SiM Trailer: The Crazies

Zombie-like chaos strikes small-town America in Hollywood's latest remake

Director: Breck Eisner (Sahara)
Cast: Timothy Olyphant (Scream 2), Danielle Panabaker (Friday the 13th), Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black), Joe Anderson (Across the Universe), Preston Bailey (Dexter)
Studio: Paramount Vantage/ Overture Films
Release Date: February 26, 2010

Synopsis: Helmed by the son of former Walt Disney Company chief executive Michael Eisner, The Crazies is a modern-day remake of George A. Romero's 1973 thriller classic of the same name. Insanity and death are what folks in a small Iowa town have to look forward to after a mysterious toxin contaminates the water supply. The screenplay was penned by Ray Wright and Scott Kosar. In case you didn't know, the song you hear in the trailer is Gary Jules' "Mad World," which was also used in the cult classic Donnie Darko (2001).

SiM Trailer: The Crypt

Tagline: "Some things are better left buried"

Director: Craig McMahon (Orville)
Writer: Craig McMahon (Sportkill)
Cast: Sarah Oh (debut), Cristen Irene (Red Corvette), Mike Ranallo (Paradise Hotel), Joanna Ke (Finger Food), Delaina Stevens (Ave Maria), R. Keith Wilson (debut), Savanah McMahon (debut)
Distributor: Post Reel Pictures
Release Date: Thursday, June 25, 2009 (limited)

Synopsis: Craig McMahon's indie horror-thriller The Crypt follows six young--and Abercrombie & Finch-ish--thieves who break into an underground catacomb in order to steal jewelry that was buried there during the "Great Depression" era, but they find themselves fighting off some undead inhabitants who have been guarding the jewels for decades. Starring a group of first-time actors and unknowns (as well as reality TV star Mike Ranallo), The Crypt was originally titled Tomb Raider: The Ride, but had to change its name due to copyright infringement. It's now playing in select theatres.

SiM Trailer: (500) Days of Summer

Gordon-Levitt & Deschanel reunite for youthful romantic comedy

Director: Marc Webb (L.A. Suite short)
Writers: Scott Neustadter (The Pink Panther 2), Michael H. Weber (The Pink Panther 2)
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Lookout), Zooey Deschanel (Yes Man), Chloe Moretz (The Amityville Horror), Matthew Gray Gubler (RV), Jennifer Hetrick (Bodies of Evidence), Geoffrey Arend (Garden State)
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Running Time: 95 minutes
Release Dates: Friday, July 17, 2009 (North America)/ Friday, September 4, 2009 (UK)/ Thursday, October 1, 2009 (Australia)

Synopsis: A hopeless romantic young man named Tom (Gordon-Levitt) falls in love with Summer (Deschanel), a young woman who doesn't believe in such a thing as love. Director Marc Webb's feature film debut, (500) Days of Summer, follows the first 500 days of the couple's offbeat relationship, which adds up to approxiametly 95 minutes on film. Shot primarily in Los Angeles, Summer is the second film in which Gordon-Levitt stars alongside Deschanel, after appearing together previously in 2001's Manic.

SiM Trailer: Cold Souls

Like John Malkovich & Jean-Claude Van Damme, Paul Giamatti gets to play himself

Director: Sophie Barthes (Happiness)
Writer: Sophie Barthes (Happiness)
Cast: Paul Giamatti (Duplicity), Dina Korzun (Mediator), Emily Watson (The Water Horse), David Strathairn (The Uninvited), Katheryn Winnick (Law Dogs), Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under), Boris Kievsky (Brother's War)
Distributor: Journeyman Pictures
Release Date: Friday, August 7, 2009 (limited)

Synopsis: This metaphysical comedy stars Paul Giamatti as himself, stricken with anxiety and agonizing over his current status, until he comes across a New Yorker article that tells of a high-tech company that specializes in removing one's soul and then storing it in a deep freeze. When he realizes how empty he is without his soul, Giamatti goes on a search and rescue for it, taking him to St. Petersburg, Russia. The indie film premiered last January at the Sundance Film Festival, and will be released to limited theatres this August.

