Movies Update

Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz hate on each other with dynamite verve in What Happens in Vegas. The Punch and Judy fireworks get off to an early start, when the two wake up in Las Vegas only to learn that they got hitched during what should have been a sloshed one-night stand.

What Happens in Vegas stars Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher as two random strangers who meet one night in Vegas, get wasted and subsequently get married by drunken mistake. However, while they’re parting ways the next morning — admitting their stupid mistakes — both wind up winning a three million dollar jackpot. It was her quarter, but he put it in. When a judge sentences them to “six months of hard marriage” these two strangers — who now despise one another — will have to find a way to make it work.

Star(s) to watch : Ashton Kutcher (”Open Season”, “Dude, Where’s My Car?”, “The Butterfly Effect”) as Jack Fuller, Cameron Diaz (”Shrek”, “Charlie’s Angels”, “The Mask”) as Joy McNally, & Queen Latifah (”Taxi”, “The Bone Collector”) as Dr. Twitchell.

Genre : Comedy.

Release date : May 9, 2008

Official website : http://www.whathappensinvegasmovie.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/what_happens_in_vegas2-202𝗬.jpg

Trailer :

Gang-du (SONG Kang-ho) works at a food-stand on the banks of the Han River. Dozing on the job, he is awakened by his daughter, Hyun-seo (KO A-sung), who is angry with him for missing a teacher-parent meeting at school. As Gang-du walks out to the riverbank with a delivery, he notices that a large crowd of people has gathered, taking pictures and talking about something hanging from the Han River Bridge. The otherwise idyllic landscape turns suddenly to bedlam when a terrifying creature climbs up onto the riverbank and begins to crush and eat people. Gang-du and his daughter run for their lives but suddenly the thing grabs Hyun-seo and disappears back into the river. The government announces that the thing apparently is the Host of an unidentified virus. Having feared the worst, Gang-du receives a phone call from his daughter who is frightened, but very much alive. Gang-du makes plans to infiltrate the forbidden zone near the Han River to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the horrifying Host…

Genre : Sci-Fi, Thriller, Comedy.

Release date : March 9, 2007

Rating : 8/10

Official website : http://www.hostmovie.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/the_host-221×300.jpg

Trailer :

A gritty, fast-paced action thriller, Shoot ‘Em Up kicks into high gear with a memorable opening scene and never relents. Clive Owen stars as Mr. Smith, a mysterious loner who teams up with an unlikely ally (Monica Belluci) to protect a newborn baby from a determined criminal (Paul Giamatti) who hunts them throughout the bowels of the city. Shoot ‘Em Up is written and directed by Michael Davis (Monster Man) and is scheduled for a Sept. 7, 2007 release.

The tone is set right from the get-go. He’s minding his own business and sipping a cup of coffee when a pregnant woman comes running down the street screaming for help. She ducks down an alley, and a guy with a gun follows her. Smith gets up to help and ends up in a massive gunfight. As he fires back at the bad guys, his shell casings bounce off the pregnant woman’s stomach. She delivers her baby in the middle of all this, and Smith cuts the umbilical cord by shooting it, then stabs a bad guy to death with a carrot.

Shoot ‘Em Up — which pits Owen as everyman action hero against Paul Giamatti’s scenery-chomping criminal commando —goes gonzo less than five minutes in, as a pregnant woman flees a gun-brandishing predator by ducking into an empty warehouse. Innocent bystander Owen comes to the woman’s rescue and ends up delivering her baby while fighting off a dozen or so attackers in a lavish gun battle as remixed Nirvana pounds away on the soundtrack.

Star(s) to watch : Monica Bellucci (”Asterix and Obelix Meet Cleopatra”, “The Matrix Reloaded”) as Donna Quintano, & Clive Owen (”Sin City”, “The Bourne Identity”) as Smith.

Genre : Action, Comedy, Drama, Thriller.

Release date : September 7, 2007

Rating : 9/10

Official website : http://www.shootemupmovie.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/shoot_em_up-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

Rush Hour 3 is a 2007 film and the third installment in the martial arts/action-comedy Rush Hour franchise starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker that began with the 1998 film Rush Hour and continued with the first sequel Rush Hour 2 in 2001. The film was officially announced on May 7, 2006, and filming began on July 4, 2006.

Action kicks off in Los Angeles with an assassination attempt on Chan’s charge, the Chinese ambassador from the first movie, who is leading a new initiative to take out the Triad criminal organization. Stuck in traffic cop duty, Tucker inserts himself into Chan’s investigation, despite their friendship being strained from an offputting incident in New York, their destination at the end of Rush Hour 2. The Triads keep after them, and they learn that Paris holds the key to stopping the gangsters, so off they go.

