Jet Li's Fearless, directed by Ronny Yu (helmer of the Hong Kong classic The Bride with White Hair), is Jet Li's final martial arts masterpiece, capping a tremendous body of work in that genre. Jet Li's Fearless reunites the actor and martial arts superstar with producer Bill Kong (Hero) and action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (Unleashed) as he portrays martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia, who became the most famous fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th Century.
From the producer of Independence Day and The Patriot, and starring James Franco, Flyboys soars to new cinematic heights with spectacular special effects and thrilling, edge-of-your-seat aerial dogfights. Inspired by the true story of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille, this action-packed epic tells the tale of America's first fighter pilots. These courageous young men distinguish themselves in a manner that none before them had dared, becoming true heroes who experience triumph, tragedy, love, and loss amid the chaos of World War I. Hang on for the ride of your life!
Thematically ambitious and emotionally complex, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers is an intimate epic with much to say about war and the nature of heroism in America. Based on the non-fiction bestseller by James Bradley (with Ron Powers), and adapted by Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis (Jarhead screenwriter William Broyles Jr. wrote an earlier draft that was abandoned when Eastwood signed on to direct), this isn't so much a conventional war movie as it is a thought-provoking meditation on our collective need for heroes, even at the expense of those we deem heroic.
Helen Mirren's Elizabeth I could almost be cousin to her Jane Tennison. Like the dedicated detective chief inspector, Queen Bess is not without a heart, but work comes first and any romantic entanglements are doomed to fail. Fortunately, she has her friendships. Directed by Tom Hooper (Prime Suspect 6), this two-part HBO/Channel 4 tele-film begins in 1579. The Virgin Queen has been on the throne for 20 years, but has not married. Her closest relationship is with Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester (Jeremy Irons), whom the council will not allow her to wed.
Martin Scorsese makes a welcome return to the mean streets (of Boston, in this case) with The Departed, hailed by many as Scorsese's best film since Casino.
Beerfest is the kind of zany time-killer that's a lot funnier if you're within reach of a six-pack and Doritos. In other words, this is yet another low-brow laff-a-thon from the Broken Lizard gang (Super Troopers) that's likely to draw a bigger audience on DVD than it did in theaters, especially since there's a lot of duds (and flat suds) to sit through while waiting for the next big beer-belly-laugh.
Striking images abound in the twisty, surreal thriller Stay: Walruses rubbing up against the glass in an aquarium; a corridor painted neon green; entire crowds composed of twins and triplets; a piano being lifted several stories in the air. The plot is impossible to encapsulate: A psychiatrist named Sam (Ewan McGregor, Trainspotting) takes on a colleague's patient, Henry (Ryan Gosling, The Notebook), who announces his intention to kill himself.
Xavier is back! We find him 5 years after L'auberge Espagnole, he is now thirty years old. An aspiring novelist, his greatest achievement is a co-credit on an over the top TV soap and his romantic life is equally disappointing. He has one meaningless romantic encounter after another and lines up a confusing series of jobs related to writing. A chance meeting could be the answer to his career and love life but Xavier's lack of direction and will power threatens to turn his good fortune to ultimate heartbreak.
An absolute delight, L'Auberge Espagnole captures a moment in a life, seemingly about nothing and everything all at once. Xavier (Romain Duris), a young Parisian not sure what his life is about, decides to spend a year in Barcelona studying economics--leaving behind his unhappy girlfriend (Audrey Tautou, AmÈlie) but joining an international mix of students in a hectic, crowded apartment.
When Julie Andrews sang "The hills are alive with the sound of music" from an Austrian mountaintop in 1965, the most beloved movie musical was born. To be sure, the adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Broadway hit has never been as universally acclaimed as, say, Singin' in the Rain. Critics argue that the songs are saccharine (even the songwriters regretted the line "To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray") and that the characters and plot lack the complexity that could make them more interesting.
