Year of the Fish

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Is about a rotoscope-animated modern-day Cinderella story set in the underbelly of New York's Chinatown.

Plot
An optimistic young girl travels alone to New York City where she hopes to earn money to send home to her ailing father. Expecting work in a beauty salon, the girl is instead delivered into the hands of her father's distant cousin, an embittered woman who runs a seedy massage parlor. The girl surrenders her passport as collateral for her "debt" and is informed of her duties.

Cast
Tsai Chin
Randall Duk Kim
Ken Leung
Hettienne Park
Lee Wong


Detail Info
Directed by David Kaplan
Writers
Screenplay: David Kaplan
Produced by Janet Yang, Rocco Caruso, David Kaplan
Music by Paul Cantelon
Genres Kids/Family and Animation
Running Time 1 hr. 36 min.
Release Date August 29th, 2008 (limited)
Distributors Gigantic Films
Production Co. Caruso-Mendelsohn Productions
Produced in United States

Ping Pong Playa

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Christopher "C-dub" Wang is a suburban guy who sports an urban swagger, waxes political on all things Asian American, and clings to pipe dreams of a career as a pro basketball player. Blaming genetics for his failure to make the NBA, C-dub lives at home, works a dead-end job, and squirms in the shadow of his older brother, Michael, a doctor and ping pong champion.

With a family-run store devoted to all things ping pong and a mom who teaches it at the local Chinese Community Center, the Wangs' entire world revolves around the sport. But despite the family legacy, C-dub opts to spend his free time playing video games and daydreaming about get-rich quick schemes with his best friend JP Money.

C-dub is kicked back into reality when his mom and Michael are hurt in a car accident, leaving his father to watch over the store and forcing C-dub to take over his mom's ping pong class of misfits. C-dub starts to appreciate the benefits of ping pong when he starts using the class to make some extra money on the side and befriending one of the kids who happens to have a beautiful older sister. But when the Wang family livelihood is threatened by a rival ping pong player's attempts to lure the kids away, C-dub begins to take things more seriously. With the National Golden Cock Tournament coming up and an injured Michael unable to defend his title, C-dub must become the player he pretends to be and defend his family's ping pong dynasty.

Cast
Jimmy Tsai
Andrew Vo
Khary Payton
Jim Lau
Roger Fan
Elizabeth Sung
Javin Reid
Kevin Chung
Peter Paige
Smith Cho
Scott Lowell
Stephnie Weir

Detail Info
Directed by Jessica Yu
Produced by Anne Clements, Joan Huang, Jeffrey Gou
Written by Jimmy Tsai, Jessica Yu
Music by Jeff Beal
Cinematography Frank G. Demarco
Editing by Zene Baker
Distributed by IFC Films
Release date(s) September 5, 2008
Running time 96 min.
Country United States
Language English, Chinese

External Link
Official Website

Ping Pong Playa - Trailer

Ping Pong Playa Q&A Session at SFIAAFF

(Part 1 of 3)


(Part 2 of 3)


(Part 3 of 3)

The Accidental Husband - Movie Poster

College

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After Kevin (Drake Bell), a high school senior, gets dumped by his girlfriend Gina (Alona Tal) for being too boring, he doesn't want to go to the freshman orientation weekend at Fieldmont University, where they had planned to go together. But his best friends Carter (Andrew Caldwell) and Morris (Kevin Covais) convince him that the weekend away will help get his mind off her. Once there, one of the rowdiest fraternities on campus pretends to recruit them as pledges in return for granting them access to the college party scene. Though forced to put up with the disgusting antics of fraternity brothers Teague (Nick Zano), Bearcat (Gary Owen), and Cooper (Zach Cregger), the guys meet sorority girls Kendall (Haley Bennett), Heather (Camille Mana), and Amy (Nathalie Walker), and sparks fly all around. But once Teague feels threatened by Kevin's new relationship with Kendall, he takes the pre-frosh humiliation to a greater level, forcing the guys decide to fight back.

