Opening This Week: State of Play Fired Up to be Dragged To Hell

This week in theaters, its all about diversity. Not the British dance group, but how good were they right? In cinemas this Thursday, we have a horror flick, a comedy and a highly acclaimed political thriller. Let's get into it, shall we?


State of Play (2009)
Starring: Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren
Director: Kevin Macdonald
USA release: April 17
Msia release: June 11
USA box office: $36,651,540
Worldwide box office: $55,300,427
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Runtime: 2 hours 7 mins
Rated in USA: PG-13 for some violence, language including sexual references, and brief drug content
Rated in Msia: PG-13
IMDb User Rating: 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%

When the assistant of a Congressman is murdered, a team of investigative journalists delve deeper into a conspiracy that is just waiting to happen. This movie deals with the issues faced by journalists when dealing with political figures. Probing deeper into the issue, veteran journalist, Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), starts to figure out how far he is willing to go to get the ultimate scoop. Is it worth risking his life?

I've read so many great things about this movie. I've been wanting to watch this film for at least a month and a half now. Finally, its coming out here in Malaysia. If you're in for a serious and gripping movie, I believe State of Play is for you. Its definitely not a film for the family, unless you want to put your kids to sleep.




Fired Up (2009)
Starring: Eric Christian Olsen, John Micheal Higgins, Nicholas D'Agosto, Sarah Roemer
Director: Will Gluck
USA release: February 20
Msia release: June 11
USA box office: $17,231,291
Worldwide box office: $18,001,045
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 1 hour 29 mins
Rated in USA: PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, partial nudity, language and some teen partying
Rated in Msia: N/A
IMDb User Rating: 5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 28%

The story is focused on two sex-obsessed teen boys who ditch football camp to attend a cheerleading camp in order to score some girls. (Cinema Online)

Just another low budget comedy that got panned, with no big names in it whatsoever. More than three months after its American release, the film still hasn't recovered its $20 million budget. I can't say whether it will be funny or not, but I doubt many Malaysians will go out to see this movie with blockbusters like Terminator Salvation sill in cinemas. Also, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is coming out in a couple of weeks. I see Fired Up's stay in cinemas to be a very short one. Not a film for the kids and the family.




Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long
Director: Sam Raimi
USA release: June 4
Msia release: June 11
USA box office: $28,534,000
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Runtime: 1 hour 40 mins
Rated in USA: PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language
Rated in Msia: 18PL
IMDb User Rating: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%

Mrs. Ganush casts a curse on Christine (Alison Lohman) after denying her a home loan. Christine is haunted by an evil spirit and at the same time receives little support from her skeptical boyfriend (Justin Long). She seeks help from a supernatural expert to rid the curse and save her from being Dragged To Hell.

Sam Raimi returns to his horror roots after a stint of directing the Spiderman trilogy. This is another movie I've read a lot about and it's highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes- 154 fresh and only 12 rotten. You know this is going to be good and scary. No, scratch that, great and terrifying. I cannot be more excited to see it. Definitely not for the little ones.

Source: Cinema Online, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo

2009 Summer Blockbusters: Part 2

In part 2 we'll cover movies set for release in the month of June. Strangely enough, there aren't many big movies coming out in May. So I've added some movies that aren't actually summer blockbusters, but are worth a watch. With only 6 movies to go through, lets get to it.

Land of the Lost
Msia release: June 5
USA release: June 5
Will Ferrell's remake of the classic 1974 TV series.
If he's at his best, this should be very funny.


State of Play
Msia release: June 11
USA release: April 17
Great cast with Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren.
Reviews have been good for this movie.


Drag Me To Hell
Msia release: June 11
USA release: May 29
Directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman franchise) this could potentially be good.
Never thought we'd see Justin Long in a horror flick though.


17 Again
Msia release: June 11
USA release: April 17
This is far from a summer blockbuster but I think this would be a popular movie among Malaysians. I'm sure a lot of people out there like Zac Efron. I must admit, even I do.
This is his first non-musical film if I'm not wrong.


Departures (Okuribito)
Msia release: June 18, 2009
Japan release: September 13, 2008
USA release: May 29, 2009
The reason why this Japanese film is on the list is because it won an
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. And we get to see it in June.


Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Msia release: June 24
USA release: June 24
I think I don't need to say anything about this film, except BOOM! Oh, and that Linkin Park have teamed up with Hans Zimmer to score the movie. Oh yeah!