JUNE, 17


MOUSE GUARD 2

Action / Adventure / Animation

The Cast Of Voices: Dominic West, Hugh Laurie, Anton Yelchin, Al Pacino, Diane Kruger, Cobie Smulders, Emily Blunt

The Director: Joe Carnahan
The Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards

The Plot:

After the Fall of 1152 came the Winter, which after treacherous events the Mouse Territories were unprepared for. There is now a shortage of food preserves and even medicine is scarce in all territories. Gwendolyn (D.Kruger), The Guard's matriarchal and benevolent leader, has sent eleven of her best Guardmice to act as ambassadors and gather supplies.

The wise greyfur mouse Kenzie (H.Laurie), the impulsive warrior Saxon (D.West), the brave and young Lieam (A.Yelchin), the sweet soldier Sadie (C.Smulders), and the legend himself Celenawe the Black Axe (A.Pacino) all venture out through the winter storm. On their way to Sprucetuck the five Guardmice have to tunnel through snow in order to escape the fierce weather above, to which Saxon of course finds cowardly. The group finally arrives in Sprucetuck and looks up at the tower-like city who's insides mimic that of a spiral staircase. The mice meet with the mayor and give him Gwendolyn's invitation to a Summit and ask of any spare elixir for Lockhaven is of dire need. The mayor gives them two bottles for it is all they can spare. Kenzie tells the Mayor that escorts will arrive in 7 days to accompany him to Lockhaven for the Summit.

Departing the city, Saxon and Kenzie discuss who's really leading this group, Kenzie or Celenawe. Saxon says that Lieam stands in awe to ever word, and Kenzie is willing to lose another days travel with rest tonight. Kenzie tells him that "If last Fall taught us anything, its that a threat can come from any mouse...even a red cloaked one like you Saxon." Saxon says he'll always follow Kenzie's lead. As the storm grows harder, Celenawe spots that they are being hunted. We see an owl perched on a branch glaring down at the group. Sadie bounces from the pack, whips out her bow and pops the Owl in the eye with a small rock. The owl's eyes is bleeding, and it flies off. And the group continues on through the night despite Celeanawe's suggestion of rest.

Back at Lockhaven, Gwendolyn meets with her advisers and looks over a map of the territories. Kenzie and his group should arrive within two days she says. She then travels to her private quarters where the healer Abigail (E.Blunt) tends to a sick mouse. Abigail lets her know that he doesn't have long to live with the inflaming spreading.

Meanwhile the young Lieam trips, and as he falls the snow covered ground below breaks instantly. Celenawe is quick enough to grab Lieam but Sadie,Kenzie and Saxon fall deep underground. Sadie is the first to her feet, and notices that they fell into a tunnel. Saxon tries to use his sword to climb out but to no avail when Celenawe spots markings on the tunnel wall. The markings of a weasel, this tunnel is "Darkheather". The place thought to be ruined after the Mice/Weasel War. The trio have no choice but to follow the tunnel out and hope to meet at the end. Celenawe explains to Lieam that it is their duty to deliver the medicine to Lockhaven. The two of them head off through the winter day, all while Celenawe tutors Lieam on becoming his own mouse.

The trio of Sadie, Kenzie and Saxon continue on as the tunnel gets deeper. As usual, best friends Kenzie and Saxon begin to argue. They eventually breach a gate and enter a weasels underground palace. This abandoned palace isn't too far from Lockhaven and could have been used against the city, though Saxon believes it may still have dwellers.

Back at Lockhaven, Gwendolyn checks on the injured mouse, Rand, progress but Abigail is missing. Rand is able to get a faint whisper out. "Poison" he says. And Gwendolyn finds a poisonous herb that eventually kills if used correctly. Gwendolyn immediately sends notice to close all exits of Lockhaven and no one is allowed to leave. She explains the situation to her advisers and courtmice. "HUNT HER DOWN!"

The weather outside is unbearable now, so Celenawe and Lieam dig beneath the snow to have some form of cover against the icy winds. As the two sit trying to keep warm, Liem asks if Celenawe is truly the legendary Black Axe. He says "I was afraid of asking before. Afraid of the answer, if you are or if you were not." Celenawe says that he is, and tells the story of how Midnight must have stolen the axe from under his nose. We see flashes of a younger Celenawe fighting Weasels, Wolves and carving his name into boulders. When Lieam questions Celenawe's actions, claiming that he's too young, he responds "I am shrouded in myth and legend. It is my absence from Mouse society that lends me the mystery I need. You know not of how old or how young I am." Celenawe says that he'll teach him more about the axe when the time is right.

Saxon and Kenzie continue to bicker, and Sadie notices the family of bats on the kingdom ceiling. They hiss like snakes. "Leeeeave." Saxon questions the loyalty of the bats, and ponders aloud whether they would snitch to the Weasels. Provoking them to attack, and carry Saxon around the high halls. Kenzie uses the small fire on his staff to fend off the bats from Sadie, while Saxon is carried off elsewhere.

Celenawe hears something...Lieam notices that one of the bottles have broken in the cold. We zoom out of the hole, and see an owl with one eye standing just above their hole. Lieam draws his sword, and Celenawe his axe and almost instantly the bird reaches down grabbing Celenawe from behind. The owl snatches and twirls Celenawe around, and throws him down.

Saxon slices the bat while flying around Darkheather, and they fall down deep into a dwell. Saxon lands on an enormous pile of mouse skeletons. The rest of the bats fly out of Darkheather while Sadie and Kenzie search for Saxon in the dark halls. Sadie says that she doubts Saxon approves of Ladymice in the Guard, and Kenzie replies that Saxon has always loved one from afar. Saxon gets up from the bones, and makes a fire from his cloak, and looks around at all the skeletons of caged mice. He spots a familiar cloak and sword, that of his former Master Loukas. Saxon breaks down and cries, and we flashback to Loukas training a young Saxon.

Two soldiers find Abigail back at Lockhaven. She is standing over a well with a jar. She explains that she is the reason why Lockhaven has this shortage of medicine and supplies. She says that mice in other cities are doing the same.

"You can not unthink Midnight's ideas or truths. Midnight's Kingdom is not an end...I was to be his Queen!"

The soldiers fire their arrows and strike Abigail in the chest, sending her into the well, along with the jar. The soldiers check a drip of what was in the jar, and confirm that it is poison. Back at Darkheather, Saxon finds Kenzie and Sadie sleeping. He wakes them up and yells that Kenzie would rather dream next to Sadie than to help find him. Kenzie replies that if Saxon is upset that he didnt follow his heart then leave Kenzie and Sadie out of it. Kenzie then notices the sword and warns to treat it like no other sword before it. The trio then discover what seems to be a stream of flowing water that could be their way out.

