New Releases - Week of September 17th

DEVIL

Starring: Chris Messina, Geoffrey Arent, Logan Marshall-Green, Bokeem Woodbine,
Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O’Hara, Jacob Vargas

Directed by John Erick Dowdle, Drew Dowdle for distribution by Universal Pictures

The Plot: Five people trapped in an elevator come to realize one of them is not who they claim to be and may in fact be the devil in disguise.

The Final Word: Written and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, the movie has slowly been building buzz over the last few weeks. With the Sixth Sense director looking to re-claim his title as king of the of the psychological thriller, you can bet he’ll pull out all the stops to get back to the top of the box office.

EASY A

Starring: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church,
Patricia Clarkson,Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm MacDowell,
Aly Michalka, Stanley Tucci

Directed by Will Gluck for distribution by Screen Gems (Sony)

The Plot: After being inspired by “The Scarlett Letter,” a social outcast (Stone) decides to alter her forgettable reputation to change everyone’s perception of her and others.

The Final Word: Simply put Emma’s character makes people believe she sleeps around in a attempt to help her “un-cool” classmates gain a little bit of misplaced popularity. It’s a fun concept and Stone looks to be poised to become a break-out star. Regardless of how the movie does, Gluck and his crew deserve props for shaking up a genre that has gone stale.

THE TOWN

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jermey Renner, Chris Cooper

Blake Lively, Pete Postlethwaite

Directed by Ben Affleck for distribution by Warner Brothers

The Plot: A career thief (Affleck) begins to fall for a teller (Hall) at a bank he just hit, but soon finds his feelings for her creating a rift between him and his crew, just as a determined investigator (Hamm), begins to close in.

The Final Word: In the vein of “The Departed” and “Mystic River” comes another dark drama set in Massachusetts. Ben Affleck, stars and directs this heist thriller which pits him against two of Hollywood’s hottest “it” actors Jeremy Renner and Jon Hamm.  Although have audiences tired of the Boston crime drama and its native son? Affleck’s 2007 directorial debut “Gone Baby Gone,” also set in Beantown under-performed at the box office, but did net an Academy Award nomination for actress Amy Ryan.  A lot of hinges on this movie not only for Affleck, but his co-star Blake Lively, who could soon be looking at world with “Gossip Girl.”

ALPHA & OMEGA

Starring the voices of:  Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Dennis Hopper, Danny Glover
 Larry Miller, Vicki Lewis, Christina Ricci

Directed by Anthony Bell & Ben Gluck for distribution by Lionsgate

The Plot: Two Canadian wolves (Long, Panettiere) separated from their packs and re-located to Idaho, begin a cross-country journey home.

The Final Word: Lionsgate has pulled some incredible hits out of his hat over the last few years, but very few (if any) have been animated. This just seems like a strange gamble for the studio to take, but seeing as how the movie is in 3D, I guess the studio wanted to dip there toe in the water prior to the upcoming “Saw 3D” slated for October.  Although they will only have one week to make a splash as Warner Brother’s 3D epic “Legends of the Guardians” flies into theatres on the 24^th.

Previewed next week:  Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Again, Legends of the Guardian