Moviecrazed

Star Turns--What You Should Know About The Current And Upcoming Projects Of Your Favorite Players

By Guy Flatley

DANIEL RADCLIFFE

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS--PART 1

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleason, Richard Griffiths, John Hurt, Rhys Ifans, Jason Isaacs, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, Peter Mullan, Julie Walters (Directed by David Yates; Written by Steve Kloves; Warner Brothers)

The peerless, mostly fearless kids played by Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson in the fantastical, hugely profitable “Harry Potter” flicks are back. And in this, the seventh and next to final chapter of the hoary hit, the kids are not only all right; they are all grown up, if a wee bit gloomy. Still, even though the smashing box office receipts make it clear that moviegoers will always be wild about Harry and his chums, it does seem time for this trio to break up and move on. Now Playing

VANESSA REDGRAVE

HOW ABOUT YOU

Vanessa Redgrave, Hayley Atwell, Imelda Staunton, Brenda Fricker, Joss Ackland, Orla Brady, Joan O’Hara (Directed by Anthony Byrne; Written by Jean Pasley; Ferndale Films)

Who does Vanessa Redgrave think she is, anyway--some kind of movie star? Well, that’s just who she is--or, rather, who she plays--in this comedy-drama. As for the kind of movie star she is, she’s the kind who was far from a superstar during her lackluster career in Irish films. And now she’s taken on the off-screen role of superbitch, the leader of a cantankerous quartet of seniors who’ve been left behind in a County Wicklow retirement home while their fellow residents are spending the Christmas holiday with their families.

Redgrave and her cronies--Imelda Staunton and Brenda Fricker as erstwhile high-society sisters and Joss Ackland as a former judge (and repudedly former alcoholic)--are not about to budge an inch when the determined young manager of the residence (Hayley Atwell) makes a stab at turning them into good, cooperative scouts. May the best generation win.

If “How About You” sounds familiar to you, you’ve probably had the pleasure of reading “Hardcore,” the Maeve Binchy short story upon which it is based. Now Playing

KEANU REEVES

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates, John Cleese, Jaden Smith, Aaron Douglas (Directed by Scott Derrickson; Written by David Scarpa; Fox)

Sometimes an alien’s best friend on earth is the robot he brought along for the ride from outer space, a fact that was impressively illustrated in “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” Robert Wise’s stylish 1951 sci-fi flick. In this remake Keanu Reeves takes on Michael Rennie’s role of a gentle visitor from another planet who strives to make the world a safe place for Jennifer Connelly, who follows in Patricia Neal’s footsteps as a frantic young mom. Now Playing

JEREMY RENNER

THE TOWN

Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Pete Postlethwaite, Chris Cooper (Directed by Ben Affleck; Written by Ben Affleck, Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard; Warner Bros. Pictures)

Having made a striking directorial debut with “Gone Baby Gone,” the harrowing 2007 thriller starring his kid brother Casey, Ben Affleck recently decided he was ready for his own close-up. So he took on the weighty challenge of directing, co-writing and starring in “The Town,” an adaptation of Chuck Hogan’s tension-packed crime novel “Prince of Thieves.“ In the film, Affleck plays Doug MacRay, a tough dude who, like his best buddies in Charleston, a blue-collar section of Boston, grooves on robbing banks and armored cars, routinely terrorizing innocent bystanders in the process.

Yet MacRay is not all thug. More and more, his daydreams revolve around life in the slow lane of 9-to-5 employment and connubial cuddling with Claire (Rebecca Hall), a potentially dangerous witness to one of his uglier assaults. Sometimes people decide to make their daydreams come true, but that is not likely to be the real deal for MacRay, whose sense of loyalty to old friends is strong and seemingly unwavering. Besides, if he decides to go legit, he has reason to believe his trigger-happy colleagues in crime--especially "Hurt Locker's" Jeremy Renner as an itchy-fingered gun lover--will brand him a traitor and show him no mercy. So will it be a case of “Stick to Your Own Kind”? Or “Gone MacRay Gone”? Click here for a Critics Roundup on "The Town." Now Playing

CHRISTINA RICCI

PENELOPE

Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Reese Witherspoon, Richard E. Grant, Peter Dinklage, Simon Woods, Ronni Ancona, Nick Frost, Lenny Henry (Directed by Mark Palansky; Written by Leslie Caveny; Type A Films)

What’s a girl to do when she is literally born with the face of a pig? With a little luck and a lot of pluck, she could follow the example of Miss Piggy and become a superstar.