There is nothing new delivered by Rush Hour 3. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker reprise their roles and pick up exactly where they left off from the previous two films. Chan’s isn’t as virile as he used to be, but one has to be impressed that this 53-year old actor can still do some amazing stunt work. Chris Tucker, however, is still just as loud and annoying as ever.

Star(s) to watch : Jackie Chan (”City Hunter”, “The Armour of God”) as Chief Inspector Lee.

Genre : Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sequel.

Release date : August 10, 2007

Rating : 6/10

Official website : http://www.rushhourmovie.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/rush_hour_3-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

“Ratatouille” is the latest from Pixar Animation Studios and the follow-up from director Brad Bird to his well-regarded animated feature “The Incredibles”. The film comes at a time when some audiences are getting a little indifferent towards CGI animated features, simply because - like special effects in live-action pictures - audiences have reached the point where even remarkable visuals don’t impress quite as much as they used to.

Director Brad Bird’s first animated effort, The Iron Giant (1999), was on equal ground with some of Pixar’s finest work. Employing a seamless blend of CG animation and traditional hand-drawn artwork, this touching story of a boy and his fifty-foot tall robot from outer space enjoyed critical acclaimbut flopped at the box office, unfortunately. Still, there was an undeniable stamp of quality and passion on display, enough for audiences to realize that Bird would enjoy future success in animation.

The ratatouille dish prepared by Remy is the alternate variation called confit byaldi. It was adapted by film consultant Thomas Keller. This variation differs much from the conventional ratatouille in terms of preparation and method. The major difference is that the vegetables used are sliced thinly and baked instead of cooking them in the pot.

Genre : Adventure, Comedy, Animation.

Release date : June 29, 2007

Rating : 8/10

Official website : http://www.ratatouille.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/ratatouille-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

Director Tim Story’s original Fantastic Four movie received a critical crapping, and the second one is fairing no better. That’s not an indictment of his movies, it’s just the way things turn out. The Fantastic Four gets no respect for the same reason comedies don’t win Oscars and Michael Bay gets treated like the anti-christ. In their rush to justify their profession by setting film up as a penultimate art form, most critics have no room for movies as entertainment. Art they may be, but the ability to deliver pure, light-hearted fun is an underrated talent. It’s not as easy as it seems, and so many movies get it completely wrong. Say what you want about the Fantastic Four, but Tim Story’s movies get fun right.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is as energetic and full of pep as the original, and if you liked that one then you’re going to love this. These are men in tights after all, there’s nothing wrong with ditching the tears once in awhile for a simple romp through the clouds with a guy who can light himself on fire. That’s what Fantastic Four is all about and Rise of the Silver Surfer delivers in precisely the same way as the original by refusing to take itself too seriously.

Rise of the Silver Surfer isn’t a huge improvement, and it doesn’t even try to reinvent the wheel, but its minor upgrades here and there make a cumulative difference. For starters, there are much-improved special effects. The effects in the first one looked kind of cheap, probably because the studio was trying to keep the budget down. Since it ended up making crazy money at the box office and on DVD, FOX clearly had no problem springing for some better CGI this time around. The Silver Surfer is particularly cool, as is the new Fantastic Four plane that figures prominently in one action scene.

Star(s) to watch : Chris Evans (”Cellular”, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”) as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Jessica Alba (”Sin City”, “Into the Blue”) as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Julian McMahon (”Premonition”) as Victor Von Doom/Dr. Doom, & Vanessa Minnillo as Johnny’s Wedding Date.

Genre : Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adaptation, Sequel.

Release date : June 15, 2007

Rating : 9/10

Official website : http://www.fantasticfourmovie.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/fantastic_four-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

Anyone hoping for a ray of sunshine through all the dank, dark clouds that have made up the recent rash of genre spoofs — Scary Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans — should semi-celebrate. Superhero Movie is not the heinous hunk of landfill those other attempts at humor represent. Instead, it’s a seldom hit/often miss attempt by some former members of the Airplane! While much more successful, there’s still a dearth of legitimate laughs to be found among the filler and failed lampoons.

Aside from the extremely cute Sara Paxton, who could singlehandedly take the sting out of just about anything, Superhero Movie boasts a story that is unlike other parody movies such as Epic Movie or Meet the Spartans in that it does not divert away from the genre that it is spoofing. And when it does throw in a pop culture reference, everything from a Tom Cruise impersonation (see the video below) to a well-placed set of Steven Hawking jokes, they always have something to do with the core story. As well, there are a few key performances that made the movie worth watching — one from “Arrested Development” star Jeffrey Tambor and another from Leslie Nielson, who just proves that he’s still got it.

“Scary Movie” director David Zucker puts a spin on the superhero film genre with his latest spoof movie “Superhero!”. Starring Leslie Nielson, Marion Ross, Jeffrey Tambor and Brent Spiner, the flick.s gags reference classic characters, plots, and storylines from favorites including “Spider-Man″ and “Batman Begins”.

