The Strangers

"Why are you doing this to us?" Liv Tyler -- and some people in the audience -- are asking this question of The Strangers (Rogue Pictures)

The Strangers (opening May 30 throughout San Diego) will feel all too familiar to horror fans. Here’s the premise: Take one young couple, place them in a lonely cabin out in the middle of nowhere, and then have some nameless, masked visitors ruthlessly attack. Been there, done that a few rimes. But the film does boast the lovely Liv Tyler and an occasional moment of good filmmaking.

88 Minutes

Al Pacino has 88 Minutes to live. (Columbia)

It's a sad day when Zombie Strippers boasts a more credible plot than Al Pacino's latest movie. Okay I'm exaggerating... but only slightly. Zombie Strippers may be absurd but it knows it. Al Pacino's latest outing, 88 Minutes (opening April 18 throughout San Diego), is wildly improbable yet everyone insists on playing it straight. The result is 108 minutes that I wish I could have back - and Pacino may be wishing the same thing.

Funny Games U.S.

Funny Games (1997) and Funny Games U.S. (Attitude Films and Warner Independent)

Remakes are a mainstay of Hollywood. If something worked once - do it again. But among remakes there are some oddities. Gus Van Sant did a shot for shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The only differences - new actors, color film and the fact that the remake couldn't hold a candle to the original. So that remake seemed ridiculously unnecessary. Then there's the case of Japanese director Takashi Shimizu who made Ju-On/The Grudge for Japanese video, then remade it as a Japanese feature, then remade it again as a Hollywood film. He also made a Japanese sequel and an American sequel, and is now on The Grudge 3. Shimizu gives new meaning to the notion of a one- trick pony. This year brings Michael Haneke's English language remake of his 1997 German/Austrian film Funny Games, and now called Funny Games U.S. (opened March 14 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas, Edwards Mira Mesa, AMC La Jolla and UltraStar Flower Hill). I can't think of any other filmmaker who has done a shot-for-shot remake of his own film. (If you know of any please tell me.)

George A. Romero Interview

George A. Romero reanimates the zombie genre with Diary of the Dead (Weinstein Company)

When George A. Romero made The Night of the Living Dead in 1968, he essentially invented a genre. But potential distributors were not initially impressed. In fact, they asked him to change the film's bleak ending. But he simply said, “F--k you.” That pretty much set the tone for Romero's relationship with the mainstream film industry. Like John Waters, he's a filmmaker who has remained outside the industry (Pittsburgh for Romero and Baltimore for Waters) making the films he wants. This year he delivers the much-anticipated zombie outing, Diary of the Dead (opening exclusively at the Palm Promenade Theaters).

“It's not a continuation, it's not sort of a fifth film in the series,” Romero explains, “It goes back to the first night when the dead are coming back. I sort of felt that I had gone far enough with Land of the Dead, and I was ready to get off of that train… There was a collection of short stories, actually two volumes, called Book of the Dead, and they were all stories about what happened on that first night. I came to realize that I could sort of keep doing stories about different people over those first two or three nights.”

Taxi to the Dark Side

Alex Gibney's documentary Taxi to the Dark Side (THINKFilm)

You have to wait until the very end of Taxi to the Dark Side (opening February 8 for one week only at Landmark's Ken Cinema) to discover a very personal reason why Alex Gibney was so driven to make this documentary exploration of how far the Bush Administration has been willing to go in its prosecution of the “War on Terror.” Gibney’s father Frank was a journalist, author, and a former Naval interrogator in World War II. Just weeks before Frank Gibney died, he asked his son to videotape him so he could comment on the subject of American soldiers accused of torturing prisoners in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo and elsewhere.  Frank Gibney’s anger was directed at the top officials in the Bush Administration, starting with George W. and including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Alberto Gonzales (who rationalized the new policy of “coercive interrogation techniques” as the only way to combat the threat posed by terrorist enemies so evil that they could turn commercial airliners into suicide planes). The outrage Frank Gibney expresses fuels his son’s documentary.

Untraceable

Diane Lane as FBI agent Jennifer Marsh in Untraceable (Screen Gems)

Diane Lane first grabbed attention as a little girl sharing the screen with legendary veteran Laurence Olivier in 1979's A Little Romance. Since then she has matured into a fine actress gaining praise for work in Unfaithful, Under the Tuscan Sun and Hollywoodland. Now she takes on the role of FBI agent Jennifer Marsh in the film Untraceable (opening January 25 throughout San Diego). Imagine Hostel with a CSI twist and done for the Oxygen network crowd, and you'll have an idea of what Untraceable is like.

