This is 40

 

This is 40 is writer/director/producer Judd Apatow’s  “sort-of sequel” to the 2007 film Knocked Up, featuring married couple Pete (Paul Rund) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) who were seen in (but were not the main focus of) the 2007 film. This is 40 asks the question: How are Pete and Debbie coping with marriage, family life and turning 40?

 

The answer is not very well. The couple appears to have gotten bogged down in the day-to-day drudgery of work, kids and a so-so relationship. Then Debbie has one of those “aha” moments when she realizes that if they want to experience more happiness, they need to “make a choice to make things different.” After all, they’re not getting any younger. So Debbie draws up a list of all of things they need to “do better” – exercise more, get more involved with the kids’ school, change some of their parenting habits, and put some fun back into their marriage. Will Debbie’s “do better” campaign work out? See the movie and find out!

 

This is 40 is scheduled for a December 21, 2012 release by Universal Pictures. Rated R for sexual content, crude humor, pervasive language and some drug material, the comedy also stars Megan Fox, John Lithgow, Iris Apatow, Maude Apatow, Melissa McCarthy, Robert Smigel, Charlene Yi, and Albert Brooks.

Heleno

 

One of the greatest soccer player in Brazilian history, Heleno de Freitas (Rodrigo Santoro) played in the 1940s with an aggressive style that revolutionized the sport. Heleno is director Jose Henrique Fonseca’s biographical look at the life of a man whose aggressive style on the field was matched by his womanizing and substance abuse off the field. Shot in black and white to evoke the look and feel of the classic Hollywood movies of the era, Heleno gives viewers the sense and image of a man whose arrogance and violent temper ultimately destroyed his life, as well as a sense of the times in which he lived.

 

As a soccer player, Heleno was anything but a team player. He played a very aggressive game, scoring 209 goals for Rio’s Botafogo club. Heleno’s ultimate dream was to lead Brazil to victory at the World Cup. Sadly, he never had the chance, as World War II prompts the cancellation of the 1942 and 1946 World Cup tournaments. Although Heleno is about the life of a great soccer player, the movie does not actually show a lot of soccer. It focuses instead on his off-field romances, tantrums, nightclubbing, ether addiction and, in the end, syphilis-induced madness.

 

Heleno was filmed in Portuguese. The drama is scheduled for a limited New York release by Screen Media Films on December 7, 2012. Based on a screenplay by Felipe Braganca, Fernando Castets and director Jose Henrique Fonseca, Heleno also stars Alinne Moraes and Angie Cepeda.

Playing for Keeps

 

In Playing for Keeps, Gerard Butler plays George, a handsome and charming former Scottish soccer star. Down on his luck, George heads to the United States to reconnect with his ex-wife Stacie (Jessica Biel) and son. In trying to redeem himself he agrees to coach his son’s soccer team – much to the delight of the entire town, especially the beautiful soccer moms who take a liking to him.

 

George was a pro at soccer but an amateur at life. In Playing for Keeps he suddenly finds himself with a lot of second chances – with his son, with his career, and, possibly, with his ex-wife. His attempts to get his act together are all met with hilarious challenges in this feel-good romantic comedy.

 

Playing for Keeps was directed by Gabriele Muccino based on a screenplay by Robbie Fox. Scheduled for a December 7, 2012 release by FilmDistrict, Playing for Keeps also stars Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dennis Quaid.

Not Fade Away

 

For his first feature film, David Chase, the creator of HBO’s wildly popular series, The Sopranos, presents a deeply personal reflection on growing up in America in the 1960’s. Not Fade Awayis the story of Doug (John Magaro) and his two best friends, who are inspired by The Rolling Stones’ television performance to form a band of their own.

