More Articles By Cyril Pearl
- We Own the Night
SONY Street: Feb. 12 Prebook: Jan. 10 > Effective New York crime drama about two brothers against Russian drug smugglers. Tales of brothers at cross-purposes can make for fine pieces of fiction if they’re passionately crafted, which is the case with writer/director James Gray’s latest film. More - Blonde Ambition
SONY Street: Jan. 22 Prebook: now > Dismal romantic comedy starring Jessica Simpson is neither romantic nor funny. At one point early in Blonde Ambition , a passing subway train whooshes air up through a grate and billows star Jessica Simpson’s skirt over her head a la Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch . Sadly, this film isn’t The Seven Year Itch and Simpson ain’t no Monroe. More - The Naked Prey
CRITERION Street: Jan. 15 Prebook: now > Gorgeous presentation of Cornel Wilde’s primal adventure pitting man against African tribe. Leading man-turned-filmmaker Cornel Wilde’s 19th century adventure about a white marksman (Wilde) hunted for sport by primitive African tribesman has lost none of its primal, violent power. More - The Game Plan
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson scores with his comic chops in this winning family entry. Street: Jan. 22 Prebook: now Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the MVP of this formulaic family flick about superstar football quarterback Joe Kingman (Johnson) and 8-year-old Peyton Kelly (Madison Pettis), who shows up one day and announces that she is the daughter Joe never knew he had from... More - The Heartbreak Kid HD DVD
DREAMWORKS/PARAMOUNT Available now > Farrelly Brothers’ uninspired remake doesn’t play any better in high-def. The Farrelly Brothers’ poorly conceived remake of director Elaine May’s 1972 black comedy removes the East Coast-style and ethnic flair of the original and replaces them with over-the-top physicality and vulgar silliness. More - Blade Runner: 5-Disc Collector's Edition HD DVD
WARNER Street: Dec. 18 Prebook: now > Ridley Scott's dystopian L.A. saga receives a definitive high-def presentation. The one thing you must remember about Ridley Scott's flawed masterpiece is that its followers all have their own ideas about how specific scenes and images should look, sound and feel. More - Eastern Promises
UNIVERSAL Street: Dec. 26 Prebook: now > David Cronenberg’s tough crime drama stars Viggo Mortensen as a Russian mobster. The second collaboration between filmmaker David Cronenberg and actor Viggo Mortensen (the first was 2005’s outstanding A History of Violence ) is this tough crime drama about a Russian mobster (Mortensen) and a British midwife (Naomi Watts)... More - Halloween
WEINSTEIN/GENIUS Street: Dec. 18 Prebook: now > Remake of classic slasher flick goes heavy on gore and language. After writing and directing a pair of memorably original horror outings—House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects—musician/filmmaker Rob Zombie takes on a remake of John Carpenter’s 1978 shocker Halloween. More - Sunshine
FOX Street: Jan. 8 Prebook: Dec. 12 > Heady intergalactic adventure provides eye and brain candy. This sci-fi thriller from director Danny Boyle (28 Days Later) is set 50 years in the future at a time when the sun is slowly beginning to die out. As the Earth will soon meet the same freezing fate, a team of astronauts and scientists (including Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Fantastic Four... More - I Am Cuba: The Ultimate Edition
MILESTONE/NEW YORKER Available now > Landmark Russian-Cuban co-production features dazzling cinematography. Mikhail Kalatozov’s famed 1964 film remains one of cinema’s most breathtakingly beautiful films. Comprised of four interweaving vignettes about various people in Cuba—an aging peasant, a beautiful woman, a university student and a young farmer—this Russian-Cuba... More - Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends
WARNER Available now > Intelligent chronicle of one of the great American singers of the 20th century. The latest collaboration between filmmakers Bruce Ricker (director) and Clint Eastwood (producer) chronicles the life and career of Tony Bennett. The Music Never Ends isn’t filmed in the manner of a straight-ahead biopic, but rather as a non-chronological look at Bennett’s musi... More - Mammoth
UNION STATION/STARZ Street: Jan. 8 Prebook: Dec. 6 > Forgettable, over-sized monster flick offers a star turn by rising starlet Summer Glau. This Sci Fi Channel movie finds a meteor-like spaceship crashing into a museum in the small town of Blackwater, La., where the featured exhibit is a partially frozen, prehistoric woolly mammoth. More - The Nanny Diaries
WEINSTEIN/GENIUS Street: Dec. 4 Prebook: now > An unexceptional adaptation of the 2002 bestseller. Unlike The Devil Wears Prada, another big-screen adaptation of a chick lit bestseller, The Nanny Diaries is a rather uninspired production featuring two talented leading ladies. Laura Linney stars as a wealthy and controlling Park Avenue socialite, and Scarlett Johansson plays a recent college... More - 7 Dias
XENON Street: Nov. 20 Prebook: now > Good-hearted Spanish-language comedy about friendship, faith and U2. In order to repay a debt to a mobster, concert promoter Claudio Caballero (Eduardo Arroyuelo) has a week to deliver the band U2 for a concert in his native Mexico, in this likable comedy from first-time director Fernando Kalife. More - Lady Chatterley
KINO Street: Dec. 4 Prebook: now > A lengthy and explicit French adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s sexually charged novel. This latest film adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s once-banned novel stars up-and-coming Marina Hands as the well-bred titular Lady, who is married to a paralyzed older man (Hippolyte Girardot) and embarks on a life-altering affair with her large estate’s game... More - High School Musical 2
DISNEY Street: Dec. 11 Prebook: now > Sequel to Disney’s best-selling franchise is primed to dance up a storm this holiday season. Troy (Zac Efron), Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) and the rest of the East High School Wildcats are back, this time letting loose their singing and dancing chops at a country club and its annual talent show during summer recess. More - Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same
WARNER Street: Nov. 20 Prebook: now > Led Zeppelin’s famed concert film returns in a re-engineered, supplements-laden special edition. The seminal Led Zeppelin concert film returns in a remastered version with a healthy complement of extras, which include archival interviews, TV appearances and a 1976 Cameron Crowe radio show about the band. More - Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who
UNIVERSAL Street: Nov. 6 Prebook: now > A career-spanning look at the combustible British rock band. Amazing Journey takes a look as comprehensive as we’re ever likely to see of the legendarily combustible British rock outfit The Who. More - Monsieur Hire
KINO Street: Nov. 20 Prebook: now > Suspenser about sexual obsession from one of France’s most reliable filmmakers. A well-known name in the U.S. arthouse market, Patrice Leconte has been making films for nearly 40 years, with many of his most accessible efforts from the past two decades—The Hairdresser’s Husband, The Girl on the Bridge, The Man on the Train and, most rece... More - Cougar Club
OPEN SKY/VIVENDI VISUAL Street: Nov. 13 Prebook: now > A not-so-sexy and not-so-funny straight-to-DVD sex comedy. American Pie gave a name to the allure of women of a certain age—MILFs—and Cougar Club continues to exploit the idea. The cougars More
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