Upcoming November Films
I wanted to take the time to list and comment on the films being released in November. The list does not include the films released Thanksgiving week. I'll post those later in the month. Hopefully people will find this helpful. I know the exercise got me excited for a few films.
Week of November 1, 2003
BROTHER BEAR
Brother Bear is a highly enjoyable family film about a youthful nomad boy is changed into a bear in order to learn the meaning of brotherhood and love. Bear cannot be compared to Finding Nemo, Disney’s blockbuster film from earlier this year. Bear attempts to deal with more weighty issues of destiny and redemption. I have heard it called the new Lion King. It’s not, but it is good.
P.S. Comic relief for this film echoes directly back to Strange Brew. So, if you loved that film, you’ll be delighted with this aspect of the film.
Week of November 5, 2003
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS
The final war breaks out on the Earth’s surface and in the depths of Zion. The rebels, as anyone can suspect, will be on the verge of annihilation against the Sentinels. Will Neo realize his potential and be able to harness the power that comes from being The One in time to save them? Whether he does or not, this should be a great ride–both visually and philosophically.
Week of November 7, 2003
ANYTHING BUT LOVE
ComingSoon.Net has a well-written synopsis of this film I’ve never heard about. Actually, it sounds like it might be worth a watch. Their summary reads like this:
Billie Golden (Rose) is a struggling cabaret singer with a vivid imagination. Dressed like Audrey Hepburn or Rita Hayworth, she nostalgically envisions a lush life spent singing in glamorous nightclubs amidst the glows of velvet and the sparkle of champagne. Unfortunately, her fantasies are constantly shattered by the reality of the third rate lounge where she performs, a widowed, alcoholic mother (Korey), and a tattered life in a dilapidated row house in Queens. In the midst of her confusion, torn between her dreams and reality, Greg Ellenbogen (Bancroft), an old high school heartthrob who is now a succesful corporate lawyer, comes back into her life and offers her almost everything she could ever desire. But when she meets Elliot (McCarthy), an arrogant, bohemian musician, she if forced to choose between luxuries Greg can give her and the one thing he can't: a life filled with music. "Anything But Love" is the story of a woman looking for the place where dreams and reality intersect, if such a place exists at all.
ELF
This looks like it will be a fairly enjoyable family film, one that at least motivates you to get into the Christmas spirit early. Elf is about a human boy named Buddy who has been raised by Elves at the North Pole. When he grows up and starts wrecking the North Pole because of his size, Buddy goes to New York City to find his father. Of course, his father is a modern day Scrooge and New York City has forgotten the spirit of Christmas. These plots are all the same.
Week of November 14, 2003
21 GRAMS
I have greatly enjoyed the films coming out of Mexico the past couple of years, particularly Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and Sin noticias de Dios. The director who brought us the intriguing Amores Perros brings us 21 Grams. His name is Alejandro González Iñárritu.
21 Grams explores the emotionally and physically charged existence of three characters: Christina (Watts), Paul (Penn), and Jack (Del Toro). Initially, they don’t even know one another but their destinies cross and they become intertwined in story of love, redemption, and obsession. The summary at ComingSoon.Net explains the following fascinating things about the title--21 Grams is the weight we lose when we die, the weight carried by those who survive. 21 Grams: the gravity of life.
HONEY
Here is one that the teenagers might be flocking to.
From Universal Studios: "Honey Daniels, a dancer and choreographer working as a bartender and record store clerk until she gets that one break. When she finally succeeds, it feels too good to be true. And it is _ until Honey gets a new dream fueled by the exuberant energy of a group of neighborhood kids who bring her back to the sheer joy of letting it all out on the dance floor."
LOONEY TOONS: BACK IN ACTION
Well, I’m not one who liked Looney Tune characters. I doubt I will be seeing this film in theaters.
LOVE ACTUALLY
Speaking of Christmas Films, Love Actually is actually one. And it might be the one that actually gets me in the true spirit enough to decorate for the holiday weeks before Thanksgiving arrives. Memo to self: Be sure to take wife so she gets into the same spirit.
Love Actually is about love and how chaotic life gets when you fall in love. The story is about a myriad of characters– the Prime Minister, a sandwich delivery person, a writer, a new bride, a married woman, a schoolboy, and an architect. All these sub-stories weave together just in time for Christmas Eve. I’m expecting great things from this.
Love Actually comes from the same clever creators of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. Just reading through the list of actors in the film is enough to get me in the theater--Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Elisha Cuthbert, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, Denise Richards, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman, January Jones, Andrew Lincoln, Martine McCutcheon, Chris Marshall, Bill Nighy, Rodrigo Santoro.
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
Master and Commander is a tale of a Ship Surgeon by the name of Stephen Maturin (Bettany) and Navy Capt. Jack Aubrey (Crowe) who go to the open sea to see the richness and strangeness of life on the far side of the world. Against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, their ship comes under fire from the enemy. Do they give up and return home or go after the vessel?
Master and Commander is directed by the incredibly talented and honored Peter Weir, who has directed some truly great films– Gallipoli (1981), The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986), Dead Poets Society (1989), Green Card (1990), Fearless (1993), and The Truman Show (1998). There are four Best Picture nominations in this list. We can expect this film might be joining the list.
TUPAC: RESURRECTION
Tupac Shakur comes back to life via his own home videos and photographs, using his own words and poetry.
Week of November 19, 2003
THE COOLER
Starring William H. Macy as the unluckiest man in Vegas until he falls in love with a cocktail waitress and starts to win. The casino director (played by Alec Baldwin) attempts to break up the romance and things get nasty.
Week of November 21, 2003
THE BARBARIAN INVASION
Here is a foreign film that looks highly worth the time and money to see in theaters. I will use the summary of this film written by Gabriel Laverdiere, from IMDB.com–
Having a difficult time accepting the reality of death and feeling regretful of his past, a man dying of cancer tries to find peace in his last moments. His estranged son, ex_wife, ex_lovers and old friends will all come to him to share his last breath.
DR SUESS' THE CAT IN THE HAT
Michael Meyers returns to film to play The Cat in the Hat, a film that looks like it could be this holiday season’s The Grinch. Time will tell.
The Cat in the Hat is about the Waldon kids who find themselves home alone with nothing to do because it is raining outside. They are bored to tears and heaven knows that boredom in kids leads to very large messes, which is the case when the cat in the hat arrives to play. Will they clean up their messes and get rid of the cat before mom can open the front door? As a parent, I sure hope so.
GOTHIKA
Halle Berry plays a psychiatrist who wakes up as a patient in an asylum she works for and a criminal who supposedly committed a terrible crime. Penelope Cruz and Robert Downey Jr. co-star in this ghost story.
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