Oz The Great and Powerful

Long before Dorothy arrived in the Land of Oz, another soon-to-be-famous Kansan, illusionist Oscar Diggs (James Franco), found himself swept away to this magical land. A mischievous magician with dubious ethics, Diggs had been making a living entertaining audiences at small-time circuses. He longed, though, for much more. “I don’t want to be a good man,” he exclaimed. “I want to be a great one.” And when he arrived in Oz, the inhabitants there wondered if he was, indeed, the “great man” they had been waiting for.

In Oz, Diggs thinks he’s hit the jackpot, as fame and fortune appear to be his for the taking. Then he crosses paths with three witches: good Glinda (Michelle Williams), naïve Theodora (Mila Kunis) and more dubious Evanora (Rachel Weisz.). The witches, who doubt that Diggs is the “great man” that everyone else thinks he is, challenge Diggs to root out a ruinous force of evil that threatens to destroy the entire kingdom. If he does, they promise, he will indeed become the great leader for whom the population has been waiting.

Drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz, Diggs must determine who is good and who is evil before it is too late. In the process, he becomes a better man, and succeeds in transforming himself into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz.

Based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” Oz The Great and Powerful is a prequel to the beloved and classic Wizard of Oz movie. Oz The Great and Powerful explores the story of how the Wizard of Oz became the Wizard of Oz.

Oz The Great and Powerful was directed by Sam Raimi based on a screenplay by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire. The film is scheduled for release on March 8, 2013 by Walt Disney Pictures in traditional 2D as well as Disney Digital 3D, Real D 3D and IMAX 3D formats. The adventure/fantasy film also stars Zach Braff, Joey King and Bruce Campbell.

Django Unchained

The time: two years before the Civil War. The place: the Deep South. The people: Django (Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx), a slave held by vicious owners (James Remar and James Russo), and former German dentist turned bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz). In Django Unchained, Schultz is going after the murderous Brittle Brothers, an infamous and ruthless gang. Django, however, is the only person who has actually seen the Brittle Brothers and therefore knows what they look like. So Schultz purchases Django and makes him a deal. If Django will help Schultz track down the Brittle Brothers, Schultz will not only free Django, he’ll also help him find and rescue his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington).

Schultz and Django succeed in tracking down the Brittle Brothers, and Schultz makes good on his promises. Django – now a bounty hunter, too – and Schultz set out to rescue Broomhilda. They find her on the plantation of a brutal Mississippi plantation owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Candie’s plantation is known as “Candyland,” a place where slaves are groomed to battle each other for sport. Django and Schultz arouse the suspicions of Candie’s trusted house slave, Stephen (Academy Award® nominee Samuel L. Jackson). Candie’s organization starts to close in on them, and they are forced to choose between independence and solidarity, sacrifice and survival.

Set for release on Christmas in 2012 by The Weinstein Company, Django Unchained is the latest film from director/screenwriter Quentin Tarantino. The Western also stars Gerald McRaney, Dennis Christopher, Laura Cayouette, M.C. Gainey, Don Johnson, Anthony LaPaglia, Tom Wopat, Todd Allen and Jonah Hill.

Jack Reacher

A sniper opens fire in a heartland city, killing five people with six shots and throwing the city into a state of chaos. Within hours the cops announce that they have the killer in custody. It appears to be a slam-dunk case – until the accused man, James Barr (Joseph Sikora), a former Army sniper, claims innocence. “You got the wrong guy,” he says, “Get Reacher for me.”

Reacher is Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), an ex-military investigator who knows Barr and Barr’s skills as a sniper. In fact, after Barr murdered four people during the Gulf War and walked free on a technicality, Reacher swore he would track Barr down if he ever did it again. Given this background, why would Barr have asked for Reacher? Because in addition to his highly developed military and investigative skills and extreme intelligence, Reacher is known for his absolute moral clarity in defending victims.

Once he arrives and starts to investigate, Reacher sees that something isn’t right. Barr never should have missed a shot. Reacher’s quest to prove Barr’s guilt or innocence gets complicated when he gets entangled with a ruthless Russian gang. The gang’s leader, a man known only as The Zec (Werner Herzog), spent most of his life in the infamous Soviet Gulag. Now it looks like The Zec might be the one that’s pulling the strings in this entire case.

Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Jack Reacher is an adaptation of the 2005 novel, “One Shot,” by Lee Child. The thriller also stars Rosamund Pike as Helen Rodin, Richard Jenkins as Alex Rodin, Robert Duvall as Cash, David Oyelowo as Emerson, Michael Raymond-James as Linsky, James Martin Kelly as Rob Farrior, Nicole Forester as Nancy Holt, and Alexia Fast as Sandy. The thriller is set for release on December 21, 2012 by Paramount Pictures.

 

 

 

Killing Them Softly

Being an Enforcer for the mob isn’t always easy – what with all that tracking people down and killing them or arranging for someone else to do so. Plus, as Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) points out, in their moments before they’re killed people get “emotional…they cry, they plead, they beg…it’s embarrassing.” That’s why, he explains, “I like to kill them softly, from a distance, not close enough for feelings – I don’t like feelings, don’t want to think about ‘em.”

In Killing Them Softly Cogan gets plenty of opportunity to avoid thinking about the impact of the things he does to make a living. Set in New Orleans, Killing Them Softly is an American crime film directed and written by Andrew Dominik and based on George V Higgins’ 1974 novel, “Cogan’s Trade.”

In the film, a high-stakes poker game that is under mob protection gets raided by some outsiders. Cogan, of course, is charged with investigating the heist and then finding and killing the people who did it. Although suspicion initially fell on the card game’s manager, Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), Cogan soon finds out that the person behind the scam was actually John “The Squirrel” Amato (Vincent Curatola).

The Weinstein Company plans to release Killing Them Softly on September 21, 2012. The film also features Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Sam Shepard, Slaine, Bella Heathcote, Linara Washington and Garret Dillahunt. Rated R, for violence, sexual references, pervasive language, and some drug use.

 

 

 

Pitch Perfect

On some college campuses, competitive a cappella singing groups are huge, and making it to – and winning – the championship means everything. This fact is news to Beca (Anna Kendrick), a self-centered freshman at Barton University. After being cornered in the shower by a member of The Bellas, Barton’s all-girl a cappella singing group, Beca has to admit that she can, indeed, sing. Cajoled into joining the group, Beca quickly learns that the “list of all the songs the group has ever performed” does not include a single song from this century.

Determined to inject some energy and life into The Bellas’ repertoire, Beca moves the group away from their traditional arrangements and perfect harmonies into all-new mash-ups. With their new songs under their belt, the group takes on their male rivals in singing competition.

Pitch Perfect is filled with a combination of old favorites and current hits, all seamlessly mashed up and arranged in fresh, new ways. Directed by Jason Moore from a screenplay written by Kay Cannon, based on a book by Mickey Rapkin. Pitch Perfect’s ensemble cast also includes Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson, Alexis Knapp, Adam DeVine, and Freddie Stroma. The comedy musical film, which is rated PG-13 for sexual material, language and drug references, is scheduled for release on October 5, 2012 by Universal Pictures.

Argo

Sometimes there are no options, and you are faced with going with the best “bad idea” on the table. This was the case in 1979, after Iranian militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. Based on true events, Argo tells the little-known story of the six members of the U.S. foreign service who managed to slip out a back door when the revolutionaries stormed the embassy, escaping to the residence of the Canadian Ambassador. With armed revolutionary guards going door-to-door, however, they knew that they would not be safe for long.

Against this backdrop CIA “exfiltration” specialist Tony Mendez (portrayed by Ben Affleck) concocted a crazy and very risky plan to get these Americans out of the country. His idea: create a fake science fiction movie named “Argo,” and convince Iran that these six people are members of the film crew that is in Iran to scout the area for filming.

Argo is scheduled for release on October 12, 2012 by Warner Bros. Pictures. This political drama was directed by Ben Affleck from a screenplay by Chris Terrio that was based on a declassified true story. Argo also stars Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Kerry Bishe, Kyle Chandler, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Victor Garber, Zeljko Ivanek, Richard Kind, Scoot McNairy, Chris Messina, Michael Parks and Taylor Schilling. Rated R for language and some violent images.

Les Miserables

Set in 19^th century France, Les Miserables is an epic story of persecution and protest, love and passion, broken dreams and sacrifice. Ex-prisoner Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) has been hunted for decades by Javert (Russell Crowe), a ruthless police inspector. His crime? Stealing bread, and then later breaking parole.

Now Valjean has risen to the post of mayor in a French town. When he agreed to care for Cosette (Isabelle Allen as the young child, Amanda Seyfried as the teen), the illegitimate daughter of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a struggling factory worker who is eventually forced to turn to prostitution, their lives all changed forever.

