happen in Iraq. As someone who doesn't know a whole lot about this period of history (my public education only covered histoy up to WW2, and the books didn't really cover Vietnam in much detail) I think this will be a great opportunity for me to learn something.

Anticipated Rating: 8/10

The Savages

Release Date: Coming Soon
Tamara Jenkins (dir.)
Laura Linney
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Trailer

I'd pretty much see this movie just based on the cast. It looks like a dry comedy about growing up and it's probably something I'd go see with my mom.

Anticipated Rating: 7/10

Delta Farce

Release Date: May 11, 2007
C.B. Harding (dir.)
Larry the Cable Guy
Bill Engvall
DJ Qualls
Trailer

Wow, this looks incredibly stupid. Harkening back to an old Pollack joke from Gulf War 1, a bunch of stupid soldiers wind up in Mexico and mistake it for Iraq for a while before making the most of the situation. Special appearance from Requiem for a Dream's Little John (I know it's pretty, but I didn't bring it out for air) as a drill sergeant. I'll catch it on TV, if I ever see it.

Anticipated Rating: 4/10

28 Weeks Later

Release Date: May 11, 2007
dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Trailer

Adding to the list of movie sequels that should never have been made, 28 Weeks later is an offensive disappointment to me. There aren't any connections to the first film at all. Different cast, director and writer spells disaster. The budget looks bigger and the story looks crappier. I'll pass. I'd rather see it in the theatre than at home, if I HAD to watch it.

Anticipated Rating: 3/10

Next

Release Date: April 27th, 2007
Lee Tamahori (dir.)
Nicolas Cage
Julianne Moore
Jessica Biel
Trailer

I'm only reviewing this because my girlfriend really likes Nicolas Cage. It looks ok. It looks fine. I'm sure it would be a fun movie to go see, but the trailer doesn't do anything for me. Explosions and car chases combined with distracting CGI. I dunno, it just leaves me yawning and dreading the next wave of summer blockbusters. I'd probably want to see it in the theatre, as opposed to at home, just for the big screen and sound system.

Anticipated Rating: 6/10

Stardust

Release Date: August 10th, 2007
Matthew Vaughn (dir.)
Claire Danes
Charlie Cox
Sienna Miller
Ricky Gervais
Trailer

Fantasy/Adventure movies have been experiencing a renaissance of sorts, with the Tolkien films, Mirror Mask, Pan's Labyrinth and Narnia being superb examples of how things should be done the right way. This movie looks like it will fall into that category as well. The special effects don't appear to compete with the story, and the movie has a really great look to it overall. Plus, there's this part of me that really wants to see Claire Danes do something that doesn't pale in comparison to her debut on My So Called Life more than a decade ago.

Anticipated Rating: 9/10 (I'd give it a 10, but that's always a setup for disappointment)

First Snow

Release Date: March 23, 2007
Mark Fergus (dir.)
Guy Pearce
Piper Perabo
Trailer

The first part of the trailer almost had me thinking this was a U-Turn remake, but after the first few seconds, the similarities fade. The movie seems to have character and a good story to tell, with suspense building towards an inevitable conclusion. Probably not something I'd see in the theatre, but it looks good enough to watch at home, for sure.

Anticipated rating: 7/10

Iraq in Fragments

Release Date: ???
dir. James Longley
Trailer

Another great Iraq documentary, but this time from the POV of the Iraqi. I'd definitely go see this in the theatre when it gets wide release. I don't think the general populace of America thinks about what's going on in Iraq on a daily basis. Americans probably don't even consider the human element, apart from US soldiers, when they do. I don't think that it is possible to actually outrage Americans anymore, but this film will probably get closer than anything else.

Anticipated Rating: 8/10

Martian Child

Release Date: June 29, 2007
John Cusack
Trailer

This isn't the actual poster for the movie, but nobody seems to have it yet. The movie looks like it has good potential for jerking tears and making the audience feel good. Definitely in the date movie category. Every girl I know loves John Cusack as well. This movie looks like it wants to be the serious version of Adam Sandler's Big Daddy, and I'd bet that it succeeds.

Anticipated Rating: 7/10