More Articles By Buzz McClain

• Bustin’ Down the Door
  SCREEN MEDIA/UNIVERSAL Street: Jan. 13 Prebook: Dec. 16 > Look at the origins of the surfing industry could catch a wave in the mainstream. Edward Norton narrates this enlightening but repetitive documentary about the origins of professional surfing, as champion surfers Shaun Tomson, Ian Cairns, Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew and Mark Richards tell how they came to Hawaii’s va... More
  
• Spy School
  SCREEN MEDIA/UNIVERSAL Street: Jan. 20 Prebook: Dec. 23 > Family film misses the grade. Spy School’s plot kicks in at the mid-way point when a famously fabricating student (Forrest Landis) stumbles upon a plot to kidnap the President’s daughter. There’s much wheel-spinning as his family and friends—AnnaSophia Robb (Bridge to Terabithia), D. More
  
• Crossroads
  MTI Street: Dec. 9 Prebook: now > Alan Arkin and Frank Langella star in so-so drama. This low-budget indie by first-time writer/director Murray Robinson has two main draws: wily veterans Alan Arkin and Frank Langella. Happily, they deliver in their roles as priests working to inspire would-be priest-in-training Jacob Pitts, but they share painfully few scenes together. More
  
• Swingtown
  CBS/PARAMOUNT Street: Dec. 9 Prebook: now > Wife-swapping series is a big tease. Not as desperate as Desperate Housewives or as dark as Mad Men, Swingtown follows several couples living in 1976 suburban Chicago. The Deckers are into “swinging” (swapping wives), thereby creating a moral crisis among the repressed Millers and the revolted Thompsons. More
  
• Lower Learning
  ANCHOR BAY/STARZ Street: Dec. 2 Prebook: now > Profane indie about public education has star power to burn. Though set in an elementary school, Lower Learning isn’t appropriate for underage viewers. The profane tone is set even before the opening credits finish, with teachers cursing, smoking and snorting cocaine in the classroom in front of second graders. More
  
• Trailer Park of Terror
  SUMMIT/UNIVERSAL Available now > Dirtball denizens of Hell’s trailer park scare up a grimly funny film. Imperium’s anthology comic finally makes it to the home screen in this gory, ghastly yet oddly appealing adaptation. More
  
• 10,000 A.D.: The Legend of Black Pearl
  INDICAN Street: Nov. 4 Prebook: now > Good-looking post-apocalyptic adventure gets mired in mumbo-jumbo. Shot on high-def video, Black Pearl offers frequent fist-fights and ponderings that are photographed against exotic scenery, but the film turns on a mumbo-jumbo plotline involving prophesies, saviors, magic stones and young muscular men in dreadlocks and loin cloths. More
  
• Tuya’s Marriage
  MUSIC BOX FILMS/MPI Street: Oct. 28 Prebook: now > Stark drama set in bleak Inner Mongolia captures a compelling romance. It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood rom-com: a woman needs to divorce her handicapped husband so she can remarry a better provider, and thus goes through a succession of dates to find the right man. More
  
• Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead
  FOX Street: Oct. 7 Prebook: now > Well-crafted, grisly thriller gets a major rollout—and deserves it. A sequel in name and villain to 2001’s solid thriller Joy Ride, Dead Ahead is a similarly superior piece of genre work that owes a lot to a cast that refuses to bow to stereotypes. Nicki Aycox leads a trio of young potential victims as they zoom around back roads obeying the twi... More
  
• iCarly: Season 1, Vol. 1
  NICKELODEON/PARAMOUNT Street: Sept. 23 Prebook: now > Miranda Cosgrove and her show are positioned for a break-out fall. Anyone watching pre-teen sensation Miranda Cosgrove in her supporting role on Drake & Josh can see she could easily front her own show. Nickelodeon wisely gave her one, and her easy charisma is on ample display in iCarly, a sitcom that finds Cosgrove as the star of he... More
  
• Scorpion
  LIGHTNING MEDIA/ANCHOR BAY Street: Sept. 16 Prebook: now > French accent gives this kickboxing actioner quality punch. Scorpion is your standard B-movie kickboxing bloodbath, but it’s French, and with that comes rich cinematography, assured acting and a surprising level of sophistication not found on most ass-kicking genre titles. More
  
• Ripple Effect
  MONTEREY Street: Oct. 7 Prebook: now > Trio of reliable faces narrowly saves this tale of spiritual redemption. Fashion designer Amer Atrash (Philippe Caland) finds his world falling apart—his company is broke, a loan falls through and his wife (Virginia Madsen) kicks him out. All of this compels him to visit the man he turned into a paraplegic 15 years earlier in a hit-and-run accident. More
  
• The Case for Faith
  Best-selling author Lee Strobel attempts to answer “the big questions” in a digital companion to his book. available now This follow-up to 2007’s The Case for Christ is based on the Gold Medallion-winning book of the same name by Lee Strobel, who also hosts this examination of two questions asked by both believers and skeptics: “Why is Jesus the only way to God?” ... More
  
• The Chosen One
  INDICAN Available now > Animated feature for grown-ups that aims for the soul. The Chosen One keeps the animation simple, but its themes are complex. A slacker named Lou (voiced by co-scripter Chad Fifer) stumbles through a bizarre assortment of escapades only to discover that he’s a benevolent deity with super powers. More
  
• The Sensation of Sight
  MONTEREY Street: Sept. 2 Prebook: now > Top-notch cast featured in sensitive, engrossing exploration of grief. The world can be a wearying place, particularly for people burdened by unshakable grief, and the first place it manifests itself is in the face. The Sensation of Sight is filled with weary faces, not the least of which belongs to Finn (David Strathairn), a small-town schoolteacher ... More
  
• Outsourced
  OCEAN PARK/PORCHLIGHT Street: Sept. 2 Prebook: now > India-set American rom-com puts charming spin on an economic hot topic. The ubiquitous line “this call may be monitored for quality purposes” comes to life in this amusing fish-out-of-water saga by first-time director John Jeffcoat. More
  
• Fishtales
  SCREEN MEDIA/UNIVERSAL Street: Aug. 26 Prebook: now > Rising star Kelly Brook lights up this sunny mermaid fable. This bright, fast-swimming fable is excellent family fare from its very first splash, highlighted by winning performances from topliner Billy Zane and sun-kissed Kelly Brook. The usually straight-laced Zane gets to play an absent-minded college professor who moves to a Greek isl... More
  
• A/K/A Tommy Chong
  INFINITY Street: Aug. 26 Prebook: now > Candid film of an imprisoned cultural icon is as enlightening as it is infuriating. This expansive, candid documentary details how Tommy Chong, of the famed Cheech and Chong comedy duo, spent nine months in prison for selling hand-blown glass bongs (water pipes) on the Internet to a Pennsylvania head shop operated by the DEA. More
  
• Uncounted
  DISINFORMATION Street: Aug. 26 Prebook: now > Provocative film about election irregularities could have an impact this November. According to Uncounted, confirmed wide-scale voting irregularities in the last two presidential elections have created the suspicion that the White House was stolen in bloodless coups, and because the results have not been sufficiently challenged, the potential fo... More
  
• Adventures of Johnny Tao
  MTI Street: July 29 Prebook: now > A family action-adventure that’s entertaining for all ages. There’s terrific pedigree in this action fantasy, including the director, Kenn Scott (he was Raphael the Ninja Turtle); Marcus Young (xXx: State of the Union), credited as the “action producer”; and the CGI producer Richard Kidd (The Matrix, Titanic). More