Les Miserables is a musical film based on the wildly popular and very long-running stage musical of the same name, which in turn was based on an 1862 French novel by Victor Hugo. Directed by Academy Award®-winning director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech), the movie is set for release onDecember 14, 2012by Universal Pictures. William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Herbert Kretzmer co-wrote the screenplay.

Les Miserables also featuresEddieRedmayne as Marius Pontmercy, Samantha Barks as Eponine, Sacha Baron Cohen as Thenardier, Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier,AaronTveit as Enjolras, and Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche.

Hotel Transylvania

Every Daddy has a soft spot for his Little Girl…even Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler)! In fact, Dracula turns out to be an extremely over-protective father to his teenage daughter, Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez). Well, actually, Mavis is about to celebrate her 118^th birthday, but this makes her a teenager in vampire years. Like many teenagers, Mavis has an adventurous spirit that only makes her father worry more. To try to protect Mavis and dissuade her from engaging in any risky behavior, Dracula not only fabricates all sorts of tales, he also opens a high-end resort, the Hotel Transylvania.

Hotel Transylvania is a wonderful place where monsters can go to get away from it all – and be safe from the world of hateful, vicious humans. It’s a monsters-only hide-away, no humans allowed! Many of the world’s most-famous monsters, including Frankenstein and his bride, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and more, make the Hotel Transylvania their preferred vacation destination. For Dracula, catering to these legendary monsters is no problem. Until, that is, a young traveler named Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg) stumbles upon the Hotel and makes Dracula’s worst nightmare come true.

Jonathan – a human!! – falls for Mavis. Mavis falls for Jonathan. And Dracula goes even farther into “overprotective Daddy” mode trying to protect his little girl before it’s too late.

This animated family movie is scheduled for release on September 28, 2012 by Sony Pictures Animation. Hotel Transylvania was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky from a screenplay by Don Rhymer. The film also features the voices of Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Cee-Lo Green, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon and Jon Lovitz.

Sparkle

Just how strong are family bonds? When dreams fall apart, can family members hold each other together? Set in the late 1960’s, Sparkle explores these questions and more.

Musical prodigy Sparkle (Jordin Sparks, American Idol season 6 winner) and her two older sisters, Sister (Carmen Ejogo) and Dolores (Tika Sumpter), live with their not-very-encouraging mother Emma (the late Whitney Houston) in an affluent area of Detroit. After singing in a church choir, the three girls are encouraged to form a girl group and quickly become a Motown sensation.

The film tells Sparkle’s story as she struggles with the changes and unexpected challenges that stardom bring. Sparkle becomes romantically involved with her music manager, Stix (Derek Luke), while one of her sisters gets lured into an abusive and drug-filled relationship with Satin, a wealthy comedian (Mike Epps). Along the way Sparkle and her family contend with a host of problems.

Directed by Salim Akil from a screenplay by Mara Brock Akil, Sparkle is a remake of the 1976 film of the same name, which was loosely based on the experiences of the musical group The Supremes. While the film is Jordin Sparks’ debut as an actress, it also marks Whitney Houston’s final feature film role, as she passed away three months after filming concluded. The film, which is set for release on August 17, 2012 by Columbia Pictures (Sony), will be dedicated to Houston’s memory. Sparkle features songs from the original film as well as new compositions from R&B artist R. Kelly.

End of Watch

In End of Watch the mean streets of Los Angeles play host to another police drama. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as Taylor and Zavala, End of Watch tells the story of two gung-ho Los Angeles cops who have been close friends for a long time. After confiscating a small cache of firearms and money during a routine traffic stop, Taylor and Zavala find themselves marked for death as a dangerous cartel’s “most wanted.” It’s a powerful story of friendship and courage that shows the price that cops and their families are forced to pay each day in their never-ending fight against crime.

Written and directed by David Ayer and based partly on stories told to Mr. Ayer by a friend who is a police officer, End of Watch was written in just six days and filmed in only 22. The film also stars Anna Kendrick as Janet, Cody Horn as Police Officer Davis and America Ferrara as Police Officer Orozco. Interestingly, End of Watch was filmed entirely through the handheld HD cameras of the police officers, gang members,  surveillance cameras and citizens caught in the line of fire, creating a feeling of immediacy that is somewhere between a found footage film and a documentary.

End of Watch is scheduled for release on September 28, 2012 by Open Road Films.