'Panic Room' and 'Death to Smoochy' open in theaters
By Geronimo Rodriguez
Daily Cougar Staff
Note: The following is a list of films opening this weekend. Along with
a brief synopsis, the list is intended to provide moviegoers with general
information about the films. These are not movie reviews.
Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Jodie Foster gives a riveting performance in the thriller/suspense
film Panic Room, opening nationwide on Friday.
Now that all the awards shows have passed, moviegoers will probably
flock to the award-winning films. Monster's Ball and A Beautiful Mind
are sure to fill a few more seats and Training Day will become a hot
commodity at the local video store.
But if audiences are seeking something fresh to justify long lines
and overpriced buckets of popcorn, the latest release of films should offer
suspense, laughs and even a true story.
Panic Room is one of those films that a moviegoer will not want to miss.
David Fincher delivered a masterpiece with Seven and offered the
cult hit Fight Club as well. This time, the stylish director tells
a story that occurs mostly within a house.
Jodie Foster in the lead role is another plus for audiences; the award-winning
actress chooses her roles wisely and never lets us down.
The thriller follows a divorced woman (Foster) and her daughter as they
hide from three burglars who have broken into her newly acquired
home.
The R-rated film also stars Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakum
(yes, the singer) and Andrew Kevin Walker.
Walt Disney's The Rookie has feel-good written all over it. The movie
portrays the life of a high school science teacher, played by Dennis
Quaid, who becomes a major-league pitcher at age 35.
Based on the real life of Jim Morris, who became Major League Baseball's
oldest rookie in nearly 30 years, the G-rated film is directed by
John Lee Hancock and also stars Rachel Griffiths, Brian Cox and Jay
Hernandez.
It seems Robin Williams has decided to shed the sentimental roles he's
played in recent years as he stars in the dark comedy, Death to
Smoochy.
Meanwhile, Edward Norton will humor us and try his hand in this genre.
Rainbow Randolph (Williams) is a children's entertainer who is stripped
of his show and replaced by the good-hearted Smoochy (Norton).
Rainbow comes to despise Smoochy and searches for ways to regain both
his status among the kids and his lucrative lifestyle.
The R-rated film is directed by Danny DeVito and also stars Catherine
Keener, Harvey Fierstein and Jon Stewart.
From the trailers, Clockstoppers appears to be the closest thing filmmakers
can get to creating a Matrix for kids.
It follows a scientist's invention that enables things to speed up,
thus making the person controlling the mechanism feel like time is standing
still.
It becomes a problem (and a movie) when two teens are zapped.
The PG-rated Nickelodeon picture is directed by Jonathan Frakes and
stars Jesse Bradford, French Stewart, Michael Biehn, Julia Sweeney
and Nicole Kathryn.
The R-rated drama Big Bad Love is based on the acclaimed short story
collection by celebrated Mississippi writer Larry Brown and marks
the directing debut of actor Arliss Howard from a script written by
him and his brother James.
Vietnam War veteran Leon Barlow (Howard) struggles to cope with his
life after the war and his relationships with his ex-wife (Debra Winger),
an adolescent son, a daughter with an incurable illness, a funeral
home heiress (Rosanna Arquette) and his mother (Angie Dickinson).