Cast
Drake Bell as Kevin Brewer
Andrew Caldwell as Carter
Ryan Pinkston as Fletcher
Kevin Covais as Morris Hooper
Nick Zano as Teague
Zach Cregger as Cooper
Gary Owen as Bearcat
Haley Bennett as Kendall
Camille Mana as Heather
Nathalie Walker as Amy
Alona Tal as Gina
Verne Troyer as himself
Valentina Vaughn as herself (Penthouse Pet)
Heather Vandeven as herself (Penthouse Pet)

Info Detail
Directed by Deb Hagan
Produced by Malcolm Petal, Julie Dangel
Written by Dan Callahan, Adam Ellison
Cinematography Dan Stoloff
Editing by David Codron
Distributed by MGM
Release date(s) August 29, 2008
Running time 94 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $7 million

External Link
Official Website

Babylon A.D. interview

The Girls From The House Bunny - interview

Year of the Fish - Trailer

Saw V - Movie Poster

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College - Trailer

I Served the King of England

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Short guy Jan Dite, but high in ambition wants to become a millionaire. And he knows just how to do it: by hearing everything, seeing everything, and creating opportunities at every turn. Armed with this knowledge and an irrepressible wish to please, he soon leaves his first place of employment, a pub, for a luxury brothel and finally moves onto an elegant Art Nouveau Prague restaurant.

But by the late 1930s, things are changing: Hitler has taken the Sudetenland region and is breaking apart Czechoslovakia. Jan falls in love with Líza, a Sudeten German proud of her Aryan blood. They marry, and soon after Líza is sent to serve on the Polish front, while Jan remains behind to serve as a nurse in a Nazi SS Research Hospital, but when she returns, she has a fortune in rare stamps that Jews had 'left behind.'

After Lízaâ death, Jan sells the stamps and becomes a millionaire. But he only has three years to enjoy his fortune: the new Communist regime puts him behind bars for 15 years, one for each of his millions. Upon his release from jail, Jan is sent to live in a decrepit border town. Here Jan reflects on the events that have shaped his life--and to reflect on what might have happened if he had played a different role in these events.

Cast
Ivan Barnev as Jan Díte, younger
Oldrich Kaiser as Jan Díte, older
Julia Jentsch as Líza
Martin Huba as Skrivánek
Marián Labuda as Walden
Milan Lasica as Professor
Josef Abrhám as Hotelier Brandejs
Jirí Lábus as Hotel Boss
Jaromír Dulava as Waiter Karel
Pavel Nový as General
István Szabó as Stock Marketeer
Tonya Graves as Abyssinian Emperor
Rudolf Hrusínský as Tichota
Petr Ctvrtnícek as Stockbroker
Jirí Sesták as Waiter

Movie Info
Directed by Jiří Menzel
Produced by Rudolf Biermann
Written by Bohumil Hrabal
Music by Aleš Březina
Cinematography Jaromír Šofr
Distributed by Bioscop
Running time 120 min.
Country Czech Republic / Slovakia / Germany / Hungary
Language Czech

Traitor

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A espionage thriller film, based on an idea by Steve Martin.

Plot
When FBI agent Roy Clayton heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn. A mysterious figure with a web of connections to terrorist organizations, Horn has a knack for emerging on the scene just as a major operation goes down. The inter-agency task force looking into the case meets with Carter, a veteran CIA contractor who seemingly has his own agenda and Max Archer, a fellow FBI agent. The task force links Horn to a prison break in Yemen, a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, but a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his quarry is a disaffected former military operative -- or something far more complicated. Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue.

Cast
Don Cheadle as Samir Horn
Guy Pearce as Roy Clayton
Jeff Daniels as Carter

Movie Info
Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Produced by Don Cheadle, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Jeff Silver, Ashok Amritraj,
Arlene Gibbs, Kay Lieberman Steve Martin
Written by Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Music by Mark Kilian
Country U.S.
Language English

New film by "Spirited Away" director wows Japan

Thursday August 21 4:34 AM ET

Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki of Oscar-winning animated film "Spirited Away" has captured the hearts of Japanese movie goers again, this time with a tale of a mermaid which will soon be seen around the world.

"Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," about the friendship between a five-year-old boy and a mermaid girl who wishes to live in his world, has become one of the most popular Japanese movies in its home market in its first month of release.

Box office sales have surpassed 10 billion yen ($91 million), and the film's theme tune features as a ringtone on thousands of Japanese mobile phones.

The film is also set to be shown at the Venice Film Festival, which starts next week, and then it will be distributed in the United States, said a spokesman for Japanese distributor, Toho Co Ltd, although details have not been set.

