Movie + DVD News

Movies Opening This Weekend – Fri Apr 25, 2008

These are the movies that are opening this weekend across North America, for Fri Apr 25, 2008.

1. Baby Mama. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler.
2. Deal [limited]. Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Charles Durning,
   Jennifer Tilly, and numerous professional poker players including
   Isabelle Mercier, Chris Moneymaker, and Joe Hachem. By the way, Maria Mason is not related to Marsha Mason, as far as I can tell.
3. Deception. Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor.
4. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris.
5. Rogue [limited]. Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell, Sam Worthington.
6. Roman de gare [NYC]. Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon.
7. Standard Operating Procedure [NYC].
8. Then She Found Me [NYC]. Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler.

Information, posters, and video clips for each movie can be found below. Click on a poster to see a larger version floated (no browser change).

Baby Mama

Film: Baby Mama.
Release: Wide.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Comedy.
Director: Michael McCullers.
Writer: Michael McCullers.
Cast: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Martin, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor, with appearances by other Saturday Night Live cast members.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 96 min.
Notes: Tina Fey plays Kate Holbrook, a high-ranking business woman who wants to have a baby. Problem is, she has no significant other and fertility seems a bit wonky. She pays big bucks for a surrogate mother, Angie Ostrowski, played by Amy Poehler, and the hilarity begins.
Trailer:

Deal

Film: Deal.
Release: Limited.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Comedy, Drama.
Director: Gil Cates Jr.
Writer: Gil Cates Jr., Mark Weinstock.
Cast: Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Charles Durning, Jennifer Tilly, and numerous professional poker players including Isabelle Mercier, Chris Moneymaker, and Joe Hachem.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 86 min.
Notes: Poker has been a controversial topic in the U.S. for the last couple of years, but with 21 and The Grand out recently, and now Deal, gambling seems like a safe subject for movies again. Except have you ever watched poker on TV? I love the game and I even can’t stand watching. What’s going to make me go to see a movie about it? This one is about a mentor, Burt Reynolds, against his student – a college student. But besides the appearances by numerous professional poker players, there’s no one here I’d go see in a movie theater except Shannon Elizabeth – and she’s only in it for a few minutes.
Trailer:

Deception

Film: Deception.
Release: Wide.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Action, Drama, Thriller.
Director: Marcel Langenegger.
Writer: Mark Bomback.
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Williams, Bruce Altman, Andrew Ginsburg, Charlotte Rampling, Natasha Henstridge.
Rating: R
Runtime: 108 min.
Notes: In the trailers at least, Hugh Jackman looks terrifying as a deceiver who gets a new friend, Ewan McGregor into trouble. McGregor becomes a suspect in a number of crimes including a multi-million dollar heist.
Trailer:

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

Film: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
Release: Wide.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Adventure, Comedy.
Director: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg.
Writer: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg.
Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris, Rob Corddry, Beverly D’Angelo.
Rating: R
Runtime: 102 min (USA).
Notes: This movie just seems wrong in so many ways. But I’m guessing it’s going to appeal to appeal to several groups: teens, stoners, fans of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and possibly fans of Neil Patrick Harris – who plays himself in a cameo and is as much of a prick here as he seems to be lately in most of his roles. But buried in the gutter/ toilet humor and behind that haze of pot smoke is a social and political message. (Warning: seeing it sober might cause brain damage.)
Trailer:

Rogue

Film: Rogue.
Release: Limited.
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Action, Adventure, Horror, Thrilller.
Director: Greg Mclean.
Writer: Greg Mclean.
Cast: Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell, Sam Worthington.
Rating: R
Runtime: 92 min.
Notes: Rogue actually opened last November in Australia and is in limited release in North America. Now, haven’t movies about giant man-eating crocs already been done? I’m not sure what sets this apart other than that it’s in Australia. Or I could be wrong. Maybe you should see it after watching Harold and Kumar 2.
Trailer:

Roman de gare

Film: Roman de gare.
Release: Limited [NYC].
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Drama.
Director: Claude Lelouch.
Writer: Claude Lelouch (adaptation, screenplay), Pierre Uytterhoeven (adaptation).
Cast: Fanny Ardant, Dominique Pinon.
Rating: R
Runtime: 103 min.
Notes: Roman de gare was released in France, in late June of 2007. In this murder thriller, a writer seeks inspiration for her next novel.
Trailer:

Standard Operating Procedure

Film: Standard Operating Procedure.
Release: Limited [NYC].
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Documentary.
Director: Errol Morris.
Writer: n/a
Cast: Christopher Bradley, Sarah Denning, Joshua Feinman.
Rating: R
Runtime: 118 min.
Notes: Remember photos published of suspected male terrorists stripped naked, with uniformed male and female U.S. solidiers laughing and posing? In this documentary, Errol Morris explores the supposed injustices at Abu Ghraib by U.S. forces.
Trailer:

Then She Found Me

Film: Then She Found Me.
Release: Limited [NYC].
Opening: Apr 25, 2008.
Category: Comedy, Drama, Romance.
Director: Helen Hunt.
Writer: Alice Arlen, Victor Levin, and Helen Hunt, based on a novel by Elinor Lipman.
Cast: Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler. Matthew Broderick.
Rating: R
Runtime: 100 min.
Notes: I’m a big fan of Helen Hunt, so I can’t wait until this is in wide release. Then She Found Me is a slice-of-life drama about a teacher who has to deal with a number of personal traumas in her life, while trying to find herself, and also finding her mother. This is her debut as a movie director (though she did direct three episodes of the Mad About You TV comedy series), so I’m willing to give this amazing actress some leeway.
Trailer: