“Becoming Jane”
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Lionsgate
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Starring: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith
Director: Julian Jarrold
Story: Based on a true story, this film tells the story of Jane Austen’s (Hathaway) early years and the resistance she faced in wanting to be a writer, and her flirtation with Thomas Langlois Lefroy (McAvoy).
Buzz: No biopic is going to live up to a film that’s actually based on one of Austen’s novels (“Persuasion,” “Pride and Prejudice”). Though film critic Emmanuel Levy gave the movie a mixed review, he did write, “This is Hathaway's most emotionally mature and in-depth performance to date.” Director Jarrold is the man who helmed the fun “Kinky Boots.”
Web site: NA
Release date: August 3
“Sicko”
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Reuters
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Starring: Michael Moore
Director: Michael Moore
Story: Michael Moore sets his sights on the American health care industry and the more than 45 million people who go without health care in this new documentary. In one of the film’s segments, Moore takes Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for treatment.
Buzz: The Bush Administration launched an investigation into Moore’s trip to Cuba. Distributor Harvey Weinstein said of the film, “The pharmaceutical industry won’t like the movie. HMOs will try to run us out of town, but that’s not relevant to the situation.” Sounds like a “Fahrenheit 9/11” for the health-care industry.
Web site: NA
Release date: June 29
“Fierce People”
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Lionsgate
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Starring: Diane Lane, Anton Yelchin, Donald Sutherland, Kristen Stewart, Elizabeth Perkins, Paz de la Huerta, Blu Mankuma, Chris Evans
Director: Griffin Dunne
Story: When her son Finn (Yelchin) gets arrested, Liz (Diane Lane), a cocaine-addicted massage therapist, decides to make a change. She and Finn go to live at the estate of an ex-client, billionaire Ogden C. Osbourne (Donald Sutherland). There they get lost among the super rich as Finn falls for Osbourne’s granddaughter (Stewart) and befriends her charming brother (Evans). But when a shocking act of violence occurs, the plush world loses its luster.
Buzz: After he saw it at the Tribeca Film Festival, Filmcritic.com’s Chris Barsanti wrote “A bundle of good raw material and confused objectives, the film starts out as a skewed fable but ends up in grimmer territory, with no good reason for having traveled there, and begging to be taken more seriously.” Dunne has a less than stellar track record as a director (“Practical Magic,” “Addicted to Love”).
Web site: http://www.lionsgate.com/profile/fiercepeople.php
Release date: July 20
“Joshua”
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IFC First Take
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Starring: Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Jacob Kogan, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean
Director: George Ratliff
Story: In this psychological thriller, Brad (Rockwell) and Abby (Vera) start to notice a frightening dark side to their son (Kogan) not long after their daughter Lilly is born.
Buzz: The Hollywood Reporter’s Duane Berge called the film “a first-rate horror-of-personality tale” and compared Kogan’s performance to Lukas Haas in “Witness.” Ratliff directed the documentary “Hell House,” while Farmiga is best known for her role as the woman caught between Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon in “The Departed.”
Web site: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/joshua/
Release date: July 6
“Interview”
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Sony Picture Classics
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Starring: Steve Buscemi, Sienna Miller
Director: Steve Buscemi
Story: A self-destructive war reporter (Buscemi) is understandably upset when he’s demoted to interviewing America’s biggest soap opera star (Miller). At first their worlds clash, but then as the night goes on they find a deeper connection, and realized they’ve both been scarred.
Buzz: The film is based on the first of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh’s trilogy. Known for his inflammatory statements, including those about Islam, Van Gogh was murdered in 2004. Of the movie, Film Threat’s Jamie Tipps wrote, “Miller and Buscemi engage the audience’s interest in what is essentially an extended conversation for an extraordinarily long time. What should be boringly static manages to remain dynamic in their capable hands.”
Web site: http://www.sonyclassics.com/interview/
Release date: July 13
“The Ten”
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THINKFilm
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Starring: Paul Rudd, Jessica Alba, Winona Ryder, Adam Brody, Gretchen Mol, Famke Janssen, Rob Corddry, Liev Schreiber, Oliver Platt, Justin Theroux, Ken Marino
Director: David Wain
Story: This film consists of 10 vignettes, each one based on one of the 10 commandments. A comedy first and foremost, this film has a segment in which someone has sex with a ventriloquist’s dummy. Highly religious people may want to skip this one.
Buzz: Variety called the film “uneven but often hilarious.” Director Wain is one of the founders of the comedy group The State, and wrote and directed “Wet Hot American Summer.” The Hollywood Reporter’s Jon DeFore wrote, “This free-associative ride recalls cult classics like ‘The Kentucky Fried Movie,’ albeit with less reliance on parody.”
Web site: http://www.thetenmovie.com/
Release date: August 3
“2 Days in Paris”
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Samuel Goldwyn Films
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Starring: Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg, Daniel Brühl, Albert Delpy, Adan Jodorowsky
Director: Julie Delpy
Story: A French photographer (Delpy) and an American interior designer (Goldberg) try to reinvigorate their romance by taking a trip to Europe. They get sick in Venice and overwhelmed by Delpy’s relatives in Paris. Will they be able to salvage their relationship?
Buzz: The Hollywood Reporter’s Ray Bennett called the film “an utterly charming comedy of sexual manners.” He also wrote, “Delpy writes very well and many of the jokes and lines are extremely funny.” It certainly seems like Delpy (“Before Sunset”) should be a bigger star than she is — this is one small film you just might want to check out.
Web site: NA
Release date: August 10
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