Persepolis

Marjane with her uncle in Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics)

It's pretty rare to have a year in which two animated films make my top ten and another couple are worthy of mention. But in 2007, Japan's Paprika and France's Persepolis made my 10 Best List, and the American Ratatouille and Surf's Up got honorable mention. Those films not only represent the best of last year's animation but also its growing diversity. Persepolis (opening January 18 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) is based on the autobiographical graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi.

Marjane Satrapi was born in Iran. She witnessed the fall of the Shah, the early regime of the Ayatollah Khomeni and the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war. Her parents sent her to Vienna to escape Iran's repressive regime. The film Persepolis takes the perspective of the older and exiled Marjane sitting in a French airport and contemplating returning home. As she waits in the airport she reflects back on her life, beginning in 1978 Teheran. Even at a young age, Marjane exhibits signs of independence and freethinking, both of which are encouraged by her family. Her parents are progressive and socially conscious, and some of her relatives were outspoken enough to be imprisoned for their beliefs. In addition, she has a strong-willed grandmother who tries to give Marjane a moral core and a sense of self-reliance.

Persepolis/Interview with Marjane Satrapi

Writer/filmmaker Marjane Satrapi and her self-portrait (Sony Pictures Classics)

Matjane Satrapi was born in Iran to progressive parents. She was educated from a young age at French schools. She currently lives in Paris. Her autobiographical and brilliant graphic novels Persepolis chronicle about sixteen years in her life beginning in 1978 Teheran. She has now brought the graphic novels to the screen as a black and white animated French feature. Vincent Paronnaud co-directs and co-writes the film. I had a chance to speak with Satrapi last year when she was promoting the film during its qualifying run for the Oscars. The film didn't make the short list for Best Foreign Film but it may nab an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film. Satrapi proved to be as engaging and animated as her film.

Persepolis (opening January 18 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) made my Ten Best list for 2007.

BETH ACCOMANDO: Tell me why you chose to call your graphic novels, Persepolis?

MARJANE SATRAPI: To understand the situation in any country of the world, you have to know a little about the history of that country. Unfortunately for Iran, everyone knows about after 1979, and everybody forgets this is this big country with 4000 years of history. So Persepolis is the name the Greeks gave to the ancient capitol of Persia, and in Greek it means the city of the Persians. So for me it gave a historical perspective to the story. Plus this one word is a nice word, easy to remember. So for all these reasons I chose this title.

Smokin’ Aces

Jeremy Piven as Buddy "Aces" Israel in Smokin' Aces

Joe Carnahan gained an indie rep with his gritty cop thriller Narc. Now he tries his hand at flashier filmmaking with an over-the-top action film, Smokin' Aces (opening January 26 throughout San Diego). The film stars Ray Liotta, Ryan Reynolds, Jeremy Piven, Andy Garcia and Alicia Keys.

Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale

Daniel Craig ushers in a grittier Bond in Casino Royale (MGM/Columbia)

The name's Bond. James Bond. This month Daniel Craig becomes the sixth actor to take on the role of the famous MI6 British agent. The latest Bond adventure is Casino Royale (opening November 17 throughout San Diego) based on the 1953 novel in which Ian Fleming introduced 007 to readers.

Technically, this is the third adaptation of Casino Royale. There was an Americanized TV version with Barry Nelson as Jimmy Bond in the 50s, and a spoof starring Woody Allen in the 60s. But this is the first time the official Bond franchise (the one overseen by the late Albert Broccoli's Eon Productions) has actually filmed the novel. So for their 22nd Bond film, the producers have decided to go back to the beginning to in essence re-launch what has become one of the longest running and most successful film franchises of all time. One of the reasons for this success has been the franchise's ability to reinvent itself during its 40-year plus history. It began by sticking close to Ian Fleming's books with its films Dr. No and From Russia With Love in the early 60s. By the mid 60s it began a move toward gadgetry, special effects and spectacle (Thunderball, You Only Live Twice). That trend peaked in the 70s and 80s when Roger Moore took over the Bond role and the series became more and more over the top (the best of these being For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me). In the late '80s there was a swing back toward grit and realism with Timothy Dalton's brief outing as Bond. And most recently, Pierce Brosnan's Bond announced the franchise's move toward slick productions loaded with clever quips and prone to poke fun at Bond for being a misogynistic dinosaur.