A quick round-up of noteworthy films opening in USA theaters today…
First, the drama The Words, which stars Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde, and Jeremy Irons.
Helmed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthan, who wrote the screenplay for Tron: Legacy, The Words centers on an aspiring writer (Bradley Cooper) who claims another man's long lost work as his own, and pays an immense price for doing so.
Saldana plays the wife of Bradley Cooper's character.
The Words premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and was picked up by CBS Films.
Currently, with 79 reviews in as of the time of this post, Rotten Tomatoes registers its rating at 18% – or, pretty rotten!
The consensus:
Neither as clever nor as interesting as it appears to think it is, The Words maroons its talented stars in an overly complex, dramatically inert literary thriller that's ultimately a poor substitute for a good book.
Second, starring the voices of Forest Whitaker (as Teddy), Joan Cusack (as Madame Curie) and Carey Elwes (as Sir Handsome), Toys in the Attic, which combines multiple forms of animation, is set in a magical world of toys and knick-knacks, stored in the attic of a home in Prague during the Cold War era.
The setting for the film was inspired by the cultural and political contrast of the Cold War era and its impact on director Jiri Barta and the Czech Republic. The world of the attic is divided into the land of happy toys in the West and the Land of Evil in the East. The despotic Head of State rules over the Land of Evil with a band of sinister minions, insects and rotted vegetables. When the lovely Buttercup (Vivian Schilling) is kidnapped and held prisoner by The Head, it is up to her friends – a teddy bear (Forest Whitaker), a mechanical mouse (Joan Cusack) and marionette puppet (Cary Elwes) to cross the international boundary and attempt their daring rescue.
Originally Produced in the Czech Republic, Toys in the Attic (also known as In the Attic or Who Has a Birthday today? and Na Pude) is a full-length animated film, said to be for both children and adults.
No consensus yet, but with 13 reviews in thus far, it's doing very well with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 85%.
The film opens in USA theaters today, courtesy of Hannover House.
And finally, a film I've already written about twice today (first an interview with its directors HERE, and my review of the film HERE), so feel free to visit those 2 posts for all the wonderful details about the film. Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, in the feature documentary Detropia, the woes of Detroit are in focus.
It's the dramatic story of a city and its people who refuse to leave the building, even as the flames are rising.
The filmmakers are releasing the film independently, opening first in New York City at IFC Center, and then expanding to other cities throughout the fall.
No consensus yet with 11 reviews in, but it's off to a good start with an 82% rating. It's been mostly very well-received since its Sundance Film Festival 2012 debut, where it won the US Documentary Editing Award.
Trailers for all 3 films below:
