Maxim’s Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

Opening in theatres nationwide:

• One Missed Call (2007) PG-13 87min – Remake of the Japanese horror film “Chakushin Ari” (2003). A woman witneses her friends die a gruesome deaths, and these deaths have one thing in common – the victims received phone calls from their future selves with date and time and describing details of their deaths. Police doesn’t believe her and think she’s crazy, except one cop. Soon, however, he number is up too. Horror/Thriller/Suspense/Remake.

• There Will Be Blood (2007) R 2h 38min – An epic tale of family, faith, power and oil set on the incendiary frontier of California’s turn-of-the-century petroleum boom. The story chronicles the life and times of one Daniel Plainview, who transforms himself from a down-and-out silver miner raising a son on his own into a self-made oil tycoon. When Plainview gets a mysterious tip-off that there’s a little town out West where an ocean of oil is oozing out of the ground, he heads with his son, H.W., to take their chances in dust-worn Little Boston. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Drama/Adaptation

• The Orphanage (2007) R 1h 45min – Laura spent the happiest years of her childhood growing up in an orphanage by the seaside, cared for by the staff and fellow orphans whom she loved as brothers and sisters. Now, thirty years later, she returns with her husband Carlos and Simon, their 7-year-old son, with a dream of restoring and reopening the long abandoned orphanage as a home for disabled children. The new home and mysterious surroundings awaken Simon’s imagination and the boy starts to spin a web of fantastic tales and not-so-innocent games. As the opening day draws near, tension builds within the family. Carlos remains skeptical, believing that Simon is making everything up in a desperate bid for attention. But Laura slowly becomes convinced that something long-hidden and terrible is lurking in the old house, something waiting to emerge and inflict appalling damage on her family. Art/Foreign(Spain)/Suspence/Horror/Thriller

New releases on DVD:

• Shoot ‘Em Up (2007) R 86min – When a mysterious loner named Mr. Smith (Clive Owen, Children of Men) delivers a woman’s baby during an intense shoot-out, he inadvertently lands himself at odds with the ruthless Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti). Aided by the enigmatic DQ (Monica Bellucci), Mr. Smith is tasked with protecting the newborn from Hertz and his henchmen. Written and directed by Michael Davis, this bullet-riddled action thriller also stars Ramona Pringle and Chris Jericho.
• War (2007) R – FBI agent Jack Crawford (Jason Statham) is out for revenge when his partner is killed and all clues point to the mysterious assassin Rogue (Jet Li). But when Rogue turns up years later to take care of some unfinished business, he triggers a violent clash of rival gangs. Will the truth come out before it’s too late? When the dust settles, who will remain standing? Directed by Philip G. Atwell, this taut action thriller also stars John Lone.
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) R 94 min – Milla Jovovich returns as zombie-killing soldier Alice, who’s obsessed with bringing down the Umbrella Corp. When a series of viral outbreaks nearly wipes out all of mankind, Alice and a small band of survivors are left to roam the ruins of Las Vegas, battling the undead … and their own extinction. Oded Fehr, Mike Epps, Ali Larter and R&B singer Ashanti co-star in this final installment of the sci-fi trilogy.
• September Dawn (2007) R 111 min – More than 100 years before Sept. 11, 2001, another act of religious fanaticism claimed the lives of upwards of 120 men, women and children when a band of Mormon militiamen and Paiute Indians slaughtered a wagon train of westward-bound settlers. This tragic tale chronicles those events, juxtaposing a fictional love story and a fact-based account of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre. Terence Stamp, Jon Voight, Lolita Davidovich and Dean Cain star.

Also, next Tuesday (January 8, 2008) expect 3:10 To Yuma to come out on DVD and Bluray.

If any of these don’t interest you, watch the Quadrantids meteor shower on Friday night (January 4, 2008). It’s not the brightest shower of the year, but it’s very intense, so if you can find clear and dark sky away from light and air polution of big/industrial cities, it’s going to be quite a show: 1 meteor per minute on average!

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