9

Before anything else I must say the computer animation in this film is flawless and would give Pixar a good run for their money and the story is not as kid friendly as you would expect. Also, this is not a Tim Burton movie - he served as a producer - but Shane Acker does deliver a hauntingly bleak visual landscape with a unique and charming story that holds its own with some of Burton's best work. The voice talents for the sock puppets include some of the best the industry has to offer like Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover and Elijah Wood. But the highlight for me was seeing that Fred Tatasciore provided the voice of #8 who is known to those who follow voice-over actors as the voice of the Hulk in such films as Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow and Hulk vs Thor and Wolverine. This is a must see movie for all animation and Burton fans!

Click here to check out the official website.

Sorority Row (2009)

1983's The House on Sorority Row gets an update this weekend and stars Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, and Carrie Fisher as the stalked sorority sisters and house mother by a cloaked killer bent on revenge for the death of one of their sorority sisters. As you would expect, there is plenty of T & A but not from the main cast which is a little disappointing but the death scenes are ok even if they lack any real gore. As for being the stereotypical lead bitch sister, Leah Pipes does a great job and delivers a fun performance that makes you love and hate her character from the get go. All in all a mediocre horror film but not really a waste of a matinee viewing. The highlight for me was seeing the trailer for Avatar again before the movie started and damn if it does not keep looking cooler each time I see it.

Click here to check out the official website.

Knockaround Guys

So it will be mobsters tonight and what better than a film staring Dennis Hooper, John Malkovich, Tom Noonan, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel and my favorite little dude Seth Green. The premise is that Matty, played by Pepper, is trying to win the favor of his mobster father and enlists his friends to do a job that goes horribly wrong when Green loses the package to some stoner kids and then corrupt local cops. The stand out performances here are by Diesel as a tough street thug, who would have guessed, and Malkovich as the second in command with his own agenda. Is there any role that Malkovich can not play and not play well? A fun little movie along the lines of Mobsters and Sleepers but not as deep if that can be said with a straight face.

Click here to checkout the official website.

Domino

A DVD still in the wrapper and unopened until now and it's a movie I have not seen or watched on cable to date. Keira Knightly stars as Domino Harvey a former model turned bounty hunter that gets caught up in a money scam ran by her bail bondsman boss that is ripping of the mob to save the life of his little girl by one of his many mistresses while being filmed for a WB reality show. Also starring are Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez as fellow bounty hunters Ed Moseby and Choco, Delroy Lindo and Mo'Nique as the bail bondsman and his mistress, Jacqueline Bisset and Christopker Walken as social climbing mom and the WB executive, and Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering as themselves and the hosts of the reality show. The plot is crazy and entertaining as hell and supposedly based on the life of the real Domino Harvey who passed away in 2005. A fun film and you do get to see Keira topless like in her other fine films like The Hole and The Jacket - WOOHOO!

Click here to check out the official website.

Werewolf

As my return to TV series of my youth continues, I just completed a marathon viewing of another 80's classic from Fox TV and the USA Networks thanks to Midtown Comics' collection of bootleg VHS to DVD videos. The series starred General Hospital's John J. York, The Rifleman's Chuck Connors and genre character actor Brian Thompson as the principal werewolves of the show with York's werewolf always being on the run from the part Indian bounty hunter, Alamo Joe aka Lance LeGault. The show is quintessential 80's fair from its visual style and soundtrack with the episodes still holding up for me sporting Rick Baker's werewolf designs refined from his work on An American Werewolf in London but brought to life each week by the talents of Greg Cannom. The werewolf effects are what brought me back each week and the thirty minute episodes kept the shows tight but ultimately very formulaic where you could see the repeated use of shots from previous episodes to save on effects costs. If you love werewolves, in-camera effects and classic mask and suited monster makeups, you will want to check out this series again and add it to you home entertainment collection just like me.

Click here to check out the unofficial website.

