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Kam's Kapsules May 2, 2008: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

By Kam Williams  

For movies opening May 2, 2008

Iron Man (PG-13 for intense sci-fi violence and brief suggestive content) Screen adaptation of the Marvel Comics series features Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role as a billionaire industrialist/genius inventor turned crime-fighting superhero intent on saving the planet from evil villains bent on world domination. Cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Samuel L. Jackson and Hilary Swank, with a cameo by the character's creator, the legendary Stan Lee.

Made of Honor (PG-13 for profanity and sexuality) Romantic comedy about the predicament of a womanizing bachelor (Patrick Dempsey) who decides to propose to his platonic best friend and confidante (Michelle Monaghan) only to have her return from a European business trip already engaged to a rich Scotsman (Kevin McKidd). With Kelly Clarkson, Sydney Pollack and Kadeem Hardison.

Independent & Foreign Films

The Favor (Unrated) Bittersweet drama about a lonely photographer (Frank Wood) who rekindles a romance with the recently-divorced childhood sweetheart (Paige Turco) he hasn't seen in 25 years only to end up raising her troubled teenage son (Ryan Donowho) alone after she suddenly dies in a car accident.

Fugitive Pieces (R for sexuality) WWII flashback flick, adapted from Anne Michaels' novel of the same name, chronicles the harrowing tale of survival of a Polish boy (Stephen Dillane) who escapes to Canada by way of Greece after witnessing the slaughter of his parents at the hands of the Nazis.

Hollywood Chinese (Unrated) Documentary examines cinematic portrayals of Asian-Americans from the Silent Film era to the present, revealing Hollywood's disgraceful history of stereotypes and discrimination.

Mister Lonely (Unrated) Offbeat comedy about a Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) working in Paris who is invited by a Marilyn Monroe look-alike (Samantha Morton) to move into a seaside Scottish castle with her and a host of other celebrity wannabes, including Charlie Chaplin, Madonna, the Pope, the Queen of England, Abraham Lincoln, James Dean, Shirley Temple, Sammy Davis, Jr., Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Stooges. Cast includes magician David Blaine and director Werner Herzog.

Redbelt (R for profanity) David Mamet directs this martial arts saga about an honorable jiu-jitsu master (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who finds himself losing face when forced by financial circumstances to go on the prize-fighting circuit reluctantly in order to pay off his debts. Ensemble cast includes Emily Mortimer, Tim Allen, Joe Mantegna, Rebecca Pidgeon, Alice Braga and Ricky Jay.

Son of Rambow (PG-13 for violence and reckless behavior) Coming-of-age comedy, set in England in the Eighties, about a fatherless boy (Bill Wilner) raised in an Amish-like religious cult who decides to serve as a stunt man in a home movie made by a worldly-wise school bully (Lee Poulter) after being exposed to a pirated copy of Rambo.

Viva (Unrated) Anna Biller wrote, directed and handles the title role of this salacious satire of soft porn, set in the Seventies, revolving around the kinky exploits a couple of bored suburban housewives who opt to join the Sexual Revolution by experimenting with an array of swinging bohemian lifestyles.

XXY (Unrated) Uruguayan melodrama about a sexually-ambiguous 15 year-old hermaphrodite (Ines Efron) who faces some serious psychological and medical questions with the help of her parents (Ricardo Darin and Valeria Bertuchelli) and a plastic surgeon (German Palacio). (In Spanish with subtitles)

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com