But that’s not what the heroine of this cheeky flick, produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Type A Films, does. She finds another path to a happy fairy-tale ending. Somewhat surprisingly, the red-hot Witherspoon does not play porcine Penelope. That plum goes instead to the equally talented Ricci, whose career has turned lukewarm of late. Now Playing

JULIA ROBERTS

LARRY CROWNE

Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Cedric the Entertainer, Pam Grier, Jon Seda, Nia Vardalos, Ian Gomez (Directed by Tom Hanks; Written by Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos; Universal Pictures)

Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts clicked as a team in “Charlie Wilson’s War.” Sharp, earthy and intimately in sync, they were strictly star stuff. Of course, it didn’t hurt to have Mike Nichols on the scene working his directorial wizardry on Aaron Sorkin’s artfully textured screenplay.

Will history repeat itself in “Larry Crowne,” the new Tom & Julia pairing? Maybe, but it doesn’t sound like a slam-dunk to me. This time, in place of Mike Nichols and Aaron Sorkin, we’re getting Tom Hanks and Tom Hanks. That’s right, the Oscar-winning actor has directed his own big-screen scenario for the first time since “That Thing You Do!,” a feeble, out-of-tune 1996 flick in which he played the manager of a band of post-juvenile musicians.

So who is this Larry Crowne and what does he want? He’s a middle-aged victim of the epidemic known as downsizing, and what he wants is a job. Three things stand in Larry’s way to prosperous employment: the trend in his godforsaken community is firing, not hiring; he’s middle-aged, going on senior citizenship; and he has no special skills. Yet he is not a total loser, as evidenced by his shrewd decision to enroll in a local college, where he plans to soak up the smarts that will morph him into a Very Irreplaceable Person. Naturally, he becomes a big man on campus, especially with the lunatic fringe, and he even manages to snuggle up and do some A+ homework with his public-speaking prof. Happily, she’s the brilliant, ravishing Julia Roberts, the teacher who has everything. Including a husband! Don’t be surprised, however, if her hubby flunks out.

Did I forget to mention that Tom Hanks did not concoct this daring, social-notworking tale all by himself? He got by with the help of an old friend—writer/actress Nia Vardalos. You may recall that Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, served as producers on “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” Vardalos’s wildly popular, screamingly unfunny 2002 comedy. (I still think of it as a Greek tragedy.) For the record, Nia’s husband, Ian Gomez, is also in “Larry Crowne.” What role does he play? I don’t know, but I’d be willing to bet that he has at least one scene with Nia. Now Playing

SAM ROCKWELL

IRON MAN 2

Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg, John Slattery, Gary Shandling, Christiane Amanpopur, Bill O’Reilly (Directed by Jon Favreau; Written by Justin Theroux; Paramount Pictures)

Following his smashing 2008 debut, playful but tough Tony Stark is back, and once again the Marvel comic hero with the high-tech heart is being played by the unaplogetically over-the-top Robert Downey Jr. This time, the aggressive altruist is joined by another Iron Man, an Army Colonel played by Don Cheadle, as well as a battery of good and bad guys and girls that includes Gwyneth Paltrow as spicy Pepper Potts, San Rockwell as an unscrupulous defense contractor, Scarlett Johansson as an intensely athletic spy, Mickey Rourke as a mad Russian scientist and Samuel L. Jackson as a loose cannon named Nick Fury. All this, and Christiane Amanpour and Bill O’Reilly, too! Now Playing

MICKEY ROURKE

IRON MAN 2

13

Mickey Rourke, Ray Winstone, Jason Statham, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Ray Liotta, 50 Cent, Michael Shannon, David Zayas, Ben Gazzara, Sam Riley (Written and directed by Gela Babluani; Endeavor)

The spoiled-rotten wealthy class--is there no limit to their sense of entitlement? Evidently not, if we are to judge by the privileged specimens on display in this Americanization of “13 Tzameti,” the hardboiled 2005 French thriller that won the grand jury prize for world cinema at the Sundance Film Festival.

Here’s what the scoundrels do: they gamble bits and pieces of their wealth on a life-and-death sport played in secrecy, a Russian Roulette-inspired competition between desperate men who’ve been sneaked out of prison--as in the case of the character played by Mickey Rourke--or an insane asylum--as in the psycho played by Ray Winstone. The English-language adaptation is by Gela Babluani, the writer-director responsible for the original. So you can’t say he doesn’t have a feel for this sort of thing. Opening date to be announced

PAUL RUDD

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS

Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemain Clement, Stephanie Szostak, Lucy Punch, Bruce Greenwood, David Williams (Directed by Jay Roach; Written by David Guion and Michael Handelman; Paramount, DreamWorks and Spyglass Entertainment)

Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, who proved they know how to milk a silly story for whopper laughs in such champs as “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” (2004) and “The 40 Year Old Virgin” (2005) are at it again. In “Dinner for Schmucks,” a reworking of Francis Veber’s French box-office hit “Le Diner de Cons,” Rudd plays the cluelessly insensitive clod who joins his callous boss Lance (Bruce Greenwood) in staging a dinner party/contest, with the prize going to the player who succeeds in bringing the biggest schmuck of the evening as his guest.

