Your Weekly Guide to New Movies for February 17, 2006
By Edward Douglas -

Greetings and welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly guide to the weekend’s new movies. Tune in every Tuesday for the latest look at the upcoming weekend, and then check back on Friday for final projections based on actual theatre counts.

THE BATTLE CRY!

While there are plenty of more important things to discuss, I’ve been thinking a lot about movie cliches recently. Maybe it’s because it’s February, and Hollywood is not exactly overflowing with original ideas, but it seems that the more movies I see, the more obvious it becomes what each actor is going to say or do. Every season, it becomes obvious that the movie cliches we’ve seen a million times before will continue to be hashed and rehashed over and over again with no end in sight, and as long as it goes on, movies will continue to be predictable. Eventually, it may get to the point where people won’t even bother to go see movies if they look even remotely like a movie they’ve already seen.

A movie cliché can be anything as simple as a police officer exclaiming, “Come out with your hands up!” right up to specific plot twists or endings that we’ve seen used a million times. The sports movie probably suffers the most from the latter cliche, since there’s only two ways those movies can end, so almost every sports movie is going to be predictable by nature. Either the team or person we’ve been following for the movie wins and everyone celebrates, or they lose, but they get an important life lesson, while winning the respect of the family and friends. If you think about every single sports movie from the last decade, they all fall into one of those two categories.

The worst recent case of this was the Disney military/boxing drama Annapolis, which used just about every single cliché you’d expect in a movie about boxing or a military academy, from the character stereotypes to all of their actions and results. Likewise, Harrison Ford’s Firewall wasn’t much better in that you always knew what was going to happen and what Ford was going to do. Everything said by the characters seemed to be taken from similar thrillers.

My big problem with Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble—I’m just going to mention that every week now, by the way—is that the actual detective part of the movie is pretty dull, but when you think about it, the actor, actually a real-life police detective, was just acting normally, like he might when investigating a real murder case. We’re so accustomed to police acting a certain way in movies and television because of all the cliches, that when we see a normal small town police officer acting normally, it seems off somehow.

There are so many predictable cliches in movies these days that you start wondering whether the new generation of Hollywood screenwriters are so lacking in any sort of life experience, that they have to base all their stories and characters on movies they’ve seen. Either that or life imitates art and people in real life are naturally imitating what they see in movies on television, because they think that’s how they are supposed to act. It’s an endless cycle, and there’s only one way to break it. If you’re a screenwriter, go out and study some real people and how they talk and act, rather than watching a movie or television show about them. If you’re a regular person, stop copying everything you see in movies. Problem solved.

Next week, I think I’ll talk a bit about the MPAA and some of the ways that their inane rating system is being abused.

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THE CHOSEN ONE:

SOPHIE SCHOLL ­ THE FINAL DAYS (Zeitgeist Films)
Starring Julia Jentsch, Fabian Hinrichs, Gerald Alexander Held, Johanna Gastdorf, André Hennicke, Florian Stetter, Johannes Suhm, Maximilian Brückner, Jörg Hube, Petra Kelling, Franz Staber, Lilli Jung
Directed by Marc Rothemund; Written by Fred Breinersdorfer
Story: In 1943 Munich, a brother and sister, Hans and Sophie Scholl, are arrested for distributing anti-Hitler and anti-war propaganda at their university, and as she’s accused of leading the revolutionary group, Sophie (Julia Jentsch) must fight for her life, as she’s questioned by a ruthless interrogator (Alexander Held).
REVIEW (Coming Soon!)

The first time most people heard about this German drama was when the Oscar nominations were announced a few weeks back, and sure enough, Germany’s entry into the Oscar race, like many of their previous contenders, also takes place during WWII. Unlike last year’s exceptional Downfall--#2 in my list for the year—this isn’t so much about the Nazis, but about the little known student resistance group that fought against them with words. What makes the film particularly interesting are the similarities between the White Rose and America’s younger generation that have spoken out against the war in Iraq, much like college students spoke out about Vietnam 40 years ago. In our country, they’re not interrogated, imprisoned and ultimately executed for it like the film’s heroine, which just shows how much better off we still are than in Nazi Germany. The driving force of this film is Julia Jentsch, who appeared in last year’s The Edukators, and she does an even more amazing job in the film’s lengthy dialogue sequences. Needless to say, this is already my favorite movie this year.

