Jason Segel and Emily Blunt star in “The Five-Year Engagement.”
A number of new movies will hit theaters this week, including the following films opening in wide release:
The Five-Year Engagement Genre: Comedy Cast: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie and Rhys Ifans Director: Nicholas Stoller Rated: R
The director and writer/star of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” reteam for the irreverent comedy “The Five-Year Engagement.”
Beginning where most romantic comedies end, the new film from director Nicholas Stoller, producer Judd Apatow and Rodney Rothman looks at what happens when an engaged couple, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, keeps getting tripped up on the long walk down the aisle.
The film was written by Segel and Stoller.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits Genre: Animated and family Cast: Hugh Grant, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman and Jeremy Piven Director: Peter Lord Rated: PG
In “The Pirates! Band of Misfits,” Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas.
With a rag-tag crew at his side, and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they battle a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure.
The Raven Genre: Thriller Cast: John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson and Oliver Jackson-Cohen Director: James McTeigue Rated: R
A brutal killing spree terrorizes 19th-century Baltimore and a young detective turns to a notorious author for help getting inside the mind of a serial killer in the stylish, gothic thriller, “The Raven,” an audacious reimagining of the lurid tales of Edgar Allan Poe.
Starring John Cusack as the infamous inventor of the detective fiction genre and Luke Evans as an ambitious sleuth determined to stop more of Poe’s gruesome stories from coming to chilling life – and death – “The Raven” weaves history and fiction into an original and twisted mystery worthy of the master of the macabre himself.
When a mother and daughter are found viciously murdered in 19th-century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields (Evans) makes a startling discovery: The crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper – part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social outcast Edgar Allan Poe (Cusack). But even as police questions Poe, another grisly killing occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story.
A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues as the pair races to stop a madman from turning every one of the author’s shocking stories into blood-curdling reality. When Poe’s love, Emily (Alice Eve), becomes the killer’s next target, the stakes are raised even higher and he must call on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it’s too late.
Safe Genre: Action Cast: Jason Statham, Robert John Burke, Chris Sarandon, Anson Mount and Catherine Chan Director: Boaz Yakin Rated: R
A second-rate cage fighter on the mixed martial arts circuit, Luke Wright lives a numbing life of routine beatings and chump change … until the day he blows a rigged fight.
Wanting to make an example of him, the Russian Mafia murders his family and banishes him from his life forever, leaving Luke to wander the streets of New York destitute, haunted by guilt, and tormented by the knowledge that he will always be watched, and anyone he develops a relationship with also will be killed.
But when he witnesses a frightened 12-year-old Chinese girl, Mei, being pursued by the same gangsters who killed his wife, Luke impulsively jumps to action … and straight into the heart of a deadly high-stakes war. Mei, he discovers, is no ordinary girl, but an orphaned math prodigy forced to work for the Triads as a "counter." He discovers she holds in her memory a priceless numerical code that the Triads, the Russian mob and a corrupt faction of the NYPD will kill for.
Realizing he’s the only person Mei can trust, Luke tears a swath through the city’s brutal underworld to save an innocent girl’s life … and perhaps even redeem his own.
The following will open in limited release. It may be several weeks before these films appear in local movie theaters.
Bernie Genre: Comedy and drama Cast: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey and Rip Torn Director: Richard Linklater Rated: PG-13
In the tiny, rural town of Carthage, Texas, assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede was one of the town's most beloved residents.
He taught Sunday school, sang in the church choir and was always willing to lend a helping hand. Everyone loved and appreciated Bernie, so it came as no surprise when he befriended Marjorie Nugent, an affluent widow who was as well known for her sour attitude as her fortune. Bernie frequently traveled with Marjorie and even managed her banking affairs. Marjorie quickly became fully dependent on Bernie and his generosity and Bernie struggled to meet her increasing demands.
Bernie continued to handle her affairs, and the townspeople went months without seeing Marjorie. The people of Carthage were shocked when it was reported that Marjorie Nugent had been dead for some time, and Bernie Tiede was being charged with the murder.
Citizen Gangster Genre: Crime and drama Cast: Scott Speedman, Kelly Reilly and Kevin Durand Director: Nathan Morlando Not rated
The first feature from writer/director Nathan Morlando, “Citizen Gangster” is based on the true story of Edwin Boyd (Scott Speedman), the man who became postwar Toronto's most famous criminal.
Edwin Boyd has returned from WWII and is dismayed by public indifference toward veterans and humiliated by his inability to fulfill his dream of being a Hollywood star or provide for his children and wife Doreen (Kelly Reilly). Seeing only disappointment in the face of his policeman father (Brian Cox), Eddie is desperate and starts to rob banks. But what starts as friendly and flirtatious robberies, performed while wearing thick makeup, evolves over time into a career that when mixed with a gang of small time criminals is not unlike that of Clyde Barrow or Butch Cassidy, in which crime and love are mixed to get explosive results.
Headhunters Genre: Action, crime and thriller Cast: Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Synnøve Macody Lund, Julie Ølgaard and Eivind Sander Director: Morten Tyldum Rated: R
“Headhunters” stars the talented Aksel Hennie as Roger, a charming scoundrel and Norway's most accomplished headhunter.
Roger is living a life of luxury well beyond his means, and stealing art to subsidize his expensive lifestyle. When his beautiful gallery owner wife introduces him to a former mercenary in the possession of an extremely valuable painting, he decides to risk it all to get his hands on it, and in doing so discovers something which makes him a hunted man.
“Headhunters” is based on Jo Nesbø’s best-selling thriller from 2008.
Sound of My Voice Genre: Drama Cast: Brit Marling, Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius, Avery Pohl Director: Zal Batmanglij Rated: R
In “Sound of My Voice,” Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius), a couple and documentary filmmaking team, infiltrate a mysterious group led by an enigmatic young woman named Maggie (Brit Marling). Intent on exposing her as a charlatan and freeing the followers from her grip, Peter and Lorna start to question their objective and each other as they unravel the secrets of Maggie's underworld.
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