Notes and Thoughts in a Virtual World

Technorati Tags: Movies 40 Year Old Virgin Red Eye Valiant El Crimen Perfecto Forumla 17 Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Opening this Weekend:
Wide:
The 40-Year Old Virgin (wide)
Comedy Romance
Rated: R: for pervasive sexual content, language, and some drug use.
Starring: Steve Carroll, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann
Writer & Director: Judd Apatow (of "Freeks and Geeks" and "Undeclared" fame).
& Writer: Steve Carroll.
About: Steve Carroll plays a man that is a 40-year old virgin. His friends try to change that fact.
116 minutes
Official website: http://www.the40yearoldvirgin.com/

Critics: Good collection: Rotten Tomatoes: 58 reviews count - 52 liked the film (fresh), and 6 disliked the film (rotten).
Hollywood Reporter.com: Kirk Honeycutt: "Sticking to one joke in an unconscionably long film makes for a very stale, witless and repetitive comedy. . . .Bottom line: A weak comedy with a provocative title."
Washington Post: Michael O'Sullivan: "Filthy, funny, and sweet in equal measure."
Roger Ebert: "The 40-Year-Old Virgin is surprisingly insightful, as buddy comedies go, and it has a good heart and a lovable hero." 3 1/2 stars.

Red Eye (wide)
Horror/Suspense
Rated: PG-13: for some intense sequences of violence, and language
Starring: Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy.
Written by Carl Ellsworth.
Directed by Wes Craven.
About: Thriller at 30,000 feet. Murphy (playing Jackson) is nice enough off the plane, but when McAdams (Lisa) finds herself sitting next to him on the plane, she learns that Jackson isn't as nice as he seems. Jackson, it is quickly revealed, is part of a plot to kill the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (Lisa's father will be killed if she doesn't help).
Sounds quite contrived, but . . .
85 minutes
Official website: http://www.redeye-themovie.com/

Critics: Rotten Tomatoes: 83% of 63 reviews liked the film (fresh; 52 liked, 11 disliked - rotten).
Hollywood Reporter.com: Kirk Honeycutt: "It pulls just about every nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat trick imaginable, yet gets away with it through what is, admittedly, a clever and original gimmick." "Bottom Line: Gripping melodrama of the old-fashioned -- that's a compliment -- sort."
Washington Post: Michael O'Sullivan: "A movie that, like its heroine, is lithe, limber and quick-thinking. Like a triple latte from the airport Starbucks, Red Eye will keep you awake, jittery and perched on the edge of your seat for pretty much the entire flight."
Roger Ebert: not reviewed.

Valiant (wide)
Animated: Action/adventure
Rated G
Starring: Ewan McGregor, John Cleese, Tim Curry, Ricky Gervais, John Hurt, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Williams.
Directed by Gary Chapman.
About: A pigeon (McGregor) dreams of joining the Royal Homing Pigeon Service. He gets his chance during WWII.
109 minutes
Official website: http://www.valiantmovie.co.uk/

Critics: Rotten Tomatoes: 26% of 43 reviews liked the film (11 liked, 32 disliked).
Hollywood Reporter: Not reviewed?
Washington Post: Michael O'Sullivan: "Too dependent on a knowledge of RAF-inspired cinematic derring-do like '633 Squadron' (or at least Hogan's Heroes) for the average tyke, yet too tepid for their taller counterparts, Valiant is ultimately one strange bird."
Roger Ebert: Not reviewed.
Times of London: Wendy Ide: "Valiant is the plucky little outsider with a lot of heart" 3 out of 5 stars.

Limited Release:
El Crimen Perfecto (limited) NYC (August 26 - LA)
Comedy
Not Rated
Starring: Guillermo Toledo, Enrique Villen
Director: Alex De La Iglesia
About: Manager of the Ladies Department and Manager of the Men's Department in a department store compete against each other.
1 hour 45 minutes
Official website: http://www.crimenferpecto.com/

Critics: Rotten Tomatoes: 100% of 5 reviews liked the movie.

Forumla 17 (Shi qi sui de tian kong) (limited)
Originally Released in 2004. Released on August 19, 2005 in NYC.
Not Rated.
About: 17 year old boy meets male playboy "Will the two boys meet and fall in love?"
1 hour 33 minutes.
Official website: http://www.strandreleasing.com/in_Theaters_Details.asp_Q_id_E_178

Critics: Rotten Tomatoes: Not enough people have reviewed it.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Boksumeun naui geot) (limited) - NYC, NY; Irvine & LA, CA
Originially released in 2002.
Drama/Action
Rated: R: for strong grusome violence, strong sexuality, language and drug use.
Staring: Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin, Du-na Bae, Ji-Eun Lim, Bo-bae Han, Se-dong Kim, Dae-yeon Lee.
Director: Chan-wook pak
Writer: Jae-sun Lee & Mu-yeong Lee
About: A deaf mute is laid off work right when his sister needs a new kidney. Going to some outlaws, he exchanges 10 million won and one of his kidney's for a kidney that would not be rejected by his sister. The outlaws take the kidney and the money and leave without providing another kidney. A kidney is now available through legitmate means, but the kid doesn't have the money now . . .
Country of Origin: South Korea
129 minutes.
Official website: not available.

Critics: Rotten Tomatoes: 35% of 17 reviews liked the movie (6 liked, 11 disliked).
Entertainment Weekly: Owen Gleiberman: "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is so badly told that it ends up dissecting a corruption that exudes from nowhere but itself." Grade: D.
BBC: Jamie Russell: "Brutally nihilistic, this is one of the best Korean films to have hit these shores in a very long time." 4 out of 5 stars. BBC users rating: 4.5 from 125 votes.