I had a chance to speak with director Marc Rothemund last week about the movie and how it came about. He had first heard the story of Sophie Scholl, while in school, as well as having seen the 1981 movie The White Rose, but that only went up to the actual arrests. “Three years ago, there was the 60^th death day [of Sophie Scholl], and I learned that there was this 20-year-old woman, who spent four days in the Gestapo headquarters, after they got caught for distributing leaflets,” he told me. “For personal interest, I started doing research about the final days of this young woman, and I accidentally found the unpublished interrogation reports of all the members of the White Rose, reports about the trial and even about the execution. On the first page of the interrogation of Sophie Scholl, the only female member that got executed, she was lying. In Germany, Sophie Scholl and the members of the White Rose are like heroes or martyrs, because they got arrested and shot, but nobody knew that she was lying. That was the real point that was so new and emotional for me, because I found out about the human being behind the famous Sophie Scholl. If you read these interrogation reports, there are two Germans—the Nazi Gestapo interrogation officer, a yes man, sits in front of this well-educated 20-year-old young woman, and she fights for her life, pretending she’s innocent. After three days, he tries to save her life, and she says, ‘No, I don’t regret, and I’d do the same thing. It’s not me. You have the wrong ideology.” That was the point that motivated me to make this movie.”

Rothemund told us a bit more about the research that went into this intense drama. “While we were developing the script, I found many eyewitnesses, including the last living sister of Sophie Scholl,” he said. “I was the first person to find the son of the interrogation officer, which was really interesting, and I learned there are still living members of the White Rose, who were sentenced to prison in the further trials. I found a 14-page letter from Sophie’s cellmate to her parents about how their daughter spent her time in the cell. I said that I would only make a movie out of it, if I can be 100% sure that everything is true, and I involved everyone in Germany who knew something about this story, scientists, biographers, eyewitnesses, and of course, there’s a very famous book called “Diaries and Letters of Hans and Sophie Scholl.”

Julia Jentsch is becoming one of Germany’s most respected young actresses, but when Rothermund discovered her, she hadn’t made a mark with her appearance in The Edukators just yet. “When I did the auditions, the director of Edukators was still in the editing room and he didn’t screen his movie to anyone,” he told me. “Julia was very unknown at this time, and I’m really proud that she won now the Silver Bear, the German Oscar, two European awards—the Academy and the Audience award—and now this Oscar nomination is for a mixture of the true story of Sophie Scholl and the performing of Julia Jentsch. I take many steps behind them, but I brought them together.”

It opens in New York on Friday and then in L.A. on February 24. Look for more with director Marc Rothemund in a special foreign language Oscar roundtable coming in the next week or two.

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NEW THIS WEEK:

DATE MOVIE (20^th Century Fox)
Starring Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Jennifer Coolidge, Tony Cox, Fred Willard, Eddie Griffin
Written and Directed by Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg (Spy Hard, Scary Movie)
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rated PG-13 for continuous crude and sexual humor, including language
Tagline: “Everyone wants a happy ending.”
Story: Romantic comedies are given the “Scary Movie” treatment, as the overweight romantic Julia Jones (Alyson Hannigan) meets the man of her dreams, only to have to go through all sorts of romantic comedy cliches to get to her wedding.

Spoof movies have been around for decades, thanks to the work of David Zucker and his brother, along with their chronic leading man Leslie Nielsen. Their repertoire, which includes movies like Airplane!, Police Squad! and Top Secret!, has been an obvious influence on other comedy writers like Robert Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans, who helped bring the genre into the ‘90s, making it more popular among urban audiences, especially in 2000, when Wayans’ Scary Movie did better business opening weekend and overall than the movie it was spoofing, Wes Craven’s Scream. Two of that movie’s writers previously made the 1996 comedy Spy Hard with Leslie Nielsen, and now, they’ve branched away from the Scary Movie franchise to take on the romantic comedy genre. Because this isn’t directed by Zucker or Wayans, nor does it star Nielsen or even Charlie Sheen, who is looking to inherit the Nielsen mantle one day, Date Movie falls more in the realm of the 2001 comedy Not Another Teen Movie, from MTV awards show producer Joel Gallen, who had his own romantic comedy spoof in the works before this one came along. Unlike Gallen’s attempt, Date Movie actually has a number of well-known stars, like Alyson Hannigan, the former “Buffy” star, who starred in the three American Pie movies, all of which did decently. She gets some help from comic Eddie Griffin, who made a cameo in Scary Movie 3, and Tony Cox, the “little person” who stole the show from Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa, who’ll help bring in the much-desired urban audience that helped the Scary Movie films do so much business. The movie’s secret weapons may be Jennifer Coolidge and Fred Willard, who turned satire an artform with Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries like Best in Show, as they spoof the Streisand and Hoffman roles from Meet the Fockers. Although one might presume that this movie would bring in the date crowd, it’s more likely that women who love romantic comedies won’t necessarily enjoy this comedy’s raunchier spoofs, although everyone else should enjoy laughing at the mocking of mainstays like Bridget Jones’ Diary, Hitch, The Wedding Planner and the ubiquitous Napoleon Dynamite. Of course, Fox completely screwed the pooch by not releasing the movie before Valentine’s Day, since that would have helped bring in a lot more business, and people might quickly lose interest in this once they realize that there’s another Zucker-Nielsen Scary Movie out in two short months.