Celenawe and Lieam still battle the Owl outside, and Celenawe wants Lieam to leave and take the medicine back to Lockhaven. The owl grabs Celenawe, and slams him in the snow repeatedly. Lieam jumps on the Owl's back and the three fly off. Lieam climbs to the head, and stabs the Owl. They then go crashing down...

Sadie, Kenzie and Saxon travel the water via a large bucket. Kenzie notices that the water still takes them towards Lockhaven. Sadie says the columns of the hall look more ancient than typical Weasel work. They then see Abigail's body floating in the water, next to a cracked cistern. Kenzie notices the mark of Lockhaven on it. The trio are finally home. They yell up the well and are pulled out moments later. They then explain that Darkheather connects with the well to Gwendolyn. She tells them that Lieam and Celenawe have yet to arrive.

Celenawe gets his axe, charges toward the Owl screaming "This ends in death!" and slices his foot. The owl then bites Celenawe and throws him aside, where he lay motionless. Lieam gets up, grabs his sword and stands off with the owl. He hears all the little things Celenawe has told him since they met. They charge at each other and Lieam is able to get under the birds head and stab him under his beak. The bird falls, but Lieam runs towards Celenawe's axe. He takes it, and finishes the owl with a strike to the back of the head. Sadie, Kenzie and Saxon then take some jackrabbits out to find their lost guardmice.

They find the dead owl, with one set of mice tracks heading in the opposite direction. Through the strong snow winds they see Lieam carrying Celenawe and the axe, just before he passes out. They arrive back in Lockhaven, where they inform Gwendolyn that Lieam slayed an owl, but Celenawe is dead. Saxon hides the black axe from wandering eyes...They hold a small funeral atop of the Lockhaven tower. Sadie whispers to Kenzie that they are hardly doing justice to Celenawe's memory, but he replies "Only those who knew his other name will know the legend died with him."

After the funeral, Saxon walks to Gwendolyn, gets down on his knee and says "I have been to hell and back. Twice now. I must know there is more to our lives than this..." And the two kiss against a beautiful starry sky.

We flashback to Lieam hovering over Celenawe's body after killing the Owl. "I knew from the start, this was to end in death" Celenawe says. "I've put this off for far too long now...Lieam, you are the Black Axe now."


Stark’s Comment:
‘Mouse Guard’ made a box office of 166 millions generating 171 millions of net gains. The film was also considered a most innovative proposal in the animation genre. So I have big hopes for this sequel both in terms of financial and critical success.

Behind The Scenes:
-Based on the David Petersen’s comic books.
-The only new voice in the cast not heard in the first movie is Emily Blunt’s.
-Some talents in the cast of voices could be seen this Season in CMP’s movies: Al Pacino (‘Grand Theft Auto’), Cobie Smulders (‘Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths’) and Diane Kruger (‘Lemioux’). The three of them are regulars in Edwards’ films.
-A third installment of this saga might be produced if this sequel works nicely at box office.

MARIO

Adventure / Comedy

The Cast: Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Aziz Ansari, Will Ferrel, Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Emmy Rossum, Danny McBride, Bill Hader. Voice of Chris Rock.

The Director and Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
The Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment

The Plot:

We are introduced to 2 stoner plumblers, Seth (Rogen) and Paul (Rudd).They are mischevious, but one day when they are on the job, they find Aziz (Ansari). He is an energetic client of theirs, and when they finish their job, he gives them an offer. He asks them if they want to try ‘shrooms with him. It would be his first time, as well as theirs. They agree,and take them.A fun, colorful, dream-like sequence takes place, and they all end up in some sort of dream world. They see a sign reading ‘Mushroom Kingdom”.

Seth is wearing blue overalls, with a red undershirt, and a hat with an M on it. He also has a macho porn-star mustache. Paul looks the same, just with a green undershirt and an L hat. They look strangely at each other for a few seconds.”Hey guys! Don’t forget about me!” The camera pans down, and Aziz is there, half their size, looking like a mushroom.”What is this?!?” he yells. Seth and Paul laugh hysterically at the sight. They agree to make up names for themselves,Seth being Mario, Paul-Luigi, and Aziz-Toad.”Toad!?!Man why do you guys get cool human names and I get some slimey name that makes me look like a cross between a mushroom and an X-men villain?”

A green dinosaur named Yoshi (C.Rock in motion-capture) comes up to them,and introduces them to Mushroom Kingdom. He was assigned by the friendly Toadsworth, an elderly overlooker of the Kingdom. Yoshi is talks a lot, and makes a lot of jokes (in a typical Chris Rock nature).

They go on and explore the city, and find that a majority of the population are actually mushroom-like creatures called Toads. “Ha!Now it’s you guys that are the weird looking outcasts!” Toad exclaims.They convince Toad to talk to one of his fellow Toads. He tells them that he’s found two strangers, looking for a way out of the Kingdom. He asks where they should go for directions, and the citizen points them to King Bowser’s castle.But he warns them that Bowser is King of the Koopas, the enemies of the peaceful Toads.

But on the way up to the Castle,a gorilla-like creature named a Kong picks up Toad,and starts questioning him (he‘s mistaken as someone else).Mario and Luigi try to stop him and ask him what‘s wrong, while Toad starts freaking out. As a reference to the mafia world, the kong tells Mario and Luigi that the toad owes him some debt to their leader, Donkey Kong. Mario and Luigi tell the Kong that they will go to talk to Donkey Kong.They travel up to the top of Kong Mountain,and find Donkey Kong(Jason Segel in mo-cap). At first he refuses to talk to anyone.

Then Mario tells him that Luigi will act as a Jester,and try to entertain him. And so at first Luigi tries some stand up jokes, which DK doesn’t like. “Did you hear about the blonde who returned a scarf to the store because it was too tight?” Luigi jokes. DK looks to the side of the room and we see his love, the blonde Candy Kong, who is wearing an extravagant outfit including a scarf.Luigi and Mario notice and DK gets mad and tells them to leave. Meanwhile, Candy tells Donkey Kong that the toilet is broke…again. A lightbulb pops up over Mario’s head, and everyone in the room notices. He quickly grabs it and turns it off. “How about this…you give us Toad back,and we will give you free plumbing for whenever you need it!” he yells. Luigi pulls Mario over “Whoa man, do we really care about Toad that much?I mean we only met him today.” he says. DK interupts them “Okay.Deal” and a smile comes onto his face. When they get back to the village and get Toad back, they are national heroes as they are the first from the Toad’s village to ever communicate with Donkey Kong.

