Jopals Movies

May 16, 2008

Untraceable (2008)

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 8:02 am

 

Within the FBI, there exists a division dedicated to investigating and prosecuting criminals on the internet. Welcome to the front lines of the war on cybercrime, where Special Agent Jennifer Marsh has seen it all–until now. A tech-savvy internet predator is displaying his graphic murders on his own website–and the fate of each of his tormented captives is left in the hands on the public: the more hits his site gets, the faster his victims die. When this game of cat and mouse becomes personal, Marsh and her team must race against the clock to track down this technical mastermind who is virtually untraceable.




Also Known As:
Untraceable (Lakeshore)
Urgency
Production Status: Released
Genres: Drama, Thriller and Crime/Gangster

Meet the Browns

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 7:58 am

 

A single mother living in inner city Chicago, Brenda has been struggling for years to make ends meet and keep her three kids off the street. But when she’s laid off with no warning, she starts losing hope for the first time — until a letter arrives announcing the death of a father she’s never met. Desperate for any kind of help, Brenda takes her family to Georgia for the funeral. But nothing could have prepared her for the Browns, her father’s fun-loving, crass Southern clan. In a small-town world full of long afternoons and country fairs, Brenda struggles to get to know the family she never knew existed — and finds a brand new romance that just might change her life.




Also Known As:
Meet the Browns
Production Status: Released
Genres: Comedy and Adaptation

May 3, 2008

Fugitive Pieces - May 2

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 9:43 am

A powerful and unforgettably lyrical film about love, loss and redemption, "Fugitive Pieces" tells the story of Jakob Beer, a man whose life is transformed by his childhood experiences during WWII. The film is based on the beloved and best-selling novel by Canadian poet Anne Michaels.

Jakob’s story (Robbie Kay) begins in Poland in 1942, when he is nine years old. Nazi soldiers have murdered his parents and abducted his teenage sister, Bella. Traumatized by this horrific event, Jakob sneaks out of his hiding place and struggles to survive. He is found by Athos Roussos (Rade Sherbedgia), a Greek archaeologist working at a Polish dig site in Biskupin. Moved by the child’s plight, Athos boldly smuggles Jakob out of Poland and hides him in his home on the island of Zakynthos in Greece, also occupied by the Germans. Jakob spends the last years of the Occupation in Athos’ tender care.

After the war, Athos and Jakob immigrate to Canada, where Athos has accepted a teaching position with a University. As he matures, Jakob (now played by Stephen Dillane) begins a new life, studying, writing, and eventually falling in love with Alex (Rosamund Pike), a beautiful young woman. Yet he remains haunted by his parents’ death and the question of his sister’s fate. This terrible burden makes it impossible for him to live in the moment or to accept love when it is offered to him. Writing offers some relief, but it is not until he meets Michaela (Ayelet Zurer), a gentle soul who truly understands — and accepts — his pain, that Jakob allows himself to join the living. The lessons he learns become a legacy to Ben (Ed Stoppard), a child of survivors whose life intersects with Jakob’s in meaningful ways.

STARRING: Stephen Dillane, Rade Sherbedgia, Rosamund Pike, Ayelet Zurer, Rachelle Lefevre
DIRECTOR: Jeremy Podeswa

May 2, 2008

America The Beautiful

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 6:21 am

 

"America The Beautiful" - The United States of America is known for being one of the wealthiest nations on the planet with the most opportunities for its citizens. In 2004 alone, Americans spent $12.4 billion (yes, billion!) on cosmetic surgery. With such an abundance of wealth, why are Americans so discontent?


In almost 40,000 media messages a year, youthful Americas are being told that, unless you look like supermodels and rock stars, you’re not good enough for anyone to love. This is a message that too many people are buying.

Filmmaker Darryl Roberts goes on a two year journey to examine America’s new obsession; physical perfection. In "America the Beautiful," we learn secrets, confessions, and strikingly harsh realities as Roberts unearths the origins and deadly risks of our nation’s quest for physical perfection.

Too much television and easy access to plastic surgery are conventional answers, but they do not fully explain this national psychosis. These same images are found all over Europe and Canada, yet their citizens do not have this same obsession.

Looking at models on glossy pages of supermarket magazines, Americans have found themselves wishing they looked more like ‘that’. The hope of achieving these ‘ideals’ has consumers purchasing cosmetics, toiletries, fashion and plastic surgeries at increasingly dramatic rates. Has the ‘American Dream’ changed so much that it can only be achieved once we can perfectly emulate the super thin and sexy images of Britney Spears or other pop icons?

In America the Beautiful we see how these increasingly unattainable images contribute greatly to the rise in low self-esteem, body dismorphia, and eating disorders for young women and girls who also happen to be the beauty industry’s largest consumers. Who actually benefits from this high-priced journey towards this ideal? Is corporate America’s bottom line so important that it justifies a nation’s psychosis? What are the true costs of our obsession with youth, beauty, and a slender physique?

At the heart of "America the Beautiful" is the story of Gerren Taylor, a teenager who went from being an innocent 12 year old girl to being one of America’s next top supermodels. As she and her mother head down the windy road to stardom, viewers watch the dichotomy between Gerren’s adolescent struggles and her adult "rights of passage" on the catwalks of Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger and other top designers. Her tumultuous quest acts as a mirror to the American psyche, and it becomes apparent how the same beauty that could jump-start her career could ultimately destroy her young life.

To find out what has America’s pre-teens standing in line for their turn on "I Want a Famous Face", and it’s adults on "Extreme Makeover," Roberts dives deep into America’s culture of fear, consumption, and idolatry for all things external; he seeks answers from celebrities, media, academia, as well as everyday Americans.

