MOVIES RELEASED AUSTRALIA JUNE 2002
6 JUNE
Space Station 3D (G): Selected, Syd. Melb June 13. Documentary. IMAX. Narrated by Tom Cruise. D: Toni Myers (L5: First City In Space). Documentary about the space program. Space Station" is the story of this unique partnership of 16 nations building a laboratory in outer space -- a permanent facility for the study of the effects of long-duration exposure to zero gravity and the necessary first step towards the global co-operative effort needed if man is to some day set foot on Mars. It is a story of challenges, setbacks and triumphs...and ultimately, the shared international victory of men and women whose dreams exceed the limits of life on this Earth. Fair 'nuff.. just one question:- why Cruiser-boy to narrate?
Spider-Man (M): National. 120 mins. Columbia. Sci-fi/ Action. Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, Ted Raimi, James Franko, JK Simmons, Randy Poffo, Joe Manganiello, Bruce Campbell. D, James Franko, JK Simmons, Randy Poffo, Joe Manganiello, Bruce Campbell. D, James Franko, JK Simmons, Randy Poffo, Joe Manganiello, Bruce Campbell. D: Sam Raimi (Evil Dead). A mindless action blockbuster times ten million (that also has a stellar cast + director calling the shots). When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy high school student gains spider-like abilities which he must eventually use to fight evil as a superhero. And land babes with his never ending supply of sticky stuff.
13 JUNE
Hardball (M): National. UIP. Drama. 106 mins. Keanu Reeves, Diane Lane, John Hawkes, DB Sweeney, Byran Hearne, Julian Griffith, Michael B Jordan. D: Brian Robbins (Ready To Rumble). When a young man (Reeves) in Chicago tries to borrow money from a friend to pay for his gambling habit, the loan is on the condition that he coach a Little League baseball team from the Cabrini Green housing projects. The experience of giving young boys on the team guidance has a life-changing effect on him.
I Am Sam (M): National. Sneaks June 7-10. Roadshow. 132 mins. Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laura Dern, Dakota Fanning, Dianne Wiest, Richard Schiff, Brad Allan Silverman. D: Jessie Nelson (Corrina, Corrina). Sam Dawson has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He works at a Starbucks and is obsessed with the Beatles. He has a daughter with a homeless woman; she abandons them as soon as they leave the hospital. He names his daughter Lucy Diamond (after the Beatles song), and raises her.
Impostor (MA): National. Roadshow. Sci-fi thriller. 95 mins. Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe, Vincent D'Onofrio, Tony Shalhoub, Mekhi Phifer. D: Gary Fleder (Don't Say A Word). An engineer creates the ultimate weapon in a battle against aliens, only to be suspected as an alien himself. Second in a three-part anthology on relationships between humans and aliens.. watch for the second part, where the hot alien lovin' leads to an alien love child (baby).
20 JUNE
Italian For Beginners (M): Selected, Syd/ Melb. Palace. 112 mins. Denmark- Subtitled Danish/ Italian. Comedy. Anders W. Berthelsen, Ann Eleonora Jørgensen, Anette Støvelbæk. D: Lone Scherfig (On Our Own). Several lonely hearts in a semi-provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their lives. Sadly not a help for those of us wanting to speak the language.
Minority Report (M): National. Fox. Sci-fi Thriller. 147 mins. Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max Von Sydow, Peter Stormare, Karyn Morris, Meryl Streep, D: Steven Spielberg (ET). Based on a Philip K. Dick short story, Minority Report is about a cop in the future working in a division of the police department that arrests killers before they commit the crimes courtesy of some future viewing technology. Cruise's character has the tables turned on him when he is accused of a future crime and must find out what brought it about and stop it before it can happen.
Molokai: The Story Of "Father Damien" (PG): Selected. Sharmil Films. 112 mins. Belgium/ Netherlands. David Wenham. Kris Kristofferson, Peter O'Toole, Derek Jacobi, Sam Neill, Alice Krige, Aden Young, Leo McKern and Tom Wilkinson. D: Paul Cox (Innocence). The true story of the 19th century priest who volunteered to go to the island of Molokai, to console and care for the lepers. As you do.
