Divergent

STARRING: Theo James, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, Ashley Judd, Maggie Q, Tony Goldwyn
DIRECTED BY: Neil Burger
STUDIO: Summit Entertainment

Watch the Divergent trailer, starring Theo James and Shailene Woodley.
Lionsgate/Summit would have you believe - as would a June 2013 issue of EW - that no-name actress Shailene Woodley is going to become the next Jennifer Lawrence, what with her, Shailene Woodley, set to appear in the big screen adaptation of the Young Adult series of books from virtually unknown (to adults and most young adults) author, Veronica Roth.
The Divergent story is a complete ripoff and ugly stepsister of The Hunger Games series of books (and movies), right down to the book cover, that we cannot believe the publisher got away with.
First, the pretentious synopsis for the first movie in the planned film franchise, Divergent, is almost a cut and past from The Hunger Games, replete with the word 'dystopia', that no one under the age of 20 knows the definition of, and most over the age of 20 would never utter in their lifetime, if they lived 40,000 years.
"Set in a futuristic dystopia where society is divided into five factions that each represent a different virtue, sixteen-year-olds have to decide if they want to stay in their faction or switch to another - for the rest of their lives. Beatrice Prior makes a choice that surprises everyone. Then Tris and her fellow faction-members have to live through a highly competitive initiation process to live out the choice they have made. They must undergo extreme physical and intense psychological tests, that transform them all. But Tris has a secret she's kept hidden, because if anyone knew, it would mean a certain death. As she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, this secret might help her save the people she loves... or it might destroy her."
We're betting that not only will Divergent be a huge box office bomb, not only because the cast is comprised of complete unknowns, but that its stars, including the utterly unattractive Shailene Woodley will never achieve C-list status, although it seems EW was paid a lot to tout the loathesome Shailene Woodley in their article, writing this in their first sentence of their cover story about the movie Divergent: "Shailene Woodley is well on her way to the top of Hollywood’s A-list."

Oh, The Hunger Games trilogy of books have sold nearly 40 million copies (more than 20 million copies sold before the first movie was even released), while the Divergent trilogy is not even at 2.5 million total copies sold.

In Movie Theaters March 21, 2014

 

Cheap Thrills

STARRING: Pat Healy, David Koechner, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton
DIRECTED BY: E.L. Katz
STUDIO: Drafthouse Films

The movie Cheap Thrills follows Craig (Pat Healy), a struggling family man who loses his low-wage job and is threatened with eviction. In an effort to delay facing the music at home, he heads to a local bar and encounters an old friend (Ethan Embry). The two friends are roped into a round of drinks by a charismatic and obscenely wealthy stranger (David Koechner) along with his mysterious wife (Sara Paxton). The couple engages the two friends in a series of innocent dares in exchange for money over the course of the evening, with each challenge upping the ante in both reward and boundaries. It seems like easy and much needed money, but the couple’s twisted sense of humor pushes just how far Craig and his friend are willing to go for money and cheap thrills.

In Movie Theaters March 21, 2014

Grand Piano

In Movie Theaters March 7, 2014

STARRING: Elijah Wood, John Cusack
DIRECTED BY: Eugenio Mira
STUDIO: Magnet Releasing

Elijah Wood stars as Tom Selznick, a talented pianist of his generation who stopped performing in public because of crippling stage fright. Years after a performance gone awry, he returns for a comeback concert. It's during that performance that he finds a note embedded into his sheet music: “Play one wrong note and you die.”
Grand Piano is a VOD (Video On Demand) premiere and will make virtually nothing at the movie box office, since it will only open in a handful of Landmark Theaters and other independent movie theaters in America.

You Want Me To Kill Him

16-year-old Mark meets local girl Rachel on the internet, he begins an intense online relationship. He quickly finds that he’s besotted, that he’ll do anything for her, even befriend her awkward, loner brother, John. When Rachel, who is trapped within the grips of a possessive boyfriend, is murdered, Mark and John make plans to avenge her death. Their actions draw the attention of a secret government department as they unwittingly stumble upon an ongoing operation. Soon Mark is recruited to commit a crime that made British legal history.
Based on true events in the UK in 2003, this is the story of a friendship of opposites and the hidden evils that lurk deep within the Internet.