As they go back on their way to Bowser‘s castle, Toad is mistaken to be someone he’s not again. They think he is a Mushroom Retainer, a toad hired by the Chancellor of the Toads to protect Princess Peach (A.Adams) and her friend from a nearby region, Princess Daisy (E.Rossum).Mario and Luigi follow Toad,and when they find the princesses they fall in love.Toad tells them to stay away, and goes to hit on the girls. “Hey ladies,I am Toad…as you can tell, I am the sexiest toad in Mushroom Kingdom!” he claims. “Um…you look like all of the other toads?” Daisy says. Both princesses look up and spot Mario and Luigi laughing at Toad’s failure.A cheesy montage ensues as it zooms in on the eyes of Peach and Mario, and romantic music plays. “Mario,why don’t I get a stinkin montage?” Luigi says, hitting Mario in the back of the head. “Okay,okay!” Mario says. Cheesy romantic music plays again as it shows Luigi look into Daisy’s eyes. But Daisy seems unintrested, looking elsewhere, therefore ruining the montage.

Mario and Luigi introduce themselves, with Peach being dreamy eyed, and Daisy being dull. They tell them that they are going up to the castle,and asking Bowser for help.Toad is busy doing human tricks like juggling nearby objects, and all of the other Mushroom Detainers watch on in amazement. The ground begins to shake,and a group Koopa Troopas(Bowser’s soldiers) storm by and capture the princesses. Mario and Luigi travel to Bowser’s castle, where they meet the evil,powerful,dinosaur-like Koopa…King Bowser (W.Ferrell in mo-cap).At first friendly, Bowser grows agitated by them asking for a way to get back to the real world. He tells them they are in the real world.Bowser then tells them that if they want to return to their original home, they must win a set of races held by Bowser himself. Mario and Luigi discuss it, and agree that they will compete.

The races are set up in a points system, where the drivers earn points for where they place after each race. After all 4 races are up, the person with the most points wins the coveted Star Cup, and for Mario,Luigi,or Toad, a way to get back home. Mario, Luigi, Toad and Yoshi each have their own karts in the race. They are happy to find out that Peach and Daisy are participating too. We then cut to Wario (D.McBride) and Waluigi (B.Hader), who both look like Mario and Luigi, but are obviously evil. They used to be well-known heroes in the area, but Mario and Luigi have since stolen the spotlight. So they plan on removing them from Mushroom Kingdom and decide to join the race.

So this bring the competitors to eight, with nine being the needed number. Bowser warns them if they cannot find the last driver, they won’t be able to race. They search through the whole Kingdom, with no luck. Then a lightbulb pops up over Luigi’s head. “Okay Mario,I gotta admit,this is pretty cool!”. He points to Kong Mountain, with everyone looking simultaneously at it and smiling. Driving his barrel kart is the big and powerful Donkey Kong.

The first race takes place at Koopa Troopa Beach (http://www.mariowiki.com/Koopa_Troopa_Beach), with Mario winning, Wario in second, and Luigi in third. Next up is Toad’s Turnpike (http://www.mariowiki.com/Toad's_Turnpike), a course within the city streets full with busy streets and sky scrapers. Toad wins the race and is electric and makes fun of everyone who doubted him. Donkey Kong overpowers everyone to get in second, and Mario gets third, and stay in first place. Next is the Jungle Parkway (http://www.mariowiki.com/D.K.'s_Jungle_Parkway), which is DK’s speciality. Donkey Kong and Mario battle for second, with Luigi leading. Even though DK has been shooting bananas and shells at Luigi, he’s been dodging them.Then Wario phones into Waluigi and tells him to go around and drive backwards and crash Luigi. He does, knocking them both out of the race, and getting himself DQ’d,and ruining Luigi‘s kart. Donkey Kong wins and Wario hits Mario with a bomb at the end, forcing him to third place.

The next place takes place at the dreaded Bowser Castle (http://www.mariowiki.com/Bowser_Castle). It is a dangerous course, with Bowser overlooking. It is the final race, and Mario and Donkey Kong are tied in the rankings. If either win the race, they win the cup. It’s a footrace between DK and Mario,but neither can gain a lead. Finally, Mario is knocked out again by Wario. They both race for the lead, until someone else races through to knock them out. It’s Yoshi. He saves the day and knocks them both to the back with Mario, placing Yoshi,Peach,and Toad in first,second,and third respectively.

Not sure what to do, Bowser announces a final race between only Donkey Kong and Mario to decide the winner. He announces they will be traveling to Rainbow Road (http://www.mariowiki.com/Rainbow_Road) for the last go-around.The race is intense with Mario gaining an early lead. He is running(or racing) away with it, but nothing is over til it’s over. Bowser, frustrated, decides to enter the race and knock out Mario, and keeping him Mushroom Kingdom to as a slave. Bowser’s kart is enhanced to be better than both DK’s and Mario’s. He catches up to Mario near the end of the race, in what is the most heart-racing scene in the film. Finally after a back and forth battle, Mario leaves behind a banana peel, which Bowser doesn’t see, which knocks him backward,and leaving Mario in first. As he nears the finish line, he begins to celebrate. But just before he reaches it, his car runs out of gas. Donkey Kong races by him for the win, and everyone doesn’t know what to think.

Mario is visually upset, until Peach announces she is the one who messed with his kart. She tells him that never has she felt such a strong to connection to someone like she does with Mario, and that she wants him to stay in Mushroom Kingdom, to protect her. He accepts the offer to much cheering. Toad says he’s okay with staying, as he is now an idol after being the only of his kind to win a race. Luigi tells Mario he’s okay with staying as long as he’ll be with Daisy. She shakes her head no, but after Peach talks to her, she finally tells Luigi she’ll give him a try.

They go onto have many adventures in Mushroom Kingdom. But unfortunately for them, nothing can end happily ever after whenever Bowser is around.


Stark’s Comment:
Who knows what will happen? Everybody knows Mario… but that’s both good and bad. If I’m not wrong, the 1993’s live action movie also based on him wasn’t the box office’s success expected. So I don’t feel 100% sure about what’s going to happen with this one.

Behind The Scenes:
-This is the third directional job of Chad Taylor after ‘Amedia’ and ‘Gaga’.
-Some talents refused the offer to be in this movie: James Franco (replaced by Paul Rudd), Steve Carell (replaced by Bill Hader) and Jack Black (replaced by Danny McBride).
-Rogen, Rudd and Ferrel have worked together before in CMP in Ben Tyler’s ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’.
-Rogen and Ferrel have also worked together in CMP in ‘Borgel’ and ‘Comedy Wars’.
-Seth Rogen and Chris Rock have met before in CMP in Steve Connors’ ‘Black Guys’ and John Daws’ ‘Lieutenant USA and his Warm Steel Gang 2’.
- The motion capture characters in the film look both like the actors and like the characters using CGI (like in new Robert Zemeckis films).

