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here for the previous week's New Movies
click
here for 2008 OVERVIEW!
NEW
MOVIES! AUGUST 12 - AUGUST 18, 2008
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THE
AMERICAN MALL (dir: Shawn Ku, Not Rated) – Here’s some more
product for your tweens to gorge themselves on. Helpfully, MTV may
have a back-to-school line of merchandise to help you part with more
of your money. |
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AMNESIA
(dir: John W. Bosley, Not Rated) – The Maine woods are the setting
for this twisty homegrown thriller that recently screened upstairs
at The Eveningstar. |
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THE
ART OF WAR II: BETRAYAL (dir: Josef Rusnak, R) – Give Wesley a
break. That tax bill isn’t gonna sort itself out. It’s going to
take a lot of humiliating straight-to-DVD sequels like this. |
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BIG
DREAMS, LITTLE TOKYO (dir: Dave Boyle, Not Rated) – A young man
who is convinced he’s Japanese teams up with a woefully
underweight Sumo wrestler in this indie comedy that seems
suspiciously quirky. |
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*BRA
BOYS (dir: Sunny Abberton, R) – Russell Crowe narrates this
radical documentary about the crazy world of violent, Australian
surf gangs. Even critic Andrew Sarris loved it. And he hates
everything. |
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^BRAND
UPON THE BRAIN! (dir: Guy Maddin, Not Rated) – Canadian
goofball Guy Maddin tests how far his small but devoted audience
will follow him with this account of his imaginary childhood. |
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CJ7
(dir: Stephen Chow, PG) – Stephen Chow takes a goofy left turn
with his follow up to KUNG FU HUSTLE and SHAOLIN SOCCER. It’s a
family comedy about a single father, his precocious son and their
helpful alien friend. |
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DICK:
THE DEVIL DARED ME TO (dir: Chris Stapp, Not Rated) – This import
from New Zealand has already developed a rabid cult following with
its comic story of dueling stuntmen. |
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FELON
(dir: Ric Roman Waugh, R) – Val Kilmer looks quite menacing with a
bushy goatee. Which will be helpful in this intense prison flick |
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HELP
ME EROS (dir: Kang-sheng Lee, Unrated) – A despondent Chinese man
loses everything in the stock market and turns to growing marijuana
in his apartment and talking to the girl he fantasizes about from
the suicide helpline. |
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I'M
THROUGH WITH WHITE GIRLS (dir: Jennifer Sharp, R) – After a slew
of bad breakups, Jay swears off white girls and embarks on “Operation
Brown Sugar.” |
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IRINA
PALM (dir: Sam Garbarski, R) – Marianne Faithfull stars as a
woman who, desperate to pay her grandson’s medical bills, takes a
job at a London nightclub and quickly develops quite a reputation. |
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THE
KILLING GENE (dir: Tom Shankland, Unrated) – Stellan Skarsgard is
a good actor who does a pretty crummy American accent in this gritty
thriller also starring the always endearing Melissa George. |
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LEGACY
(dir: Irving Rothberg, R) – I don’t care which Duff that is.
Just get it away from me. |
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THE
ORANGE THIEF (dir: Vinnie Angel / Boogie Dean / Arthur Wilinski, Not
Rated) – If you can find a better Sicilian musical this year, that
means you will have watched two Sicilian musicals in one year, and
that’s kind of neat. |
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OUTSIDE
SALES (dir: Blayne Weaver, Not Rated) – I guess the world won’t
be a worse place if there are a few more OFFICE SPACE rip-offs
floating around. |
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THE
SEARCH FOR JOHN GISSING (dir: Mike Binder, Not Rated) – Alan
Rickman is terrific in this white-knuckle comedy about a London
executive tormenting his assumed replacement. |
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THE
SECRET (dir: Vincent Perez, R) – Do you know why people don’t
like you, David Duchovny? It’s because of that stupid smug look
you ALWAYS have on your smug little face. Yeah, we know you went to
Harvard. |
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SMART
PEOPLE (dir: Noam Murro, R) – This satisfactory comedy makes
being part of a dysfunctional family look really adorable. Dennis
Quaid, as a widowed professor, looks for love with former student
Sarah Jessica Parker. Nova Scotian supernova Ellen Page appears as
his daughter and Thomas Hayden Church shows up as his freeloading
brother. |
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21
UP SOUTH AFRICA: MANDELA'S CHILDREN (dir: Angus Gibson, Not Rated)
– This documentary inspired by the British UP series is a
fascinating look at how growing up in South Africa has changed since
the demise of apartheid. |
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WATCHING
THE DETECTIVES (dir: Paul Soter, Not Rated) – The title references
the good Elvis and it stars Cillian Murphy as a video store owner.
That’s where the good stuff ends though. It turns out this is just
a little nothing of a rom-com also starring Lucy Liu. |
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THE
WIRE: SEASON 5 (dir: David Simon, Not Rated) – Don’t let the
fact that Charlie Sheen’s cruddy sitcom was nominated for more
Emmy Awards than this final season of one of television’s greatest
achievements bother you. Actually, that’s pretty discouraging. Maybe even
soul-crushing. |
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= GREG's
pick of the week! ^ =
Bart's pick of the week! |