Follow Darryl Roberts in "America The Beautiful" as he asks Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Aisha Tyler, Anthony Kedis, Tisha Campbell, Julianne Moore, Michael Beach, Mena Suvari, Martin Short, as well as Ted Casablanca from the E! Channel and Susan Schulz, the Editor-in-Chief of CosmoGirl!, along with various other celebrities and experts in cosmetics, fashion, media, and self-esteem the major question at hand…

Does America have an unhealthy obsession with beauty?

Find out, if you dare or care, in the documentary "America The Beautiful."

Graduation

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 6:20 am

In the movie "Graduation," four best friends, about to graduate from high school, must find a way to raise money to help a family member in need. When one of them discovers her banker father having an affair, the foursome plots to rob his bank during graduation ceremonies. When things don’t go according to plan, they end up learning more about themselves in one day than they ever did in school.

STARRING: Riley Smith, Shannon Lucio, Chris Marquette, Chris Lowell, Adam Arkin, Aimee Garcia
DIRECTOR: Michael Mayer

April 29, 2008

Upcoming Movie: XXY - May 2

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 9:16 am

 

Alex is not like other girls. She is a 15-year-old with a secret, one that no other can claim. Her parents keep her hidden away at a coastal town in amongst the dunes of the shoreline, buying time before they must decide on a life-threatening operation.

When old family friend and plastic surgeon Ramiro arrives with his teenage son Álvaro, Alex begins to realise that his visit could change her life forever. As the parents wrestle with the complications that will arise as Alex reaches adulthood, Alex and Alvaro become close, their relationship causing tensions amongst the locals. However, as the parents battle it out to instill a sense of open-mindedness amongst their society, it is the children who prove themselves to be flexible in understanding the sexual leanings and complexities of others.

STARRING: Inés Efron, Ricardo Darín, Martín Piroyansky
 

April 27, 2008

The Chronicles Of Narnia 2

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 12:36 pm

the enchanted characters of C.S. Lewis’s timeless fantasy come to dazzling life again in this second installment of the seven book series, in which the Pevensie siblings - Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy - are magically and mysteriously transported back from World War II England to Narnia, where a thrilling, perilous new adventure and an even greater test of their faith and courage awaits them.

One year after the incredible events of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," the Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway wondrous realm, only to discover that more than 1300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has become extinct, Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines and is now under the control of the evil King Miraz, who rules the land without mercy.

The four children will soon meet an intriguing new character: Narnia’s rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding as his uncle Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn son on the throne. With the help of the kindly dwarf, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, a badger named Trufflehunter and a Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, the Narnians, led by the mighty knights Peter and Caspian, embark on a remarkable journey to find Aslan, rescue Narnia from Miraz’s tyrannical hold, and restore magic and glory to the land.

April 26, 2008

Movie Release on May 2: Iron Man

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 10:31 am

 

Based on the long-running Marvel comic book series, "Iron Man" tells the story of Tony Stark, the enigmatic heir to the Stark Enterprises fortune. A driven inventor and executive who seems to have it all, Tony is haunted by his dark side. Though he commands his empire by day, by night he secretly becomes "Iron Man," the living embodiment of decades of defense spending and innovation. Strapping on billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art armor and weaponry each night to fight crime, terrorism and corporate espionage, Tony begins to crack under the strain of his fractured lifestyle and must ultimately confront the one enemy he can never beat - himself - "Iron Man."

April 25, 2008

Deception

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 10:17 am

 

A simple enough question, but how Jonathan McQuarry (EWAN McGREGOR) answers it will change his life forever. A corporate auditor adrift in a sea of New York’s power elite, Jonathan’s work is his entire life. But a chance meeting with Wyatt Bose (HUGH JACKMAN), a charismatic corporate lawyer, introduces Jonathan to a decadent playground for Manhattan’s executive upper crust. For these power brokers, whose eighteen-hour workdays leave no time for a personal life, there’s "The List" (the original title of ‘Deception") - a sex club, of sorts, where the right cell-phone number and four simple words ("Are you free tonight?") can lead to an evening’s sexual fulfillment.

It’s a world of "intimacy without intricacy," as Jonathan’s first conquest (or vice versa) explains to him, and through The List Jonathan discovers a side of himself that he didn’t know existed. But an affair with a ravishing and mysterious stranger known to Jonathan only by her first initial ‘S’ (MICHELLE WILLIAMS), will expose him to yet another world he never imagined - one of betrayal, treachery and murder.

This is the first movie in which Michelle Williams, the mother of the late Heath Ledger’s daughter, can be seen on the big screen.

Rogue

Filed under: Movies - jopals @ 10:15 am

 

Greg McLean’s first box office bomb, "Wolf Creek," took audiences (the few thousand idiots who paid to see it on the big screen), on a frightening, fact based road trip through the darkest parts of Australian Outback and the depraved human mind. Journeying home again, this time to the crocodile infested waters of Australia’s remote wetlands, the director’s wildlife boat tour is more down-under "Jaws" than "Crocodile Dundee." Joining a beautiful local tour guide (Radha Mitchell) and an American writer on assignment (the to-die-for Michael Vartan), the rest of this thriller’s food chain is composed of tourists and adventure seekers alike. Waiting in vain to be rescued on an ever-disappearing parcel of dry land, you will never guess their next move…as terror lies just beneath the surface. (If you saw "Primeval," you have already seen "Rogue." The directors of each crocodile movie fought to get their films in theaters first. "Primeval" won, but bombed at the box office. So why would anyone in their right mind think that "Rogue" can or will outdo "Primeval," which itself was a bomb at the box office? Well, actually, no one, not even the movie studio releasing "Rogue," The Weinsten Co., has any hope for "Rogue" on the big screen. It gets a release in only 10 cities on April 25, 2008. And expect it on DVD in May 2008, where it will undoubtedly be in the bargain bin by June 2008.

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