11 TOUCHING STORIES ABOUT LOVE AND NEW YORK
Genre: Melodrama, Romance with a hint of Comedy

Studio: Vivendi Entertainment

Release date: October 16, 2009

Directors: New York I love you, is a movie consisting of eleven short features, directed by various artists, and approximately 10 minutes long. Each director is a very famous name, and in a way connected to NY (either born there, or currently residing in the city).

Here is the list of directors and their most famous movies:
Fatih Akin (Gegen Die Wand / Head On)
Yvan Attal (I got a woman, Happily ever after)
Allen Hughes (Dead Presidents, American Pimp)
Brett Ratner (Red Dragon, W-Man, Blue Blood)
Shunji Iwai (Suwaroteiru, Undo)
Wen Jiang (The Sun Also Rises)
Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace, Bitter Memories)
Mira Nair (Monsoon Rain, Amelia, Vanity Fair)
Natalie Portman (actress: V for Vendetta, Star Wars, and Garden State)
Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
And Randall Balsmeyer – who directed transmissions

Writer: Emmanuel Benbihy is the writer of the whole New York I Love You concept, and each director worked on further developing his own story. Benbihy also worked on a previous selection of films inspired by one legendary city – Paris je t’aime. (Movies inspired by Shanghai, Rio and Jerusalem are currently in development).

Cast: This movie (actually, these short movies) gathered spectacular cast: Hollywood stars, European icons, legendary actors, and brilliant newcomers. Here is the list of famous faces you will see in New York I Love You, and their most memorable roles so far:
Andy Garcia (Things to do in Denver when You’re dead, Desperate Measures, Twisted)
Bradley Cooper (Hangover, Nip/Tuck, Yes Man)
Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Blake Lively (Gossip Girl)
Robin Wright Penn (What Just Happened, Beowolf, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Forest Gump)
Hayden Christensen (Star Wars, The Virgin Suicides)
Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Troy, Haven)
Christina Ricci (Sleepy Hollow, Prozac Nation, The Ice Storm)
Rachel Bilson (The O.C, Unbroken, The Last Kiss)
Ethan Hawke (Reality Bites, Gattaca, Before Sunrise)
and many more

Plot summary: New York is the city that never sleeps, a big apple embracing millions of people from all over the world. Every moment of every day, love is in the air in NY. This movie shows us different stories and destinies of New Yorkers who are spontaneous, love seeking and often quite unhappy. They live, love, hurt and share their secrets with their town, which is totally personalized in this movie. From Tribecca to Brooklyn, through upper-eastside and over Manhattan, love is everywhere and it comes in various shapes and sizes, often charming and beautiful, but still hurtful and painful.

You will meet all kinds of people, different characters and faces, their love life and their wishes. Some of them will be charming, others you will feel sorry for, and there are ones that will remind you of the people you know and love. All in all, you will see how new Yorkers love and live, and all that through the eyes of 11 different marvellous directors.

Recommendation: Spectacular, inspiring and hearth warming! This is a must see, especially if you are a lady, a romantic soul or in love with New York.

Sometimes lying is the answer

Genre: Romantic Comedy, the one that will actually make you laugh

Studio: Media Rights Capital and Radar Pictures

Release date: October 2, 2009

Tagline: In a world where everyone can only tell the truth – this guy can lie

Co-directors and co-writers: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson. Mr. Gervais is one of the most critically acclaimed comedians in the past decade. This British multi talented artist has won several important awards (Emmy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA) and played in most popular comedy TV shows in the world: Meet Ricky Gervais, The Office, Extras. His partner on this movie – Matthew Robinson is a young American artist and The Invention of Lying is his big movie debut.

Cast: Ricky Gervais is starring in this feature, playing Mark Bellison. With his amazing talent and sense for good comedy, he is a perfect addition to this hilarious movie. A touch of pure British humour is what modern Hollywood romantic comedies need, for sure.

Beautiful Jennifer Garner is playing Anna MacDoogles (Mark’s romantic crush), main female character. This Hollywood A-lister is also great in comedies, and you had a chance to see her in movies like: Juno, The Kingdom, Elektra, Daredevil etc.

