Published: July 21, 2007
Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun
by Kam Williams
For movies opening July 20, 2007
Big Budget Films
Hairspray (PG for teen smoking, mild epithets and suggestive content) Adaptation of the Broadway musical, set in Baltimore in 1962, about the efforts of a light on her feet portly pepperpot (Tracy Turnblad) to integrate a local, TV dance show after she realize the producers don't allow black kids to appear on the program. Star-studded cast includes John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Marsden, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney and Jerry Stiller.
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (PG-13 for nudity, profanity, crude sexuality, and drug references) Adam Sandler and Kevin James co-star in this buddy comedy as NYC firefighters who pretend to be a gay couple in order to qualify for benefits as domestic partners. Supporting cast includes Dan Aykroyd, Jessica Biel, Steve Buscemi, Richard Chamberlain, Ving Rhames and Nicholas Turturro.
Sunshine (R for violence and profanity) Apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, set fifty years in the future, about a team of eight astronauts dispatched on a desperate mission to revitalize the dying sun by injecting the fading star with a device design to breathe new life into it. Ensemble cast includes Michelle Yeoh, Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Hiroyuki Sanada, Troy Garity, Benedict Wong and Chris Evans.
Independent & Foreign Films
Arctic Tale (G) Queen Latifah narrates this wildlife documentary from the folks who brought us March of the Penguins. Another nature tale, this film follows the development of Nanu the polar bear and Seela the walrus from birth through adolescence to parenthood.
Cashback (R for sex, expletives and graphic nudity) Romantic comedy about a just-dumped dude (Sean Biggerstaff) who develops insomnia and takes a job working the late-night shift at a supermarket where he meets the checkout girl of his daydreams (Emilia Fox).
Goya's Ghosts (R for nudity, sexuality, disturbing images and violence) Milos Forman directs this costume drama, set during the Spanish Inquisition, revolving around the relationship of celebrated artist Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard) and his young muse, Ines (Natalie Portman), a nurse arrested for heresy at the behest of a cleric (Javier Bardem) who himself becomes infatuated with the fetching teenager. With Randy Quaid as King Carlos IV.
Live-In Maid (Unrated) Class-conscious drama from Argentina traces the trajectory of the strained relationship of a once-wealthy divorcee (Norma Aleandro) and the long-term housekeeper (Norma Argentina) whose services she can no longer afford. (In Spanish with subtitles)
Summercamp! (Unrated) Documentary chronicles life and times at a nature-oriented sleep-away camp in Wisconsin, where kids suffer from a variety of maladies ranging from grief to homesickness to bullying to Attention Deficit Disorder.
Your Mommy Kills Animals (R for profanity and scenes of animal abuse and suffering) Celebrity-driven documentary examines the animal rights movement, deemed a domestic terrorist threat by the FBI. With appearances by Jessica Biel, Joe Mantegna, Ben Stein, Gloria Estafan, Moby, James Cromwell, Margot Kidder, Persia White, Christopher Hitchens, P.J. O'Rourke, Mark McGrath, Betty White, Bo Derek and Tippi Hedren.
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