 Armed only with his mysterious mental connection to the feral minds of studio executives, the Movie Guru reveals just how good or bad this week's new releases will be:
Duplex (PG-13)
Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore are a cute New York couple who buy their dream home and think they're set to live happily every after. But the duplex contains something they didn't bargain for: a seemingly harmless old lady (Eileen Essell) who starts to torment them in her own special way. Danny DeVito directs the slapstick comedy.
Prediction: Why does Ben Stiller insist on playing these dumb, pratfall-prone characters? Maybe Drew, who is always adorable, will be worth the price of admission.
I Capture the Castle (R)
Based on the 1948 novel by Dodie Smith (who wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians), I Capture the Castle is a portrait of an idiosyncratic family living in an abandoned English castle in 1938. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra (Romola Garai) narrates the story of her once-famous father suffering writer's block, her wacky mother and her sister Rose. When two American brothers (Henry Thomas and Marc Blucas) arrive to claim their castle, the possibility for romance grows exponentially.
Prediction: By all accounts, this film is as charming as the original novel, with a touching, subtle performance by newcomer Garai.
Lost in Translation (R)
Bill Murray plays Bob, an actor making a fortune doing commercials in Tokyo. He meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young philosophy student who's tagging along with her photographer husband (Giovanni Ribisi). As Americans out of their element, Bob and Charlotte make a connection and discover they're not so alone in the big city after all. Directed by Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides).
Prediction: Stationed at the Metro Pulse satellite office in New York City, Jesse Fox Mayshark reports that Lost in Translation is a great film. Read his review on page 29.
Luther (PG-13)
Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) is Martin Luther, the 16th century monk who challenged the Catholic Church, got excommunicated and founded a religious revolution that precipitated the end of the Dark Ages.
Prediction: If any actor can bring a real humanity to this complex, historic figure, it's Fiennes. Plus, the "question authority" message is always pertinent.
The Rundown (PG-13)
The Rock brings his muscle to the Amazon as a bounty hunter named Beck who's looking for an adventurer named Travis (Seann William Scott, Stiffler of the American Pie series). Beck's assignment is to bring Travis back to Los Angeles at his rich father's request, but the two get sidetracked looking for the gold mines that supposedly exist in Brazil.
Prediction: The plot of this movie was wholly designed to display The Rock's bare pectorals and his daredevil stunts.
Under the Tuscan Sun (PG-13)
Adapted from the spirit, if not the letter, of the autobiography by Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun follows the author from a devastating divorce, a forced vacation in Italy and a wild-hair decision to buy a villa named Bramasole. Diane Lane plays Mayes as a woman who thinks she'll never get another chance at love. She changes her mind when she meets Marcello (Raoul Bova).
Prediction: People who loved the book may be disappointed by its transformation into a romantic comedy. But Diane Lane is enchanting, and who doesn't fantasize about falling in love with an Italian and his village?
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