MOVIE OPENINGS - October 12

We Own the Night 

 

Director: James Gray

Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes and Robert Duvall.

Studio: Columbia Pictures 

The Plot: Though nightclub owner Bobby (Phoenix) and his police officer brother Joseph (Wahlberg) haven taken decidedly different paths in life, a near-fatal incident causes them to unite in a deadly confrontation with the mobsters who run Bobby’s club. 

REVIEWS:

• 2 Brothers, and the Mob in the Middle (New York Times)

• ‘We Own the Night’ owns the screen (CNN)

• Entertainment Weekly 

• Solid crime drama overcomes formulaic premise (IGN)

• `We Own the Night’ a petty crime (Yahoo Movies)

• What’s It All About, Anyway? (NY Mag)

Elizabeth: The Golden Age 

 

Director: Shekhar Kapur

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush.

Studio: Universal Pictures 

The Plot: England’s Queen Elizabeth (Blanchett) struggles to maintain her powerful reign in the face of conspiracies to overthrow her and a budding relationship with explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen). 

REVIEWS:

• ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’ shimmers with sex and intrigue (San Francisco Chronicle)

• Rolling Stone

• Variety

• Zoom In Online

• Cate Blanchett is back as the browless Virgin Queen (Salon)

Michael Clayton

     

Director: Tony Gilroy

Stars: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson and Sydney Pollack.

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures 

The Plot: An in-house “fixer” (Clooney) at a top New York law firm risks his career, and his life, on a sabotaged class action suit that pits him against a rival litigator (Swinton). 

REVIEWS:

• George Clooney anchors a solid legal thriller (Slate) 

• Clooney makes up for ‘Clayton’ weaknesses (MSNBC)

• George Clooney has the answers in ‘Michael Clayton’ (LA Times)

• Blogcritics

• They Call Him the Fixer in a World That’s a Mess (New York Times)

Lars and the Real Girl 

 

Director: Craig Gillespie

Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider.

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) 

The Plot: A delusional young guy (Gosling) strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet. 

REVIEWS:

• ‘Lars and the Real Girl’ is whimsical fable (New York Daily News)

• A Heartwarming Movie About a Plastic Sex Doll (Newsweek)

• Unexpectedly tender dramedy is far more family-friendly than it sounds (Hollywood Reporter)

• A Lonely Guy Plays House With a Mail-Order Sex Doll (New York Times)

• Entertainment Weekly

Sleuth [limited] 

 

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Stars: Michael Caine, Jude Law.

Studio: Sony Pictures Classics 

The Plot: A wealthy mystery writer (Caine) engages in a twisted game of cat and mouse with his wife’s lover (Law). 

REVIEWS:

• What’s It All About, Anyway? (NY Magazine)

• ‘Sleuth’ sniffs out a dark, stylish remake (USA Today)

• Filmcritic.com

• The remake of the 1972 film benefits from an updated script by Harold Pinter and pitch-perfect performances by Michael Caine and Jude Law (LA Times)

• Emanuell Levy

Why Did I Get Married? 

 

Director: Tyler Perry

Stars: Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Sharon Leal.

Studio: Lionsgate 

The Plot: An adulterous incident causes four couples to take a hard look at their respective marriages during their annual week-long vacation in the Colorado mountains. 

REVIEWS:

• Why Did I Get Married? a Best for Perry (Canmag.com)

• BlackVoices AOL

• Preaching, teaching weigh down ‘Why Did I Get Married?” (Detroit Free Press)

Related posts:

1. MOVIE OPENINGS - October 3 BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHA Director: Raja Gosnell  Stars: Drew Barrymore, George Lopez  Studio: Walt Disney...
2. MOVIE OPENINGS - October 31, 2008 THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY Director: Mickey Liddell Stars: Haley Bennett, Chace Crawford ...
3. MOVIE OPENINGS - October 10 QUARANTINE Director: John Erick Dowdle  Stars: Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Columbus Short  Studio: Screen Gems...