And that, of course, is where Carell, cast as the clumsily toupeed, conspicuously buck-toothed Barry—a natural-born goofball if ever there was one—comes in. Obviously, this material could be extraordinarily offensive, but preview audiences (and more than a few critics) have roared their approval. Maybe you should go see for yourself. Now Playing

HOW DO YOU KNOW

Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, Jack Nicholson, Kathryn Hahn, Mark Linn-Baker (Written and directed by James L. Brooks; Columbia Pictures)

Reese Witherspoon is having a ball. So what if it’s only a soft ball? She’s definitely a champ as born-to-win Lisa Jorgenson, a woman whose seemingly impossible dream of becoming a big-league softy does indeed come true.

But this being a film by James L. Brooks, the writer-director who created such richly textured comedy-dramas as “Terms of Endearment,” “Broadcast News” and “As Good As It Gets,” you can be sure there will be more on Lisa’s mind than hits, runs and errors.

Men, for example. Lisa’s line-up includes George (Paul Rudd), a high-powered player in the world of big business, and Manny (Owen Wilson), a professional hardball pitcher who’s eager to score a home run with Lisa. Playing an older, presumably platonic fan of Lisa is Jack Nicholson, who won an Oscar his last time at bat for Brooks in 1981’s “As Good As It Gets.” Now Playing

MARK RUFFALO

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson, Kunal Sharma, Eddie Hassell, Zosia Mamet, Yaya Dacosta, Joaquin Garrido (Directed by Lisa Cholodenko; Written by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg; Focus Features)

Jules (Julianne Moore) is a lovably flaky landscaper; Nic (Annette Bening), a distinguished doctor, is nice, too, but arguably more of a straight arrow. In many ways, they are a perfect pair. You could even say this affluent L.A. lesbian couple truly has it all, thanks, in large part, to Paul, a generous bachelor whose anonymous sperm donations, over the years, have made it possible for them to be the proud parents of a daughter and son, one of whom is about to become a college freshman.

So what could possibly go wrong? Simple. The kids have somehow managed to track down their biological pop and have decided to bring him home to finally meet his co-procreators. What follows is a wacky wave of shock, embarrassment, anger, frustration and fraternization, capped off with a totally unexpected burst of romance. Who could ask for anything more sitcomic? Now Playing

MARGARET

Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, J. Smith-Cameron, Jeannie Berlin, Matthew Broderick (Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan; Fox Searchlight)

One of the funniest and most moving films of 2000 was “You Can Count on Me,” written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, whose biggest prior claim to movie fame was his screenwriting contribution to “Analyze This,” the Robert De Niro-Billy Crystal comedy released the year before. If you saw “You Can Count on Me,” you know that the tyro director drew astonishing performances from Laura Linney as a single mother, Mark Ruffalo as her screwed-up brother, and Matthew Broderick as the petty, despotic boss who unexpectedly becomes her red-hot lover, even though he is already married to a conspicuously pregnant bore.

Now Lonergan has gone behind the camera again, this time as the director of his own screenplay about a Manhattan teenager with plenty of problems, not the least of which is her mom, a neurotic actress. Plus she is a bit unhinged about a bus accident she recently witnessed--an accident that may not have been an accident. The troubled teen is being played by Anna Paquin, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “The Piano” when she was a mere tot. Maybe this time it will simply be a Best Actress Oscar.

But first the movie, which has been sitting mysteriously on the shelf for quite some time, has to be released—an embarrassment which has caused Lonergan to grumble in public. In his opinion, “Margaret” contains the best screenplay he has ever written, so why should it be hidden from view? Maybe we’ll be able to answer that question for ourselves one day. Opening date to be announced?

AMY RYAN

JACK GOES BOATING

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Mark Vincent, Kevin Cannon, Ricky Garcia, Shawna Bermender, Richard Petrocelli (Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman; Written by Bob Glaudini; Overture Films)

One of the most critically acclaimed Off Broadway plays of the 2007 season was Bob Glaudini’s romantic comedy about a chubby, dreadlocked, pot-smoking New York limo driver named Jack who is set up by Clyde, his best buddy, with a motor-mouthed embalmer’s assistant. Especially promising is the fact that playwright-turned-screenwriter Glaudini lined up Philip Seymour Hoffman, the Off-Broadway Jack, not only to star in the film but to direct it as well.