STARRING: Jamie Blackley, Toby Regbo, Joanne Froggatt, Jaime Winstone
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Douglas
STUDIO: Tribeca Film

In Movie Theaters March 14, 2014

 

Special ID

A cop and his team of comrades go undercover in one of China's most ruthless underworld organizations to stop a gang leader, only to put themselves in great danger after being exposed one by one.

STARRING: Donnie Yen, Tian Jing, Andy On
DIRECTED BY: Clarence Fok Yiu-leung
STUDIO: WellGo USA

In Movie Theaters March 7, 2014

 

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

FEATURING The Voices of: Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Allison Janney
DIRECTED BY: Rob Minkoff
STUDIO: 20th Century Fox

The genius canine Mr. Peabody and his adopted human son Sherman spring into action when Sherman uses their time machine without permission and moments in history begin to be changed, in the big screen version of Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
Using his most ingenious invention, the WABAC machine, Mr. Peabody and his adopted boy Sherman hurtle back in time to experience world-changing events first-hand and interact with some of the greatest characters of all time. They find themselves in a race to repair history and save the future.
We are predicting that the movie will bomb as it is based on the characters from the Peabody's Improbable History segments of the 1960s animated television series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

In Movie Theaters March 7, 2014

 

Need For Speed

STARRING: Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, Dominic Cooper, Michael Keaton, Kid Cudi, Ramon        Rodriguez, Rami Malek, Harrison Gilbertson
DIRECTED BY: Scott Waugh
STUDIO: Dreamworks Pictures

The movie Need For Speed tells the story of a local street-racer (Aaron Paul) who partners with a rich and arrogant business associate, only to find himself framed by his colleague and sent to prison. After he gets out, he joins a New York-to-Los Angeles race to get revenge. But when the ex-partner learns of the scheme, he puts a massive bounty on the racer's head, forcing him to run a cross-country gauntlet of illegal racers in all manner of supercharged vehicles.
From the director of the surprise box office hit from 2012,

 

 

 

In Movie Theaters March 14, 2014

 

Journey To The West

STARRING: Qi Shu, Zhang Wen, Bo Huang, Lo Show
DIRECTED BY: Stephen Chow
STUDIO: Magnolia Pictures

Based on one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature of the same name, Stephen Chow's Journey To The West is a contemporary remake of the misadventures of a Buddhist monk as he makes a pilgrimage from China to India.
This is a world plagued by demons, who cause its human inhabitants unspeakable suffering. Young demon hunter Xuan Zang, fearlessly guided by his belief in “giving himself for the greater cause,” risks his all and conquers a water demon, a pig demon and the demon of all demons, Sun Wukong. He embraces them as his disciples, and melts them with love. Meanwhile, Xuan Zang discovers the true meaning of Greater Love himself. In order to atone for their own sins and save the common people, the four of them embark on a journey to the West that’s full of challenges...

 

In Movie Theaters March 7, 2014

 

300 Rise Of An Empire

CAST: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Rodrigo Santoro
DIRECTOR: Noam Murro
STUDIO: Warner Bros.

A sequel to the 2007 movie 300, which, to this day, is the only movie live action movie that Gerard Butler has had a lead role in that has earned over $100 million at the movie box office. Of course, he does not appear in the sequel.

The Greek general Themistocles battles an invading army of Persians under the mortal-turned-god, Xerxes.
Originally entitled Xerxes, then 300: Part 2 and then 300: Rise Of Artemsia, the movie finally (?) has settled on 300: Rise Of An Empire as its title.
Don't expect this 300 to take in much at the movie box office what with its D-list, at best, talent.
Warner Bros deleted 300: Rise Of An Empire from its original, August 2, 2013 release spot.

In Movie Theaters March 7, 2014