BOARD BREAKER

Drama

The Cast: Max Records, Jackie Earl Haley, Madeline Carroll, Steve Zahn, Laura Dern, Jesse James

The Director and Screenwriter: Josh Collins
The Producer: Grand Island Movies

The Plot:

Zach Emmerson (M.Records) is a lonely class nerd who stutters, acts strangely in front of his classmates (like randomly talks to himself), he picks up the home telephone receiver and starts talking into it like he were speaking to a friend. He has barely any confidence in himself because of the way he is treated by not only his class peers, but also his family. His mother (L.Dern) is a career woman who puts her job before the family. His father (S.Zahn) has a dead-end job and is content with watching television, ignoring the children only "along for the ride." Zach's older brother (J.James) bullies him repeatedly and does everything in his power to keep him down.

Without an outlet to channel his frustrations, he takes it out on himself. He bites his fingers to blood, pulls his hair out, beats himself up. He also takes it out on smaller weaker things such as animals. One particular scene has him pick a small ordinary lizard up and throw it against the wall of his house. The impact kills the lizard, but Zach instantly feels bad, picking it up and seeing it is no longer moving or breathing. He runs to his room and sobs; not only for the lizard, but with all of the crap he's dealt with his whole life. He is also sobbing because he messed up the friendship with the only friend he's managed to keep, Stephanie (M.Carroll), by pushing her away and yelling at her to leave him alone when she was just trying to comfort him.

After his meltdown, his curiosity leads him into a Shorin-Ryu style Karate Dojo. He watches the class train with Kyoshi Steve (aka teacher who is the next step above Sensei rank) When Steve (J.E.Haley) takes a brief notice of Zach, he doesn't say anything but keeps the class going. Zach leaves the dojo and goes home to beg his parents to let him join a dojo. They give in to get him to shut up.

Zach returns to the dojo before classes starts and he sees Steve there. Steve recognizes him and Zach talks about wanting to join. Steve asks Zach why he wants to join and Zach gives the wrong answer that he wants to learn how to fight so he can stick up for himself. Steve just rolls his eyes, shakes his head and says "you're in the wrong place, kid." and asks him to leave. Zach doesn't leave and tells Steve he needs this. Steve tells him he will train him, but Zach needs to get it out of his head that karate is all about fighting.

Zach is a little nervous at first, assuming that he'll just get treated like he does in school and at home. The fellow students and Steve welcome him though and actually make him feel comfortable. He finally gets a solace for his crappy life outside the dojo. He learns throughout his training self-growth, more confidence in himself, etc. Even though he can be picked on at school or home, he can come to the dojo, blow off steam and feel good afterward.

One exercise at the dojo that he is given to do is breaking a board. He tries to concentrate on the break, but ends up punching it wrong and breaking his hand. He's going to be out of Karate until it heals. While he's out, he still gets harassed by his peers, but with his training, he has been able to not throw the first punch. He ends up making up with Stephanie and confidentally asks her out on a "friend date"

One scene involves his brother getting Zach in a headlock to bully him, saying, "Come on, Mr. Karate." Zach ends up defending himself, hurting his own brother. His parents don't see it that way and decide to pull him out of Karate. This pisses Zach off enough to get him to storm out of the house. He goes to talk to Steph about what happened and she holds his hand and sits with him. He tells her he doesn't know what he would have done to himself or other people if he didn't have the dojo to go to. Steph lets him know it's going to be ok by giving him a kiss and leaving him alone to soak it in.

Zach is standing on the roof of his house doing some karate and balancing exercises. His parents try to make him come down, but he completely ignores them because of his concentration. His mother stops by the dojo at the end of the class and speaks to Steve. She tells him about Zach and Steve has good things to say about him and is sorry to see him go. She tells Steve about how Zach has acted before he got into the dojo and now that he was in it, he was actually happy and she feels guilty about not spending enough time with her family, about how his kyoshi knows more about Zach than she does. She admits she's just being selfish and wanted to tell Steve that she would like Zach to be back.

When Zach hears the news, he gets happy again. Despite his peers still thinking he's a joke and want to beat him up, Zach never makes the first move. And at the end of the movie, Zach is going to demonstrate/test for his next belt ranking. He does good, but his next challenge is the board breaking that broke his hand not that long ago. While he focuses and concentrates, he happens to catch his mother and dad in the audience. Stephanie also is seen, smiling at him. He slightly smiles back and returns to his concentration. Zach lifts his hand up, and brings it down, just before it hits the board, it cuts to black for the credits.


Stark’s Comment:
Yes, I know, I know, we are going to be hearing a lot about ‘Karate Kid’ related to this release… Well, if this one makes the same box office than the two versions of ‘Karate Kid’, I can live with that…

Behind The Scenes:
-This is the eighth directional job of Josh Collins. He has been nominated for the Best Director GMA for ‘Hollyweird’.
-Josh Collins has stated that this movie is loosely based on his own childhood / teen years.
-Some of the members of the cast have worked with Collins before: Madeline Carroll (‘The Fantastic Island’, ‘Little Miss Dollface’), Jesse James (‘Lyra’), Steve Zahn (‘The Orphan Train’).
-Max Records makes his debut in CMP with this movie.


THE GOONIES II: It has finally been made public. We know who the new Goonies will be in this awaited sequel directed by Matt Kubrick and produced by Steven Spielberg. And they are… Chloe Moretz, whose latest work in CMP was past Season’s Best Picture GMA Winner, ‘The Show’; Angus T. Jones, the boy from ‘Two Men And A Half’, seen in CMP in ‘Hell Night’; Tyler James Williams, whose previous works for the Studio are ‘The Cool’ and ‘Malcolm Manboobs’; and the Australian actor Callan McAuliffe, seen in Spielberg’s production ‘I Am Number Four’, who makes his CMP’s debut here. By the way, director Matt Kubrick has created a kind of videoblog (see below) in which he will tell how the shooting of the film goes.

THIS FAR FROM HEAVEN: Richard Franzwa announced past week his retirement as CMP’s screenwriter. But he still has one more story to be released. And it is this western. Clint Eastwood returns to genre that made him a legend directing this film. That means the fifth directional job of Eastwood for CMP. His previous films as director for the Studio were the western ‘Dakota North’, the Best Picture and Best Director GMA Winner ‘Nagasaki Daydreams’, the courtroom drama ‘A Hard Place’, also written by Franzwa, and the acclaimed ‘A Jazz Tale’.

COUSINS: Jason Reitman and James Bradley succeeded past Season with the acid satire ‘The Show’. The film became one of the most awarded movies ever at the GMA with 5 statues (including Best Picture, Screenplay and Director). Now, they have decided to team up again with this American remake of a recent and pretty successful Spanish comedy about three cousins and best friends who travel back to their hometown after some years away. The cousins will be played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, returning to the comedy genre in CMP after his work in ‘The Forgotten’ saga; Dane Cook, who already worked with Bradley in the critically acclaimed comedy ‘Crossovers’; and Jon Heder, seen before in CMP in ‘Lieutenant USA and the Warm Steel Gang 2’ and the megahit ‘Woodland Creatures’.