Jonah Hill is a great young actor, also perfect for comic roles. He is best known from Knocked Up, Superbad, Evan Almighty, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Funny People…and is playing a role of Frank in The Invention of Lying.
Among other great actors in The Invention of Lying, we must mention two more: 80s hottie Rob Lowe and spectacular comedian Tina Fey (30 Rock, Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls).

One day, when his mom gets sick, he starts lying to her about the great afterlife she will experience. Doctors hear his story and start believing that he is a link to the afterlife. Word gets around and people start asking him about his visions and thoughts. Mark starts lying and his life starts getting better. He even writes a book “Man in the Sky” and starts preaching his wisdom to the world.

Once Mark finds out how lucrative lying can be, he decides to earn money and win Anna’s heart, all by using his new invention – lies.

Recommendation: Ricky Gervais should be a great recommendation to start with. His humour has won millions of people and now you will have it all in one take on the big screen. The idea is excellent, cast is perfectly chosen and this comedy is real refreshment in the sea of similar (mostly stupid) films in 2009. Definitely, The Invention of Lying is one of the most anticipated comedies of the year in both US and Europe!

KEEP YOUR HANDS OF THE HAIR
Genre: Documentary movie with a Comedy written all over
Studio: Roadside Attractions and Kinosmith

Tagline: Daddy, how come I don’t have a good hair?

Director: Jeff Stilson (winner of Primetime Emmys for The Osbournes and The Chris Rock Show).He was a writer, producer, director and even actor in critically acclaimed shows like: Da Ali G Show, MTV VMA’s, Academy Awards Show, and Late Show with David Letterman. Stilson is a true legend among writers and directors of live award shows, and especially reality TV programmes which he has been doing for over a decade. This documentary – Good Hair – gained excellent reviews and established Jeff Stilson as a remarkable documentary director.

Co-writers: Chris Rock is the main idea developer and the person who gathered the whole creative team on this documentary. Co-writers are Jeff Stilson (also a director of this film), Lance Crouther, Paul Marchand, and Chuck Sklar – they are all Rock’s friends and were working with him on Everybody Hates Chris (his super successful TV series).

Cast: This documentary is edited and presented as a series of interviews with famous African American people, who talk about their obsession with hair.

Chris Rock is critically acclaimed actor and he has a wide range of fans among celebrities, so it comes as no surprise that more than 20 famous African Americans agreed to be a part of Good Hair.

Here is a list of those who talk about their “good hair” in this documentary:
Sandra Denton a.k.a Pepa (singer, from a band called Salt’N’Pepa)
Maya Angelou (actress – Down in the Delta, How to make an American Quilt)
Eve (famous rap, r’n’b musician)
Meagan Good (actress – The love Guru, Kevin Hill)
Ice-T (legendary rap musician, and actor – Law&Order: SVU)
KRS-One (famous r’n’b artist)
Raven Symone (actress – Cheetah Girls, Kim Possible, Tinker Bell: The Winter Story)
Kerry Washington (actress – Boston legal, I think I love My Wife, Mr. and Mrs. Smith)

Plot summary: What would you do if your 5-year old daughter would ask you this question: “Daddy, how come I don’t have a good hair?” Well, if you were Chris Rock, you’d make a movie about the “good hair” and investigate the $9 billion dollars industry revolving around black hair.

Rock found a perfect balance between a serious aspect of this topic and funny approach we are all used to, when it comes to this stand-up comedy king. Many famous artists talk about their hair “insecurity” and passion and discuss their experiences (some are hilarious, others are seriously shocking).

Recommendation: Good Hair received excellent critics and won a Special Jury Prize on Sundance Film festival. It is an excellent documentary about the world we live in, beauty and aesthetic norms we are exposed to, and eventually about our need to change our natural look, for no good reason, most of the times. Touchy and hilarious – a definite must see!

Explore, Learn, Live and love
Genre: Drama with a hint of Romance, Period Piece set in the 1960s

Studio: Koch Entertainment (for United Kingdom) and Sony Pictures Classics (for USA)

Tagline: Sometimes an education isn’t by the book

Director: Lone Scherfig, famous female director from Denmark. She is also a writer and has won (so far) more than 20 awards on various international festivals: Berlin International Film Festival, British Independent Film Award etc. Her most successful works up to date are: Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, Italiensk for Begyndere and Hjemve.

Cast: Director Lone Scherfig is known for her excellent casting sense, and in this movie she hired fabulous actors, both newcomers and recognizable legends.

