Buried

Ryan Reynolds stars in this new indy flick that has been making its rounds on the festival circuit but is now finally get to the big screen for wide release. Reynolds plays Paul Conroy who is a U.S contract trucker working in Iraq who is ambushed and wakes up tied up and in a wooden coffin that is buried underground who has a lighter, a few glow sticks, a faulty flashlight and a cellphone who is going to be left to die unless his company will pay his kidnappers a ransom for his release. The film is basically a one-man play with a few outside actors providing voices on the other end of the cell phone as we wonder if Paul will be saved or die buried alive. Reynolds does some very fine acting and the scene with the snake is down right terrifying. Definitely not a date night movie but one that is well worth seeing and a must see for Reynolds fans.

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You Again

As comedies go you cannot go wrong if your film includes Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Kristin Chenoweth and the always awesome Betty White. The plot is that Marni, played by Bell, is returning home for her brother's wedding only to find out that he is marrying the girl who tormented her in high school. Things get even crazier when it turns out that Marni's mother and her brother's fiancée's aunt where high school rivals as well. The comedy is fun and the wedding party antics enjoyable to watch but too bad there was not more screen time for Betty White to get in her classic one line zingers. If you are in the mood for a wedding comedy then you cannot go wrong checking this film out.

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The Virginity Hit

As comedies go the documentary format tends to run flat for me but this was not the case here. The movie focuses on four friends who make a pact to only smoke from a special bong once they lose their virginity. All seems to be going well until Matt has a falling out with his girl friend on the night they are suppose to do it. The movie is original and very funny with a great cameo by porn star Sunny Leone as the ultimate object of desire for our last remaining virgin. If you want a good laugh with a surprising bit of heart you will want to check this out.

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Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole 3D

It seems every new kid friendly film coming out these days is featuring 3D and are at best just cartoons. But kudos to Zack Snyder for bring us a fantastic story that may be all CGI animation but boy oh boy is it beautiful and realistic with the 3D really adding to the experience. The story is about a young owl whose love for the stories of the Guardian Owls and his quest to find them to help save his family and friends from enslavement by the armies of Metalbeak. The added kick to the story is the great lineup of voice talent which includes Helen Mirren, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham and Geoffrey Rush. This is a great family film but beware it does show animals fighting in war scenarios and dying but done very tastefully - check it out.

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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Oliver Stone dips back in to the well to bring us a sequel to his 1987 film, Wall Street, that introduced us to the infamous Gordan Gekko. This time out Gekko, played again by Michael Douglas, is out of prison and has written a novel about why "greed is good" while working his way back up to the top and getting revenge on enemies and family. Shia Lebeouf is the fiancée to Gekko's daughter who is an idealist that is trying to get the daughter and father to reconcile but gets caught up in the game and is hamstrung by Gekko as expected or does he? The movie is good and worth seeing but a little discomforting when you hear all the cancer references and remember that Douglas was recently diagnosed with stage four throat cancer. If you do go to see this you will be rewarded by a great cameo moment - enough said.

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Superman Batman: Apocalypse

DC Comics continues its release of direct to DVD movies with the second arc from the Superman Batman comic series. The movie covers the arrival of Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El voiced by Summer Glau, who must learn how to safely use her powers but gets manipulated by Darkseid, voiced by Andre Braugher, to take down Superman. The story is still good if streamlined and the artwork does invoke the late Michael Turner's character designs very well. The best part is that Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy are back as the voices of Superman and Batman so all is right in the universe. If you are a fan of the comics or of our heroes then you definitely want to check this out.

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Hatchet 2

A pleasant surprise before seeing Robert Rodriguez's Machete today was seeing the trailer for the big screen release of the unrated sequel to Hatchet.  Now that 3D is back and certain to stay as an additional way for movie companies to generate revenue on their films it seems that the unrated film is finally seeing the light of the big screen and not just the DVD release.   I have not seen the first film but will have to check it out now. 

The last unrated film I saw in the theater was Cronenberg's Crash.  This was a very memorable movie experience for me because the mix of car crashes and sex was oddly arousing. This was the intention of course and executed well.  Unfortunately unrated has since just been a marketing ploy to sell more DVDs.  Hopefully this is no more.

Hatchet 2 in a William Castle inspired trailer promises buckets and buckets and more buckets of blood.  Oh yeah!  As Peaches Christ would say, my inner gore whore is getting wet just thinking about it.  I love seeing movies on the big screen with my fellow horror fanatics so please let this be the start of a resurgence of unrated theatrical releases for the genre fodder we love. 




{From Mike Proffitt's Blackberry Storm2}