Cinema Suicide

The Muscles has been on hard times for years it would seem but he’s on reinvention road these days and I’ve been hearing about and dying to see JCVD since the first time I spotted it over at Twitch.  Plot details play out like a foreign version of Being John Malkovich or My Name Is Bruce where this character, Jean Claude Van Damme is played by Jean Claude Van Damme and their on-screen and real life circumstances cross over quite a bit.  He’s on skid row, burnt out, not the guy he used to be, suddenly thrust into a situation (a bank robbery) where he experiences this cathartic moment that separates the two parts of his personality, the real-life dude from the action hero movie star.  It’s like existential crisis wrapped up in a kickboxer’s comeback film. Here’s the synopsis:

When the life of Jean-Claude Van Damme collides with the reality of a hold-up in Brussels, Belgium, suddenly the huge movie star turns into an ordinary guy, filled with fears, contradictions and hopes. How can he be up to the legend he has built? What can a film hero do when the gun pointed to his temple isn’t charged with blanks? JCVD finds himself at the turning point of his “hero” life.

Interested?  I certainly am.  If you live near any of these theaters you, too, can get a look and see what everyone at the film festivals have been talking about.  Word out of Fantastic was that this seriously delivers.

• 11/7 : NYC , AMC’s Empire 25 & Angelika Film Center NYC
• 11/14 : Los Angeles, Landmark’s Nuart theatre
• 11/14: Irvine, Regal/Edwards University 6 – (Regalcinemas.com)
• 11/14: Cambridge , Landmark’s Kendall Theater
• 11/14: Washington D.C. Landmark’s E street cinema
• 11/14: Chicago – AMC Pipers Alley
• 11/14: SF , Landmark’s Bridge theatre
• 11/14: Berkeley, Ca., Landmark’s Shattuck
• 11/14: Philadelphia Ritz @ the Bourse, Landmark
• 11/14: Landmarks Detroit, Main Art
• 11/2: Palo Alta, Landmark’s Aquaris theatre
• 11/2: San Diego, Landmarks Hillcrest theatre
• 11/2: Seattle, Landmark’s Harvard Exit
• 11/21: Denver , Landmark’s Mayan Theater
• 11/21: Houston , Angelika film center
• 11/21: Austin , TX, Alamo draft house – (ww.drafthouse.com)
• *11/21: Tentative Dallas , Angelika film center date must be confirmed (as of last night we just lost our Landmark Magnolia theatre date because they could not accomodate an open 11/21, run )
• 11/21: Plano, Tx – Angelika film center
• 11/21: Sacramento, the Crest theatre – Thecrestcinema.com
• 11/28: Columbus , Oh . Landmark’s Gateway theatre ( calendar screen )
• 12/12: Minneapolis Landmark’s Uptown theatre