SiM Trailer: The Warrior's Way

First-time director Lee combines Asian combat with the Wild West

Director: Sngmoo Lee (debut)
Writer: Sngmoo Lee (debut)
Cast: Jang Dong-gun (Typhoon), Geoffrey Rush (Shakespeare in Love), Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns), Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Tony Cox (Bad Santa), Nic Sampson (TV's Power Rangers), Matt Gillanders (30 Days of Night), Ashley Jones (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), Jessica Cummings (debut), Ryan Richards (TV's Shortland Street)
Distributor: Kathy Morgan International
Release Date: August 2009 (TBA)

Synopsis: Korean actor-musician Jang Dong-gun is Yang, a fugitive Asian warrior who is hiding out in the badlands of America, where he meets a fellow retired fighter named Ron (Geoffrey Rush), who is also the town drunk. Kate Bosworth plays Lynne, a circus knife thrower hellbent on retribution for childhood abuses. Filmed over three and a half months in Auckland, New Zealand, this $40 million action-fantasy feature--formerly titled The Laundry Warrior--was produced by Barrie M. Osborne, who was also behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03). No exact release date has been set for The Warrior's Way, but the film is eyeing an August premiere.

SiM Trailer: $9.99

Multi-nation indie film looks unlike anything else in theatres!

Director: Tatia Rosenthal (A Buck's Worth)
Writers: Etgar Keret (Wristcutters: A Love Story), Tatia Rosenthal (Crazy Glue)
Cast: Geoffrey Rush (Shine), Anthony LaPaglia (TV's Without a Trace), Samuel Johnson (TV's The Secret Life of Us), Claudia Karvan (The Heartbreak Kid), Barry Otto (Strictly Business), Joel Edgerton (Star Wars prequel trilogy), Leeanna Walsman (Star Wars-Episode II: Attack of the Clones), Ben Mendelsohn (The Year My Voice Broke), Jamie Katsamatsas (Walnut)
Distributors: Regent Releasing/ Maximum Films/ Memento Films
Running Time: 78 minutes
Release Date: Friday, June 19, 2009 (NY/L.A.)

Synopsis: Although $9.99 premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, this Australian-Israeli stop-motion-animation feature film will finally show in limited theatres in New York City and Los Angeles this month. The charming indie film tells the story of Dave Peck (Johnson), an unemployed 28-year-old who still lives at home and who is in search of "the meaning of life." He discovers that he can find his answers in an illuminated booklet that costs just $9.99, and we're along for the ride as his life interweaves with his strange and intriguing neighbours, including an old man and his "disgruntled" guardian angel. Based on the short stories of Etgar Keret, $9.99 will not likely reach wide release, so for those who do not live in L.A. or New York, you will have to wait for DVD.

SiM Trailer: Toy Story 3

Disney & Pixar come together for another Hanks-Allen adventure

Director: Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 2)
Writers: Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine), Andrew Stanton (WALL-E)
Cast: Tom Hanks (Toy Story), Tim Allen (Toy Story 2), Joan Cusack (In & Out), Don Rickles (Casino), Wallace Shawn (The Incredibles), John Ratzenberger (Cheers), Estelle Harris (Seinfeld), Ned Beatty (Deliverance), Michael Keaton (Batman), Jodi Benson (The Little Mermaid)
Distributors: Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar
Release Date: June 18, 2010

Synopsis: Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the toy box gang are back again for the third film in the groundbreaking franchise that introduced the merger of Disney and premier computer animators Pixar 14 years earlier (1995's Toy Story). The third toy story is set around the characters' new adventures after their owner, Andy, drops them off at a daycare center, as he leaves for college. Part 3 will be shown in Disney Digital 3-D, but not for another 379 days!

