by Nat Almirall, Sep 30 2011 // 10:30 AM

You already know the premise: A jilted/disillusioned–with-love-20/30-something revisits his/her past lovers to understand why he/she can’t find love, and finally realizes that her true love has been right there all along, in one form or another.
In this case, the Disillusionee is Ally Darling (Anna Faris), a recently-fired-then-slept-with-her-boss 20/30-something who reads a magazine article that says women who’ve slept with over 20 partners tend to not find true love. Ally is at number 19. Fearful of the consequences, she makes the decision that the next new guy she sleeps with will be the guy she marries. She also decides to seek out her former boyfriends/casual hookups, hoping to reignite some of the past’s embers and hence keep her number at 19.
There’s more than a passing similarity to High Fidelity in the premise and also in the choice to have several notable comedians—Andy Samberg, Parks and Rec’s (and Faris’s real-life husband) Chris Pratt, the BBCOffice’s Martin Freeman, Zachary Quinto (not so much a comedian, but hey)—and the perfect guy who’s been there all along is her next-door neighbor Colin (Captain America’s Chris Evans).
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Posted in: 20th Century Fox · Comedy · Movies · Reviews · Romance
Tagged: 20 Times a Lady, 20th Century Fox, Andy Samberg, Anna Faris, Anthony Mackie, Ari Graynor, Blythe Danner, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Dave Annable, Ed Begley Jr., Gabrielle Allen, Jennifer Crittenden, Joel McHale, Karyn Bosnak, Mark Mylod, Martin Freeman, What's Your Number?, Zachary Quinto
by Nat Almirall, Mar 4 2011 // 1:30 PM
Matt Damon plays David Norris, a young politician who rose to prominence from “telling it is like it is” and now facing a lag in his career having lost his passion. As often occurs with politicians, his fire is reignited in a restroom by another human being. This time it’s the free-spirited Elise Sallas (Emily Blunt), who’s on the run from hotel security for crashing an upstairs wedding. The two flirt for a few minutes before kissing, and she scampers off without so much as dropping her name, and David goes on to deliver your standard “stick-it-to-the-phony-baloneys” speech, and, naturally it’s a hit with the voters.
Cut to three years later, when David takes the bus one morning and runs into Elise, much to the mysterious consternation of Harry (Anthony Mackie), a well-dressed gentleman who carries a tome that looks like a living circuitry grid. While he chases down the bus, David and Elise pick up their banter and he even gets her number.
However, when David shows up to his office, he walks in while it’s in a state of suspended animation, complete with scary-looking men in hazmat suits apparently performing some kind of containment. The men give chase, and David finds himself in a large room getting talked down to by the white-haired Richardson (John Slattery), who works for the shadowy-named Adjustment Bureau and evidently possesses the ability to control the environment. He tells David to stay away from Elise or else he’ll erase his mind.
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Posted in: Features · Movies · Reviews · Universal Pictures
Tagged: Adjustment Bureau, Anthony Mackie, Emily Blunt, John Slattery, Matt Damon
by Sebastian Suchecki, Feb 18 2011 // 10:30 AM
She already won the hearts of geeks everywhere with her portrayal of Ramona Flowers in Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Now, she’s targeting the rapidly growing horror audience with the upcoming film adaptation of the novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
Winstead will the joining the film as Lincoln’s wife, who fights alongside the former president as he takes on the legion of the dead. Not long ago it was announced that the titular role of Lincoln was to be played by Kinsey’s Benjamin Walker. From THR:
Timur Bekmambetov is directing Vampire Hunter, based on the book by Seth Grahame-Smith. It’s Bekmambetov’s first movie since the 2008 hit Wanted, and tells the story of how Lincoln fought vampires during the Civil War. Dominic Cooper and Anthony Mackie also star in Vampire Hunter.
The novel by Seth Grahame-Smith was written as Lincoln’s “secret diary” that was discovered decades later, and plays in with actual historical events to add authenticity. Fox is currently working on pre-production of the film and should have a shoot date set by the end of the month with a release date sure to follow.
Posted in: 20th Century Fox · Action · Adaptation · Books · Casting · Comedy · Drama · Movies · News
Tagged: 20th Century Fox, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Anthony Mackie, Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Seth Grahame-Smith, Timur Bekmambetov
by Nat Almirall, Dec 20 2010 // 12:00 PM
Night Catches Us takes place during the mid-‘70s in Philadelphia. The protagonist, Marcus (Anthony Mackie), is an ex-Black Panther, who comes back to town for his father’s funeral and is targeted by other ex-Panthers because he ratted out the cop-killing husband of Patricia (Kerry Washington), the only woman in the neighborhood who apparently likes him.
Marcus strikes up a rapport with Patricia’s daughter, filling in the role of the father he may or may not have had killed, and it’s not too long before we learn that the reason for Marcus’s stay is his deep passion for Patricia.
Patricia also plays surrogate mother to Jimmy (Amari Cheatom), a sort of street tough who’s had several run-ins with the police, some of them his fault, but mostly because the white police have a habit of harassing the neighborhood and Jimmy never knows when to keep his mouth shut. Jimmy idolizes Marcus’s former life as a Panther and is quickly heading down that same road that Marcus now regrets taking.
But Night’s ultimately not as much about the Panthers as it is about Marcus choosing not to repeat his past mistakes and find a better life through forging relationships instead of severing them. Jimmy’s the counterpoint, and his character works well at explaining why the life of militantism in the late ‘60s and ‘70s was so seductive—the police were brutes, and for a lot of angry young men, fighting back seemed like the only response.
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Posted in: Drama · Movies · Reviews
Tagged: Amari Cheatom, Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Night Catches Us, Tanya Hamilton
by Douglas Barnett, Jan 15 2010 // 12:00 PM
New to DVD and Blu-Ray, The Hurt Locker is a look into the world of an elite U.S. Army E.O.D. unit (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) in their last forty days of a one year tour of duty in Baghdad during the second year of the U.S. led coalition occupation. The three man unit consists of Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty).
Renner’s character is an adrenaline junky who only feels alive when he is in the heat of battle, or when there is the threat of a suicide bomber or roadside bomb detonating. The three men form a strong bond with one another and try to survive their last forty days so they can rotate back home to their wives or loved ones.
Director Kathryn Bigelow who has directed such action films as Point Break and Strange Days gives the film a unique look as if you are a forth member of the unit and are alongside them in the urban combat zones of Baghdad. Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd positions the cameras perfectly, and sets the look of the shots which makes the film a gritty documentary account of the E.O.D. unit and the everyday dangers they encounter.
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Posted in: Action · Blu-Ray · Drama · DVD · DVD Reviews · Movies · News
Tagged: Anthony Mackie, Barry Ackroyd, Brian Geraghty, DVD Review, Jeremy Renner, Katherine Bigelow, The Hurt Locker