This Week in Film: April 18th 2008

If you're a big Freaks And Geeks fan like myself, you might be interested in this weekend's new film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which F&G vet Jason Segel wrote and stars in, along with Kristen Bell, Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd. Produced by Judd Apatow, Forgetting Sarah Marshall tells the tale of a man who devastation after a messy break-up leads him to a tropical resort, only to find his ex and her new beau are staying at the same place. It's been netting surprisingly good reviews and if you like Jason Segel it's pretty much a no-brainer.

Al Pacino invests in his kids' college fund with his new thriller, the Vancouver-shot 88 Minutes, from director Jon Avnet. Pacino stars as a college professor who finds out that he only has...88 minutes to live! Reviews have been terrible and it co-stars Leelee Sobieski, Alicia Witt and Benjamin McKenzie.

The acclaimed Ben X has been generating lots of press since its Montreal Film Fest premiere last August, and it debuts in Vancouver this week. It stars Greg Timmermans as an autistic teenager who retreats into the world of online role-playing games as an alternative to the constant bullying he gets at school. Belgium-born director Nic Balthazar also wrote the novel.

If you've been waiting all of your life for the inevitable Jackie Chan/Jet Li team-up, breathe easy, because your day has finally come. They both star in The Forbidden Kingdom, a family-oriented action-adventure about an American teenager who finds himself travelling back to ancient China to help a group of warriors on a dangerous quest.

Opening at Fifth Avenue Cinemas is Stephen Walker's new documentary Young @ Heart, about a group of senior citizens, whose median age is 81, who gather together to sing contemporary rock songs by artists such as Sonic Youth and James Brown.

For fans of Icelandic art rockers Sigur Ros, their new documentary, Heima, opens at The Vancity Theatre. Following a summer tour in their native country, it plays from April 18-20. Check out www.vifc.org for more details.

Susan Sarandon, Christopher Plummer, Gabriel Byrne, Roy Dupuis and Max Von Sydow star in the Canadian drama Emotional Arithmetic, opening Friday at the Ridge Theatre. It tells the story a group of World War II prisoner-of-war survivors who reunite one weekend at a country house, only to discover that some are still having trouble coming to terms with their past.

Last but not least, The First Weekend Club presents a screening of Douglas Coupland's Everything's Gone Green, starring Paulo Costanzo, at Cinema 319. Tix are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. For more info visit www.thefirstweekendclub.ca