FIRST FLIGHT: Willem Dafoe plays the main villain in this spaceship adventure written by the debutante Ben Goldey and being directed and produced by JJ Abrams. The latest time we saw Dafoe in a CMP’s movie it was also in an Abrams’ film: ‘Earth 3K’. Other CMP’s films with Dafoe in them are ‘The Avengers 3’, ‘He-Man. The Power of Greyskull’ or ‘Monolith’.

JUST THERE: Trent Nielsen keeps writing screenplays from time to time. And he recently stated that he plans to direct all the stories he may develop in the future. Latest Nielsen’s work as writer and director was the acclaimed and multi-nominated love story ‘Snow’. Past Season, Jim Sturgess won the Best Actor and the Best Starring Couple (together with Emma Watson) GMAs with that movie. Now, Nielsen returns to youngsters and romance with this new drama also written and directed by him. And the very appealing starring couple he has chosen this time are the CMP’s debutante Liam Aiken and no other than GMA Winner and CMP’s icon Dakota Fanning, definitely leaving behind her cute girl roles.

L.A. WOLF: Two big names to add to the cast of this remake written and directed by Chad Taylor. The veteran and legendary Peter O’Toole returns to the Studio after only two previous works in CMP: ‘Parody Of Arts’ and a voice-only work in ‘The Wind In The Willows’. And GMA Winner Paul Bettany, seen this Season in ‘Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths’, also joins the cast leaded by Nathan Fillion.

UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES: The very sexy Kelly Brook, who made his debut in CMP in Matt Kubrick’s ‘The Shield’, will be the rival of Jessica Biel in Gerard Butler’s heart in this sequel written by Steve Connors and directed by Stephen Sommers. Brook plays a colleague of Butler as treasure-hunter. Jason Patric, seen before in ‘Fictitious Images’ and the two ‘Zoids’ movies, also joins the cast as one of the villains of the function.

MAN OF SEA: Max Records is going to make his debut in CMP this week with ‘Board Breaker’. But even before ‘Board Breaker’ was greenlighted, he had already been chosen by Chad Taylor to play Jim Carrey’s son in this drama directed by Spike Jonze. Robin Wright Penn will play Max’s mother here. Last times we saw Robin in CMP was in two Josh Collins’ films: ‘In Spirit’ and ‘Fireflies In The Jelly-Jars’.

THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY: Freddy Rodriguez, only seen before in CMP in Matt Kubrick’s ‘Suicide Squad’, will play James Franco’s brother in this movie written and directed by Ben Tyler. Tilda Swinton, seen in ‘Assassin’s Creed II’, will work again with Tyler here after the good experience of ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’. She got a GMA nod for her work in that movie. And the most peculiar casting choice made by Tyler for this more than peculiar movie is Tom Baker, best known for having played the 4th reincarnation of the iconic British Tv’s legend Doctor Who.

THE SHERIFF, SALOON AND THE STORM: After this busy Season, where we saw him in ‘A View From The Bridge’ and ‘Death Cruise’, Steve Buscemi will stay busy next Season working in this western written by Dawson Edwards and being directed by Steven Soderbergh.


DAWSON EDWARDS – ‘MOUSE GUARD 2’

Dawson Edwards releases this week the sequel of the animated hit ‘Mouse Guard’. A completely different approach to animation from his other animated saga ‘F-Zero’. Edwards has also gone through up and downs this Season with movies like ‘Kite’ and ‘Lemieux’. And he will be releasing soon the Steven Soderbergh’s western ‘The Sheriff, Saloon And The Storm’. We have talked with him this week about all these movies.

1.'Mouse Guard' showed to be a great combination of artsy animation and box office's success. Did you expect such a wonderful reaction from both critics and audiences to this experience?

I have learned to never expect anything when it comes to box office numbers or critical acclaim. That being said, I wasn't surprised that 'Mouse Guard' was received well. Its truly a beautiful story and very captivating on the big screen. Come to think of it, I still have to finish working on the next Mouse Guard film.

2.Joe Carnahan and you have proven that still it is possible to make and succeed with animated movies different from the 'Pixar style'...

Yes! I'm so thankful for that as well. Don't get my wrong, I love computer generated movies like 'F-Zero' and 'Toy Story 3' but they'll never replace the feel of the hand drawn animation. We're very fortunate to have Joe be a fan of this style of animation too. Hopefully, Mouse Guard will be just as classic as 'The Lion King' or 'Aladdin'.

3.You have gone this Season through two very different experiences with your live action releases 'Kite' and 'Lemieux'. While 'Kite' was criticcally acclaimed and audiences responded pretty well, 'Lemieux' was not too supported by critics or moviegoers. What are your feelings about this two releases?

A part of me just wants to believe that audiences just didn't want to watch a biography but the writer part of me says "You fucked up." I know 'Lemieux' wasn't the best I could have done. It was honestly a rushed movie. I was so excited to do it that I banged out that script and sent my vision to CMP without giving it a second polish whatsoever. Which is drastically different from 'Kite'. I slaved over that movie, because I had watched it a million times. I love the original anime movie and I always thought that with a great director, this movie would be phenomenal in live action. Luckily, audiences agreed with me. Hopefully with the next season I'll be a little more balanced in my success.

4.There are a lot of expectations about your upcoming western 'The Sheriff, Saloon and the Storm'. What can you tell us about this movie?

Well, the movie was inspired by Matt Kubrick's "Legend of the West". I enjoyed that movie an awful lot but it inspired me more than it fulfilled me. I wanted to make a Western that was very typical and very simple. I knew I wanted Al Pacino to be in it somehow and I knew I wanted someone kid's father to die. All that came to me after watching "Legend". So I finally got around to finishing it up recently and the studio was able to attach some big names to the cast and its been on the fast track ever since. Its a simple but entertaining story. If you enjoy old school Westerns like me, then you'll enjoy this but there's just enough of 'new school writing' to make it standout. I reread it the other day, and I still like it so it has that going for it.

5.It's GMA time again in CMP! Would you make us any prediction for this new Edition?

Sure why not. 'Eye of the Needle' will probably be on a lot of ballots as will 'Alabama' and that Johnny Depp movie that came out recently. I think 'Hunger Games' might be a sleeper though. I haven't read the books and wasn't excited for the Hollywood edition of the film, but Chad Taylor told a story that really got my excitement going. It was a little long, but better to be long than short.


Matt Kubrick opens this week his video log where he will tell us all the secrets of the making of ‘The Goonies II’ directly from the set. Here’s his first entry:

‘Hello I'm director Matt Kubrick coming to you straight from the set! we are sitting on the back stage of one of our sets but as we do more of these I will show you just a bit here and there to get you excited and maybe you will get the chance to meet some of the people yourselves maybe see a bit of the actors in character, maybe the screenwriters will join me for a chat. I'm a huge fan of the original movie and so is the crew and I can tell you we are very passionate about this we aim to keep the spirit of adventure alive we hope this will bring in old fans as well as the new ones, the old fans will have the characters they know and love and a whole new generation of kids will be able to find new people to relate to and cheer on. So I hope you all join me and the cast and crew on this exciting journey.’


BEST STARRING COUPLE GMA WINNERS

As usual, to warm up the upcoming Edition of the Golden Moon Awards, we take a look at the past. This time, we have decided to look back at the winners of the Best Starring Couple category. Against what could be expected, romantic couples are not the usual winners of this category. We have a bit of everything here: two men, two women, man and woman… Whatever, it was always a matter of acting chemistry. And the winners were…

PAUL GIAMATTI & GEORGE CLOONEY
‘BILL AND THE ROCKET MAN’
Wes Anderson / James Bradley
It was the first Edition of the GMA. By then, everybody thought that this category would focus on romantic couples. But, instead of that, the winners were two men playing an ordinary and shy guy and his imaginary friend, a superhero coming of age. From the very beginning, this category showed that there were surprises waiting us in it in the future.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS & CATHERINE Z. JONES
‘FOOLS GAME’
Wes Anderson / James Bradley
Again, the Anderson and Bradley’s fables made it at this category. Douglas and Zeta-Jones played here a bored couple of millionaires who liked to laugh together with their also bored and decadent friends to any idiot willing to have dinner with them. Catherine also won the Best Actress award for this movie.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL & NATALIE PORTMAN
‘SAVING SAMANTHA MOSS’
David Fincher / Ted Froats
This dark and twisted thriller about a fake kidnapping did not work at box office. But Gyllenhaal and Natalie became one of the most popular stars in the early days of CMP thanks to this movie. They would repeat as the starring couple of another film written by Ted Froats too, the love story ‘Flashes Of Life’.

JIM CARREY & CLAIRE DANES
‘CAROUSEL’
Sam Mendes / Ted Froats
‘Carousel’ was the big surprise of the 4th GMA Edition. This remake of the classic musical won by surprise 5 statues becoming this way and for a very long time the most awarded movie ever in GMA’s History. As a curiosity, the film didn’t win at the two main categories, Best Picture and Best Director. Claire Danes – probably, the hottest star of that moment in CMP thanks to her work in ‘The Great War Series’ – won also the Best Actress award with this film. And in this very same Edition she was also nominated at the Best Supporting Actress category for ‘The Great War Series: Storm Breaks’.

JACK NICHOLSON & JOHNNY DEPP
‘CELL MATES’
Joel and Ethan Coen / Ted Froats
The unbeatable screen presence of Nicholson and Depp made them win the award with this peculiar film, first installment of a trilogy that remains unfinished. For the third time in a row, the now retired Ted Froats showed he knew how to choose a winner starring couple.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO & KEIRA KNIGHTLEY
‘POMPEII’
James Cameron / James Bradley
It is obvious that Bradley and Froats were by the time the big specialists in starring couples… This time, it was a more hollywood-esque one. DiCaprio and Knightley were the romantic couple of this epic show about the eruption of Vesuvius. Somebody called this film ‘Titanic in Roman times’. The film got 7 nominations and won at 4 of them, including Best Picture and Best Director.

KATE HUDSON & FRANCES MCDORMAND
‘VELCRO’
Allison Anders / Josh Collins
First and only time that two women win together at this category. ‘Velcro’ flopped at box office. But it is still remembered as one of the best dramas ever written by a specialist in the genre like Josh Collins. Hudson was also nominee for Best Actress but Jena Malone with ‘Lyra’ took the award. Sadly, Anders has never directed a CMP’s movie again since then.

BRUCE WILLIS & PAUL BETTANY
‘THE NAKED SUN’
Brett Ratner / Steve Connors
‘The Naked Sun’ was the second film based on the Isaac Asimov’s Robots Trilogy, after ‘The Caves Of Steel’ and before ‘Robots Of Dawn’. The perfect chemistry between Willis (an skeptical cop) and Bettany (a robot) made them win unexpectedly as sci-fi movies are not seen often at the winning list. The funny thing is that they would be nominated again a few Seasons later at this same category for playing the same characters in ‘Robots Of Dawn’.

JOHNNY DEPP & PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN
‘SHERLOCK HOLMES’
Tim Burton / Matt Kubrick
A few months before Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law became the new reincarnation of Holmes and Watson, Depp and Hoffman already succeeded playing them in CMP. This Tim Burton’s version of the two iconic investigators was both a box office’s hit and a multi-awarded film, winning 3 statues, including Best Picture. And Depp became the first talent to win twice at this category.

MATT DAMON & SAMUEL L. JACKSON
‘FOUL KARMA’
Matt Kubrick / Josh Collins & Matt Kubrick
‘Foul Karma’ was a violent and disturbing acting duel between Damon and Jackson, the only two characters seen on screen during the full length of the film. Kubrick and Collins co-wrote the screenplay in their first collaboration. The film had work correctly at box office.

PAUL GIAMATTI & WILL FERREL
‘THE MIRACLE MEN’
Paul Giamatti / James Bradley
Giamatti and Bradley were back at this category with this excellent movie about the adventures of a fake preacher (Giamatti) and his accomplice (Ferrel). Giamatti also directed the movie and he became the second talent after Depp to have won this award twice.

ANTHONY MCKIE & DEREK LUKE
‘JOHN AND TOMMIE’
Will Smith / Chad Taylor
It is funny that the two fetish actors of Dawson Edwards have won their only GMA in a Chad Taylor’s movie. Will Smith made his debut as movie director in CMP telling us the story of these two black athletes in the Mexico Olympic Games. Probably, this is one of the best biopics developed by CMP. And McKie and Luke keep being regulars in Edwards’ films.

EMILE HIRSH & JAMIE BELL
‘THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY’
Steven Spielberg / Joey Stark
It was Season 13 when Spielberg and Stark teamed up to put up this very ambitious adaptation of Michael Chabon’s novel. The film didn’t work as well as expected at box office. But it became the most awarded movie ever at the GMA’s History with 6 statues, replacing ‘Carousel’ in that throne. Hirsh and Bell, who had met before in the also critically acclaimed ‘The Beatles’, definitely joined the A-list of CMP’s talents with this movie.

BEN MCKENZIE & RYAN GOSLING
'HALLELUJAH'
Danny Boyle / Trent Nielsen & Chad Taylor
Nielsen and Taylor teamed up for the first and so far only time to co-write the first gay love story (‘Lyra’ wasn’t exactly a love story) in CMP. The film was a box office’s disaster. But at least McKenzie and Gosling won this award thanks to their bravery playing these controversial characters.

