Straw Dogs - Everyone has a breaking point

Director: Rod Lurie
Writers: Rod Lurie (screenplay), David Zelag Goodman (earlier screenplay), and 2 more credits »
Stars: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgård

L.A. screenwriter David Sumner relocates with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. There, while tensions build between them, a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them both.

Review :
Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" remains a most disturbing, morally ambiguous confrontation between the brute code of uneducated farmboys with the complex attempts at rationalization by a sophisticated, neurotic, hyper-educated urban college professor attempting to escape the responsibilities of living in an increasingly complex world. It is also a magnificently constructed motion picture, elegantly photographed, brilliantly edited, hauntingly scored, with powerhouse performances from every actor.

This wholly unnecessary remake on the other hand is amateurish swill - banal photography, drama-class acting (and why not? all the characters have been reduced to caricature), and soap-opera rewriting. It's basically a television movie with some sex and violence thrown in for the fan-boy crowd. It's even got the requisite car-chases, and supposedly pointed dialog about adultery and motivations, blah blah blah.

Graceless, visually dull, with no sympathetic characters, but a lotta boom! crash! foe those who think loud noises and pyrotechnics make up for lack of intelligence and imagination.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1

Director: Bill Condon
Release Date: 18 November 2011
starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Jackson Rathbone, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Billy Burke, Rami Malek, Maggie Grace, Mackenzie Foy, Tracey Heggins, Judi Shekoni, Omar Metwally, Andrea Gabriel, Rami Malek, Angela Sarafyan, Marlane Barnes, Lisa Howard, Patrick Brennan, Noel Fisher, Guri Weinberg, Lee Pace, Toni Trucks, Bill Tangradi, Erik Odom, Valorie Curry, Joe Anderson, Olga Fonda, Janelle Froehlich, Masami Kosaka, Sebastiao Lemos, Amadou Ly, Ty Olsson, Wendell Pierce, Carolina Virguez
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Synopsis: : “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” will be released as two separate films with the first of the two slated to be released in theatres on November 18, 2011.
The project, based on the fourth novel in author Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, is currently being written by Melissa Rosenberg with Wyck Godfrey, Karen Rosenfelt and Stephenie Meyer producing. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” will start production in the fall.
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spelbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Director: David Fincher

Release Date: 21 December 2011

starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Yorick van Wageningen, Joely Richardson

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Synopsis: : The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first film in Columbia Pictures’ three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s literary blockbuster “The Millennium Trilogy.” Directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, the film is based on the first novel in the trilogy, which altogether have sold 50 million copies in 46 countries and become a worldwide phenomenon. The screenplay is by Steven Zaillian.

SANCTUM

Director: Alister Grierson
Release Date: 4 February 2011 (3D/2D and IMAX 3D theaters)
Starring:Richard Roxburgh, Rhys Wakefield, Ioan Gruffudd, Alice Parkinson, Dan Wyllie
Genre:Action, Thriller

Summary:The 3D action-thriller “Sanctum,” from executive producer James Cameron, follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on Earth. When a tropical storm forces them deep into the caverns, they must fight raging water, deadly terrain and creeping panic as they search for an unknown escape route to the sea.
Master diver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) has explored the South Pacific’s Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank’s team–including 17-year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) and financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd)–are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out. Soon, they are confronted with the unavoidable question: Can they survive, or will they be trapped forever?
Shot on location off the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, “Sanctum” employs 3D photography techniques Cameron developed to lens “Avatar.” Designed to operate in extreme environments, the technology used to shoot the action-thriller will bring audiences on a breathless journey across plunging cliffs and into the furthest reaches of our subterranean world.

The Roommate

Director: Christian E. Christiansen
Release Date:4 February 2011
Starring :Leighton Meester, Minka Kelly, Cam Gigandet, Aly Michalka, Danneel Harris, Frances Fisher, Billy Zane
Genre:Thriller
Summary:A psychological thriller about a deranged college freshman (Leighton Meester) who becomes obsessed with her new roommate (Minka Kelly).

Unstoppable

Director: Tony Scott
Release Date: 12 November 2010
Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Chapman
Genre:Action, Drama, Thriller
Summary: “Unstoppable” is about a runaway train carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals. The film pits an engineer and his conductor in a race against time. They’re chasing the runaway train in a separate locomotive and need to bring it under control before it derails on a curve and causes a toxic spill that will decimate a town.

Skyline

Director: Greg Strause, Colin Strause

Release Date: 12 November 2010

Starring: Eric Balfour, Donald Faison, Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel

Genre:Sci-Fi, Thriller

Summary: In the sci-fi thriller “Skyline,” strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the earth.

Buried [2010]

Summary: Considering the $3 million dollar budget and one-location filming, this is a masterpiece which is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Set in Iraq, Paul Conroy (Reynolds) is a contracted US truck driver who awakens in a small wooden box left with only a Zippo lighter and a mobile phone. Although he has know idea where he is, he slowly peaces together evidence and discovers he is buried somewhere in Iraq.
This is definitely  not a film for those weak of heart. Even the avid thriller fan will feel claustrophobic at times. The opening scene sets the tone for the whole film – the viewer will feel trapped along with the main character. Rodrigo Cortes, the Spanish filmmaker behind this film has done a flawless job with the lighting and camera angles. The sound mixing is perfect, and the acting from Ryan Reynolds deserves applause.
This film is centered around Paul and so it must be noted there are never any other shots aside from those in the coffin. Also, Ryan Reynolds is the only character seen in the film – there are however various voices. Considering the small budget and one-location-filming this is a little master piece that is highly recommended.