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Title:
Takers
Stars:
Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon
Studio:
Screen Gems
Plot:
A hard-boiled detective (Dillon) gets in between a group of bank robbers and their plan to make away with a $20 million bounty.
Buzz:
Matt Dillon is back on the right side of the law after Armored, but the real question here is: How do you promote a movie featuring one currently incarcerated musician/actor (T.I.) and post-Rihanna Chris Brown, whose fame allotment has been nearly drained. Suddenly, heist movies don't seem fun anymore.
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Title:
The Last Exorcism
Stars:
Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr
Studio:
Lionsgate
Plot:
A troubled evangelical minister (Fabian) agrees to let his last exorcism be filmed by a documentary crew, where a possessed young (Bell) brings him face to face with the devil himself.
Buzz:
Eli Roth (in producer mode here) and Lionsgate are testing the Paranormal Activity theorem here: can you turn a low-budget horror/thriller with no stars into a hit? Director Daniel Stamm caused a minor genre stir back in 2008/2009 with A Necessary Death; screenwriters Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland are back in theaters on September 10 (as co-directors) with a completely different project, The Virginity Hit, and we think they had something to do with this viral video. Funny or Dead?
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Title:
The Expendables
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li
Studio:
Lionsgate
Plot:
The fearless Barney Ross (Stallone) leads a team of mercenaries on a mission to South America, where their objective -- to overthrow a ruthless dictator -- is more dangerous than the men realize.
Buzz:
Scott Pilgrim and Elizabeth Gilbert might find themselves defeated by a handful of old guys this weekend. My only questions here: Why did Sylvester Stallone not turn this screenplay into Rambo V? And who thought the name Barney Ross sounded tough?
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Title:
Eat Pray Love
Stars:
Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Viola Davis
Studio:
Columbia Pictures
Plot:
While trying to get pregnant, a happily married woman (Roberts) realizes her life needs to go in a different direction, and after a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey.
Buzz:
While Liz Gilbert liberates herself on her globe-spanning trip, Julia Roberts might be feeling the pressure to deliver a major box-office hit, since Sex and the City 2 derailed the momentum earned by Mamma Mia!, Julie & Julia, and other "women's films". Still wondering what attracted subversive writer/director Ryan Murphy ("Glee", "Nip/Tuck") to the project, but I'm more curious whether Ms. Robert's let actual mosquitoes feast on her in India.Will Murphy + Roberts reunite for a second movie? They are both attached to an untitled romantic comedy where an executive learns to readjust to life at home with her kids after losing her job -- sort of like if Danny Moder became the breadwinner of the Roberts household.P.S. Did you know you can purchase the aromas of Ms. Gilbert's reawakening?
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Title:
The Other Guys
Stars:
Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg
Studio:
Columbia Pictures
Plot:
Detectives Allen Gamble (Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg) might not be New York City's finest, but when they discover a path that leads directly to one the city's biggest criminals, they seize the opportunity to become supercops.
Buzz:
Will Ferrell looks to put Land of the Lost behind him with a can't-miss late-summer comedy directed by his best handler, Adam McKay. Though New York City wasn't so kind to Ferrell the last time around. Funny that this will be the movie to topple Inception from its position atop the box-office.
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Title:
Vampires Suck
Stars:
Jenn Proske, Matt Lanter, Diedrich Bader
Studio:
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Plot:
A spoof of vampire-themed movies, where teenager Becca finds herself torn between two boys. As she and her friends wrestle with a number of different dramas, everything comes to a head at their prom.
Buzz:
I feel like if you're the type of person who eye-rolls every time you hear the names Bella or Edward, but you wind up shelling out for a spoof comedy from Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer -- who share the honor of having three movies in the IMDb Bottom 100 -- then the joke is really on you?
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Title:
Inception
Stars:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page
Studio:
Warner Bros. Pictures
Plot:
Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is a thief who specializes in the art of extraction, the stealing of secrets from a target's subconscious. Though his profession cost him everything he has ever loved and has turned him into a fugitive, an offer for a final job -- one that requires him to plant an idea instead of pilfering it -- could be his chance at redemption.
Buzz:
Our founder has already called this "the movie of the decade".
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Title:
Nanny McPhee Returns
Stars:
Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ralph Fiennes
Studio:
Universal Pictures
Plot:
Nanny McPhee (Thompson) arrives to help a harried young mother, Mrs. Green (Gyllenhaal), with running the family farm while her husband is away at war. With Mrs. Green's children waging a personal war with their two spoiled cousins, Nanny McPhee uses her magic to teach the kids five important new lessons.
Buzz:
A sequel? Surely. While the original Nanny McPhee wasn't a textbook blockbuster, it earned over $100 million in theaters (worldwide) on a reported budget of $25 million. Maybe Nanny McPhee teaches economic lessons to the farm kids here.
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Title:
The Switch
Stars:
Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson
Studio:
Miramax Films
Plot:
An unmarried 40-year-old woman (Aniston) turns to a turkey baster in order to become pregnant. Seven years later, she reunites with her best friend (Bateman), who has been living with a secret ...
Buzz:
I don't know if audiences avoided The Back-Up Plan because of the movie's theme or its star, but, when compared to The Switch, at least Jennifer Lopez's adventures in conception was marketed by its studio. No offense to anyone at the recently sold Miramax, which is a bit rudderless as the company transitions away from its Disney handlers to its new owners. Hopefully Jennifer Aniston's celebrity and Jason Bateman's cult audience will be enough to grow the awareness for this foul-mouthed and potential crowd-pleaser from the dudes behind Blades of Glory. Will Jennifer Aniston swear on film again?
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Title:
Piranha
Stars:
Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O'Connell, Richard Dreyfuss
Studio:
Dimension Films
Plot:
After a tremor under the surface of Lake Victoria unleashes scores of prehistoric piranhas, a group of strangers under the direction of the local sheriff (Shue) band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food.
Buzz:
New rule: From now on, if you're going to remake a movie, it has to be in 3D. Oh, and the original has to be bad. And by bad, we mean terrible. Elsewhere, Richard Dreyfuss returns to scary waters in what might be the best cheapie horror flick casting since Betty White in Lake Placid (but let's hope the supporting players and cameo appearances don't end with Christopher Lloyd or Eli Roth). Other questions: Is Alexandre Aja embracing his camp side? Will this level of gore make it to the big screen intact?
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