Why I Should See It: If there’s a genre worthy of satire, than its romantic comedies.
Why Not: Because often times, these movies are kind of obvious and stupid, and nothing here looks as funny as the Zucker films.
Projection: $19 to 21 million over the four-day weekend on its way to $45 million

EIGHT BELOW (Walt Disney Pictures)
Starring Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, Jason Biggs, Wendy Crewson, Gerard Plunkett
Directed by Frank Marshall (Arachnophobia, Congo, Alive); Written by David DiGilio
Genre: Action, Adventure
Rated PG for some peril and brief mild language
Tagline: “The Most Amazing Story of Survival, Friendship, and Adventure Ever Told.”
Story: In the wilderness of Antarctica, a scientific expedition led by Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker) are forced to leave behind their sled dogs because of the perilous weather conditions, leaving them to fend for themselves in the wilderness.
Mini-Review: There's no question that the dogs are fun to watch and the scenery of this Antartic adventure is beautiful to behold. Sadly, those amazing dogs don't get nearly as much screentime when compared to their human counterparts.While Walker's bland acting is par for the course, Jason Biggs' performance is especially embarassing, and they little to help this often hard-to-believe story, which seems to have been modified greatly in its Hollywood reworking. The dogs save the day, but only barely. Rating: 6/10

Based on the events that took place in 1957 involving a Japanese Antarctic Expedition, Eight Below is Disney’s latest animal-nature adventure film, a genre that they have helped define over the years with numerous family-friendly films. Of course, the first thing that will come to most minds when seeing the trailer is the 2002 comedy Snow Dogs, starring Cuba Gooding Jr., which did incredibly well when it opened over the extended Martin Luther King holiday weekend. The fact is that kids love animal movies and dogs in particular have many precursors including the family film Because of Winn-Dixie, which made just under $14 million over the Presidents Day holiday weekend last year. This family adventure is certainly a bit of a departure for actors Paul Walker and Jason Biggs, each of whom starred in popular franchices with teen audiences, the former in The Fast and the Furious and its sequel, the latter in the American Pie trilogy. Both actors haven’t had much luck outside of those franchises with Walker’s last movie being the deep-sea diving thriller Into the Blue with Jessica Alba, and Biggs appearing in Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl and Woody Allen’s Anything Else, neither considered their best works. In the case of Eight Below, neither of their bad track records will have much of an effect, although their names won't do much to help bring people into see the movie either. Most people, both adults and kids, will be seeing this for the dogs and their story, although Walker will get another chance to prove his worth next week when his action-thriller Running Scared, directed by Wayne “The Cooler” Kramer, finally opens. Eight Below has a good chance at getting some decent reviews, so parents won’t feel bad taking their kids to see it. Unfortunately, it’s opening at a time where there are already two strong family films in theatres, Curious George and The Pink Panther, but this will mainly be for the kids and teen girls this weekend.

Why I Should See It: It’s an interesting story, and you gotta love those great sled dogs!
Why Not: Then again, it wasn’t particularly appealing when it was called Snow Dogs.
Projection: $15 to 17 million over the four-day weekend on its way to $50 million total.

FREEDOMLAND (Sony Pictures)
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, Edie Falco, Ron Eldard, William Forsythe, Anthony Mackie, Aunjanue Ellis
Directed by Joe Roth (America’s Sweethearts, Christmas with the Kranks); Written by Richard Price (Ransom, Shaft)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rated R for language and some violent content
Tagline: “The Truth is Hiding Where No One Dares to Look.”
Story: Detective Lorenzo Council (Samuel Jackson) must separate the truth from the lies when a troubled woman (Julianne Moore) shows up at the emergency room claiming that a black man from the projects carjacked her, taking her 4-year-old son, who was sleeping in the back seat.
REVIEW

Originally planned to come out last December, this drama from producer/director Joe Roth was ripped right out of the headlines by screenwriter and novelist Richard Price, specifically the story of mother Susan Smith, who reported her car stolen with her kids inside, only to confess later that she made up the story after killing them herself. This dramatic thriller is a vehicle for strong actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore to show off their dramatic muscle. While Jackson has been all over the place in the last year, Freedomland returns him to more serious dramatic fare, playing a character not too far removed from what his fans might expect. Julianne Moore has a far less glamorous role as a crack-addicted single mother, and there’s a chance that her older female fans won’t be as interested in this, just as the urban audience being targeted by the film’s themes might not be so interested in seeing a movie starring her. The supporting cast which includes Edie Falco of “The Sopranos” and Anthony Mackie probably won’t do much to help. Roth is probably best known for his comedies like 2004’s Christmas with the Kranks and America’s Sweethearts, but he reunites with Price from their earlier collaboration on Streets of Gold. At one point, Sony thought this would be a good movie for them to back in the Oscar race, maybe for Moore’s performance, but that idea was scrapped when they decided to hold the release of the movie until February. Who knows if this delay helped the studio put a bit more time into promoting the film, although this serious drama doesn’t seem like it will be much of interest for Jackson’s male fans, and even Moore’s older female audience might be put off by her character.

