New Releases for the Week of June 11, 2010

Once you’ve seen the Great Wall, everything else is just a Very Good Wall.

THE KARATE KID

(Columbia) Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, Rongguang Yu, Zhensu Wu, Zhiheng Wang, Zhenwei Wang, Jared Minns. Directed by Harald Zwart

Dre, a young boy, moves with his single mom from Detroit to Beijing. Talk about culture shock – he can’t speak the language, most of the food is gross and he can’t make any friends. When he falls for a young girl – who takes a mutual interest in him – the class bully takes an unhealthy interest in Dre. Dre knows some karate but not enough to stand up to the bully, who is trained in Kung Fu and wipes the floor with Dre. When a maintenance man sees the bullying and intervenes, it sets the stage for the lessons of a lifetime and an unexpected friendship. Yes, it’s based on the iconic film from the 1980s that starred Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. Ask your parents.

See the trailer, featurette, clips and interviews here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Rating: PG (for bullying, martial arts action violence and some mild language)

The A-Team

(20^th Century Fox) Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel. Yes, this is apparently 80s week at the multiplex. The classic television series gets the big screen treatment, as a group of elite soldiers, falsely accused and unjustly imprisoned, escape incarceration and set out to clear their names.

See the trailer, clips and interviews here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of action and violence throughout, language and smoking)