Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
November Movie Preview Highlights
Below is a list of some of the highly anticipated
films mentioned by EW for November releases and highlights from each report:
Jarhead
Even though I get a sense of Three Kings
from the trailer of Jarhead,
I do have to admit that this film seems to have it all, including a cast
that features Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, and Chris Cooper.
Jarhead is directed by Sam Mendes [American Beauty] and is based
on the source material laid down by Anthony Swofford, a Marine sniper in
the 1991 Gulf War. Though the film is most likely going to have political
overtones, like Lord
of War, the early reviews sent in claim that moviegoers
should be able to enjoy the film no matter what side of the scale they sit
on. Jarhead should help the month of November open strong for Hollywood.
Syriana
In a film that follows the same formula as Traffic,
Syriana
tells three separate stories of people caught up in either oil or the Middle
East [the two are related]. We first have Matt
Damon, who plays the son of an oil-industry analyst that dies
while playing in an Arab client's swimming pool. Then we have Jeffrey Wright,
a lawyer who also works in the oil-industry as he attempts to complete a
giant merger. And finally we have George Clooney, who plays a CIA agent
attempting to track down a known terrorist in the Middle East.
EW points out that Clooney had to drop the 'sexiest man alive' approach
and put on a whopping 35 pounds in just 30 days for his role in Syriana.
Walk the Line
Even though I have never been a fan of biopics,
the upcoming film starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash does seem to have
promise. Based on the interesting life of Johnny Cash and his love for June
Carter [Reese Witherspoon], Walk
the Line was given the go even before the death of true-life
singer Cash. In an attempt to get the approval of the film from Johnny Cash,
Cash required that Walk the Line didn't hurt anybody... except
him.
V for Vendetta
Though most know that James Purefoy was the original
'V' for the upcoming film V
for Vendetta, I did not know that the number one reason
for him leaving was his inability to act from behind the Guy Fawkes mask
that 'V' never removes; I instead figured it was due to other obligations
such as ROME. Hugo Weaving [Lord of the Rings, The
Matrix] quickly stepped in to take Purefoy's place as the London terrorist
looking to overthrow the totalitarian regime that England has become.
Even with the change of cast and the recent London bombings, the hardest
aspect of the film was finding an actress willing to shave her head; unfortunately
Demi Moore [GI Jane] was unavailable to comment. After finding
that Natalie Portman was up for the job, the crew knew that you could only
do a few takes of a woman getting the buzz cut. Luckily, Portman performed
perfectly.
The New World
After watching the trailer for The
New World I could only think about how much the film looked
like The Thin Red Line, except for the fact that you have to take
off a few hundred years. Starring Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, Christian
Bale and Q'Orianka Kilcher, The New World tells the
story of the relationship between Pocahontas and the English explorer John
Smith. However, after watching the trailer, the film seems more like indians
getting mad at explorers causing one giant throw-down. Colin Farrell has
had a rough go with some of his recent films, hopefully The New World
will be his step back in the right direction.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Let's fact it, when people think of November movies
the number one film that comes to mind is Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Ranked #1 in our Movie
Database, Goblet of Fire has got a following comparable to that
of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings [if not more]. Thanks
to the release of the latest book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,
the fever for Potter couldn't be higher. It also helps that Warner Bros
has recently confirmed that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
will be the first Potter film rated PG-13; a rating that matches the book
perfectly. Here is a little of what EW had to say on Goblet of Fire:
Practically double the size of any Potter tome before it, and certainly more action packed, Fire chronicles Harry's participation in a wizarding tournament-- while he's simultaneously unraveling
a sinister conspiracy, discovering girls, and dodging creepy glances from a spooky new teacher named "Mad-Eye" Moody (Gleeson). It's so epic, the studio considered splitting the story between two films. But Azkaban director Alfonso Cuaron, who took a more
freewheeling adaptation approach, persuaded them to reconsider, even at the expense of cutting content.
Though cutting content is never something Potter
fans want to hear, the early reports claim that every element that matters
to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire still exists in the film.
Also, if you noticed in the snippet above, it is Brendon Gleeson [Troy]
who will play the role of Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody.
Chicken Little
One of Disney's first attempts at CG animated films
since the loss of Pixar, Chicken
Little features the voice of Zach Braff, Garry Marshall,
Joan Cusack, Amy Sedaris and Steve Zahn. Though EW claims that Chicken
Little follows a formula similar to that of Dreamworks Shrek
and Shrek 2, I am going to have to see it to believe it. However,
if Disney does pull this off, along with Valiant,
they may not need Pixar after all.
Hopefully after reading the first three months of fall before December you
can tell that we actually have a good slate of films still coming our way.
And remember, we still have a few blockbusters coming our way in December
too.
These are just a few of the films mentioned in the latest issue of Entertainment
Weekly. Be sure to head on out and purchase the current issue, featuring
Reese Witherspoon on the cover, at your local newsstands right now.
Stay tuned for updates.
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