JAMES FRANCO & CAREY MULLIGAN
‘A FAREWELL TO ARMS’
Martin Scorsese / Chad Taylor
Audiences and critics surrendered to this epic new adaptation of the Hemingway’s classic book. ‘A Farewell To Arms’ got 8 nominations and became the second movie ever to win 5 statues after ‘Carousel’ (only one below ‘Kavalier & Clay’). Franco has become the most demanded star in CMP after this film. And Mulligan made with it a most impressive debut in CMP (the following Edition, she won her second statue for her second work in CMP, Best Supporting Actress for ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’).

JIM STURGESS & EMMA WATSON
‘SNOW’
Trent Nielsen / Trent Nielsen
‘Snow’ was the underdog of the latest GMA Edition. While everybody thought that Franco, Depp or Denzel Washington were going to be the big stars of the Gala, Sturgess (also winner of the Best Actor award) and Watson surprisingly became the winning couple of the night. After 16 editions, this category seems to have finally put the eyes on romantic couples for the last two Editions. But who knows what will happen in the future…


GMA Nominee Seth Rogen releases this week ‘Mario’, a live action adventure where he plays the most famous videogames character ever. And we could see him together with the ‘real’ Mario during the premiere of the movie in Los Angeles.



The 17th Edition of the Golden Moon Awards will take place in two weeks in Vienna, Austria. Today is the starting day to vote for the nominees in all the 14 categories. The time to vote for the nominees will end up next Wednesday and the nominations will be announced next Friday.

As usual, let’s remember the categories, the voting rules and the complete list of the movies included in this edition.

VOTING RULES

You can start voting for the nominees today. Vote before next Wednesday. Everybody is invited to vote. No matter if you have not released any movie this Season.

1-VOTING FOR THE NOMINEES:

-For nominations, you can vote TWO candidates per category. The first one you vote will get 2 points and the second will get 1 point. If you vote for only one candidate, it will get 2 points.

-Screenwriters cannot vote for their own movies in Nominations phase.

2-VOTING FOR THE WINNERS

-When voting for the Winners, you can only vote ONE candidate per category.

-Everybody is invited to vote for the winners, even if you did not vote for the nominations:

A) If you voted for the nominations, now you are allowed to vote for your own movies.
B) If you did not vote for the nominations, you are also allowed to vote for the winners. But, in this case, you cannot vote for your own movies (in those categories where a movie from you is nominated, you can choose between abstention or voting for the other nominees).

- To make your work easier, you can see below a list of this Season’s releases.

THE AWARDS CATEGORIES

-Best Production Design: very simple, vote for your favorite movie poster of the Season.
-Most Wanted Sequel: No matter if a sequel of the movie has been already announced or the end of a saga or whatever has been the announcement. Just pick up the movie you would be interested in watching a sequel of.
-Best Adaptation: Vote for the concept and premises of a movie production that better adapts or translate to the big screen a previously existing material (comics, books, remakes, whatever...). You can evaluate all the elements of the adaptation (storyline, production design, cast, whatever…) to vote. You don’t need to know the original source to vote in this category!
-Best Original Concept: Vote for the best or most original idea for a movie. It is just the concept or the idea you are voting for here. The quality of the screenplay developing it has its own category!
-Best Starring Couple: not necessarily a romantic couple or a man/woman couple. It can be, but it can also be any kind of starring couple with special appeal or charisma or chemistry or screen presence or whatever.
-Best Cast: the best cast as a whole, the most fitted to the characters, the plot, the genre… whatever reason the group as a whole impressed you.
-Best Screenplay: doesn’t matter if its original or an adaptation, you just liked the way the story was written and developed so much to vote it.
-Best Villain: Give a wide meaning to the word ‘Villain’, considering in it any kind of ‘negative’ character.
-Best Supporting Actress
-Best Supporting Actor
-Best Actress
-Best Actor
-Best Director
-Best Picture

This will also be the second edition of the Full Moon Award. The winner of this special award is directly decided by CMP’s Executive Board.

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THE NOMINATIONS BEFORE NEXT WEDNESDAY!

SEASON 17’s MOVIES

(O=Original / A=Adaptation)

GRAND THEFT AUTO

Action / Crime – A
Cast: Tom Hardy, Anthony Mackie, Al Pacino, Lena Heady, Ray Liotta, Timothy Olyphant, Brian Cranston, T.I., Mehcad Brooks
Director: Martin Campbell
Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
Box Office: 80 mill.
Net Gains: 93 mill.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING HONEST

Drama – O
Cast: Kevin Costner, Elizabeth Shue, Val Kilmer, Ellen Burstyn, Gary Oldman, Miley Cyrus
Director: Paul Haggis
Producer: Grand Island Movies
Screenwriter: Josh Collins
Box Office: 42 mill.
Net Gains: 17 mill.

THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS

Horror / Supernatural – A
Cast: Richard Gere, Stephen Dorff, Hayley Atwell, Alfred Molina, Armie Hammer
Director: Scott Derrickson
Screenwriter: D.R.Cobb
Box Office: 29 mill.
Net Losses: 4 mill.

ESCAPE FROM HELL

Sci-Fi / Horror – O
Cast: Christian Bale, Denzel Washington, Milla Jovovich, Mackenzie Vega. Voice of Dennys Haysbert
Director and Producer: Sam Raimi
Screenwriter: Josh Collins
Box Office: 128 mill.
Net Gains: 63 mill.

WOMAN

Drama – O
Cast: January Jones, Scarlet Johansson, Jeffrey Donovan, Kasia Smutniak, Anna Friel, Sofia Vergara, Emille de Ravin, Lauren Conrad
Director: Sofia Coppola
Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment
Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
Box Office: 31 mill.
Net Gains: 14 mill.

FOOD AND OTHER LANGUAGES

Romantic Comedy – O
Cast: Adrien Brody, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Caine
Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriter: Jack Adkins
Box Office: 37 mill.
Net Gains: 3 mill.

DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF SPRING DAWNING

Action / Fantasy – A
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Brendan Fraser, Anne Hathaway, Ian McKellen, Jessica Alba, Dakota Fanning, Tim Roth, Ron Perlman, Vin Diesel, Cary Elwes
Director and Producer: Guillermo Del Toro
Screenwriter: Richard Franzwa
Box Office: 97 mill.
Net Gains: 40 mill.

KITE

Action / Drama – A
Cast: Emma Stone, Russell Crowe, Garrett Hedlund, Ron Perlman, Jeremy Piven, Ken Watanabe, Carla Gugino
Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards
Box Office: 73 mill.
Net Gains: 53 mill.