 

Not Fade Away, which took its title from a song made popular by both Buddy Holly and The Rolling Stones, is fundamentally aboutthe formative influence of music on a generation – although Chase has also described the film as being about “the conflict between freedom and security.” A coming-of-age drama, Not Fade Away chronicles the changes in Doug’s life, relationships and self-image as he pursues his rock star dreams against a backdrop of the changing social dynamics and values conflicts that were taking place in society at this time.

 

Rated R for pervasive language, some drug use and sexual content, Not Fade Away is scheduled for a limited release on December 21, 2012 by Paramount Vantage. The musical drama also stars Jack Huston, Will Brill, Bella Heathcote, Brad Garrett, Christopher McDonald, and James Gandolfini.

Life of Pi

 

In Life of Pi, Piscine “Pi” Molitor Patel (newcomer Suraj Sharma) is an Indian teenager whose father runs a zoo. Although Pi loves his life in India, tough times force his parents to sell the zoo and move overseas. The family and all of their animals are on a freighter when a horrific storm results in a tragic shipwreck. Against all odds, Pi manages to escape from the sinking ship and get into a life boat. And that, says an older Pi who serves as the film’s narrator, is when Pi’s “greatest journey began.”

 

 

Losing your entire family and being the lone human survivor of a shipwreck would be frightening enough. But, as Pi soon discovered, this was not the only thing that he had to confront. As it turns out, Pi was not the only one who managed to make it to the lifeboat: a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker had made it to this boat as well, and the two were now adrift at sea together. As he is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery, Pi forms an amazing and unexpected connection with this fearsome wild animal.

 

In filming Life of Pi, director Ang Lee made the most of the 3D medium. Although Lee used a real tiger in some scenes, a completely digital tiger appears in all of the more complicated sequences – requiring a perfect match between real and digital beast.

 

The screenplay for Life of Pi was written by David Magee, based on the award-winning 2001 novel of the same name by Yann Martel. The drama also features Irffan Khan, Gerard Depardieu, Adil Hussain and Rafe Spall. Life of Pi, which is rated PG for emotional thematic content throughout and some scary action sequences and peril, is scheduled for release by 20^th Century Fox in both 2D and 3D on November 21, 2012.

Identity Thief

 

In today’s world, identity theft is a nightmare that affects millions of people each year. Upon learning that they’re a victim of identify theft, most people contact the police, the credit bureaus, and other authorities to try to straighten things out. But in Identity Thief, a new comedy from director Seth Gordon, that’s not the approach taken by mild-mannered Denver businessman Sandy Bigelow Patterson (Jason Bateman). Sandy, a “regular guy,” has discovered that he is the victim of identity theft. With everything to lose, he hits the road knowing he has just one week to hunt down the con artist and straighten things out before his world implodes.

 

Meanwhile, Diana (Melissa McCarthy), is living it up in Florida. A frosted-hair shop-a-holic, Diana is having a blast buying anything and everything that her heart desires. The only problem, of course, is that the ID that she’s using to finance her spending spree indicates that she is “Sandy Bigelow Patterson”! When the real Sandy Bigelow Patterson catches up with her, he quickly discovers that she is far less harmless than she looks.

 

Based on a screenplay by Steve Conrad and Craig Mazin, Identity Thief is scheduled for release on February 8, 2013 by Universal Pictures. The comedy also stars Jon Favreau, Amanda Peet, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Genesis Rodriguez, Morris Chestnut, John Cho, Robert Patrick and Eric Stonestreet.

Oblivion

 

The setting: a post-apocalyptic Earth. The time: The future, when Earth has evolved beyond recognition. In fact, most people live in the clouds because Earth is no longer habitable. They face a terrifying threat from the Scavs, with whom they’ve had decades of war.

