Movie Preview: Crossing Over

BuzzSugar — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:34:13 PST

Despite some moments that seem a little overwrought, this trailer for Crossing Over (not to be confused with the TV show about talking to dead people) is one of the most riveting previews I've seen in a while. It looks a bit like Crash (several storylines weaving together in various ways), but with the subject matter being illegal immigration (and what it means to be an American and what's right and what's wrong, etc. etc.).

The other intriguing aspect of the trailer is the impressive cast: Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd, Ray Liotta, Alice Braga (I Am Legend), Summer Bishil (Towelhead) and Alice Eva.

Oh, did I forget to mention Jim Sturgess?

Crossing Over opens sometime in 2009. This trailer really sucked me in, so to watch for yourself,

read more. Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Movie Preview: Towelhead

BuzzSugar — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:31:05 PDT

Towelhead (which also goes by the title Nothing Is Private) was one of the movies on my to-see list at Sundance that kept getting edged down by other movies, partially because of other priorities, though I also worried that it would be really disturbing. Now the film, based on the novel by Alicia Erian, has a theatrical release date of August 8 and a trailer that has only made me more uneasy about watching the movie - though also more curious, too.

The story is of the coming-of-age variety, though this one features a 13-year-old girl (Summer Bishil) whose Caucasian mother (Maria Bello) sends her to live with her Lebanese father (Peter Macdissi) in a small suburban town. She begins to explore her awakening sexuality, spending time with a boy from school (Eugene Jones III) and befriending a neighbor (Aaron Eckhart) whose intentions are far from pure. Her home life with a strict and sometimes abusive father only further drives her curiosity about her identity, her sexuality, her place in the world.

Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, tries his hand at directing with the movie, and it seems to bear his signature marks of examining the darkest corners of the human soul while offering glimmers of humor and redemption. I'm both interested in and slightly afraid of this film. To check out the trailer,