THE UNDERCOVERS

Action / Comedy – O
Cast: Steve Carell, Renee Zellwegger, Emily Osment, Jake T. Austin, Andy Garcia
Director: Chris Weitz
Producer: Steve Carell
Screenwriter: Steve Connors
Box Office: 232 mill.
Net Gains: 198 mill.

DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON 2

Action Adventure – A
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Halle Berry, Paul Walker, Kiefer Sutherland, Ken Watanabe, Gerald Okamura, Michelle Yeoh, Koji Yakusho
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Screenwriter: Joey Stark
Box Office: 215 mill.
Net Gains: 111 mill.

ALABAMA

Romance / Drama – O
Cast: Natalie Portman, Will Smith, Matt Dillon, Ed Harris, Kirsten Dunst, Forrest Whitaker
Director: Will Smith
Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
Box Office: 55 mill.
Net Gains: 22 mill.

JASON VS LEATHERFACE

Action / Horror / 3D – A
Cast: Derek Mears, Andrew Bryniarski, Jerry O’Connell, Corey Bowles, Sid Haig, Karen Black, Jamie Bamber, Patricia Arquette, Dina Meyer, Max Van Ville
Director: John Woo
Producer: Midnight Movies
Screenwriter: Matt Kubrick
Box Office: 45 mill.
Net Gains: 16 mill.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS

Action / Superhero – A
Cast: Christian Bale, Henry Cavill, Cobie Smulders, Ryan Reynolds, Joshua Jackson, Mark Strong, Paul Bettany, Paul Walker, Rafi Gavron, Michael Caine
Director: Christopher Nolan
Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment
Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
Box Office: 246 mill.
Net Gains: 233 mill.

SHORT ON TIME

Suspense Thriller – O
Cast: Johnny Depp, Melissa George, Barry Pepper, Kyle Chandler, Kathryn Morris, Emily Deschanel, Idris Elba, Joe Anderson, Jessica Chastain
Director: John Dahl
Screenwriter: D.R. Cobb
Box Office: 36 mill.
Net Gains: 0.9 mill.

RESTRAINT

Thriller – O
Cast: Cameron Bright, Josh Hutcherson, Jenna Boyd, Bailee Madison
Director: Neil Jordan
Producer: Grand Island Movies
Screenwriter: Josh Collins
Box Office: 15 mill.
Net Gains: 5 mill.

HEAVY RAIN

Action / Thriller – A
Cast: David Duchovny, Selma Blair, Kevin Bacon, Eric Bana, Toni Collette, Laura Linney, Justin Timberlake, James Gandolfini, Martin Sheen
Director and Producer: Peter Jackson
Screenwriter: Steve Connors
Box Office: 60
Net Gains: 36

LEMIEUX

Biography / Sports – A
Cast: Casey Affleck, Diane Kruger, Robin Williams, Jeremy Sumpter, Abigail Breslin, Ben Affleck
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards
Box Office: 31 mill.
Net Gains: 6 mill.

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

Drama – A
Cast: John Turturro, Marisa Tomei, Eva Amurri, Sebastian Stan, Bobby Cannavale, Steve Buscemi
Director: Stephen Frears
Producer: Francis Copolla
Screenwriter: D.R. Cobb
Box Office: 19 mill.
Net Gains: 0.4 mill.

MIDNIGHT

Horror – A
Cast: Colin Farrell, Deborah Ann Woll, Gabriel Macht, Ginnifer Goodwin, Bill Murray, Imogen Poots, Angelica Huston
Director: Brad Anderson
Screenwriter: D.R. Cobb
Box Office: 32 mill.
Net Losses: 16 mill.

FAMILY REUNION

Comedy / Adult – O
Cast: Ben Stiller, Zach Braff, Jennifer Aniston, Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lindsay Fonseca. Cameo by Brad Pitt.
Director: Jay Roach
Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment
Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
Box Office: 50 mill.
Net Gains: 23 mill.

AMERICAN WAY

Thriller / Drama – O
Cast: Christian Bale, Keri Russell, Chris Cooper, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Bridges
Director: Sam Mendes
Producer: Grand Island Movies
Screenwriter: Josh Collins
Box Office: 47 mill.
Net Gains: 29 mill.

EYE OF THE NEEDLE

Action / Suspense – A
Cast: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, John Hurt, Michael Caine
Director, Producer and Screenwriter: James Bradley
Box Office: 36 mill.
Net Gains: 1 mill.

DEATH CRUISE

Action – O
Cast: Eliza Dushku, Michelle Rodriguez, Steve Buscemi, Rose McGowan, Christopher Walken, Sid Haig.
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Screenwriter Joey Stark
Box Office: 43 mill.
Net Gains: 7 mill.

F-ZERO AX

Action / Racing / Animation - A
Cast of Voices: Josh Hartnett, Famke Jansen, John Malkovich, Alan Rickman, Forest Whitaker, Terrence Howard, Spencer Breslin, Katie Holmes, Bruce Willis
Director: Karyn Kusama
Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards
Box Office: 84 mill.
Net Gains: 48 mill.

HUNGER GAMES

Action / Sci-Fi – A
Cast: Emma Watson, Hunter Parrish, Andrew Garfield, Elle Fanning, Jay Baruchel, Nathan Fillion, Alex Pettyfer, Lindsay Fonseca, Elijah Kelley, Bonnie Wright
Director: Marc Forster
Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment
Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
Box Office: 116 mill.
Net Gains: 69 mill.

THE QUESTION

Action / Superhero / Thriller – A
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Christina Hendricks, Ray Winstone, Lucy Liu, John Malkovich, Mads Mikkelsen
Director: David Slade
Producer: Zack Snyder
Screenwriter: D.R.Cobb
Box Office: 56 mill.
Net Gains: 21 mill.

THE PAPER MAN

Biography / Drama – A
Cast: Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots, Christoph Waltz, Isabella Rossellini, Daniel Craig. Cameo by Harvey Keitel.
Director, Producer and Screenwriter: Joey Stark
Box Office: 27 mill.
Net Losses: 7 mill.

MOUSE GUARD 2

Action / Adventure / Animation – A
Cast Of Voices: Dominic West, Hugh Laurie, Anton Yelchin, Al Pacino, Diane Kruger, Cobie Smulders, Emily Blunt
Director: Joe Carnahan
Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards
Awaiting Release

MARIO

Adventure / Comedy – A
Cast: Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Aziz Ansari, Will Ferrel, Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Emmy Rossum, Danny McBride, Bill Hader. Voice of Chris Rock.
Director and Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment
Awaiting Release

BOARD BREAKER

Drama – O
Cast: Max Records, Jackie Earl Haley, Madeline Carroll, Steve Zahn, Laura Dern, Jesse James
Director and Screenwriter: Josh Collins
Producer: Grand Island Movies
Awaiting Release