Side Effects
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Written by Scott Z. Burns
Starring: Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Open Road Films
Rated R | 106 Minutes
Release Date: February 8th, 2013

Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Magic Mike) and written by Scott Z. Burns (Contagion), Side Effects begins as an exploration of the pharmaceutical industry and experimental mood-altering drugs. But slowly, Soderbergh’s film becomes something different altogether.

The film follows Emily (Rooney Mara) and her husband Martin (Channing Tatum), a New York couple whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily’s psychiatrist (Jude Law) – intended to treat anxiety and depression – has unexpected side effects.

Accustomed to a life of luxury and blissful matrimony, Emily’s world collapsed when her dream husband was arrested for insider trading. Since then, she has been struggling with depression and anxiety about the future, or her lack of one. After serving a 4-year prison term, Martin has returned home to help rebuild his life with Emily.

Emily begins seeing Dr. Jonathan Banks (Law), who recommends better living through chemistry via a new SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), Ablixa. In the past, Emily hasn’t had much luck with drugs like Prozac, Welbutrin, Zoloft, or Effexor, so she’s willing to try the pharmaceutical industry’s latest ‘miracle cure.’

Rock of Ages
Directed by Adam Shankman
Starring Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Ã…kerman, Mary J. Blige, Alec Baldwin
Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 123 Minutes
Release Date: June 15, 2012

“Ain’t lookin’ for nothin’ but a good time, and it don’t get better than this.” – Poison

Disclaimer: I am a 27-year-old man with an affinity for musical theatre and ’80s glam rock. I am not ashamed to admit I have shed a tear or two during Glee or the occasional off-Broadway production of Rent. Musicals aren’t for everyone, but for all the Drama Nerds, Band Geeks, and Glee Kids out there, this one’s for you.

From director Adam Shankman (Hairspray) comes Warner Bros. Pictures’ big screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages. The year is 1987. Movies like Fatal Attraction, Moonstruck, and Beverly Hills Cop II blow up the box office while Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, and Bon Jovi play to sold-out stadiums across the country. In this alternate reality of 1987, however, rock god Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) is responsible for every ’80’s anthem and power ballad – an amalgam of every legendary front man in rock’n’roll history.

Rock of Ages features Julianne Hough (Footloose, Burlesque) as Sherrie Christian, a small-town girl who leaves Tulsa, Oklahoma to follow her Hollywood dreams. There she meets rock’n’roller Drew Boley (Diego Boneta), a bartender at The Bourbon Room, one of Sunset Strip’s hottest concert venues.

The cast of Steven Soderbergh‘s upcoming drama, Side Effects, is coming together, and now a new star has been brought in to replace the departed Blake Lively.

It’s being reported that Rooney Mara, star of David Fincher’s The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, will replace Lively on the film, which will see her playing a highly depressed and overly medicated woman who’s anxious about her soon-to-be-released husband from prison.

Despite losing Annapurna Films as a co-financer just a week after getting them on board, the new Steven Soderbergh film Side Effects just got a whole lot classier.

Deadline is reporting that Catherine Zeta-Jones has joined the film’s cast, which includes Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Channing Tatum.

Penned by Scott Z. Burns, the film follows a woman (Lively) who’s dealing with much anxiety and depression, particularly over the upcoming release of her husband (played by Tatum) from prison, leading her to take dangerous amounts of prescription drugs and into a relationship with a doctor (Law). Zeta-Jones plays Dr. Erica Siebert.