PERFECT STRANGER
Sony Pictures Entertainment
If the previews are to be believed, this film is suspenseful. But I wouldn't hold my breath. I was surprised to learn that one of the main plot points is the use of - drum roll, please – text messaging. Yes, friends, the dynamic world of typing letters and seeing them appear on the screen. Riveting, like watching people type.
Berry's reporter character, Rowena Price, suspects that Willis's character, businessman Harrison Hill, murdered her friend (someone he was dating), so she gets hired as a temp at his company and the hijinks begin. Sounds promising, but there's that text messaging thing, which I notice isn't referenced in the trailer. The onscreen pairing of the normally entertaining Bruce Willis with Halle Berry, as witnessed in the trailer, lacks any vibrancy.
Director James Foley has directed other features, like THE CHAMBER (1996) and
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (1992), along with the infamous WHO'S THAT GIRL? (1987), Madonna's flop (onscreen) and the video for her song TRUE BLUE (1986).
If you like this film, text your friends.
Click Here to view Perfect Stranger trailer
DISTURBIA
Dreamworks SKG
Like "Suburbia," only not.
Steven Spielberg is listed as executive producer, so one can hope.
Shia LeBeouf, the actor who keeps denying he's been signed to play the young Indiana Jones in the fourth installment of the series, is cast as a troubled teen sentenced to house arrest who, REAR WINDOW-style (in other words, Hitchcock, binoculars, peeping Tom), begins noticing odd goings-on at a neighbor's house- like people going in and not coming out.
Director D.J. Caruso has worked mainly in television, directing episodes of such series as THE SHIELD, DARK ANGEL, and, for trivia buffs, the incredible 1995 series VR.5, where Lori Singer played with people's subconscious minds via a virtual reality computer. His previous feature, TWO FOR THE MONEY, apparently went nowhere on a big boat.
The script by Carl Ellsworth and Christopher Langdon (not based on his book we're told) promises much, but can Caruso and cast deliver? Get out those binoculars and see.
Click Here to view Disturbia trailer
PATHFINDER
20th Century-Fox Film Corporation
I've yet to see a trailer on television - is that a bad sign?
The film, who's release date has been moved forward several times, is the story of a young Viking boy, Karl Urban (DOOM, "Eomer" in LORD OF THE RINGS cycle), left behind after a battle between Vikings and Native American Indians. Remember those stories in history class? Neither do I. But anyway, the Native American tribe takes the boy in and raises him. When those pesky Vikings return, will our young Viking be the tribe's hero in defeating his former people?
Marcus Nispel's directing career consists mostly of directing music videos for the likes of Cher, Bad Boy, George Michael, Billy Joel, Janet Jackson and Amy Grant. He also directed a remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003) which killed at the box office (sorry). I don't know if it did or not, but the ironic thing is that PATHFINDER is reputed to be a remake as well, of a lesser-known, Oscar-nominated Norwegian film, OLEFAS, which translates to "pathfinder."
Pedigree aside, let's hope that PATHFINDER doesn't lose its way.
Click Here to view Pathfinder trailer
AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE COLON MOVIE FILM FOR THEATERS
First Look International
Once upon a time, a milk shake (said to be pistachio), a floating order of french fries and a meatball became superheroes. Yes, really. And here's how they got together.
The crazy folks who brought the world the television animated series, AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE (which, according to sources, debuted in episode 92 ["Baffler Meal"] of their hip, animated talk show, SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST), now present the world a movie with the same characters. No one asked them to, but they did it anyway. Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, who produced, directed, wrote and often acted in the television series do the same here, Maiellaro playing Err/Cybernetic Ghost/Satan and Willis playing Meatwad/Carl again. The two guitar enthusiasts, who have a history in the animation world, again place their heroes in mortal jeopardy, battling the evil "Insanoflex" exercise machine, which is bound on destroying either the world or the universe, I'm not clear on that.
There are reports that even fans are dissing it, but if you're a die-hard, rabid fan, nothing will stop you from submitting yourself to the deliberately crude animated delights of a baffler hero meal.
Click Here to view Aqua Teen trailer
