Multiple Oscar nominee Stephen Frears is a tough nut to crack. Amiable but terse, his excellent multilayered films do the talking for him, from his first collaboration with Christopher Hampton and Michelle Pfeiffer on 1998's Dangerous Liaisons to 2007's The Queen. In his latest film, Cheri (read Cinematical's review here), Frears turns his lens onto the cloistered and often duplicitous world of wealthy courtesans. Frears' films often focus on subversive outsiders who must make their own "family," as it were, such as Dirty Pretty Things, The Grifters, and My Beautiful Laundrette. But Cheri's delicious spin on sex, love, and aging is typical of its source material from author Colette, whose books Cheri and The Last of Cheri present a world of upside-down relationships and self-sufficient, frankly sexual women.

Michelle Pfeiffer leads the cast as the stunning Lea de Lonval, a famous courtesan whose friend Madame Peloux, played with busty abandon by Kathy Bates, encourages Lea to have an affair with Peloux's louche son Cheri, the pale and effeminate Rupert Friend. Neglected as a child while his mother was dealing with her affairs, Cheri is hardly likeable or loveable, but somehow their affair becomes less about sex and more about the love both he and Lea have lacked in their lives. Peloux throws a wrench into the whole thing when she plans a wedding for Cheri to another courtesan's child, Edmee, played by newcomer Felicity Jones. What happens after that surprises them all.

Cheri opens June 26th in limited cities. Visit the official website for more information.

Cinematical: What's the difference between releasing a movie like Cheri during Oscar season as opposed to the summer blockbuster season? Is it more or less stressful?

Stephen Frears: The problem with competing for the Oscars is it's very tough, so in a way it's quite a relief being [released] at another time of the year. You're all right if you've got the one that gets everybody's attention, but fighting for attention is quite difficult. I've released films in that season that have been just overlooked.

This may sound silly, but there's no way that The Day The Earth Stood Still would exist today in any sort of proverbial vacuum. To get the most obvious reason out of the way, we wouldn't have the 1951 original to lift from, in which an extraterrestrial visitor advises Earthlings to knock off their paranoid Cold War aggression, or else. Secondly, this incarnation is so transparently indebted to the likes of Twentieth Century Fox's other PG-13 sci-fi actioners, Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, that it's hard to imagine the same studio putting out this film first. Better yet, try seeing this particular re-imagining come about without the success of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds bolstering the profile of other '50s sci-fi efforts (new variations on Forbidden Planet and When Worlds Collide loom still on the horizon).

No, I'm afraid that it was fated to be that the Earth would stand still once more, albeit in Manhattan instead of Washington D.C., because that's how Roland Emmerich would've done it, and with a robotic threat adjusted from the height of Yao Ming to something several stories taller. Who needs flying saucers when giant orbs will do? And why bother with a pesky still-relevant message against the tolls of war when environmental concerns are all the rage? If anything, TDTESS '08 shares most characteristics with the aforementioned metallic menace: it's sleek, loud and incapable of expressing emotion beyond some big booms.

While it doesn't arrive in theaters until December, Fox feels pretty confident in their The Day the Earth Stood Still remake -- so much so that they aired roughly seven and a half minutes of footage last night during a repeat of the Fringe pilot. Seems a bit odd to show that much footage this far in advance of the film's release date, but apparently Fox wants to build good buzz now ... and, thankfully, it would appear the film warrants it.

The footage (which you can see after the jump) is not comprised of one, long extended scene. Instead, we're taken through a whole bunch of scenes from what would appear to be the first half of the film, with some playing out a bit longer than others. Essentially, The Day the Earth Stood Still tells of an alien visitor (Keanu Reeves) and a giant robot who land on earth and turn the place upside down. Jennifer Connelly, Jaden Smith, Kathy Bates and John Cleese also star. Check out the seven-minute clip after the jump.

The Day the Earth Stood Still hits theaters on December 12.

To state that The Family That Preys is Tyler Perry's most accomplished screen effort to date doesn't change the fact that it's still exactly the kind of preachy, pandering, tone-shifting, gospel-laced soap opera that he's served up time and time again to his dedicated audience. However, in the grand scheme of things, his skills as a writer-director have been honed just well enough to make one wish that Perry would trust someone else to polish his rough spots at the script stage, so that his cast might play at something a bit more substantial than petty drama and broad sermons, and so that his critical reputation as a filmmaker might grow (well, recover) from the shrill likes of his trademark Madea character.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive teaser poster for Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (click image to enlarge), starring Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates as the matriarchs of two very different families being torn apart by greed and scandal. This marks the sixth feature from Perry, whose films usually tackle the inner workings of a dysfunctional family. Written and directed by Perry, The Family That Preys also stars Perry, Rockmond Dunbar, Sanaa Lathan, KaDee Strickland, Cole Hauser and Taraji P. Henson. I'm digging what I see from this poster; the art sorta plays tricks with your head if you stare at it long enough -- and I imagine that's the point as it feeds into the themes found throughout the film.

The Family That Preys hits theaters on September 12.

By far, one of my absolute favorite movies is Stephen Frear's adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons. So, you can imagine that my expectations will be pretty high for Frears' latest French period piece, Cheri. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Rupert Friend (The Young Victoria) and Kathy Bates have joined the cast of Frears' take on the book by famed French novelist Collette. Friend will play the male lead, and Bates is in negotiations to play his overbearing "maman".

