Into the Wild

LA Times reviewer Kenneth Turan says:

"Into the Wild," Penn's film on McCandless' experiences, is a complete change of pace for the writer-director. It's his warmest, most celebratory and most completely realized film and, though you might not guess it from the material, it is also arguably his most personal. (Full review of Into the Wild by Kenneth Turan)

Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), son of wealthy parents (Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt), graduates from Emory University as a top student and athlete. However, instead of embarking on a prestigious and profitable career, he chooses to give his savings to charity, rid himself of his possessions, and set out on a journey to the Alaskan wilderness.

Release Date: September 2007
2 hr. 20 min.
Rated R
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener
Director: Sean Penn
Genre: Adventure Drama, Docudrama, Drama

3:10 to Yuma

All the critics in the LA Area I heard loved this remake of the 1957 western "3:10 to Yuma" , as did LA Times reviewer Kenneth Turan who, in his recommendation says:

What's most impressive...is that James Mangold directs with such energy and passion it's as if he didn't know it's all been done before. Approaching this material with the enthusiasm of a famished man confronting his first square meal in days, Mangold has brought welcome intensity to the project, giving "3:10 to Yuma" a visceral, immediate quality that makes it realistic and mythic all at the same time.

Synopsis:
Outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) terrorizes 1800s Arizona, especially the Southern Railroad, until he is finally captured. Wade must be brought to trial, so Dan Evans (Christian Bale), the owner of a drought-stricken ranch, volunteers to escort him to the train. Along the trail, a grudging respect forms between the men, but danger looms at every turn, and the criminal's men are in pursuit.

Release date: September 2007
1 hr. 57 min.
R
Cast: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster
Director: James Mangold
Genre: Western, Outlaw (Gunfighter) Film, Psychological Western

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters gets a recommendation from Kenneth Turan who writes in his capsule review of the movie:

Obsession creates its own fascination, and never more so than in this sprightly new documentary that's as compulsively watchable as Donkey Kong, the vintage video game it focuses on, is addictive. Filmmaker Seth Gordon, who edited and produced the excellent "New York Doll," focuses on the psychological dynamics of rivalry, concerning himself with what it takes to get to the top of anything, even video gaming, and the lengths people will go to stay there.

Synopsis:
Billy Mitchell, named ''Video Game Player of the Century'' in 1999, set a record score in Donkey Kong that many felt would never be broken. In 2003, Steve Wiebe, who recently lost his job, learned about Billy's record and set out to beat it. With Billy's previous record now shattered, both men embark on a cross-country battle for inclusion in the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records as the supreme king of Donkey Kong.

Release date: August 2007
1 hr. 19 min.
PG-13
Cast: Billy Mitchell, Doris Self, Steve Wiebe, Nicole Wiebe, Steve Sanders, Todd Rogers, Walter Day
Director: Seth Gordon
Genre: Biography, Hobbies, Crafts & Games, Sports & Recreation, Culture & Society

King of California

Kenneth Turan of the LA Times in recommending "The King of California" writes:

Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood are heartbreaking and hilarious as a modern-day Prospero (here called Charlie) and Miranda trying in vain to make sense of the brave new world that has overtaken their old one and in a quixotic quest for a long-buried fortune in Spanish gold. A fable set in the most banal, prosaic real world imaginable, Cahill's observations of the details of the modern world earn him the right to be whimsical. (Kenneth Turan capsule review of The King of California)

Synopsis:
At the age of sixteen, Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood) has already had to live with her share of disappointments. Abandoned by her mother, she's dropped out of school and has been supporting herself as an employee at McDonald's while her father Charlie (Michael Douglas) resides in a mental institution. When Charlie is released and sent back to their home, Miranda finds the relatively peaceful existence she's built for herself completely disrupted. Charlie has become obsessed with the notion that the long-lost treasure of Spanish explorer Father Juan Florismarte Garces is buried somewhere near their suburban California housing unit. Armed with a metal detector and a stack of treasure-hunting books, Charlie soon finds reason to believe that the gold resides underneath the local Costco, and encourages Miranda to get a job there so that they can plan a way to excavate after hours.

Showtimes and tickets online for the King of California from Fandango

Release Date: September 2007
1 hr. 33 min.
PG-13
Cast: Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood, Willis Burks II, Laura Kachergus, Paul Lieber, Kathleen Wilhoite
Director: Michael Cahill
Genre: Comedy Drama, Family Drama

In the Shadow of the Moon

Kenneth Turan of the LA Times calls 'In the Shadow of the Moon' "an unexpected knockout." In his recommendation he says "Even if you care so little about the moon that you wouldn't mind if it's made of green cheese, the romance of this endeavor will capture you entirely."

Between 1968 and 1972, nine American spacecrafts voyaged to the Moon, and 12 men walked upon its surface. They remain the only human beings to have stood on another world. For the first time, and possibly the last, the film combines archival material from the original NASA film footage, much of it never before seen, with interviews with the surviving astronauts, who emerge as eloquent, witty, emotional and very human.

Kenneth Turan's full review of In the Shadow of the Moon

Tickets and times for In the Shadow of the Moon at Fandango


Release date: September 2007
1 hr. 40 min.
Rated PG
Cast: Capt. James Lovell, Buzz Aldrin, Edgar Mitchell, Alan Bean, Mike Collins
Director: David Sington
Genre: Biography, History, Social History, Physical Sciences

Private Property

Kennety Turan of the LA Times gives the Begian movie "Private Property" a recommendation. His capsule review states:

There are no horrors like family horrors. The nightmare hidden in the everyday is more frightening than any extreme situation. witness the powerful emotional impact of this devastating Belgian film starring Isabelle Hupperty. An impeccably acted character drama revolving around a mother and her two teenage sons, the film shows how strong and how terrifying the bonds between parents and siblings can be. It etches the line between love and hate and a savagery that is almost unprecedented.

Synopsis by Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The sale of a family home causes some ugly truths to be uncovered in this drama from writer and director Joachim Lafosse. Pascale (Isabelle Huppert) is a middle-aged divorcée living in a restored farmhouse on the French countryside with her twin sons, twentysomethings Francois and Thierry. After years of bickering with her ex-husband about the estate, Pascale has decided to sell the farmhouse with an eye toward opening a guest house in a resort community, but the twins are vehemently opposed to the idea. Pascale persuades her boyfriend to talk with Francois and Thierry in hopes of changing their mind, but the meeting does not go well and the twins inadvertently discover a long-held family secret that causes them to turn against Pascale, as well as one another. Also starring Jérémie Rénier and Yannick Renier as the twins, Nue-Propriété received its world premier at the 2006 Venice Film Festival.

1 hr. 45 min.
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Jérémie Rénier, Yannick Renier, Kris Cuppens, Raphaëlle Lubansu
Director: Joachim Lafosse
Genre: Drama, Family Drama
Begian movie in French