December 25, 2007

Tattoos that tell a story

Following up their last Oscar winning collaboration, A History of Violence, director David Cronenberg (Spider, Scanners) re-teams with leading man Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings Trilogy, A Perfect Murder) in Eastern Promises. Mortensen plays a mafia enforcer whose allegiances are called into question when he comes into contact with Naomi Watts (21 Grams, King Kong), a midwife with knowledge that could threaten his family.

Jamie Foxx (Ray, Jarhead) plays an FBI special agent in The Kingdom, as he investigates the bombing of a western housing development in Saudi Arabia. With his team, including Chris Cooper (Breach, American Beauty) and Jennifer Garner (Elektra, 13 Going on 30), Foxx must conduct his investigation with limited help from uncooperative Saudi nationals, and with political maneuvering always pressing on his progress. Shattered stars Pierce Brosnan (Goldeneye, Seraphim Falls) as a man bent on revenge against Gerard Butler (300, Dear Frankie) for seducing his wife.

Rush Hour 3 brings back Jackie Chan (Police Story, Drunken Master) and Chris Tucker (Dead Presidents, The Fifth Element) in another buddy comedy/cop film, this time sending them to France to combat the Chinese Triads. Ben Stiller (Dodgeball, Zoolander) stars in the newest Farrelly Brothers (There's Something About Mary, Dumb & Dumber) comedy, The Heartbreak Kid, where he reluctantly gives up bachelorhood only to find out on the honeymoon that his new bride is not what he thought. The Brothers Solomon has Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Blades of Glory) on a quest to father a child so that Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man, Out Cold) can meet his grandchild before passing on... only Arnett has no idea how to meet a woman, and very little chance of becoming a father. The sixth American Pie movie, American Pie: Beta House, follows a young Stifler as he pledges to the notorious Beta House, and the wild obstacles he must overcome.

The 1982 science fiction classic Blade Runner has just been released in the special 5-disc "Ultimate Collector's Edition," including the original 1982 theatrical version of the film, the 1992 director's cut, and director Ridley Scott's (Kingdom of Heaven, G.I. Jane) new "Final Cut." The Ultimate Collector's edition also features cast and filmmaker retrospectives, making-of documentaries, commentary tracks, and a memorial to novelist Philip K. Dick (A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report). On DVD and Blu-Ray.