More Articles By Irv Slifkin

• What Just Happened
  MAGNOLIA Street: Feb. 10 Prebook: Jan. 13 > High-profile cast will pull in curiosity seekers for this movie about making a movie. Based on the 2002 book What Just Happened: Bitter Hollywood Tales From the Front Line by film producer Art Linson (The Untouchables, Into the Wild), this Barry Levinson-directed comedy stars Robert De Niro as Ben, a big Hollywood producer at a crossroads in his c... More
  
• One Long Night
  VIVENDI Street: Feb. 17 Prebook: Jan. 20 > Latin-flavored night of violence, humor and sensuality. An unusual mix of social drama, oddball humor and politics, this energetic, low-budget indie effort set in 1994 offers Jon Seda as an about-to-be-married Mexican-American businessman from Southern California. More
  
• Frozen River
  SONY Street: Feb. 10 Prebook: now > Forceful indie drama presents a showcase for lead actress Melissa Leo. One of the most lauded independent features of 2008, this unsettling, powerful saga stars Melissa Leo in a magnificent, award-worthy turn, playing a single mother who’s trying to cope with hard economic times. More
  
• The Moon and the Stars
  VIVENDI Street: Feb. 10 Prebook: Jan. 13 > Period piece meshes classic filmmaking lore with wartime politics. This English-language European production takes filmgoers behind the scenes of Rome’s famed Cinecitta Studios in 1939, just when Fascism began to impact the country as the brownshirts rose to power. More
  
• My Name is Bruce
  IMAGE Street: Feb. 10 Prebook: Jan. 13 > B-movie fave Bruce Campbell pokes fun at his image in this cult-a-palooza. Huge-chinned B-movie champ Bruce Campbell makes himself out to be quite a chump in this cheapie homage to himself and his fans. He plays himself—only as a down-and-out, dirty-mouthed thespian called on to help rid a town of an ancient Chinese spirit that has been unleash... More
  
• Against the Dark
  SONY Street: Feb. 10 Prebook: Jan. 8 > Steven Seagal vs. zombie vampires, ’nuf said. The Steven Seagal machine keeps on ticking, and this time it has a horror angle. Against the Dark’s post-apocalyptic plot centers on a virus that has turned most of the world’s population into zombie-like vampires who seek flesh and blood. More
  
• City of Ember
  FOX Street: Jan. 20 Prebook: Dec. 24 > Intelligent ’tween-targeted sci-fi/fantasy should find followers on DVD. Based on a popular book by Jeanne Duprau, this lavishly designed adventure saga from director Gil Kenan (Monster House) and producers Tom Hanks and Walden Media (Chronicles of Narnia) plays like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil … for beginners. More
  
• Baghead
  REVIEWS: SONY Street: Dec. 27 Prebook: now > Oddball mix of DIY filmmaking and horror for hip audiences. More
  
• The Deal
  PEACE ARCH Street: Jan. 20 Prebook: Dec. 16 > Hollywood satire for the media savvy is a William H. Macy showcase. Hollywood is good for a few lampoonings at its own expense each year. Add this adaptation of PeterLefcourt’s 1991 novel to the recent list, which includesTropic Thunder, What Just Happened? and The TV Set. More
  
• Hamlet 2
  UNIVERSAL Street: Dec. 23 Prebook: now > Brit comic Steve Coogan is perfect for this show biz satire. A combination of Waiting for Guffman and Mr. Holland’s Opus, Hamlet 2 gives British TV star Steve Coogan a plum lead role after a handful of supporting roles in such films as A Night at the Museum and Finding Amanda. More
  
• The Wackness
  SONY Street: Jan. 8 Prebook: Dec. 4 > Funny and poignant marijuana-fueled coming-of-age saga scores on all counts. This winning, darkly tinged comedy set in the summer of 1994 centers on Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck of TV’s Drake and Josh), a pot-dealing high school grad who swaps weed for sessions with eccentric psychiatrist Dr. More
  
• The Longshots
  WEINSTEIN/GENIUS Street; Dec. 2 Prebook: now > Inspirational true football story will find fans with families and in urban markets. Based on a true story, The Longshots follows 11-year-old Jasmine Plummer (Akeelah and the Bee’s Keke Palmer), who becomes a top-notch quarterback in Pop Warner football with help from her ne’r-do-well uncle (Ice Cube). More
  
• Crashing
  THINKFILM/IMAGE Street: Dec. 16 Prebook: Nov. 18 > Sexuality meets literacy in this heated male fantasy. A sequel of sorts to 1987’s The Trouble With Dick, Crashing focuses on the travails of writer Richard MacMurray (Campbell Scott), who has been kicked out of his house by his wife and is unable to complete his second novel. More
  
• Space Chimps
  FOX Street: Nov. 25 Prebook: Oct. 29 > Animated adventure will keep tykes entertained through the holidays and beyond. In this CGI takeoff of The Right Stuff, narcissistic circus ape Ham III (voiced by Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg), a relative of the first simian in space, finds himself rocketed into the galaxy with a primate crew (with characters voiced by Patrick Warburton and... More
  
• When Did You Last See Your Father?
  SONY Street: Nov. 4 Prebook: now > British father-son drama showcases dynamic acting and solemn tone. Colin Firth stars in this true, sometimes austere tale as Blake, a writer who discovers his physician father Arthur (Jim Broadbent) is dying of cancer. While caring for him, Blake recalls moments in his early ’60s childhood when his father’s womanizing streak became apparent and... More
  
• Sukiyaki Western Django
  FIRST LOOK Street: Nov. 11 Prebook: Oct. 7 > Japan’s Takeshi Miike gets extreme with this blood-splattered spaghetti western homage. Rebel filmmaker Takeshi Miike (Audition) turns his attention to spaghetti westerns in this outlandish salute to Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci (Django) and Akira Kurosawa. More
  
• Moscow Zero
  Sony Street: Nov. 4 Prebook: Oct. 2 >Supernatural thriller gets by on eerie atmosphere and known cast. Brooding, deadly serious and reminiscent in some ways of the Russian Nightwatch, Daywatch and Twilight Watch trilogy, Moscow Zero is an international supernatural suspenser spiked with recognizable names, ambitious intentions and physically impressive production values. More
  
• Priceless
  FIRST LOOK Street: Nov. 18 Prebook: Oct. 18 > French romantic farce has lovely Audrey Tautou as a selling point. A frothy comedy with a surprising edge, Priceless offers Audrey Tautou as Irene, a woman who sleeps with older wealthy men in order to enjoy the good life. By accident, she has a fling with Jean (Gad Elmaleh of The Valet), a hotel bartender she believes is rich. More
  
• Transsiberian
  FIRST LOOK Street: Nov. 4 Prebook: Sept. 30 > Memories of Hitchcock are culled in this tension-filled story. A trek on the famous Transsiberian train line is rife with danger and surprises in this well-crafted suspenser from chameleon-like indie director Brad Anderson (Next Stop, Wonderland; Session 9). More
  
• Vice
  GENIUS Street: Oct. 21 Prebook: now > Police grungefest will appeal to those who like their cop stories down and dirty. Borrowing a few tricks from such films as Abel Ferrara’s The Bad Lieutenant and Joe Carnahan’s Narc, Vice offers enough seedy sensationalism to keep followers of gritty police dramas riveted or, at the very least, satisfied. More