Man From Atlantis

After realizing I was pissing away money on digital cable TV and Tivo service, I decided to cancel my services in an experiment to see if I could watch all the shows I like online via one method or another for the upcoming fall season . While waiting for new fall season episodes to update for online watching via Hulu and the various TV network websites, I have started working my way through old TV shows from my youth that I picked up from places like Midtown Comics to see how they hold up like this week's selection, Man from Atlantis. Although the series is quite dated and it is a hoot seeing old TV stars that have fallen off of the TV landscape, a gem of an actor has risen from the TV land of my past that I would like to acknowledge here - Victor Bruno aka Dr. Schubert. Victor Bruno was the go to villain in all of the shows of my childhood and had, no has, an unforgettable screen presence. For the old Adam West Batman fans you would remember his as the wonderful villain King Tut.

All About Steve

Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper, both fresh of the box office hits The Proposal and The Hangover this year, co-star in this ugly-duckling based story plot and it is not a romantic comedy as you would think. Other comedy notables Thomas Haden Church and Ken Jeong flesh out the news crew with Cooper who is being followed from assignment to assignment by Bullock after their blind date is disrupted. Comedies seem to be the thing for Sandra these days and she is doing them well. Cooper has come along way from his Alias days and horror outing The Midnight Meat Train - based on a favorite Clive Barker short story of mine from the Books of Blood. A good movie and an easy pick for date night.

Click here to check out the official website.

Extract

Jason Bateman takes the lead in this latest Mike Judge big screen comedy. Although this does not rank up there with the cult classic Office Space, it is very funny and delivers fun performances from Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis, J. K. Simmons and Kristen Wiig. Judge has the ability to take mundane situations and build them up with interesting and likable characters that delivers working class comedy gold. I have always been a fan of Bateman's comedic performances since his first staring TV series, It's Your Move, back in 1984. Just Like Paul Rudd in I Love You, Man, Jason has proven he can carry a movie on his own here and his fans will love it.

Click here to check out the official website.

Gamer

Gerald Butler continues his reign on the big screen this year in this action thriller cross-over with a Sims fetish community. The action and carnage are fun to watch and the Society gaming piece kinky and fun until you get to see the human controllers behind the Society avatars. Michael C. Hall from Dexter is the master mind behind Society and Slayers and delivers an eccentric performance that will not be forgotten. Kyra Sedgwick is a pleasant surprise to see back on the big screen as well and outside of The Closer TV series. A good flick for adult gamers but definitely not a kids movie and deserves its R-Rating.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Final Destination 3D

3D is back to supposedly reinvigorate another stale franchise. Unfortunately, it can not over come the cliches and wooden acting that permeate this installment. To seal the deal, a key scene is an audience getting killed while watching a 3D movie. Really? The one plus is that outside of the cartoonish 3D effects there was some good practical effects carnage for the gorehounds like me.

Click here to check out the official website.

Halloween II (2009)

Everyone's favorite slasher is back in Rob Zombie's follow to his 2007 re-imagining of John Carpenter's Halloween. Zombie continues his exploration of the mind of Michael Myers and delivers incredible imagery that let's us know just how fractured the Myers family really is. Scout Taylor-Compton is back as Laurie Strode and keeps delivering terrified performances that are hard to watch and gut-wrenching. A master stroke in this sequel is the realization of the Dr. Samuel Loomis and his profiting off of the Haddonfield carnage and aftermath. A good sequel for Rob Zombie and Michael Myer fans alike.

Click here to check out the official website.

Inglorious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino is back with his next tribute to genre films and this time out it is the Nazi war film starring Brad Pitt, Eli Roth and and Diane Krueger. Basterds does deliver the Tarantino trademark violence and dialogue but unfortunately they are not as prevalent as you would expect from his past films like Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. Being a fan of genre films I was hoping for some form of homages to classic Nazi exploitation films like Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS or Salon Kitty. Christopher Waltz does give a great performance as Col. Hans Landa and is oddly evil in a Sherlock Holmes kind of way and goes supernova in the strangulation of an American sympathizer. Ultimately Basterds is an OK movie which is not what I expected or wanted from Tarantino.

Click here to check out the official website.

