Fresh Loaf

That’s right a brand new and improved Movies & TV page! We combined all the best parts of our other sections into a comprehensive one-stop-shop for all things Movies & TV. There’s a blog feed with all of the latest Movies & TV content from Culture Surfing (”Lost,” “24,” etc.), a search engine for movie showtimes, recent reviews, links to interesting stories around the web, Film Clips, movie trailers, and a whole section dedicated to those Hollywood Products that you love!

Check it out at clatl.com/movies_tv and leave any comments you have over on our A&E blog Culture Surfing.

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GENRE: Fantasy adventure for Harry Potter fans

THE PITCH: Single dad/bibliophile Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser) is a “silvertongue,” with the power to draw characters out of books and send real people into them. He and his daughter (Eliza Bennett) track down an obscure fantasy novel named Inkheart to find his long-lost wife, despite the interference of such “fictional” personalities as the villainous Capricorn (Andy Serkis) and the conflicted antihero Dustfinger (Paul Bettany).

MONEY SHOTS: Dustfinger’s pet ferret chases Mo. Capricorn keeps a stable with creatures such as Peter Pan’s ticking crocodile and the Wizard of Oz’s flying monkeys. Mo reads the cyclone out of Oz to cover their escape from Capricorn’s castle. A big smoke monster called the Shadow looks pretty cool (if suspiciously like Lord of the Rings’ balrog). Oscar winner Dame Helen Mirren rides a mythological beast into an action scene, which is almost worth the price of admission.

BEST LINE: “You barbaric piece of pulp fiction!” Mirren snaps at Serkis, who each give such plummy, charismatic performances, it’s as though they’ve been read from a better movie.
(more…)

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HEART ATTACK: Eva Mendes as Sand Saref

TITLE: The Spirit

GENRE: Style-drunk superhero story

THE PITCH: After Central City cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) dies but gets better, he becomes a masked avenger called the Spirit who takes on criminals such as the similarly indestructible Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) and seemingly countless femme fatales.

MONEY SHOTS: Nothing looks particularly good, but it’ll be hard to forget the Octopus and the Spirit fighting in a swamp and hitting each other with a toilet, a kitchen sink and a six-foot wrench. Louis Lombardi plays all of the Octopus’s moronic cloned henchman, including a tiny side effect that amounts to a head attached to a bouncing foot. Belly-dancing Plaster of Paris (Paz Vega) threatens the Spirit with sabers while he’s tied to a dental chair. Explosions leave sinister, octopus-like clouds.

BEST LINE: “Some day I’d love to do your autopsy,” Dr. Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulsen), the “good” love interest, tells the Spirit. (more…)

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PARTY POTTERS: Allison (Zooey Deschanel, left) and Carl (Jim Carrey) at a Harry Potter-themed costume party

TITLE: Yes Man

GENRE: Comedy about living, laughing, loving, et al

THE PITCH: Depressed, noncommittal loan officer Carl (Jim Carrey) vows to answer “yes” to every question and opportunity life offers, leading to preposterous situations as well as romance with free-spirited musician/photographer Allison (Zooey Deschanel).

MONEY SHOTS: The self-empowerment seminar led by Terrence Stamp’s intense guru. Carl’s errant punch in a boozy, back-alley brawl. Carl’s inability to say “no” to the indecent proposal of an elderly neighbor (Fionnula Flanagan). Carl’s nerdy boss Norm (“Flight of the Conchords’” Rhys Darby) dressed as Ron Weasley, tearfully reciting the last words of the first Harry Potter movie. (more…)

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GREAT BALLS OF FIRE: Klaatu's (Keanu Reeves) arrival on Earth in a giant sphere triggers a global upheaval.

GENRE: Sci-fi remake with high-tech hardware

THE PITCH: When an alien named Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) takes human form in advance of a possible invasion, single mom/scientist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) tries to show him the best sides of humanity to forestall our extinction. (more…)

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CAR TALK: Kate (Reese Witherspoon, left) and Brad (Vince Vaughn) head home for the holidays.

GENRE: Acerbic seasonal comedy

THE PITCH: Happily unmarried yuppie couple Brad and Kate (Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon) get a crash course in family togetherness when forced to make four separate visits to their divorced parents (Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek and Jon Voight, all Oscar winners) one foggy Christmas day.

MONEY SHOTS: Brad’s backyard-wrestling brothers (country singer Tim McGraw and Swingers’ Jon Favreau) pin him in undignified positions. Brad’s attempt to install his father’s satellite dish ends up with a wrecked living room and a TV in flames. Out of nowhere, Kate’s niece drenches her with projectile vomiting, setting off Brad’s gag reflex. Brad showboats as Joseph at a church nativity show.

BEST LINE: “My childhood was like The Shawshank Redemption,” laments Brad while explaining that he changed his name from Orlando. (more…)

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