Valentines Day Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Solomon Kane
Like Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane is a creation of author Robert E. Howard, though most of us have probably never heard of the character. This lavishly produced effects/action/fantasy extravaganza is looking to change that. and it looks pretty awesome. No U.S. release date just yet.

Disney's A Christmas Carol
Robert Zemeckis's 3D animated flick looks far flashier than anything Charles Dickens had in mind. Then again, since everyone knows the story forward and backward, embellishment is almost mandatory. This looks like a nice slice of holiday movie fun and you can watch for it on November 6.

Finally! It's the trailer for He's Just Not That Into You. Wait ... sorry! This is the new 50-million notable faces jam-packed into one neat romantic comedy package movie -- Valentine's Day. No, not the Nia Vardalos romcom I Hate Valentine's Day. That movie: A. Came out in the summer rather than, you know, the day of romance. B. Had a stupendously bad showing at the box office. But something tells me this flick won't have the same problem.

No, not because it looks particularly good, but because it's got the formula. It's coming out on Valentine's Day, so it's already catering to the couples itching for romantic cinema. It's got all the recognizable goofs and jokes we've seen before. Even more importantly, it's jam-packed with notable names and faces -- Julia Roberts (re-teaming with Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall), Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Anne Hathaway, Patrick Dempsey, Topher Grace, Emma Roberts, Eric Dane, Jamie Foxx, Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Alba, Queen Latifah, George Lopez, Jennifer Garner, and Twilight heartthrob Taylor Lautner (amongst others, because why have a few recognizable faces when you can have 50?).

The trailer's got all the gals talking about their romantic lives, or lack thereof. Hathaway brags about her sexual prowess, Alba gets to travel with her dog, Roberts (Emma, not Julia) talking mom and dad or grams and gramps about how she plans to sleep with more than one person in her lifetime, and Biel gets the honor of praising her blackberry's vibration talents. Get tantalized after the jump.

Patrick Dempsey, Eric Dane -- Is one Grey's Anatomy star all that different from another? In a strange news twist and ultimate bit of Grey's fandom, our classic movie trades are reporting that both of the hit show's leading hottie doctors are signing up for Garry Marshall's Valentine's Day. Variety reports that Eric Dane (who plays Dr. Mark Sloan) is joining the cast, while The Hollywood Reporter posts that Patrick Dempsey is. Neither mentions the other bit of casting. Is New Line spreading the casting news wealth?

Dane will play a quarterback wondering whether he should retire in the ensemble comedy, while Dempsey once again plays a doctor. But this time, he's no good doctor, but rather "a married obstetrician dating [Jennifer] Garner's character on the sly, with her unaware of his status." Bad Dempsey.

Valentine's Day is the super-packed romcom ensemble that Peter posted about back in May. Following on the He's Just Not That Into You bandwagon, the film boasts names that range from Julia Roberts to Jessica Biel as they work "their way through a tangle of circumstances in Los Angeles" -- presumably on Cupid's big day.

While I'd like to see this flick have a little more brains than the one it's following after, I bet the chances are slim to none. Marshall is the guy, after all, who followed up Pretty Woman and Frankie and Johnny with Exit to Eden. But for the undying fans of floofy romantic schlock, I bet this'll be downright irresistible.

For a business that is notoriously slow to develop groundbreaking creative projects, the film industry can be remarkably quick when it comes to cashing in on proven success. Thus, when the romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You -- timed for release to capitalize on Valentine's Day earlier this year -- grossed an estimated $94 million for New Line Cinema / Warner Brothers, the company decided to prepare something similar for Valentine's Day next year, reports the New York Times.

Since He's Just Not That Into You featured an ensemble cast of notable actresses (Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston), the new project, imaginatively titled Valentine's Day, hopes to pack Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, and Shirley MacLaine into a storyline about "would-be romantics working their way through a tangle of circumstances in Los Angeles." None of the women have signed on yet, nor has the company's director of choice, Garry Marshall, nor has Ashton Kutcher, whose name has also been floated, but potential Green Lantern Bradley Cooper has agreed to play a man in the movie.

Lionsgate has sown up Halloween with the Saw franchise, so, strictly from a business perspective, this makes good sense. Of course, just packing "names" into a movie for the sake of names won't necessarily work. Still, if Valentine's Day is successful with big stars and establishes a new franchise for New Line, they could populate sequels with less-expensive stars and turn a decent profit for years to come.

So it's a couple days before Valentine's Day, and you HAVE to get your movie-loving significant other/friend/family member/offspring something because that's what the TV commercials told you to do -- and so we've come along with five last-minute ideas that aren't necessarily V-Day specific, but should satisfy nonetheless.

1. A Copy of Jerry Maguire and U Complete Me Pillow Cases

2. The Film Snob's Dictionary
Are you a film snob dating someone who doesn't understand half the silly references that spew out of your mouth each and every single day? Then how about you pick up a copy of the Film Snob's Dictionary for that special someone and help exploit the movie geek inside all of us.

3. A Copy of High Fidelity and the USB Mixtape Memory Stick
High Fidelity, because it's an awesome movie, and then show your Me Generation partner that mix tapes are still all the rage by picking up this very cool USB Mixtape Memory Stick, which holds 60 minutes worth of music and comes in the form of an old school cassette tape - complete with liner notes so you can scrawl out your track list and make it personal.

4. Romantic Movies
Because it's the perfect time to cozy up next to that special someone and throw a little romance into your DVD player. Amazon has some great deals on romance DVDs (through February 16), with up to 48% off on Art-House Romance, up to 50% off on the Nicholas Sparks collection, 50% off on movies for lovers and 50% off on movies for haters.

I searched this week for special screenings taking place at the same time as the Super Bowl, for Austinites who aren't into the football thing. There are a few alternatives: Alamo Drafthouse Downtown is screening the UT Film Loop monthly movie, The Man with Two Heads, and then the Spike & Mike animation fest that night. The Paramount has scheduled a double-feature of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Meanwhile, if your TV simply isn't large enough, the Alamo theaters at S. Lamar, Lake Creek, and Village each are dedicating a movie screen to showing the big game, with various food/drink specials and entertainment extras.

• The SXSW schedule of feature films is supposed to go public on Monday 2/6. You can view a list of world premieres on the Web site, but I'm looking forward to finding out about all the smaller films. The Austin Chronicle nabbed an advance list that contains more titles than the SXSW page. One they missed: local filmmaker Kat Candler's feature jumping off bridges.
• Austin Film Society seems to have taken over the Dobie Theatre: three AFS@Dobie films currently occupy the theater's screens this week. Darwin's Nightmare (photo above) is being held over for a third week, perhaps because it was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar; Bubble is floating around for a second week; and Before the Fall, a 2004 German film about a teen at a Nazi academy, opens this week.