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Elysium
Who: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, William Fichtner, Alice Braga, Sharlto Copley, Diego Luna, Michael Shanks, Talisa Soto
What: A sci-fi thriller from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp, set on Earth in the year 2154. Damon plays one of the struggling masses down on Earth who are cut off from the fabulous wealth and care of the elite who live in a space station called Elysium. After an accidental exposure to radiation gives him only a week to live, Damon's character decides to buck classism and get to Elysium's life-saving medical devices at any cost (with the help of a super-powered exoskeleton). Foster plays the evil Secretary of Defense in his way.
When: December 17th - DVD and online on-demand
Why: I missed this one in theaters which I regret a little given the sci-fi eye candy. I liked both non-Hollywood sci-fi style and the social commentary of District 9, so I felt this movie had potential. I've heard good things about Sharlto Copely, who plays a very different type of character than he did in District 9. At the same time, I have trouble getting over how ridiculous Damon looks in his He-Man suit.

Jayne Mansfield's Car
Who: Robert Duvall, Katherine LaNasa, John Hurt, Kevin Bacon, Ray Stevenson, Robert Patrick, Shawnee Smith, Ron White, Frances O'Connor, Billy Bob Thornton
What: A drama set in the 1960s South. The death of woman who was married to both an American man and a British man brings the two families together in an odd clash of civilizations.
When: December 10th - DVD and online on-demand
Why: There's a lot of good acting talent here. I'm particularly drawn by Duvall, who's played a number of funny old coots in the last decade. Ron White completely surprised me in the trailer in that he appears to have some acting skills rather than just his regular smoke and drink stand-up schtick.

Man of Steel
Who: Henry Cavill, Lois Lane, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russel Crowe, Harry J. Lennix, Richard Schiff, Christopher Meloni, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne
What: A reboot of the superhero story that made Christopher Reeve famous, this time starring Henry Cavill as the baby sent to Earth to escape his own dying planet. Shannon plays Krypton's General Zod, who pursues an unrelenting course to reestablish a planet of superior Kryptonians.
When: December 10th - DVD and online on-demand
Why: I saw this in the theater and was not overly impressed. I don't have a stake in this superhero or any comic universe, but just based on the movies, Iron Man is fun, the X-Men are interesting, and Batman is intense. This and the previous Superman reboot are just kind of boring. Is a purely good superhero just bound to be less exciting than an anti-hero in modern times, maybe?

Man of Tai Chi
Who: Keanu Reeves, Chen Hu
What: A martial arts action drama. Hu plays the only student of an elderly Tai Chi master. Reeves plays a bloodthirsty promoter of an underground prize fight club who pursues Hu as a contender. Hu only agrees in order to get money to save his master's temple from demolition.
When: December 10th - DVD and online on-demand
Why: Based on the trailer I'd say this looks like a fairly generic death match martial arts movie, but that loyalty to the genre's key points of honor and loyalty earned the movie praise from director John Woo. I think it's pretty cool to have Reeves play a villain. Tiger Chen Hu worked on The Matrix movies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon doing stunts, so the action in this movie should be good.

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