On The Line (PG): Selected, Queensland. June 27- VIC, July 4 NSW, SA, WA. Buena Vista. 85 mins. Romantic comedy starring NSYNC. Buena Vista. James Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Al Green, Dave Foley, Jerry Stiller. D: Eric Bross (Stranger Than Fiction). A shy advertising employee meets his dream girl on the El train, but doesn't remember to get her phone number, resulting in an all-out search for the mystery girl. Interesting fact: their all out search for a plot also failed.
Scooby Doo (G): National. Roadshow. Adventure/ comedy. 86 mins. Matthew Lillard, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Rowan Atkinson, Isla Fisher, Neil Fanning (voice of Scoody Doo). D: Raja Gosnell (Big Mommas House). Based on the animated series, this live action (except for a animated big goofy dog) adaptation features a typically un-logical mystery, and the villain who would get away with it, except for those meddling kids.
Snow Dogs (G): National. (20th June Qld, 27th June nationwide). Buena Vista. 99 mins. Comedy. Cuba Gooding Jnr, James Coburn, Sisqo, Graham Greene, Joanna Bacalso, Nichelle Nichols, M Emmet Walsh. D: Brian Levant (It's A Dog's Life). When Miami dentist Ted Brooks (Gooding Jnr) finds out that he's been named in a will, he travels to Alaska to claim his inheritance. Once he gets there, however, his dreams turn to mush: he discovers he's been left a mischievous team of sled dogs - Demon, Nana, Diesel, Scooper, Yodel, Sniff, Mack and Duchess - who have got it in for him. And a whole stack of cinema go-ers who wasted hard earned on Instinct.
Spirit: Stallion Of Cimarron (G): National. UIP. (Qld today, Opens nationwide June 27, Hobart Sep 5.). Animated/ Western/ Family. 83 mins. Voices: Matt Damon (narrator), Bryan Adams. D: Kelly Asbury (debut) and Lorna Cook (debut). It’s the rousing tale of a wild and rambunctious mustang stallion named Spirit and his journey through the untamed American West. Along the way he falls in love with a beautiful paint mare named Rain, develops a remarkable friendship with a young Lakota brave, and becomes one of the greatest unsung heroes of the Old West. Unsung? Does that mean there's no goddamn singing in it? Good.
27 JUNE
("So YOU'RE the naughty nurse I ordered?")
Ghost World (M): National. UIP. 112 mins. UK/ USA. Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, David Cross, Illeana Douglas, Teri Garr, Brad Renfro, Bob Balaban. D: Terry Zwigoff (Crumb). A likely prospect for indy sleeper of the year. Based upon the serialized comic book tale by Daniel Clowes. Set during the summer after they graduated from high school, two ultra-hip friends, Enid and Rebecca grapple with the impending end of their time as friends near each other (only they don't know it yet).
Together (M): Selected, Syd/Melb/Bris/Newtown. Dendy. Denmark/ Sweden. 106 mins. Comedy. Lisa Lindgren, Michael Nyqvist, Emma Samuelsson. D: Lukas Moodysson (Show Me Love). Swedish commune in the 70's set drama should set the scene for some good ole fashioned Swedish sex. Elisabeth tires of her husband Rolf, so she packs her bags, takes the kids and goes to her brother Göran. The year is 1975 and Göran lives in a commune called Together. Living in this leftist commune are people between the ages of 25 and 35, along with their children. It is there where most of the film takes place, and there where things happen that affect not only the extended family members, but a few more...
(A movie to remember... to walk from.)
A Walk To Remember (PG): Selected. Becker. 101 mins. Romance. Shane West, Mandy Moore, Peter Coyote, Al Thompson, Daryl Hannah. D: Adam Shankman (The Wedding Planner). The story of two North Carolina teens, Landon Carter (West) and Jaime Sullivan (Moore), who are thrown together after Landon gets into trouble and is made to do community service. I think watching "romantic comedy" crud like this should be offered as lieu of sentencing.. and only morons like Shane West would watch 'em.