L I M I T E DOperation Filmmaker -Muthana Mohmed is the new Troy Duffy! Turns out when Liev Schreiber saw Mr. Mohmed featured as an aspiring Iraqi director on MTV's True Life (clue #1 dude) he decided to generously set him up for some PA work on Everything is Illuminated. But Mohmed turned out to be a not-so-grateful, ego-driven, rock-star-life-seeking, phenomenon wannabe. Nina Davenport catches the whole thing on film in this documentary. Also I know I didn't have clues #2 & #3, but really clue #1 should have been enough.
Mongol -Admittedly up until about a day ago I kept thinking this was the film Nomad from a few years back. But apparently they are not to be confused (though they share directors in Sergei Bodrov). Where Nomad was a bit sketchy critically, Mongol is being praised as a glorious epic telling of the story of Ghengis Khan. Also it was among this year's Best Foreign Film Oscar Nominees.
The Promotion -A reasonable success at SXSW, Steve Conrad (who wrote The Pursuit of Happyness but managed to properly spellcheck this film's title) first-time directs this comedy that has Sean William Scott and John C. Reilly as two mid-level employees competing for the same managerial job.
Miss Conception -Heather Graham is a woman mid-thirties who learns that menopause will be coming unusually early for her. Sounds like every woman's worst nightmare. Wait, strike that - Sounds like every horrible, Hollywood cliched, biological clock obsessed woman's worst nightmare.
W I D EYou Don't Mess With the Zohan -I still feel like this movie is an attempt to riff on John Turturro's famous "Nobody f#cks with the Jesus" line and then build an entire movie around it. Reviews are mixed with a surprising number calling it (not kidding) an insightful exploration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kung Fu Panda -Word is, if you're going to see just one talking animal cartoon this week, this should be it. Jack Black's voice stars as a Panda who dreams of being a Kung Fu Master. Hilarity and quality computer animation ensue. Interestingly, co-director Mark Osborne may be best known for his Oscar Nominated (and later music video commandeered) short film More (oh so very different than animal hi jinks).
Whew, no shortage of releases this week. Others include the final entry in Dario Argento's Three Mothers trilogy, The Mother of Tears. Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth do serious father/son relationship in When Did You Last See Your Father? The ever lovely Zooey Deschanel stars in the road-trip comedy The Go-Getter. And sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison is profiled in Dreams With Sharp Teeth.