SiM Trailer: Pandorum

Quaid hits deep space in Aliens-like (?) sci-fi thriller

Director: Christian Alvart (Case 39)
Writer: Travis Milloy (Just Like Mona)
Cast: Dennis Quaid (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), Ben Foster (Alpha Dog), Cam Gigandet (Twilight), Norman Reedus (The Boondock Saints), Andre Hennicke (Sophie Scholl-The Final Days), Cung Le (Tekkon), Antje Traue (Berlin By the Sea), Eddie Rouse (Observe and Report)
Distributors: Overture Films/ Constantin Films
Release Date: Friday, September 4, 2009

Synopsis: Quiad and Foster are astronauts stranded on an "abandoned" spacecraft 500 million miles from Earth who awaken with no memory of where or who they are, and oblivious as to where the other 60,000 passengers have gone. Reality slowly sets in and pandorum--the biological effects of deep space--kicks into high gear as the two crewmen discover what has really happened to the ship's crew. The $40 million sci-fi thriller, from the producers of Resident Evil (2002), was filmed in Berlin last August, after recieving an impressive $6 million from the German Federal Film Fund. Tagline: "Don't fear the end of the world...fear what happens next."

SiM Trailer: Metropia

Director: Tarik Saleh (Gitmo-The New Rules of War)
Writers: Tarik Saleh (Om du var jag), Fredrik Edin (TV's Rallarsving), Stig Larsson (The Rabbit Man)
Cast: Vincent Gallo (Buffalo '66), Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers), Sofia Helin (Blood Brothers), Udo Kier (Halloween, 2007), Stellan Skarsgard (Angels & Demons), Alexander Skarsgard (Zoolander), Fares Fares (The Fur), Shanti Roney (Julia)
Distributor: Atmo Metro
Release Date: Friday, November 6, 2009

Synopsis: Vincent Gallo is the voice of Roger, who befriends supermodel Nina (Juliette Lewis) in order to help him gain some self-control in his predictable and microscoped life. He lives in Farsta, a Stockholm suburb, in the distant future when the world has become a terrifying and dark place to live, as it runs out of its oil supply. The globe has become connected via underground networks, which Roger does all he can to avoid, as he begins to hear voices in his head once he steps into the dim world below. The Swedish animation is "depressingly beautiful," full of gloomy settings and intriguing characters, and a story that is like "1984 with subways." Unfortunately, no North American release date has been set yet for Metropia.

SiM Trailer: The Road

Director: John Hillcoat (The Proposition)
Writer: Joe Penhall (Some Voices)
Cast: Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises), Kodi Smit-McPhee (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Charlize Theron (Monster), Guy Pearce (Memento), Robert Duvall (Apocalypse Now), Michael K. Williams (The Wire)
Distributor: Dimension Films
Release Date: Friday, October 16, 2009

Synoposis: Based on Cormac McCarthy's 2006 novel of the same name, The Road is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, in which a father (Mortensen) and son (Smit-McPhee) are trying to survive amongst a gang of rogues. Filmed in three different states (Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania) for a $20 million budget, The Road was originally scheduled to be released late last year, but delays forced Dimension to put it off for nearly a full year.

SiM Trailer: New York, I Love You

The Rundown:

Directors: Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal, Allen Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Brett Katner, Randall Balsmeyer
Writers: Fatiah Akin, Natalie Portman, Anthony Minghella, Joshua Marston, Andrei Zvyaginstev, Jeff Nathanson
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Orlando Bloom, Blake Lively, Robin Wright Penn, Bradley Cooper, Rachel Bilson, Kevin Bacon, Christina Ricci, Ethan Hawke, John Hurt, Cloris Leachman, James Caan, Andy Garcia, Chris Cooper, Olivia Thirlby, Anton Yelchin, Maggie Q, Eli Wallach, Julie Christie, Jacinda Barrett, Justin Bartha, Burt Young
Distributors: Vivendi Entertainment/ Palm Pictures
Running Time: 110 minutes
Release Date: TBA (2009)

Synopsis: From the producers of 2006's Paris, I Love You (Emmanuel Benbihy, Marina Grasic) comes this feature collection of 11 short films, each running 10 minutes long. As in the Paris version, New York, I Love You's shorts are unrelated to each other, but share the common theme of finding love, and stars a who's-who of Hollywood, including Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, and Hayden Christensen. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, New York has no release date yet, but is scheduled for some time this year. The songs you hear in the trailer are Mika's "Love Today," Regina Spektor's "Fidelity," and Feist's "1,2,3,4."

