When young Olive unexpectedly gets a slot in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, her dysfunctional family piles into a vintage VW bus to cheer her on. All the buzz (that I skimmed anyway) coming out of the Sundance Film Festival in January was all about Little Miss Sunshine. By the Oscars in March, presenter Steve Carell was already being touted as a potential nominee for next year’s awards. Rave reviews are packed into this trailer. And best of all the movie looks like a funny, feel-good flick, and those are always my favorites. It times like that I’m glad I live in New York and I get to see these great films weeks ahead of middle America. See it, See it, See it.

(Official Site)

Miami Vice is another adaptation of a bygone TV show, and those don’t always turn out so well. Vice is helmed by Michael Mann, who was an executive producer on the iconic ’80s series. I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised by the trailer and the movie looks like an entertaining summer blockbuster. Full of beautiful people, violence, and steamy scenes, Miami Vice looks like one of those movies you could watch on mute and still enjoy. Gong Li is an interesting choice as the female lead; I applaud Mann for not casting a typical bottle blonde. But how the heck did Jamie Foxx get first billing? Ray was good and all, but if you ask me, Colin Farrell is the bigger star. Who knows, maybe Farrell is getting paid more in exchange. I just hope that at 146 minutes long, it doesn’t start to drag. Action movies–when done well–are meant to be seen on the big screen, so as far as Miami Vice goes: See It.

(Official Site)

John Tucker is a high school cheater, all his girlfriends want revenge, yada yada yada. Isn’t that Jesse Matcalfe guy from Desperate Housewives, so wouldn’t that make him about 40 years old? What is he doing in high school? I must be getting more old-fashioned as I inch closer to 30 because John Tucker Must Die is supposed to be PG-13, but I wouldn’t want my teenage cousins to see it. Skip It.

(Official Site)

I have a confession to make: the only Woody Allen movie I’ve seen is Annie Hall, and my reaction was, “that’s it?” I prefer light comedies, and Allen’s new comedy with Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman, and Ian McShane fits the bill. In Scoop, Johansson plays a journalism student who receives the scoop of the century from the Ian McShane’s ghostly character. She pursues Jackman, who may or may not be the Tarot Card Killer, and romance and hijinks ensue. In true narcissistic fashion, Woody Allen gets first billing and plays Johansson’s father, which is more than a little creepy given his real-life crush on her. Nevertheless, any movie that has hijinks, mystery, romance, and a shirtless Hugh Jackman works for me, so I’m going to Rent It.

(In the interest of full disclosure, Scoop is running an ad campaign on the site where I have a paying gig in ad sales. But I still want to Rent It. In fact, it’s already on my queue.)

Scoop is rated PG-13 and opens Friday, July 28.

Official Site

13 (Tzameti) (pronounced ‘zah-meti’) is a taut, rapidly moving thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. It starts slowly, laying the groundwork for the quickly moving plot that follows. Georges Babluani, who bears more than a passing resemblance to James Franco, plays twenty-two-year-old Sebastien, a roofer who is struggling to support his immigrant family. While at work on a neighbor’s roof, he overhears chatter about an expected letter that will make the household rich. When his client unexpectedly dies without paying for Sebastien’s labor, he takes the letter and begins to follow the directions. The mysterious instructions tell Sebastien where to go, but he does not know what will await him when he arrives at his destination. Deep in the countryside, Sebastien finds himself a pawn in a high-stakes game of Russian roulette, with no way out. At this point, the movie takes a hold of you and does not let go.

I am not going to tell you more about the plot, or the game in which Sebastien becomes involved. (If you truly want to know, watch the trailer below.) What makes this movie so good is the shock the audience gets from realizing exactly what kind of ‘game’ with which the main character has become entangled.

13 (Tzameti) is in French with English subtitles, though this isn’t one of those foreign films where the characters talk endlessly. The film is shot in black and white and often at very close range, choices that are ill-fitting for the exposition but work perfectly with the game sequence. Sebastien goes through a range of emotions throughout the film, and Georges Babluani gives a nuanced, authentic performance. Pascal Bongard steals scenes as the Master of Ceremonies. This is the first film for writer/director Gela Babluani, but you’d never know it from watching this lightning-fast thriller.

I was completely riveted—I barely blinked for the last hour of the film. 13 (Tzameti) is not a film I would see under ordinary circumstances, but I am glad that I saw it. Stylish, shocking, and well-acted, (13 Tzameti) is a movie I won’t soon forget.

13 (Tzameti) opens on Friday July 28 at the Film Forum in New York City, and on August 11 at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles.

Running time: 90 minutes
Rating: Not Rated (contains scenes of strong violence)

Previously: 13 (Tzameti) - The Trailer
My First Screening - 13 (Tzameti)

The regular readers of this site (you know who you are, and I love you for it), may notice something different about my post about Trust the Man. Instead of displaying a link to YouTube, the video from YouTube is now embedded!

Thanks to Kareem, Jessica, and ShandyKing, TrailerSpy is finally in business! Wahoo!

The website is called TrailerSpy, so before I post my review of 13 (Tzameti), we must first discuss the trailer. I actually hadn’t seen 13 (Tzameti)’s trailer until after I saw the movie, which is probably a first for me. I was intrigued enough by the synopsis and the invitation to a free screening.

Watch the trailer at your own risk, because it gives away the specifics of the deadly game in which the main character gets involved. Glowing reviews and festival accolades open the trailer, which then moves right into the action. It gives away entirely too much of the plot, if you ask me, but the trailer will definitely intrigue people. Based on the sneak peek, I say See It.

Then again, I have already seen the movie, so it is hard to be impartial. Thoughts?

I went to my first official critics’ screening last night, and I am HOOKED. The screening of 13 (Tzameti) was by invitation only at a small screening theatre in a nondescript office building. On the publicist’s entry list, TrailerSpy was written next to my name, making me feel like a real critic. The screening room was small—there were maybe 30 seats—and all seats were filled with serious people clutching press releases. Then it hit me… I was one of them! For that night, at least, I was an official movie critic.

For the ninety minutes the movie was playing, there was no talking, no ringing cell phones, no noisy candy wrappers. I was in movie buff heaven.

Stay tuned for my review of 13 (Tzameti).

Trust the Man is the new comedy from Bart Freundlich, better known as Mr. Julianne Moore. Fortunately for all of us, the director’s luminous movie star wife is along for the ride, along with David Duchovny, Billy Crudup, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Eva Mendes, and Garry Shandling. Duchovny and Crudup are either longtime friends or brothers, and both are struggling with the commitments of their long-term relationships. The trailer opens with the men discussing porn, dispelling any notions that Trust the Man is going to be another typical chick flick. Everyone can relate to the issues the couples are grappling with: staying faithful and keeping a relationship exciting. The script definitely is written from the point of view of the two male leads, but it’s a relationship comedy, which naturally women will find more interesting. Trust the Man has a great cast (including Moore and Freundlich’s 4-year-old daughter), a soulful soundtrack, and a plot with which many of us will identify. It looks mildly entertaining, so therefore I say Rent It.
Trust the Man opens in select cities on August 18 and then nationwide on September 8.

What do you think? See It, Skip It, or Rent It?