500 Days of Summer

Even though I am a huge fan of Zooey Deschanel and with a recommendation from my friend E, it was the back and forth between my friend's Alex and Diana while dining on our botched carryout order from Peking Gourmet Inn that got me to go see this movie. As the movie states at the on set it is not a love story but the life of a relationship from initial sighting to its demise. Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Leveitt, who also stars as The Doctor in this summer's CGI action thriller G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, deliver good performances in this non-linear story. As for the debate over Chinese, Alex is right that no guy ever wants to hear that the girl he loved could love someone else but just not him. This is a good film worth seeing and actually does have a hopeful, if not actual happy, ending.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

Jeremy Piven's new ensemble comedy is a scatter shot of laughs with some hitting the mark and others not even on the firing range. If you have seen the video snippets on YouTube then you have already seem most of the best moments from the movie. If you want to see a really funny car salesmen movie, you can not go wrong with watching 1980's Used Cars from Robert Zemeckis that starred Kurt Russell. Piven's signature role for me is still as Droz from the sleeper comedy hit, PCU, back in 1994 and he just has not been able to hit that benchmark again to date. Pass on this at the theater and just see it as a Sunday afternoon movie when it hits Comedy Central for unfathomable repeats within the next year.

Click here to check out the official website.

District 9

Of all the movies slated to come out this summer, this movie was the one I wanted to see more than any other because it was produced by Peter Jackson and the trailer was just so friggin' amazing you just knew it was going to be something special with a great story. Neill Blomkamp's film delivered on all my expectations and is one of the best damn SciFi movies I have ever seen. The special effects are amazing, the prawns are even better then when we all saw Gollum for the first time in The Two Towers, the story is satirical and packs a mean punch, and the "gore" moments are never gratuitous. I dare say this film is the SciFi genre equivalent to the horror genre's Night of the Living Dead. SciFi fan or not - this movie is a must see for everyone.

Click here to check out the official website.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Well it did not suck! Stephen Sommers' action-packed, non-stop, popcorn munching, cartoon come-to-life movie with cameos from his go to actors Brendan Fraser and Kevin J. O'Conner, was fun and Snakes Eyes is still the coolest Joe ever. Sienna Miller and Rachael Nichols were very hot as the Baroness and Scarlett but where was the bikini fight sequence? Well we can't have everything but maybe that will be in the sequel set up by a whistle from the President. As my friend Steven said, "it reminds me of Starship Troopers" and I agree but without the bugs and the sex.

Click here to check out the official website.

A Perfect Getaway

David Twohy brings us more of a suspense thriller than an actual horror movie with this film featuring a newly wed couple on their honeymoon when they discover that one of the other couples on the same trail are murderers and impostors. The film starts out well but the surprises and twists are expected. If you think you know what the twist is already without seeing the film you are correct. I am a huge fan of Mila Jovovich and Steve Zahn and was hoping for a better film. Save your money and watch this when it hits cable.

Click here to check out the official website.

Julie & Julia

Being a huge fan of the Food Network and Julia Child, there was no way I was not seeing this movie as soon as possible and my fellow movie watchers who jam-packed the 7:30 p.m. showing at my local AMC theater seem to have agreed. The movie did not reveal anything I did not know about Julie Child and her life but seeing her come to life again by the incomparable Meryl Streep blew me away. I always knew Meryl was a wonderful actress but her performance here was as spellbinding for me as Heather Ledger's was in The Dark Knight as the Joker. The parallel story of Julie, played by Amy Adams, is very good and interwoven with Julia's story expertly by Nora Ephron with great supporting performances by Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina. This is a must see film for all fans of Meryl Streep and Julia Child that showcases amazing talent and an extraordinary life.

Click here to check out the official website.

Green Lantern: First Flight

Warner Bros. and DC Comics has released their next straight to DVD origin story featuring the voice talents of Christopher Meloni as Hal Jordan, Victor Garber as Sinestro, SciFi hottie Tricia Helfer as Boodikka, and Kurtwood Smith as villian/pawn Kanjar Ro. Unlike the previous DVD release of Justice League: The New Frontier that introduced us to Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern, this film gives us his the complete story with his first mission under his mentor, Sinestro, as he is tested by the Guardians to prove he deserves the mantle of Green Lantern from Abin Sur. As a fan of the comics and DC's new line of PG-13 DVD releases, I enjoyed this thoroughly. The trailer for the next DC DVD release, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies looks great and I hope it is just as great as Jeph Loeb's original story arc. Keep up the good work DC and take that Marvel!