SiM Trailer: Away We Go

The Rundown:

Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty)
Writers: Dave Eggers (You Shall Know Our Velocity novel), Vendela Vida (Girls on the Verge book)
Cast: John Krasinski (The Office), Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Stranger Than Fiction), Allison Janney (The West Wing), Catherine O'Hara (Where the Wild Things Are), Chris Messina (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Paul Schneider (Lars and the Real Girl), Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men), Josh Hamilton (The Bourne Identity), Jeff Daniels (Dumb & Dumber)
Distributor: Focus Features
Release Date: Friday, June 5, 2009 (limited)

Synopsis: This contemporary comedy-drama was overseen by the Oscar-winning director of 1999's American Beauty, Sam Mendes, and scripted by husband-and-wife team Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, made for a $7 million budget and distributed by Focus (Milk, Brokeback Mountain). Burt (Krasinski) & Verona (Rudolph) are an expectant couple who are travelling the United States to find the perfect home for them to settle down and raise a family. Away We Go will debut at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, but not before hitting limited theatres on June 5th.

SiM Trailer: Blood: The Last Vampire

Director: Chris Nahon (Kiss of the Dragon)
Writers: Kanji Kamiyama, Katsuya Terada
Cast: Gianna Jun (Daisy), Allison Miller (17 Again), Masiela Lusha (Time of the Comet), Liam Cunningham (Hunger), J.J. Field (Telstar), Koyuki (The Last Samurai), Michael Byrne (Coronation Street), Colin Salmon (The Bank Job), Andrew Pleavin (300), Larry Lamb (EastEnders)
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release Dates: May 29, 2009 (Japan), June 12, 2009 (UK)

Synopsis: Saya (Jun) may be a 16-year-old beauty on the outside, but on the inside she's a vicious 400-year-old vampire slayer known as a "halfling," the offspring of a vampire mother and human father. A loner at heart, the superhuman Saya has perfected the art of the Samurai over the last four centuries, and uses these skills to abolish the world of the vampires that survive from the very blood that is essential for Saya's own survival. Set in Tokyo, on an American military base, Blood: The Last Vampire was adapted from Hiroyuki Kitakubo's 2000 anime film of the same name, which also inspired a single-volume manga sequel, a novel, two "light novels," and even a video game for the Sony Playstation. This live action feature was produced by Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Ronny Yu (Freddy vs. Jason), so should be one to see!

SiM Trailer: Lymelife

Director: Derick Martini (debut)
Writers: Derick Martini (Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish), Steven Martini (Bolden!)
Cast: Rory Culkin (The Zodiac), Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Kieran Culkin (She's All That), Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan), Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People), Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew), Cynthia Nixon (Sex & the City), Adam Scarimbolo (Chapter 27), Logan Huffman (America)
Distributor: Screen Media Films
Running Time: 95 minutes
Release Date: April 8, 2009 (limited)

Synopsis: First-time director Derick Martini brings his--and brother Steven Martini--life to film, set in Long Island, New York during the late-'70s. Two of the Culkin brothers (Rory & Kieran) play ficitional brothers in this indie comedy-drama, which follows the hectic lives of two families and how they deal with financial and relationship problems, as well as a local Lyme disease outbreak. Filmed in New Jersey, Lymelife premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, where it won the International Critic's Award. The Martini brothers also make cameos in the film, as does another sibling Matthew Martini, while Steven also wrote the score and performed on the soundtrack with his band The Spaceship Martini. Alec Baldwin serves as producer for Lymelife, while Oscar winner Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) is executive producer.

