New Releases Movies

Original Bangkok Dangerous directors Danny and Oxide Pang return to familiar territory with this remake of their own popular 1999 thriller about a ruthless hitman (Nicolas Cage) who travels to Bangkok in order to carry out four crucial jobs. During the course of his missions, the triggerman falls in love with a pretty local girl while also forming a friendly bond with his young errand boy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The ten-episode second season (2008) of Showtime's hit series The Tudors picks up the tale with King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) making his break from the Roman Catholic Church and establishing the Church of England, with himself as its head. Central plot points include Henry's dismissal of Katherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy) as his queen; his marriage to Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer), who gives birth to Elizabeth; and his confrontations with Sir Thomas More (Jeremy Northam) and Bishop Fisher (Bosco Hogan), who are charged with treason for questioning Henry's rejection of papal authority.

Harry Brown's honest, unsentimental WW2 novel A Walk in the Sun has been effectively adapted for the screen by Robert Rossen. Dana Andrews stars as Sgt. Tyne, a platoon squad leader in Italy who ends up assuming command of his platoon after a series of deaths. As they prepare to attack an isolated Nazi-held farmhouse, each of the infantymen reveals his true character as he dwells upon his background and contemplates the job at hand. The film's effectiveness lies in the non-cliched characterizations by a carefully chosen all-male cast. Huntz Hall of "East Side Kids" fame is particularly good in a scene wherein he argues over whether the human body or the leaf is the most complicated natural structure. Director Lewis Milestone's use of a ballad to link the action predates High Noon by some seven years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first season of The Sopranos finds lifelong "organization man" Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) taking over from Jackie Aprile Sr., terminally ill boss of the northern New Jersey branch of the DiMeo crime family. Tony's promotion is met with mixed reactions from his wife Carmela (Edie Falco), daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lyn DiScala) and son AJ (Robert Iler), but his loyal lieutenants Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico), Sil (Steve Van Zandt) and Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore) are effusive in their congratulations. Also pleased by Tony's ascent is his protégé and surrogate nephew Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), who will soon come to enjoy the perks and publicity attending Mob "royalty" (if his growing dependence on crystal meth doesn't kill him first). But uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, and soon Tony is suffering more than usual from anxiety attacks and weird nightmares. Thus he seeks out the counsel of analyst Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine DiBracco), who despite her fears that she'll be "whacked" once her usefulness comes to an end is fascinated by Tony and won't let him go. One of Tony's biggest headaches is his Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese),who is p.o.'d that he was denied Jackie Aprile's job in favor of his nephew. Junior spends most of the season conspiring against Tony--and ironically, his chief co-conspirator is Tony's own mother Livia (Nancy Marchand). Also vexing Tony is the revelation that there's an FBI "mole" in his midst--and when that mole is revealed in Season Two, it's a real heartbreaker for the troubled Mr. Soprano. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The yuletide animated tale The Littlest Light on the Christmas Tree concerns an eight-year-old boy who makes friends with a discarded Christmas light. Sure enough, the boy and the light fixture team up to save Christmas after the town suffers from a giant blizzard. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A young reporter is forced to take an active role in a story he's covering in this drama inspired by a true story. Jack Daumier (Gabriel Mann) is a journalist who has just been hired to write for The Valley Standard, a newspaper in San Jose, California published by Albion Munson (Pete Postlethwaite). While much of the country is mired in the great depression, San Jose's agricultural industry is prospering, and Jack mostly finds himself covering fluffy, inconsequential stories; he thinks he's following another one when he's asked to attend a party thrown by Horace and Natalie Walsh (Bruce McGill and Diana Scarwid) in honor of their son Blake Walsh (Joe Mandragona), who has been named second-in-command a Horace's successful department store. Jack thinks meeting Blake's beautiful sister Helen (Emily Harrison) is the high point of the evening until Blake disappears after stepping out for a moment. Horace is later contacted by kidnappers, who are holding Blake for ransom. As local and federal authorities squabble over how to handle the case and rival reporters from around the state invade San Jose to cover the kidnapping, two men are arrested and charged with the crime. A handful of powerful local businessmen are determined to see that "justice is served" and are ready to take the law into their own hands, but Jack speaks to a witness who makes a compelling case for the innocence of the accused men, and Jack decides he has to intervene to insure their safety. Valley Of The Heart's Delight was based in part on the 1933 abduction of Brooke L. Hart, though the story has been fictionalized for this adaptation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Go Nagai's legendary action/horror manga gets the live action treatment in director Hiroyuki Nasu's tale of a demonic anti-hero caught-up in a battle between the forces of evil and the fascist human leaders who would spark a supernatural war. Akira and Ryo (real life twins Hisato and Yusuke Izaki) have just received word that the experiments conducted by Ryo's father in Antarctica have gone horribly awry - unleashing a malevolent horde of demon invaders and potentially setting the apocalypse into motion. Now, as a powerful demonic force possesses Akira, he is suddenly transformed into a mighty yet conscientious demonic entity known as Devilman. As the forces of hell plot the downfall of mankind, a slew of dictatorial leaders emerge to fight back against the powerful otherworldly forces. With the situation quickly spiraling out of control, the powerful Devilman attempts to stave off both sides, and Ryo becomes corrupted by a malevolent demon intent on claiming the planet for the powers of hell. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This outrageous Mexican horror gem opens in the 17th century, where Spanish Baron Vitelius is being sentenced to death for heresy, thanks to his reputation as a Casanova and practitioner of the black arts. Before his death, he curses the bloodlines of the Inquisitors -- a curse heralded by the appearance of a comet, which Vitelius declares will mark his vengeance when it passes again. Flash forward 300 years to the swinging '60s, where the comet does more than just appear in the sky -- it slams into the Earth, releasing a brain-sucking demon with a forked tongue, which then transforms into the shape of Vitelius. The Baron heads to town and immediately goes to work on the locals, inviting them to a party where he manages to identify and list the Inquisitors' descendants in order to plan his revenge. Seeking them out one by one, he sucks their brains dry with his spiked tongue, then burns their bodies. When the police eventually discover Vitelius' secret stash of human brains, they manage to track him down and destroy him before he claims his last victim. Despite laughably bad dubbing that turns every character into a complete moron, this is still a clever little no-budget film, filled with wild imagery and goofy monster effects (e.g. the demon's rubber head occasionally swells and deflates via air-hose). Released theatrically in Mexico, this film saw its American debut on television and soon became a late-night creature-feature favorite. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The Living Coffin is a Mexican filmization of that old Edgar Allan Poe standby The Premature Burial. A seriously ill woman is terrified that she'll be buried while in a comatose state. To avoid this contingency, she has an alarm installed inside her coffin (indicating that someone involved with this film had seen the 1931 Paramount chiller Murder by the Clock). It comes to pass that the woman is indeed declared dead, planted six feet under, and.....hoo hoo hah hah HAAAAH! The legendary B-flick showman/huckster K. Gordon Murray filmed The Living Coffin in 1958 under the title El Grito de la Muerte; it didn't make the American rounds until 1965 (talk about rising from the dead!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Both actress Judy Davis and director Gillian Armstrong made a big splash on the international scene with this charming Australian film that examines late 19th century Australian society from the perspective of a headstrong woman who refuses to follow convention. The film charts the developing self-awareness of Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis) as she grows from an insecure tomboy to a self-assured woman. Sybylla wants to be a writer and stuns her family and friends by her insistence on following her dream. Despite the objections of her family acquaintances, she rejects the marriage proposal from the rich Harry Beecham (Sam Neill) to continue going her own way, in spite of the odds stacked against her in a repressive Victorian environment. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The Mexican horrorama Man and the Monster is yet another wrinkle on the Faust story. A concert pianist, desirous of international fame, sells his soul to the devil. Satan's price: whenever the pianist plays a particular selection, he turns into a monster. After a string of brutal murders perpetrated by this musical Jekyll/Hyde, he is foiled by a quickwitted concert master. When the orchestra strikes up the fatal tune, the pianist goes through his slavering metamorphosis before a packed audience, who presumably spend the rest of the evening paging through their programs to see if the monster is a hitherto unannounced guest artist. Abel Salazer produced, wrote and starred in Man and the Monster, which was originally titled El Hombre Y El Monstruo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This documentary is one in a series of railroad films that makes a tour of the British Isles. This train ride takes the viewer on board a luxury train of oak, brass, and leather to travel along the west coast of Scotland. The countryside is picturesque, with farms and fishing villages, and lives proceeding at a more relaxed pace. By contrast, there is a visit to Glasgow, the largest city and major port of Scotland. Glasgow sits on the River Clyde, about 20 miles inland, in coal and mining country. The city, noted for its cultural diversity, is both medieval and modern. It is home to the University of Glasgow, established in 1451, as well as art galleries and museums, the Scottish Ballet, and the Scottish National Orchestra. The armchair traveler is treated to the lilt of Scottish music, from the bagpipes to the symphony. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

Top-selling Thai boy band D2B show off another side of their talents in this supernatural thriller. Dan, Beem, and Big are three friends who meet a strange elderly woman who makes some disturbing predictions about their futures. While the three of them follow different paths over the course of the next 24 hours, each is thrown into a strange and threatening situation that bears some resemblance to the old woman's story. What fate will meet them when they next meet? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide