Special Feature: Phone Booth

Red-hot superstar Colin Farrell ("Daredevil," "The Recruit") toplines the thriller PHONE BOOTH, from director Joel Schumacher. A phone call can change your life, but for one man it can also end it.... Red-hot superstar Colin Farrell ("Daredevil," "The Recruit") toplines the thriller PHONE BOOTH, from director Joel Schumacher. A phone call can change your life, but for one man it can also end it. Set entirely within and around the confines of a New York City phone booth, PHONE BOOTH follows Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell), a low-rent media consultant who is trapped after being told by a caller - a serial killer with a sniper rifle - that he'll be shot dead if he hangs up.

What do you do when you hear a ringing public phone? You know it's a wrong number, but instinct forces you to pick it up. A ringing phone demands to be answered, but when Stu Shepard takes the call, he finds himself hurtled into a tortuous game. Hang up, says the caller (Kiefer Sutherland), and Stu's a dead man.

A sudden and shocking act of violence near the booth draws the attention of the police, who arrive backed with a small army of sharpshooters. They believe that Stu, not the unseen caller of whom they remain unaware, is the dangerous man with a gun.

The senior officer on the scene, Captain Ramey (Forest Whitaker), tries to talk Stu out of the booth. But unbeknownst to Ramey, his team, the media circus that has flocked to the site - and Stu's wife, Kelly, and his client /prospective girlfriend, Pamela - the caller has them all in his high-powered rifle sights.

As afternoon turns into evening, Stu, the embodiment of an unethical, self-serving existence, must now undertake a sudden and unexpected moral evolution. He is emotionally stripped naked by the caller. Stu's lies, half-truths, and obfuscation no longer matter. Instead, he must dig deep into his soul, find his strength and attempt to outwit the caller, taking the game to an even more dangerous level

The Proposal

Margaret Tate is the executive editor-in-chief of a book publishing company, Colden Books. All of her workers, including her assistant Andrew Paxton strongly dislike her for her bossy, cold demeanor. She fires a senior editor, Bob Spaulding because he is unable to get an author named Frank interviewed by Oprah. After learning she is being deported to Canada, she forces Andrew to marry her, as his future is tied to hers. When the government investigates, Mr. Gilbertson informs them that they will undergo rigorous testing to prove that the marriage is not fraudulent, after being notified by Bob Spaulding that this marriage might be a sham. Andrew grudgingly accepts the proposition of marrying Margaret, under the condition that he is promoted to the position of editor and his manuscript be published. He also forces Margaret to propose nicely to him on her knees in the streets of New York, and to allow him to tell his parents they are getting married.

Margaret talks with Gert about Andrew, who tells her that they dated through college, and when Andrew asked her to elope with him, she didn't want to leave her home, and said no.

Next morning, Joe and Grace knock at the door with breakfast. Andrew and Margaret hurriedly get into bed together, and the family suggest they could marry the same weekend, and they reluctantly accept. Andrew is stressed because the marriage is actually a sham, and Margaret tries to comfort and convince him, finding herself genuinely caring for him. To sort out her emotions, she goes for a bike ride into the woods, where she finds Gammy "giving thanks" in a ritual. Gammy invites her to join her, and they end up dancing to "Get Low", while Andrew watches.

During the wedding ceremony, Margaret decides she cannot do this to Andrew and confesses the business arrangement in front of everyone - including Mr. Gilbertson - who informs her she has twenty four hours to get back to Canada. She returns to New York to pack her things.

Andrew attempts to stop Margaret's flight, but cannot do so in time. However, Andrew rushes to New York and shows up at the office before he confesses his love for Margaret in front of the entire office staff, proposing marriage all over again as he "wants to date Margaret". They go to Mr. Gilbertson once more to get engaged, this time "for real".
During the end credits, everyone including Andrew's family and Ramone is being interviewed by Mr. Gilbertson. And it's hinted that Ramone is not a citizen, while Kevin, the dog, still has not gotten used to Margaret's presence

Knowing

In 2009, the time capsule is opened and the drawings are given to the current students. A boy named Caleb receives Lucinda's envelope. His father, John Koestler, a widower and professor of astrophysics at MIT, takes interest in the paper and soon realizes some of the digits represent the dates and death tolls of every major disaster over the past fifty years, and suggests three disasters still to come. Meanwhile Caleb begins receiving visits from mysterious figures in overcoats, "The Strangers". During these encounters he hears their overlapping telepathic whispers.

John and a fellow professor forecast that a massive solar flare will soon reach Earth, and the final disaster on Lucinda's paper will indeed be worldwide and apocalyptic. John then examines the door of the closet in which Lucinda was found and discovers it is where she had scratched another set of coordinates. They represent the location of Lucinda's old mobile home, and John decides it is somehow a refuge from the impending disaster.

At Lucinda's mobile home, John finds the children with the four Strangers as a glowing vessel descends from the sky. The Strangers dispossess themselves of their human appearance and reveal themselves as glowing, translucent figures surrounded by wisps of light. The Strangers invite only those who can hear their whispers to escape the destruction with them. John convinces an initially reluctant Caleb to go with The Strangers, and the vessel departs with the two children. From the vantage point of space, other ships are seen taking off from all around Earth. John travels to Boston to be with his sister and parents. While he had distanced himself from religion following his wife's death, John reconciles with his estranged father, a Christian minister. John and his family embrace as the solar flare strikes and incinerates everything on Earth. Elsewhere, Caleb and Abby are dropped off in an otherworldly field as other ships are visible along the horizon, dropping off others. The film ends as the two make their way towards a large, white, solitary tree in the distance.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

It is revealed that thousands of years ago there was a race of ancient Transformers who scoured the universe looking for energon sources. Known as the Dynasty of Primes, they used machines called Sun Harvesters to drain stars of their energy in order to convert it to energon and power Cybertron's AllSpark. The Primes agreed that life-bearing worlds would be spared, but in 17,000 BC, one brother, thereafter dubbed "The Fallen", constructed a Sun Harvester on Earth. The remaining brothers thus sacrificed their bodies in order to hide the Matrix of Leadership the key that activates the Sun Harvester from The Fallen, who swore to seek revenge upon Earth.

Decepticon Soundwave hacks into a US satellite and learns the locations of the dead Decepticon leader Megatron and another piece of the AllSpark. The Decepticons retrieve the shard and use it to resurrect Megatron, who flies into space and is reunited with Starscream and his master, The Fallen in the Nemesis.

After Prime's death, The Fallen is freed from his captivity and Megatron orders a full-scale assault on the planet. The Fallen speaks to the world and demands they surrender Sam to the Decepticons or they will continue their attack. Sam, Mikaela, Leo, Bumblebee, the twins and Wheelie regroup, and Leo suggests his online rival "RoboWarrior" may be of assistance. "RoboWarrior" is revealed to be former Sector 7 agent Simmons, who informs the group that the symbols should be readable for a Decepticon.

The Matrix is reassembled from the dust, and Sam uses it to revive Optimus. The Fallen arrives and overpower the autobot team before stealing the Matrix and activating the Sun Harvester unearthed by the Decepticon Devastator. In his final moments, Jetfire volunteers his parts and spark to Optimus. With enhanced capabilities, Optimus destroys the Sun Harvester and takes on Megatron and The Fallen, killing the latter. Sam then finally reciprocates Mikaela's love as Megatron and Starscream retreat and vow that their fight is not finished.
The film ends with Optimus sending a message into space saying that the humans and Transformers both share a common past.
During the end credits, Sam returns to college.

Angels & Demons

The plot follows Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, as he tries to stop what seems to be the Illuminati, a legendary secret society, from destroying Vatican City with the newly-discovered power of antimatter.
CERN director Maximilian Kohler discovers one of the facility's most respected physicists, Leonardo Vetra, murdered in his own secured, private quarter at the facility. His chest is branded with a symbol—an ambigram of the word "Illuminati"—and his eye is dislodged. Instead of calling the police, Kohler researches the topic on the Internet and finally gains contact with Langdon, an expert on the Illuminati. Kohler requests his assistance in uncovering the murderer.

Langdon nevertheless attempts to complete the Path of Illumination in order to find the assassin and rescue Vittoria. His search leads him to Castel Sant' Angelo, that hides an underground tunnel leading directly into the pope's chambers in the Vatican. Langdon frees Vittoria, and together they send the assassin falling several hundred feet to his death. The two hurry back to St. Peter's Basilica, where they find that Kohler has arrived to confront the camerlengo in private. Langdon and Vittoria fear that Kohler is Janus, and that he has come to murder the camerlengo as the final step in his plot against the Church. Hearing the camerlengo scream in agony, the Swiss Guards burst into the room and open fire on Kohler. Just before he dies, Kohler gives Langdon a videotape that he claims will explain everything.

Langdon returns to St. Peter's and views Kohler's tape with the College of Cardinals. Langdon, Vittoria, and the cardinals confront the camerlengo in the Sistine Chapel, where the truth is finally revealed; Shortly before the beginning of the novel, the pope was scheduled to meet with Leonardo Vetra concerning his research at CERN. Vetra, a devout Catholic, believed that science was capable of establishing a link between Man and God, a belief that was manifested by his research on antimatter.

As one final twist, it is revealed that Camerlengo Ventresca himself was the birth son of the late pope, conceived through artificial insemination. Suddenly overcome with grief and guilt at having caused so much death, especially that of his own father, Ventresca soaks himself in oil and immolates himself before a crowd of onlookers in St. Peter's Square. The conclave elects Cardinal Mortati as the new pope. In an ironic twist, through a quibble, a loophole in the papal election process known as election by acclamation, two popes were chosen: Ventresca by all the cardinals cheering his name before he lights himself on fire, and Mortati through normal means.
Langdon and Vittoria retire to the Hotel Bernini. Lieutenant Chartrand delivers a letter and package to Langdon from the new pope. The package is the "Illuminati Diamond" brand, which is loaned indefinitely to Langdon.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

In 1845 Canada 1845, young James sees his father killed by groundskeeper Thomas Logan. The trauma activates the boy's mutation: bone claws protrude from James' hands, and he kills Logan. With his dying breath, Logan tells James that he is James' actual father. James flees with Victor Creed, the abused son of Thomas Logan who is thus James' brother. They spend the next century as soldiers in the American army, fighting in the American Civil War, both World Wars and the Vietam War.

Six years later, James — now going by the name Logan — lives in Canada with his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox. Colonel Stryker locates Logan and warns him that someone is killing members of the team, as both Wilson and Bradley are dead. Shortly afterward, Victor murders Kayla and brutally beats Logan. Stryker offers Logan a way to beat Victor; Logan undergoes an operation to reinforce his skeleton with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal. Before the procedure, Logan asks for new dog tags inscribed with "Wolverine"-- based on a story that Kayla told him.

Stryker activates Weapon XI, a "mutant killer" super-soldier with the abilities of other mutants. Logan holds Weapon XI off while the escaped mutants flee. The mutants escape through the facility's tunnels, guided by a young blinded Scott Summers who is following a voice in his head. The party is greeted by Professor Charles Xavier, who offers them shelter at his school. Kayla, shot in the stomach and mortally wounded from Stryker's guards, decides to stay. Logan lures Weapon XI to fight on top of one of the plant's cooling towers, where he is almost killed until Victor aids him. They battle Weapon XI and decapitate him. Victor departs, vowing to finish what they have started, and Logan is saved from the collapsing tower by Gambit. As Logan carries Kayla to safety, Stryker shoots Logan in the forehead with adamantium bullets, rendering him unconscious. He points the gun at Kayla but she uses her power of persuasion, telling him to walk until his feet bleed and then keep walking, before dying from her wounds. Gambit returns, but the damage to Logan's brain causes him not to remember anything. As the police arrive, Gambit tries convincing Logan to come with him, but he declines, wanting to go his own way.

The Musical Movie "NINE"

Rob Marshall directs a cast that includes Penelope Cruze, Kate Hudson, Daniel-Lewis, Nicole Kidman Fergie in a movie musical generating real Oscar buzz.

Inglourious Basterds

An intermittently-inspired World War II epic which illustrates both Quentin Tarantino’s brilliance and his tendency towards indulgence, Inglourious Basterds is composed of a series of long-running vignettes strung together by a slender story thread. The problem is that no one character or set of characters runs through the entire two-and-a-half hour running time, and, with some of the scenes running up to half an hour each, the thread of the drama is left disjointed and the focus ever-changing.

Above-the-title star Brad Pitt plays the captain of a troupe of Jewish American renegades dubbed the Inglorious Bastards, but Pitt is far from the centre of attention and both French actress Melanie Laurent and Austrian actor Christoph Waltz both have more screen time and juicier roles. That, combined with the fact that most of the film is in French and German, will limit the film’s box office prospects, principally in the subtitle-wary US where The Weinstein Company is opening wide on August 21. A big launch weekend should be guaranteed on the names of Pitt and Tarantino and the strong advance campaign which has been building on the internet, but like the Kill Bill films, it might fall fast in subsequent weeks.

Universal Pictures co-financed the film in return for international where audiences will be more receptive, especially in Europe. Results in Germany are unpredictable. A version of the script was leaked on the internet last year and already caused a firestorm in the German media, especially since the film – in which ordinary German soldiers are seen beaten and scalped – received considerable public funding from the government.

The opening scene alone, in which SS colonel Hans Landa (Waltz) intimidates a French farmer (played by Denis Menochet) in 1941, runs to over 20 minutes, an indication of how the film is to continue. The result of the “friendly” interrogation is the massacre of a Jewish family hiding out under the floorboards although the teenage daughter of the family Shosanna (Laurent) escapes.

The second scene – already previewed in trailers – sees Lt Aldo Raine (Pitt, one-note in heavy Tennessee accent) briefing 12 Jewish American soldiers on their upcoming mission which is to fly behind enemy lines and kill as many Nazis as possible. Each is charged with collecting 100 Nazi scalps. Among the group are Sgt Donny Donowitz (Roth) who becomes famous for beating his victims to death with a baseball bat and a German soldier who has defected to the Allied side called Hugo Stiglitz (Schweiger, who doesn’t say a word in the film).

The drama, scattered among so many characters as it is, eventually evolves into a 1944 plot called Operation Kino to blow up Goebbels, Goring, Bormann and other members of the German High Command at a cinema in Paris where a Goebbels propaganda film starring “the German Sergeant York” Daniel Bruhl is to have its premiere. The cinema is owned by Sosanna, now masquerading as a gentile, who has attracted the unwanted romantic advances of Bruhl.

The most brilliant section of the film sees a British spy (Fassbender) and two of the Bastards arriving in an underground bar to rendezvous with German film star and double agent Bridget von Hammersmark (Kruger). But when they arrive, they unexpectedly find a party of Nazis getting drunk and playing games. When the British spy’s accent is questioned by one of the soldiers, a senior German major (Diehl) emerges from the shadows and a tense face off ensues.

Ironically Tarantino’s dialogue here is not as tricksy or self- consciously clever as in other sections and the scene works through sheer tension and the skills of the excellent ensemble.

DJ Tiesto's Kaleidoscope!!!

Arguably one of the world’s greatest trance DJs, Dutch producer Tiesto has continued to redefine the boundaries of trance music with his signature emotive style and arena-ready sound for over fifteen years.

For his fourth major studio release Kaleidoscope, the premiere producer of trance sought some of the music scene’s most dynamic characters, ranging from global superstars (Calvin Harris, Sneaky Sound System, Nelly Furtado) to an assortment of lesser known, left-of-center acts (Tegan & Sara, Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, Sigur Rós’ Jónsi) The result? A powerhouse collection of single-worthy uptempos bursting with indie cred and trance appeal, appealing to both the body and soul.

One standout involves Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, who had her first taste of dance with her 2006 album, Loose. Replace the generic Timbaland-produced beats of that album with a flurry of glittering, electro-encrusted pulsations, and you’ve got “Who Wants To Be Alone,” a devastatingly addictive dancefloor haunt guaranteed to delight on repeat time and time again.

Other winners include Emily Haines‘ turn on the storming “Knock You Out,” which plays like Ladytron on E, the warm synth pulsations of the Cary Brothers-assisted “Here On Earth,” and “You Are My Diamond,” a throwback to the days of pure, ‘90’s pulsating bliss. The track is made all the better thanks to a shamelessly celebratory, sugary sweet delivery from Kianna Alarid, known best as the lead singer of Tilly and the Wall.

“Feel It in My Bones,” featuring indie darlings Tegan & Sara is perhaps the album’s greatest track, and undoubtedly the epitome of the album’s intentions. As Tiesto’s cool, calculated trance vibrations shudder underneath, Tegan & Sara’s smart-pop sensibility lift the track and create something new; the result becoming a celebration of the art of collaboration.

Simply speaking, there’s not a bad track in the bunch—at least in terms of the vocal offerings. The album’s only drawback can be found in its five instrumental tracks, included as a kind of overcompensating injection of Tiesto trance, lest we somehow forget who’s in charge behind the scenes of all of these guest spots. Sadly, they do little for the album here, aside from providing long, unnecessary breaks between the meat of the album. Skip them, and you’ve got one hell of a solid set.

Kaleidoscope is unlike anything Tiesto has done before (and surely nothing its guests have recorded). In spite of what could have been a risky undertaking (whether or not devoted fans of each genre will come to embrace this album remains to be seen), Tiesto’s fifth studio album is nothing short of excellence—allowing indie music the pulse it never knew it needed and dance music the lyrical sophistication it has so stubbornly ignored. Hearing the two genres come together? Well, that’s why this is nothing short of a musical dream come true.