"It was full of dreams and heart-warming. I think many people are seeking something like this," said 39-year-old Miyuki Ueda, who watched the film with her sons.

"Ponyo was really cute," said Yuta, her 14-year-old son.

Miyazaki has released a string of hit animation films that have helped revive the Japanese movie industry, directing three of the top five selling movies in Japan in the past seven years, industry figures from the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan show.

As well as 2001's "Spirited Away," about a little girl who wanders into a spirit world and which won an Academy Award for best animated film in 2003, Miyazaki has wooed Japanese filmgoers with 2004's "Howl's Moving Castle," about a boy wizard who fights for justice in a magical world.

Ponyo's story line is similar to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," which was also the basis of 1989's popular Disney animated film by the same name.

"Spirited Away" launched Miyazaki on to the world stage, but film critic Ryusuke Hikawa says it's too early to say if "Ponyo" would be as successful.

"Miyazaki sticks to creating animated films by hand-drawing. In that sense his works are old-type animation," he said.

"But that's what makes them universally appealing."

In 2006, local films outperformed foreign movies in Japanese movie theatres for the first time in 21 years.

While Miyazaki did not have a movie that year, his son, Goro Miyazaki, carried on the family tradition with animated cartoon, "Tales of Earthsea," based on a U.S. tale of two battling wizards. The film was the top grossing movie in Japan in 2006.

($1=109.87 Yen)

(Editing by Rodney Joyce and Miral Fahmy)

Everybody Wants to be Italian

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A lovelorn fishmonger Jay Jablonski who has spent nearly a decade trying to win back his ex-girlfriend Marisa Petroro gets involved in a case of mistaken ethnicity in this warm-hearted romantic comedy. It’s been eight years since Jake’s girlfriend left him, and despite the fact that she’s now married with three children he refuses to move on. Fed up with their depressive pal’s unwillingness to let go of the past, Jake’s friends set him up on a blind date with a beautiful Italian woman Cerina Vincent from Boston’s North End. Though Jake is convinced that such a woman would never even consider dating a non-Italian, a quick crash course in how to fake it may prove just the trick to helping him learn to love once again.

Cast
Jay Jablonski as Jake Bianski
Cerina Vincent as Marisa Costa
John Kapelos as Steve Bottino
John Enos III as Gianluca Tempesti
Marisa Petroro as Isabella
Richard Libertini as Papa Aldo Tempesti
Judith Scarpone as Mrs. Abignali
P.J. Marino as Mario
Tammy Pescatelli as Katerina
Dan Cortese as Michael
Penny Marshall as Teresa the Florist
Sylvia Panacione as Anna the Seamstress

Info Detail
Directed by Jason Todd Ipson
Produced by Jaime Burke, James Huntsman
Written by Jason Todd Ipson
Music by Michael Cohen
Cinematography Michael Fimognari
Editing by Mike Saenz
Distributed by Asgaard Entertainment
Release date(s) September 5, 2008
Running time 1 hour 43 min.
Country United States
Language English

External Link
Official Website

I Served the King of England - Trailer

Star Wars : Clone Wars - Movie Poster

Igor

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Igor is a computer animated comedy film, a humorous take on the fictional character Igor. The plot revolves around Igor and his dreams of winning first place at the annual Evil Science Fair.

Cast
John Cusack as Igor
Steve Buscemi as Scamper
John Cleese as Dr. Glickenstein
Eddie Izzard as Dr. Schadenfreude
Molly Shannon as Eva
Jennifer Coolidge as Jaclyn
Jay Leno as King Malbert
Sean Hayes as Brain
Paul Vogt as Fly-Headed Guy

Detail Info
Directed by Tony Leondis
Produced by John D. Eraklis, Max Howard, John McKenna, Darius A. Kamali, Matthew Parker, Jamee Deruso, Jean Luc De Fanti
Written by Chris McKenna
Distributed by

• MGM (South America)
• The Weinstein Company (UK & South America)
• Universal Studios (North America)

Release date(s) September 19, 2008
Country United States
Language English

Traitor - Trailer

Tropic Thunder breezes to No. 1 with $25.8M

Monday August 18 4:48 PM ET

The action comedy Tropic Thunder grabbed the top spot at the box office with $25.8 million, knocking the Batman tale The Dark Knight into second-place after four weekends on top.