Star(s) to watch : Leslie Nielsen (”The Naked Gun”, “Scary Movie”) as Uncle Albert, & Pamela Anderson (”Scary Movie 3?, “Scooby-Doo”) as The Invisible Girl.

Genre : Comedy.

Release date : March 28, 2008

Official website : http://www.superhero-movie.net/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/superhero_movie-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

For what it is ? Eva Longoria Parker, as Kate, the ghost, represents the control-freak/ice-queen end of the female comedic spectrum pretty well, while Lake Bell as Ashley, the psychic, is perfectly lovely on the sweet, scatterbrained end. In the middle is Henry the vet, played by the winningly smirky Paul Rudd, and there are sidekicks drawn from the usual storeroom: the kooky sister (Lindsay Sloane) and the gay male best friend (Jason Biggs). There is no question that this movie, the first feature directed by Jeff Lowell, whose screenwriting credits include ‘John Tucker Must Die,’ But it also could have been, with a little more effort, a lot better.

Over Her Dead Body is marketed as a supernatural romantic comedy. The problem is that it’s neither very romantic nor very comedic—and things aren’t appreciably better on the supernatural front. The setup has Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker (sporting one of those unhealthy-looking orange “tans″) as Kate, the obnoxious control-freak fianc?of Henry (Paul Rudd, Knocked Up). Kate is crushed to death by an ice sculpture of a wingless angel on her wedding day. Not only is this spectacularly unfunny and wrongheaded (three minutes of the Kate character and you’re ready to applaud the wingless angel and buy her a drink), but it is quite possibly the most amateurish bit of filmmaking ever to grace the screen.

So his naturally concerned sis, Chloe (Lindsay Sloane, Nancy Drew), drags him to see her friend Ashley (TV actress Lake Bell), a caterer who moonlights as a psychic (don’t they all?). The idea is to contact Kate’s spirit and get her to tell him to get on with his life. Of course, what happens is that Henry and Ashley soon fall in love (possibly because Ms. Bell shares the same alarming orange hue of Ms. Longoria Parker). Kate’s ghost witnesses this and decides that her unaccomplished mission in life (yes, this is one of those Lilliom-inspired affairs where the dead return to deal with unfinished business) is to save Henry from Kate. Complications, supposed mirth (including supernatural flatulence, of course) and the cheesiest special effects imaginable ensue.

Star(s) to watch : Eva Longoria (”The Sentinel”) as Kate, & Paul Rudd (”The 40-Year-Old Virgin”, “Night at the Museum”) as Henry.

Genre : Comedy, Drama.

Release date : February 1, 2008

Official website : http://www.overherdeadbodymovie.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/over_her_dead_body-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

Depending on which trailer you watch, you might get the idea that Nim’s Island is a star vehicle for Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler or Abigail Breslin. And even after seeing the movie, that’s a hard question to answer, considering the actors each spend a majority of the movie separate from each other.

Nim (Breslin) is a young girl who imagines an island to be magical, basing its mystic nature on the experiences of her favorite fictional character, Alex Rover (Butler). When Nim’s father (also played by Butler) goes missing on the island, Nim teams up with Alexandra (Foster), the author of the Alex Rover books and Rover himself.
Star(s) to watch : Gerard Butler (”300′, “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life”) as Alex Rover/Jack, &amp Jodie Foster (”The Brave One”, “Flightplan”, “The Silence of the Lambs”) as Alexandra Rover.

Abigail Breslin stars as Nim Rusoe, a girl with her very own tropical island which she shares with her scientist father Jack (300’s Gerard Butler). They live in a way-cool tree house and while the widower Jack makes a living writing about his scientific research, Nim romps about on the endless playground with her animal friends, which include a lizard who caws like a parrot and a pelican more helpful than Lassie if you get in a jam.

Genre : Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adaptation.

Release date : April 4, 2008

Official website : http://www.nimsisland.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/nims_island-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

From the creators of Scary Movie and Date Movie comes this tongue-in-cheek parody of the sword-and-sandal epics, dubbed Meet the Spartans. The 20th Century Fox production was written and directed by the filmmaking team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Sure, Leonidas may have nothing more than a cape and some leather underwear to protect him from the razor-sharp swords of his Persian enemies, but that won′t stop the brave leader and his team of 13 warriors from defending their beloved homeland against a powerful invading force that includes the likes of a mutant Paris Hilton, the Transformers, the Ghost Rider, and Rocky Balboa. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Star(s) to watch : Carmen Electra (”Epic Movie”, “Date Movie”, “Scary Movie”) as Queen Margo.

Genre : Comedy, Spoof, Parody.

Release date : January 25, 2008

Rating : 7/10

Official website : http://www.meetthespartans.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/meet_the_spartaэ-202×300.jpg

Trailer :