SiM Trailer: The Boat That Rocked

Director: Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral)
Writer: Richard Curtis (Mr. Bean)
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Tom Sturridge (Being Julia), Bill Nighy (Shaun of the Dead), Rhys Ifans (The Informers), Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility), Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz), Kenneth Branaugh (Valkyrie), Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy), January Jones (Anger Management), Talulah Riley (Pride and Prejudice), Chris O'Dowd (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People)
Distributors: Universal Pictures
Running Time: 129 minutes
Release Date: August 28, 2009

Synopsis: Philip Seymour Hoffman plays "The Count," a DJ who hosts a "pirate radio station" (Radio Rock) from a ship on international waters, for millions of rock 'n' roll fans across the United Kingdom. Set in 1966, The Boat That Rocked is a fictitious story, but there were similar truths during that era, when the BBC, as the only licensed radio broadcaster in the mainland UK, would only air two hours of recorded music per week. In the Richard Curtis feature film, the British government tries to shut down the 24-hour radio ship, but not without a fight. At 129 minutes, The Boat That Rocked has been criticized for its lengthy telling, including in a review by The Hollywood Reporter, which claimed that the film could "barely stay afloat."

SiM Trailer: 9

Director: Shane Acker (The Hangnail)
Writers: Shane Acker (The Astounding Talents of Mr. Grenade), Pamela Pettler (Corpse Bride)
Cast: Elijah Wood (Sin City), John C. Reilly (Step Brothers), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), Crispin Glover (Beowulf), Martin Landau (City of Ember), Christopher Plummer (Up), Fred Tatasciore (Bolt)
Distributors: Focus Features
Release Date: September 9, 2009 (9.9.09)

Synopsis: 9 is a feature adaptation of director-writer Shane Acker's 2005, Oscar-nominated animated short film of the same name, set in a world parallel to ours, one that is facing extinction of humanity. Co-produced by Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas), the computer-animated flick follows a rag doll-like creature named 9 (Wood), who is perhaps the last of his kind in his dark and violent world.

SiM Trailer: Ball Don't Lie

Director: Brin Hill (The Ecology of Love)
Writers: Brin Hill (Morning Breath), Matt de la Pena (Ball Don't Lie novel)
Cast: Grayson "The Professor" Boucher (Semi-Pro), Dania Ramirez (X-Men: The Last Stand), Emilie de Ravin (Lost), Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives), Nick Cannon (Drumline), Chris "Ludacris" Bridges (Crash), Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction), Kim Hidalgo (How to Save a Life), James Pickens, Jr. (Grey's Anatomy), Harold Perrineau (Lost)
Distributors: Night & Day Pictures
Release Date: June 5, 2009 (limited)

Synopsis: Brin Hill's basketball drama Ball Don't Lie is based on Matt de la Pena's applauded novel of the same name (2005), about a 17-year-old foster kid named Sticky (Boucher), who is one of the top basketball players in Venice, California, with the power to heal. Boucher is an actual b-ball star, a member of the AND1 Mix Tape Team, and is known simply as "The Professor." Ball Don't Lie, which premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, will be released in limited theatres this summer.

SiM Teaser Trailer: Extract

Director: Mike Judge (Office Space)
Writer: Mike Judge (King of the Hill)
Cast: Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Mila Kunis (That '70s Show), Ben Affleck (Dazed & Confused), Kristin Wiig (Saturday Night Live), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man), Clifton Collins, Jr. (Babel), Dustin Milligan (90210), T.J. Miller (Cloverfield)
Distributors: Miramax Films
Release Date: September 4, 2009

Synopsis: Sexually-frustrated Joel (Bateman) runs a factory that makes flavour extract, and is near an early retirement when a series of small disasters put those dreams on hold. Kunis plays the beautiful factory temp Cindy, who temps Joel into cheating on his possibly-unfaithful wife Suzie (Wiig), while Affleck plays his pot-smoking best friend Dean. Look for a bit part by Kiss rocker Gene Simmons, as a lawyer!