 

In “Oblivion,” Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is a drone repairman and former soldier. As one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth, he’s part of a massive operation to extract vital resources from the planet. He lives and patrols the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above the planet. But when Jack rescues a beautiful stranger (Andrea Riseborough) from a downed spacecraft, his life gets turned upside down. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces Jack to question everything he knows. Ultimately he ends up on a journey of redemption and discovery, and battles to save the fate of mankind.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski from a screenplay by William Monahan, Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt, “Oblivion” is an epic science fiction thriller. Filmed in stunning digital 4K resolution on location across the U.S. and Iceland, the film is scheduled for a limited IMAX release one week before its general release on April 19, 2013 by Universal Pictures. “Oblivion” also stars Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Melissa Leo and Zoe Bell.

 

World War Z

 

In “World War Z,” director Marc Forster’s film adaptation of Max Brooke’s best-selling novel, “World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War,” the “Z” stands for “Zombie.” Lots of zombies. Zombies that, as visual effects supervisor John Nelson explains, “are like predatory animals that can’t control themselves. Their instinct to infect is so basic, efficient and overpowering. They will go through anything. If they lose both legs, they will walk on their hands.” And with the human population falling by the millions, the Zs appear to be on track towards taking over the world.

 

Against this backdrop meet Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), a United Nations researcher and devoted family man. With civilization teetering on collapse, Gerry is tapped to travel the world in a race against time. His goal: to search for information that will stop the zombie outbreak that is toppling armies and governments around the globe.

 

The screenplay for “World War Z” was written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Damon Lindelof. Mireille Enos plays Gerry’s wife, Karin, while Daniella Kertesz is his comrade-in-arms, Segen. The horror/thriller also stars James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox and David Morse. Paramount Pictures plans to release “World War Z” on June 21, 2013.

The Big Wedding

 

Don and Ellie Griffin (Robert Di Niro and Diane Keaton) fell in love, got married, had children, fell out of love, and got divorced. Don married Ellie’s good friend Lyla (Katherine Heigl). The kids grew up. Everyone moved on with their lives. “The Big Wedding” starts out as a typical American story.

 

Now, years later, Don and Ellie’s adopted son Alejandro (Ben Barnes) is getting married. The plans for a big wedding are going well until Al drops a bomb on the family: his biological mother has decided to fly halfway across the world to attend the event. An ultra-conservative Catholic, she believes that divorce is a terrible sin. Which is why for the past 15 years Al has neglected to tell her that his parents are not only “heathens,” they’re also divorced.

 

What can they do? Al doesn’t want to disappoint his biological mother, who “gave up her only son in the hopes that he could have a better life.” The solution: for one weekend, Don and Ellie will pretend to be a happily married couple once again. Among all of their family and friends, the hoax snowballs into a poignant and raucously funny story as the Griffins are forced to confront their past, present and future.

 

“The Big Wedding” is an American remake of the original French film written by Jean-Stephane Bron and Karine Sudan. Written and directed by Justin Zackham, “The Big Wedding” is scheduled for release on April 26, 2013 by Lionsgate. The all-star cast also includes Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams and Christine Ebersole.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

 

In “Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning,” the latest in the “Universal Soldier” feature film series, the universal soldier (UniSol) cloning program is out of control and an army of UniSols has gone AWOL. “Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning” is a story of power, revenge and vindication, as only one man can stop the UniSols from achieving their goal of building a new order – with the UniSols, of course, in control.

 

When John (Scott Adkins) wakes up from a coma he learns that his wife and daughter were brutally murdered in a terrifying home invasion. John vows to take revenge and kill the man responsible for the attack, Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme). While John tries to piece his reality back together, Deveraux and his band of UniSols are busy testing their strongest warriors in violent life-and-death combat. Pursued by Magnus (Andre Arlovski), a relentless UniSol, John succeeds in getting closer to Deveraux and his rogue army of genetically enhanced warriors. But the closer he gets, the more John begins to doubt everything he previously believed to be true.

“Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning” was directed by John Hyams from a screenplay by Hyams, Doug Magnuson and John Greenhalgh. The action film is scheduled for a limited release on November 30, 2012 by Magnolia Pictures, and also stars Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski and Dolph Lundgren.