January 13, 2006

New Movie Releases for 1/13/06: Featuring The Last Holiday

2006 rolls on, delivering its second batch of films on Friday the 13th. Will this unlucky day deliver a poor selection, or will it go against the superstitious odds and supply a few winners? Time will tell. Let us move on and see what our new choices are.

Glory Road. The first sports movie of the year has arrived. Josh Lucas is Coach Don Haskins of West Texas U. Based on the true story, Haskins leads his low ranked team to the NCAA championships, while also fielding the first all black starting lineup. This comes from Disney in the tradition of Remember the Titans, a want to be inspirational tale for the family. To be honest, the trailer has not hooked me, it looks like it may be good, but it also looks like so many other inspirational sports stories that I feel I've seen it before. I think I'd rather rent Coach Carter. It was directed by first timer James Gartner. TRAILER

Hoodwinked. The Weinstein Company offers up their first computer animated feature, slipping into theaters with, what seems to be, very little fanfare. After seeing the trailer I can understand why, as this does not really look all that good. It is a take on the story of "Little Red Riding Hood", picking up at the end of the attack and delving into the investigation of the crime. Perhaps it should have been called Law & Order: Fairytale Unit. It features a good voice cast including Glenn Close, Ann Hathaway, James Belushi, Patrick Warburton, and Xzibit. A big name cast doesn't mean good however, actually, I would like to see animated films go back to using actual voice actors as opposed to celebrities. In any case, I am not expecting much from this. TRAILER

Last Holiday. Queen Latifah stars in this remake of the 1950 film of the same name starring Alec Guinness (better known as Obi-Wan Kenobi to you younger folk). Georgia Byrd finds out she has a terminal illness and decides to live it up, in the process touching the lives of those around her. The trailer makes the movie seem a little fluffy and light on the substance, but Queen Latifah is an incredible screen presence. I don't have high expectations, but looks like it could provide some decent entertainment. TRAILER

Tristan and Isolde. Looking to bridge the gap between Shakespeare and Kingdom of Heaven comes this medieval romance. The movie chronicles the tale of a knight's affair with the married future Queen of England. The romance is between a British knight and Irish royalty during a time of war between the two nations. The visuals look good, but the dialogue comes across as rather clunky, especially the bit that ends the trailer. It stars James Franco (who also has Annapolis opening soon) and Sophia Myles, and it was directed by Kevin Reynolds, who also directed The Count of Monte Cristo. For a bit of trivia, this story was going to be Ridley Scott's sophomore film in the 1970's, but he chose to direct Alien instead, good choice. TRAILER

Also opening this week, but not near me:
  • April's Shower
  • Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Impassioned Eye
  • R Point

That brings this week's new offerings to a close.

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