Originally published in 1920, Chéri was the story of an affair between an aging retired courtesan, Léa, and a pampered young man, Chéri. When it comes time for Chéri to make good on the promise of an arranged marriage, he is forced into a loveless union and then I would assume it's your usual array of romantic suffering. I mean, just look at the guy, he's got that 'romantic squint' down pat.

Just last month, Michelle Pfeiffer signed to play the aging courtesan and Friend's love interest, Lea de Lonval. Frears also wrote the adaptation with Liaisons screen writer, Christopher Hampton, which means it really is a Dangerous Liaisons reunion (if only they could have gotten Uma Thurman, Glen Close, and John Malkovich; making it the complete set). Now that all the distribution deals between Pathé and Miramax have been sorted out Cheri is ready to start production in France early this April.

A few years ago, a little film called Bonneville premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. A year went by, and then the film popped up at a few more festivals. Finally, SenArt Films grabbed the feature, and it's finally making its way to the big screen this year. You'd think that it must be some sort of super-indie to create pretty much zero buzz and not find any takers for well over a year after its premiere, but it's actually a film that has quite of few big-name actresses in it -- Joan Allen, Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, and Christine Baranski. (On the male side of things, there's also Tom Wopat, yes that Wopat, and Tom Skerritt.)

Now that it will hit screens this February, The Hollywood Reporter has posted about the film's unique marketing campaign. You'd think with a road trip movie named Bonneville, they might have some sort of car promotion, or maybe even a big party in Bonneville, PA. Not in the least. Instead, they are teaming up with Princess Cruises and hosting sneak previews on a number of the line's ships. It will be shown on oceanic trips to destinations like Australia, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Argentina.

I don't get it, but nevertheless, even if you're not cruising around the world on a Princess ship any time soon, this is what you'll get if you go see the flick next month -- a woman named Arvilla (Lange) is faced with a big life decision, so she grabs her two best friends (Bates and Allen) and they take a road trip across the US in a '66 Bonneville convertible. Of course, this trip is a rediscovery, so I imagine it'll be a bit like Boys on the Side, but for an older generation. Limited release begins on February 29.

Wait, they still cast Jennifer Connelly in non-melodramatic roles? According to Variety, the actress has signed on for the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. She will take on the part of "Helen Benson", the character originally played by Patricia Neal (who hopefully will be able to make a cameo), and as she does in every film, the Oscar-winning Connelly will likely emote way too much. Sure, she's fine for a lot of serious dramas, but when it comes to sci-fi/comic book movies, she hasn't really fit the part since Labyrinth, and even then she was a bit too pouty. Of course, she may seem more chipper in this remake, as she'll be acting opposite Mr. Serious himself, Keanu Reeves. As we learned long ago, Reeves will be portraying the alien Klaatu. Variety also reports that Kathy Bates may co-star in the movie, but doesn't mention the role she'd play.

I guess in some ways The Day the Earth Stood Still is a sci-fi melodrama, and Neal herself emoted plenty. In fact, she looked like she was going to start screaming and/or bawling in nearly every scene I recall. But then, she doesn't actually cry when you expect her to. She almost acts like more of a robot than Gort. And this should be fine, since aside from emoting, Connelly is good at looking drowsy and a bit empty. Anyway, I can't imagine the remake is going to have the same serious tone as the original. Hollywood just doesn't make movies like that anymore. Certainly the redo will not have Bernard Hermann's iconic music or Leo Tover's beautiful black and white cinematography to give it the same atmosphere. As we've told you previously, the new version is being directed by Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) and has been written, according to Variety, by novelist Ryne Douglas Pearson (Simple Simon which became the movie Mercury Rising) and David Scarpa (The Last Castle), who penned a rewrite. The remake begins shooting in Vancouver next month.

After Jack succumbed to the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean, did you ever think you'd get to see him reunited with Rose? (Aside from that weird ending, I mean). Well, ten years after Titanic, you can now at least see Leo reunited with Kate in this new still from the upcoming movie Revolutionary Road. We've already shown you some photos from the set of the movie, but this is the first in which the actor and actress are seen together. And isn't it wonderful? So, they don't really look anything like Jack and Rose anymore, and so, the time period is 40 years later -- just seeing those kids embracing brings tears to my eyes. Of course, there isn't much going on in the photograph other than Leo and Kate holding each other (are they dancing?). Someone could have just taken a pic of the actors in downtime sharing a hug and we'd have the same effect.

Directed by Kate's husband, Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road tells of a bored, suburban married couple who move to France in order to find new fulfillment in life. Sounds kinda like Mendes' American Beauty mixed with Do Not Disturb. The script is by Justin Haythe, who penned the underrated Robert Redford movie The Clearing, and it is based on the novel from Richard Yates, co-writer of the 1969 war movie The Bridge at Remagen. In addition to reuniting Les o and Kate, the film also reunites the two with fellow Titanic star Kathy Bates. Kate also gets to work with her husband for the first time and she again gets to work with child actor Ty Simkins, who we last saw in Little Children as Patrick Wilson's son -- this time he plays Kate's (and Leo's) son. Revolutionary Road doesn't hit theaters for another 17 months, so hopefully the single photo satisfies you for awhile.