Carey Mulligan (24 years old British actress) is portraying a main character – lovely Jenny. This extremely talented young actress already starred in few wonderful movies and TV series like: Pride & Prejudice, Doctor Who, Brighton Rock, Never Let Me Go, and Public Enemies etc.

Alfred Molina, legendary British actor (and Toni nominated artist) is playing Jenny’s father – Jack. You certainly recognize him from Art, Law & Order, Spider-man 2, Frida, Raiders of the Lost Ark…

Golden Globe nominee Peter Sarsgaard is playing the role of David; a mysterious, charming and loveable older man Jenny meets and falls in love with. He is best known for his roles in Shattered Glass, Kinsey, Orphan, Garden State, Boys Don’t Cry…

David has a partner and a best friend Denny, and he is played by young actor Dominic Cooper. You may know Mr. Cooper from Sense & Sensibility, Starter for 10, Mamma Mia, The Duchess.

Gorgeous Rosamund Pike is playing Denny’s mistress, charming and experienced Helen. Rosamund Pake rose to fame playing various characters (and winning many international awards) in movies: Die another Day, Surrogates, Fracture, Doom, and Devil You Know.

Finally, biggest acting legend on this list is Emma Thompson, who won 2 Academy Awards (for Sense and Sensibility and Howards End) is playing a role of Jenny’s Headmistress. She is (as always) brilliant and proves why she truly is the true icon of British acting.

Plot summary: Jenny is a young, gifted and very intelligent young girl. She is almost 17 years old, and her life changes drastically once she meets and older man David, and falls in love with him. Before she fell in love, her biggest dream was to get a scholarship and go to Oxford University.

But, after meeting David, and learning how care free and happy life can be, she starts forgetting what she originally wanted to achieve. David is wealthy and provides her with things she never thought she would have. But, one day, the truth hits her and she finds out a bit more about her charming older boyfriend and his friends.

Recommendation: An Education won 2 awards at Sundance in 2009 – Audience Choice and Cinematography prize. It is an absolute must see this year!

This year’s highly anticipated horror movie “The Stepfather” is actually a remake of a popular thriller/horror from 1987, originally directed by Joseph Ruben. This comes as no surprise if you follow the movie industry nowadays, because this year is certainly the year of remakes, in all genres.

The idea about the remake of “The Stepfather” exists for few years now, but the production started last year and film was wrapped in 2009. Since the release the movie gathered mostly negative critics, because unlike the original (which is considered a cult movie in its genre) it lacks tension, drama and thriller part. As for the profit, it made more than $24 millions, which is more than invested budget (around $20 million) so it gained profit after all.

Terry O’Quinn, an actor who played the original stepfather in 1987, was approached by the director Nelson McCormick, with an offer to appear in this remake, but he decided to turn down the offer. In this reworked “The Stepfather” Dylan Walsh (Dr. Sean McNamara from “Nip/Tuck”) is playing the role of the bad father and main villain David Harris.

One more famous actor is in the cast – Penn Badgley, known as Dan Humphrey from ultra successful TV show “Gossip Girl”. He is playing a smart, suspicious young man Michael Harding who eventually finds out something’s wrong with his stepfather. Rising star Amber Heard (from “The Informers”, “Pineapple Express” and “Zombieland”) is playing Kelly, his girlfriend and a companion in his fight against the sneaky, evil stepdad.
Here is the plot summary of new version of “The Stepfather”. When young Michael Harding returns home from military camp where he goes to school, he finds his mother with her new man she’s deeply in love with – David Harris. He looks like a perfect partner, carrying father, great role model and the nice, warm and loving person. Eventually, Michael starts suspecting that this picture perfect gentleman is perhaps not the guy he seems to be.

Michael gathers his girlfriend, father and mother’s friends together, and they start solving the David Harris mystery. There’s only one question left – what are his motifs, and more important, are they too late to stop him?

This is an intense movie, strong psychological thriller with various horror elements. Music is excellent and actors are very persuasive. But, if you are a fan of an original, then you may not be thrilled with this remake since it is very similar, and maybe lacks some tension which was included in the original.

Anyhow, fans of the genre will certainly be satisfied because “The Stepfather” is definitely bringing some drama and chills to the theater. If you decide you want to see a good horror movie at the cinema, put “The Stepfather” on your list.