THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU
Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie,
John Slattery,
Shohreh Aghdashloo, Michael Kelly & Terence
Stamp
Directed by George Nolfi for distribution by
Universal
The Plot: A aspiring
politician (Damon) decides to challenge what fate has in store for him when he
goes after the love of his life (Blunt), but soon finds himself the target of a
mysterious group of men charged with keeping order in the universe.
The Final Word: Based on a short
story by Phillip K. Dick, the man credited with “Total Recall” and “Blade
Runner,” “Bureau” asks the question “can we change our own fate?” Ironically
that is also the question Damon could have been asking himself after seeing his
2010 films “Green Zone” and “Hereafter” under-perform. Although among major
tent-pole releases, his track record is remarkably solid and with “The Bourne
Ultimatum” scribe, George Nolfi making his directorial debut, Damon looks
likely to re-capture the magic of the Bourne trilogy.
BEASTLY
Starring: Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer, Mary-Kate
Olsen,
Neil Patrick Harris & Peter Krause
Directed by Daniel Barnz for distribution by CBS
Films
The Plot: A modern day
re-telling of the classic “Beauty & the Beast” tale which focuses on a
spoiled rich kid (Pettyfer) robbed of his good looks by a Goth girl (Olsen) he
savagely spurned.
The Final Word: The story of
“Beauty & the Beast” and the story of CBS Films are both widely known by
this point. “Beauty & the Beast” is a classic tale of two people trying to
overcome a number of obstacles in the name of love and CBS Films is a classic
tale of a studio trying overcome a slate of dismal box office performers in the
name of business. Except we all know “Beauty” tends to have a happy ending. CBS
Films really doesn’t seem to know what to do with this film. Similarly as to how
the Beast was banished to his castle, “Beastly” was banished from its first
release date following the failure of CBS Films’ first two releases. I’m not
even sure the drawing power of Neil Patrick Harris or rising star Alex Pettyfer
will be able to help this movie survive its crowded release date. Although the
thing people tend to forget about CBS Films is that every one of its movies by
design have a small budget (by Hollywood standards) and at the end of the day they
do tend to re-coup their money. The problem is that CBS is a victim of its own
success. People of course associate the studio with the network and for the
network to be as successful as it is and not have the studio mimic that
profitability raises a few red flags. Then again perception isn’t always
reality, despite what certain people foolishly believe.
RANGO
Starring (voices): Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail
Breslin,
Bill Nighy, Stephen Root, Ray Winstone, Beth Grant,
Ned Beatty, Harry Dean Stanton & Alfred Molina
Directed by Gore Verbinski for distribution by
Paramount
The Plot: A chameleon
(Depp) who daydreams about being a hero suddenly finds himself in that role
when he becomes a small town’s only hope against bandits.
The Final Word: Gore Verbinski,
known for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy, steps into the world of
animated 3D for the first time, with his friend “Pirates” star Johnny Depp
accompanying him. The versatile director is also taking his first stab at
writing for a full-length motion picture. All of those details combined give
“Rango” and Paramount a great chance of success at the box office. With
Verbinski not returning to the helm of the “Pirates” franchise, this movie may
the only chance audiences will get to see him and Depp re-unite on the big screen
for a little while.
TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT
Starring: Topher Grace, Anna Faris, Dan Fogler,
Teresa Palmer, Chris Pratt,
Michelle Trachtenberg, Lucy Punch, Michael Ian Black
& Demetri Martin
Directed by Michael Dowse for distribution by
Relativity Media
The Plot: A recent MIT
graduate (Grace) decides to throw away the future everybody wants for him and go
his own way, until he meets the girl of his dreams (Palmer) and realizes an
upcoming end of summer bash may be his only chance to impress her.
The Final Word: We’ve seen this
scenario a thousand times before where a group of teens or twenty-somethings
believe they can change their lives at one major (generally milestone related)
party. Although studios keep making them because if done right they tend to do
well at the box office, but unfortunately more often than not most fail. This
one is intriguing because it has a solid cast of rising stars, a fun trailer
and a great catalogue of 80’s hits at its disposal. Relativity can’t be
expecting to make a huge profit off of this one, but at least it seems to have
a decent shot at success.
Previewed next week: Battle: Los Angeles, Mars Needs Moms, Red Riding Hood
