More Articles By Irv Slifkin

• 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
  
• 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
  
• Mister Lonely
  IFC/GENIUS Street: Nov. 18 Prebook: Oct. 14 > Harmony Korine’s weird mélange about celebrity lookalikes. Writer of Kids and director of Gummo and Julien Donkey-Boy, Harmony Korine has made a career over the past decade of delivering highly idiosyncratic independent films that are either admired or loathed. 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
  
• The Lazarus Project
  SONY Street: Oct. 21 Prebook: now > Mix of crime thriller and psychological drama is compelling throughout. With films such as Eight Below and The Fast and the Furious series, Paul Walker has garnered a solid following that should help this DVD premiere. Filled with nifty twists and turns, the film features Walker as an ex-con trying to resurrect his life with his wife (Piper Perabo) and yo... More
  
• Birds of America
  FIRST LOOK Street: Oct. 21 Prebook: Sept. 16 > Dysfunctional family comedy has recognizable cast but little advance fanfare. It’s hard to believe a film with multiple-Oscar-winner Hilary Swank, Matthew Perry, Lauren Graham and Ben Foster and directed by playwright Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss) would hardly warrant a blip on the pre-DVD radar screen, but that’s the case with th... More
  
• YPF
  IMAGE Street: Oct. 14 Prebook: Sept. 16 > Funny indie sex comedy dissects relations between various couples. Originally titled Young People Fuc*ing (and still bearing that title on its credits), this Canadian-made independent effort is as provocative as its moniker suggests, as well as funny, surprisingly sweet and insightful. More
  
• Stuck
  THINKFILM/IMAGE Street: Oct. 14 Prebook: Sept. 9 > Grisly thriller from cult fave Stuart Gordon delivers gore and dark comic goods. Stuart Gordon of Re-Animator and From Beyond fame proves he can still mix outrageously bloody moments with tongue-in-cheek humor in this perverse parable about today’s insensitive society. More
  
• CSNY: Déjà Vu
  LIONSGATE Street: Sept. 30 Prebook: Sept. 3 > Neil Young chronicles his turbulent 2006 tour with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Using his longtime nom de plume Bernard Shakey, Neil Young steps behind the camera to capture the sentiments fostered by people attending the 2006 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young U. More
  
• Finding Amanda
  MAGNOLIA Street: Sept. 16 Prebook: now > Two attitudes are better than one in this oddball addiction farce. Witty and wry, even in the face of serious issues, the feature directing debut of A-list writer Peter Tolan (TV’s Rescue Me, Analyze This) will leave some uncomfortable with its approach to addiction, sex and moral values. More
  
• I Want Candy
  MAGNOLIA Street: Sept. 9 Prebook: now > Zippy British film chronicles a carnal production. A couple of neophytes gets involved in making a porno movie—a concept that has certainly been done before (The Amateurs) and is due again very soon (Kevin Smith’s upcoming Zack and Miri Make a Porno). More
  
• Tortured
  SONY Street: Sept. 16 Prebook: now > No-nonsense crime drama offers fine cast in not-for-the-squeamish scenario. In this DVD premiere thriller, an FBI agent (Cole Hauser) goes undercover to find the truth behind the world’s most dangerous crime syndicate. His job for the Mob entails torturing an accountant (Laurence Fishburne) who has information that could lead to millions in stolen ... More