THE GOLDEN AGE

Release Date: October 12, 2007
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Screenwriter: William Nicholson, Michael Hirst
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Samantha Morton, Abbie Cornish

Synopsis:

Reprising the roles they originated in seven-time Academy Award®-nominated "Elizabeth," Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush return for a gripping historical thriller laced with treachery and romance--"The Golden Age." Joining them in the epic is Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh, a dashing seafarer and newfound temptation for Elizabeth.

"The Golden Age" finds Queen Elizabeth I (Oscar®-winner Cate Blanchett) facing bloodlust for her throne and familial betrayal. Growing keenly aware of the changing religious and political tides of late 16th century Europe, Elizabeth finds her rule openly challenged by the Spanish King Philip II (Jordi Molla)--with his powerful army and sea-dominating armada--determined to restore England to Catholicism.

Preparing to go to war to defend her empire, Elizabeth struggles to balance ancient royal duties with an unexpected vulnerability in her love for Raleigh. But he remains forbidden for a queen who has sworn body and soul to her country. Unable and unwilling to pursue her love, Elizabeth encourages her favorite lady-in-waiting, Bess (Abbie Cornish), to befriend Raleigh to keep him near. But this strategy forces Elizabeth to observe their growing intimacy.

As she charts her course abroad, her trusted advisor, Sir Francis Walsingham (Academy Award® winner Geoffrey Rush), continues his masterful puppetry of Elizabeth's court at home--and her campaign to solidify absolute power. Through an intricate spy network, Walsingham uncovers an assassination plot that could topple the throne. But as he unmasks traitors that may include Elizabeth's own cousin Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton), he unknowingly sets England up for destruction.

"The Golden Age" tells the thrilling tale of an era...the story of one woman's crusade to control love, crush enemies and secure her position as a beloved icon of the western world.me of need is what truly makes a family.

http://www.blackfilm.com/20070112/features/thegoldenage.shtml

TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED?

Release Date: October 12, 2007
Distributor: Lionsgate
Director: Tyler Perry
Producer: Reuben Cannon
Screenwriter: Tyler Perry
Cast: Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Tasha Smith, Michael Jai White, Denise Boutte, Lamann Rucker

Synopsis:
Following the success of his previous films "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," "Madea's Family Reunion" and "Daddy's Little Girls," Tyler Perry returns with his fourth feature film, "Why Did I Get Married?" Stepping in front of the camera for the first time since "Madea's Family Reunion," Perry stars alongside a talented ensemble cast that includes Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Tasha Smith, Michael Jai White, Denise Boutte and Lamann Rucker.

A big-screen adaptation of Perry's hit stage play of the same title, "Why Did I Get Married?" is an intimate story about the difficulty of maintaining a solid love relationship in modern times. During a trip to the picturesque snowcapped mountains of Colorado, eight married college friends have gathered for their annual seven-day reunion. But the cozy mood is shattered when the group comes face-to-face with one pair's infidelity. As secrets are revealed, each couple begins questioning the validity of their own marriage. Over the course of the weekend, husbands and wives take a hard look at their lives, wrestling with issues of commitment, betrayal and forgiveness as they seek a way forward.

Click here for pics - http://blackfilm.com/20070810/features/whydidigetmarried.shtml

WE OWN THE NIGHT

Release Date: October 19, 2007

Distributor: Columbia Pictures (Sony)
Director: James Gray
Screenwriter: James Gray
Cast Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Eva Mendes, Alex Veadov

New York, 1988: A new breed of narcotics has swept the great city, bringing with it a ferocious crime wave more terrifying than any in recent memory. Outmanned and outgunned by the new criminal order, the police find themselves burying one of their own at the rate of two a month. An all-out war rages, threatening to engulf guilty and innocent alike.
Bobby Green (Phoenix) is caught in the crossfire. Manager of a Russian nightclub in Brighton Beach frequented by gangsters like Vadim Nezhinski (Alex Veadov), Bobby keeps his distance, not wanting to get involved. Despite his hedonistic, amoral lifestyle, he is committed to his girlfriend Amada (Eva Mendes) and has ambitions to open his own club and expand out of Brooklyn.

Bobby has a secret, however, which he guards closely. His brother is Police Lieutenant Joseph Grusinsky (Walhberg), who has followed in the footsteps of their father, legendary Deputy Chief Burt Grusinsky (Duvall) Bobby's already strained relationship with his father and brother is tested when Burt warns his son that this is a war, and he's going to have to choose a side.

He can no longer remain neutral when his brother is badly wounded in an assassination attempt, and Bobby discovers his father could be next. Realizing they will only be safe when Nezhinski and his organization are destroyed, Bobby and Joseph join forces for an all-out assault. Together, they'll try to prove the NYPD's '80s rallying cry in the war on drugs: We Own the Night.