Also making the transition from stage to screen are John Ortiz as the match-making Clyde and Daphne Rubin-Vega as his highly-sexed sweetheart. Playing Connie, the gabbiest toiler at Dr. Bob’s Funeral Home in Brooklyn, is Amy Ryan, best known to movie audiences for her major emoting in the minor role of the mother of a missing child in 2007’s “Gone Baby Gone.” Now Playing

MEG RYAN

THE WOMEN

Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Debi Mazar (Written and directed by Diane English; Picturehouse)

Women--when they bond with one another and struggle to make the world a better place in which to live and love and wage peace--are adorable creatures. But at least one of the women in Clare Boothe Luce’s 1936 Broadway hit shrugged her shoulder at sisterhood and coolly sized up every available--and unavailable--male who crossed her path. Her name was Crystal, she was a gold-digging shopgirl, and she was played with predatory precision by Joan Crawford in George Cukor’s 1939 film adaptation. Nearly seven decades later, in an update by writer-director Diane English, the blissfully cruel Crystal is being played by Eva Mendes, a Cuban-American seductress who may finally have landed her breakout role. Meg Ryan, an actress in urgent need of a comeback role, plays the achingly noble Mary Haines, a lady whose wealthy husband is the besotted victim of Crystal’s wiles. Playing Meg Ryan's mom is the always reliable Candice Bergen, who also played Meg's mom in "Rich and Famous," George Cukor's 1981 comedy-drama. Now Playing

WINONA RYDER

BLACK SWAN

Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied (Directed by Darren Aronofsky; Written by Mark Heyman, Andrew Heinz and John McLaughlin; Fox Searchlight)

How does one top the spectacle of Mickey Rourke as a physically battered, emotionally numb, spiritually dumb wrestler lurching bloodily about inside the ring and crashing even more catastrophically outside it?

It can’t be easy, but here’s how Darren Aronofsky, the director who transformed laughable loser Mickey Rourke into a serious Oscar contender for “The Wrestler,” performed still another impressive miracle. He took the ravishingly cool, ethereal Natalie Portman, heated her up, and then dumped her, feet first, into the cuttingly competitive, sometimes ghoulish, arena of classical ballet.
Portman plays Nina Sayers, an obsessive, self-lacerating, borderline psychotic who simply must be a diva or die. Literally.

Living in a cramped Upper West Side apartment with her toxically adoring stage mama (Barbara Hershey), Nina pirouettes her way to the brink of stardom in a bizarre staging of “Swan Lake” slotted for Manhattan’s Lincoln Center. But a totally unrehearsed twist of plot suddenly casts a sinister shadow on Nina’s fairytale dream: her rogue of a choreographer (Vincent Cassel) insists that the sultry allure she needs to project on stage can best be achieved just a few steps beyond his bedroom door.

What’s a poor virginal girl to do? Possibly the key to Nina’s psychosexual lock may be located in the intimate company of Beth MacIntyre, the incurably high-strung dancer played by Winona Ryder. Or, better still, the sizzly little number named Lily (Mila Kunis), with whom Nina eventually collaborates on a notably uninhibited, strictly offstage, scene.

But where will it all end? Well, have you never seen “The Red Shoes”? Now Playing

THE DILEMMA

Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Channing Tatum, Queen Latifah (Directed by Ron Howard; Written by Allan Loeb; Universal)

They are so close that they could be mistaken for Siamese twins. Ronny and Nick, played by Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, certainly look alike, though one is chubbier than the other. Clearly, they act and think alike, which is to say they are both addicted to rough-housing, beer swilling, fistfighting and making gross jokes at the expense of one another. Down deep, however, these long-time buddies and business partners are as tender and protective as lovers can possibly be.

So, are Ronny and Nick literally lovers? No way! When not zanily engaged in punching and maiming each other, they have a whole other agenda. Ronny concentrates on wooing and summoning up the nerve to propose to sexy Beth (Jennifer Connelly), and Nick marvels at the fact that he’s been lucky enough to bed and wed the classy, if complicated, Geneva (Winona Ryder). Since this situation merely proves that even though boys will be boys, they still need girls to complete the picture, what is the problem here?

Well, the catastrophic truth is that Ronny has accidentally glimpsed Geneva kissing a musclebound male (Channing Tatum), a guy who bears no resemblance whatsoever to his pal Nick. So what is Ronny to do? Be honest and break the bad news to his best friend? Or remain selfishly mum so his business partner doesn’t go berserk and screw up a major deal they're on the verge of sealing with Chrysler? That is the problem—and the crucial dilemma--in this sad-at-heart comedy. For the record, Queen Latifah is on hand to serve up some strictly upbeat laughs. Now Playing