Why I Should See It: A strong dramatic premise should allow for solid performances from Julianne Moore and Samuel L. Jackson.
Why Not: Julianne Moore doesn’t look quite as hot as a drug addict.
Projection: $9 to 10 million over the four-day weekend on its way to $25 million.

NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) (Fox Searchlight)
Starring Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Maria Poroshina, Galina Tyunina, Victor Verzhbitsky, Dima Martynov
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov; Written by Sergei Lukyanenko, Timour Bekmambetov
Genre: Action, Horror/Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: “All That Stands Between Light and Darkness Is the Night Watch”
Story: Caught in the middle of a war between the agents of Light and Dark, a man
REVIEW

Russia’s box office blockbuster finally comes to America as the first part of Timur Bekmambetov’s action trilogy, based on the epic novel by Sergey Lukyanenko, and opens in a single theatre in New York and L.A. Made for a relatively modest budget of $4.5 million, Night Watch or Nochnoi Dozor was released to much success in Russia in July 2004, earning $16.7 million, making it the highest gross for a Russian release ever. Earlier this year, its sequel Day Watch was released in Russia and it’s already made $27 million, with the third part planned as an American production from 20^th Century Fox. The question is whether American genre audiences will have any interest in this epic movie based on a little known novel, which has been available on import and bootleg DVD’s, as well as downloadable on the internet, for years.

Why I Should See It: Because you’re one of the few people who hasn’t seen it at a film festival or on the many import and bootleg DVDs, or you just want to see the cool effects on a big screen.
Why Not: Seems like the topic was been better covered in the Blade and Underworld series.

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STAR OF THE WEEK: Julianne Moore

If you’re a fan of independent films or filmmakers, then you may have first discovered Julianne Moore in her early movies like Todd Hayne’s Safe or Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, or from her Oscar nominated turn in Paul Thomas Anderson’s breakout film Boogie Nights, although soap opera fans are more likely to have remembered Moore from her work from the mid-80s. Still, you can’t deny this 46-year-old actress’ talents, as she has been getting roles in bigger movies going back to the Oscar-nominated remake of The Fugitive with Harrison Ford, but by 2000, she was nominated for two of her own Oscars, one for Boogie Nights and the other for Neil Jordan’s The End of the Affair with Ralph Fiennes.

2001 was potentially going to be a breakout year for Moore when she replaced Jodie Foster in the role of Agent Clarice Starling in the Silence of the Lambs sequel, Hannibal, but that was quickly followed by the comedy dud Evolution with David Duchovny, and later that year, she appeared with Kevin Spacey in Lasse Hallström’s The Shipping News, his first film in years to be both a critical and commercial flop. That year, she also starred in World Traveler, her second independent film for her husband Bart Freundlich.

Fortunately, things picked up for Moore in 2002, when she reunited with Todd Haynes for his ‘50s suburban drama Far From Heaven and then played a key role in Stephen Daldry’s The Hours, which got her two more Oscar nominations the following year, one in each acting category. Her next film, the romantic comedy Laws of Attraction with Pierce Brosnan didn’t do very well, but in the fall of 2004, she had her biggest solohit with the thriller The Forgotten, which made $21 million opening weekend, presumably upping Moore’s draw as a box office star.

Her only 2005 release, adapted from the novel The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, put Moore back in the same time period setting as her Oscar nominated roles, but it barely found an audience in its limited release. At one point, it was thought that Freedomland would be getting a release that might help get Moore her fifth Oscar nomination, but when it was mysteriously moved to a wider February release, the proverbial writing was on the wall.

Title	Release Date	Theater Count	Previous Box Office (in millions)	Weekend Box Office (in millions)	Average	Total Box Office
The Forgotten	9/24/04	3,104		$21.02	$6,773	$66.64
Laws of Attraction	4/30/04	2,449		$6.73	$2,748	$17.85
The Hours	1/17/03	402	$3.78	$4.64	$11,555	$41.60
Far From Heaven	11/8/02	259	$1.25	$1.62	$6,259	$13.91
Evolution	6/8/01	2,611		$13.41	$5,135	$38.31
Hannibal	2/9/01	3,230		$58.00	$17,958	$164.97
The End of the Affair	1/21/00	686	$3.43	$1.66	$2,420	$10.66
Magnolia	1/7/00	1,034	$0.92	$5.69	$5,503	$22.45
Boogie Nights	10/31/97	907	$4.07	$4.68	$5,160	$26.39

Copyright 2006 Edward Douglas

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