With a $16.4 million weekend, The Dark Knight raised its domestic total to $471.1 million to pass "Star Wars" as No. 2 on the all-time charts behind Titanic at $600.8 million.

The top 12 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Media By Numbers LLC are:

Everybody Wants to be Italian - Trailer

Igor - Movie Poster

Igor - Character

Igor Manic or Ygor is the traditional stock character or cliché hunch-backed assistant or butler to many types of villain, such as Count Dracula or a mad scientist, familiar from many horror movies and horror movie parodies, the Frankenstein series and Van Helsing films in particular.

An early representation in film is Dwight Frye's original hunch-backed lab assistant in the first film of the Frankenstein series (1931), though this character was actually named "Fritz". The sequels Son of Frankenstein (1939) and The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) featured a character named "Ygor", played by Bela Lugosi; this character, however, is neither a hunchback nor a lab assistant, but an insane broken-necked blacksmith who reanimates the Monster as an instrument of vengeance against the townspeople who attempted to hang him for graverobbing. In the 1933 horror classic Mystery of the Wax Museum "Ivan Igor" is the name of the mad wax museum curator. The film was remade as House of Wax in 1953 but interestingly the name "Igor" was given to a henchman of the curator (played by a young Charles Bronson) rather than the curator himself. While not a hunchback, the "Igor" character in House of Wax is deaf and mute and is portrayed as an unconditionally devoted servant.

Mel Brooks's parody Young Frankenstein (1974) put a comic spin on the hunchbacked assistant as "Eye-gor". In 2004 Igor returned to the screen in Universal Studios' big-budget monster movie Van Helsing.

(wikipedia)

The Women - Trailer

The Women

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The central character is clothing designer Mary Haines, who lives in a beautiful country home with her wealthy financier husband and their 11-year-old daughter. Her best friend Sylvia Fowler is the editor of a prominent fashion magazine, a woman who dictates the latest in taste and style for New York City fashionistas. When Mary's husband becomes involved with Crystal Allen, a perfume salesgirl in Saks Fifth Avenue, her friendship with Sylvia is put to the test. Everyone in their close-knit circle of friends, including mother Edie Cohen and author Alex Fisher, begins to question their loyalty to each other and their romantic involvements.

Cast
Meg Ryan as Mary Haines
Annette Bening as Sylvia Fowler
Eva Mendes as Crystal Allen
Debra Messing as Edie Cohen
Jada Pinkett Smith as Alex Fisher
Candice Bergen as Catherine Frazier
Cloris Leachman as Maggie
Bette Midler as Leah Miller
Carrie Fisher as Bailey Smith
Debi Mazar as Tanya
Ana Gasteyer as Edwina Michaelson
Lynn Whitfield as Glenda Hill
Joanna Gleason as Barbara Delacorte
Keegan Connor Tracy as Dolly Dupuyster
India Ennenga as Molly Haines

Movie Info
Directed by Diane English
Produced by Diane English, Mick Jagger
Written by Diane English
Cinematography Anastas N. Michos
Editing by Tia Nolan
Distributed by Picturehouse
Release date(s) September 12, 2008
Language English
Budget $18 million

Igor - Trailer

Burn After Reading - Movie Poster

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Trailer

Punisher: War Zone - Trailer

Punisher: War Zone

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Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the "Punisher Task Force" hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.

Cast
Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle / The Punisher
Dominic West as Billy Russoti / Jigsaw
Wayne Knight as Linus Lieberman / Microchip
Dash Mihok as Det. Martin Soap
Colin Salmon as Agent Paul Budiansky
Doug Hutchison as Looney Bin Jim
T.J. Storm as Maginty
Julie Benz as Angela Donatelli
Keram Malicki-Sánchez as Ink
Mark Camacho as Pittsy

Detail Info
Directed by Lexi Alexander
Produced by Avi Arad, Gale Anne Hurd
Written by Nick Santora, Matt Holloway, Arthur Marcum
Music by Christopher Franke
Cinematography Steve Gainer
Editing by William Yeh
Distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment
Country United States
Language English
Budget $20,500,000

External Link
Official Website

Body of Lies - Trailer