Click here for pics - http://www.blackfilm.com/20070525/features/weownthenight.shtml

RESERVATION ROAD

Release Date: October 19, 2007 (limited)
Studio: Focus Features
Director: Terry George
Screenwriter: John Burnham Schwartz, Terry George
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino, Elle Fanning,
Rating: R (for language and some disturbing images)

Synopsis: Based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name by John Burnham Schwartz, this is the compelling new dramatic thriller from two-time Academy Award-nominated writer/director Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda"). A tale of anger, revenge, and great courage, the film follows two fathers as their families and lives converge. On a warm September evening, college professor Ethan Learner (two-time Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix), his wife Grace (Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly), and their daughter Emma (Elle Fanning) are attending a recital. Their 10-year-old son Josh (Sean Curley) is playing cello – beautifully, as usual. His younger sister looks up to him, and his parents are proud of their son. On the way home, they all stop at a gas station on Reservation Road. There, in one terrible instant, he is taken from them forever. On a warm September evening, law associate Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) and his 11-year-old son Lucas (Eddie Alderson) are attending a baseball game. Their favorite team, the Red Sox, is playing – and, hopefully, heading for the World Series. Dwight cherishes his time spent with Lucas. Driving his son back to his ex-wife, Lucas' mother Ruth Wheldon (Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino), Dwight heads towards his fateful encounter at Reservation Road. The accident happens so fast that Lucas is all but unaware, while Ethan – the only witness – is all too aware, as a panicked Dwight speeds away. The police are called, and an investigation begins. Haunted by the tragedy, both fathers react in unexpected ways, as do Grace and Emma. As a reckoning looms, the two fathers are forced to make the hardest choices of their lives.

Click here for pics -

GONE BABY GONE

Release Date: October 19, 2007 (limited; wide release: October 26)
Distributor: Miramax Films
Director: Ben Affleck
Screenwriter: Ben Affleck, Aaron Stockard
Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris
Rating: R (for violence, drug content and pervasive language)

Website: http://www.gonebabygone-themovie.com/

Synopsis: "Gone Baby Gone," Academy Award®-winner Ben Affleck's directorial debut, stars Casey Affleck ("Ocean's Eleven"), Michelle Monaghan ("Mission: Impossible III"), Academy Award®-winner Morgan Freeman and Academy Award®-nominee Ed Harris. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane ("Mystic River") and adapted for the screen by Affleck and Aaron Stockard, the film tells the story of two private investigators hunting for an abducted 4-year-old girl in the seamiest side of Boston's underworld.

Click here for pics - http://www.blackfilm.com/20070629/features/gonebabygone.shtml

RENDITION

Release Date: October 19, 2007
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Director: Gavin Hood
Screenwriter: Kelley Sane
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Alan Arkin, Meryl Streep, Peter Saarsgard,
Website: http://www.renditionmovie.com/

Synopsis: Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard and Alan Arkin star in "Rendition," a thriller from director Gavin Hood ("Tsotsi"). Witherspoon stars as the American wife of an Egyptian-born chemical engineer who disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington. The woman desperately tries to track her husband down, while a CIA analyst (Gyllenhaal) at a secret detention facility outside the U.S. is forced to question his assignment as he becomes party to the man's unorthodox interrogation.

MR. UNTOUCHABLE

Release Date: October 19, 2007 (limited)
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Director: Marc Levin
Website: http://mruntouchablemovie.com/

Synopsis: The true-life story of a Harlem's notorious Nicky Barnes, a junkie turned multimillionaire drug-lord, "Mr. Untouchable" takes its audience deep inside the heroin industry of the 1970s. The most powerful black drug kingpin in New York City history, Barnes came from humble beginnings to make himself and his comrades rich beyond their wildest dreams, ultimately reaching national infamy in 1977 when the New York Times put him on the front cover of their magazine with the headline "Mr. Untouchable."

Soon after, it all came crumbling down, and facing a life sentence without parole, Barnes started naming names. With the first hand testimony from "the black Godfather" himself, this documentary tells an epic story of business, excess, greed and revenge.

Click here for trailer and pics - http://www.blackfilm.com/20070817/features/mruntouchable.shtml

30 DAYS OF NIGHT

Release Date: October 19, 2007
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Director: David Slade
Screenwriter: Steve Niles, Stuart Beattie, Brian Nelson
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Manu Bennett

Synopsis: Producer Sam Raimi ("Spider-Man") brings audiences the terrifying thriller "30 Days of Night," set in the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska, in the extreme northern hemisphere, which is plunged into complete darkness annually for an entire month. When most of the inhabitants head south for the winter, a mysterious group of strangers appear: bloodthirsty vampires, ready to take advantage of the uninterrupted darkness to feed on the town's residents. As the night wears on, Barrow's Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), and an ever-shrinking group of survivors must do anything they can to last until daylight.

Click here for pics - http://www.blackfilm.com/20070126/features/30daysofnight.shtml