Click here to check out the official website.

Blood: The Last Vampire

I did not get to see this at my local AMC art-house theater in Shirlington Village because it was only there for a week. But as fate would have it with Asian films being released to the US, I was able to pick up a copy the same day from the same martial films DVD stand where I picked up Gwoemul, or The Host. Buffy the Vampire Slayer this is not it but it does remind me a little of American Ninja in a way but much better acting and plot and no vampires. The killing of the big boss at the end could have been more drawn out for me because it seem to end rather quickly. If you like anime, vampires, and school girls swing swords, then this is the next movie to add to your Netflix queue.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Collector

Marcus Dunstan, one of the writers for Saw IV, V, and VI, branches off to create a new pop-culture serial killer to rival Jigsaw. The twist here is that, instead of being caught inside a trap and having to figure out why you are there and how to get out, Arkin discovers the traps and must see how he can save the family he is stealing from before the killer discoveries he is in the house. Josh Stewart, last seen by me as Holt McLaren in the series Dirt, plays Arkin and delivers a great performance and some genuinely gut-wrenching escapes that give us plenty of the red stuff. A good horror flick but it does remind you of the Saw franchise without Jigsaw's rules of game play. Definitely worth a look for my fellow horrorphiles!

Click here to check out the official website.

The Ugly Truth

Let's just say it now that there is not an "ugly" person in the movie anywhere and it is a good date movie for men and women. The ugly truth antics are fun to watch and Katerine Heigl learning to flirt and become even sexier - what man is not going to enjoy this? Heigl has grown up and out alot since My Father the Hero and I like it! Gerard Butler is there for the ladies to love but I am looking forward to his next film Gamer even more. Dudes, if you have to see a "chick flick" to make your girls happy at least make it this one.

Click here to check out the official website.

Orphan

"..the depraved, worthless piece of filth that is Orphan..." per Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post. With a review like this I had to see this film because it obliviously had to have something more to it than the classic The Bad Seed or the remake The Good Son to bring out such vitriol for a movie from a jaded critic. After seeing the film, I can see why this was said but the twist makes the movie and works to bring out the genuine creepiest and horror of the ending. I can understand now why Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard agreed to do this film because it is not what you are expecting and does deliver the goods. The true gem of the film is Aryana Engineer as Max who is the cutest thing you have ever seen on screen and juxtaposes Esther perfectly to make her even more horrific - well done everybody!

Click here to check out the official website.

The Taking of Pelham 123

Denzel Washington and John Travolta update the 1974 film featuring a hijacking of a New York metro train which starred Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. The cast is rounded out with Luis Guzman, John Turturro and everyone's favorite Soprano, James Gandolfini as the Mayor. All in all a good film, solid performances, easily paced and a good remake like 1991's Cape Fear. If you have some free time to check it out at a matinee like me, you won't be disappointed. I recommend the number three combo from the concession stand with ketchup and mustard - happy viewing.

Click here to check out the official website.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Our favorite teenage wizards are back in the sixth install of the J.K. Rowling film franchise based on her books. The film is first rate and the story does deliver on the plot of the the sixth book even if a lot of the finer points were left out so they could actually get it on the screen. I wonder what the splitting point will be to deliver the two remaining films that are due out based on the last book in the series. The quidditch match is awesome and I cannot wait to see the film again when it makes its release in IMAX and with select 3D scenes. Will it beat the take so far by Transformers 2 this summer - only the fans will decide.

Click here to check out the official website.

Phedre HD Broadcast from Britain's National Theatre

I didn't get to renew my season tickets this year for the Shakespeare Theatre and to rub salt in my wounds a limited performance run of Phedre starring Helen Mirren is scheduled to kick-off the 2009-2010 season of performances. But before the play is scheduled to come to DC, a live HD performance would be broadcast as part of Britain's National Theatre Live program. Thanks to my friend Svetlana we scored tickets and was treated to a wonderful play with an expected fantastic performance by Helen Mirren. I love Helen Mirren in everything she does! I wish I could see her in person performing on the Sidney Harman stage but all 12 performances are completed sold out and I am glad I got to see the broadcast if nothing else.

Click here to check out the official website.

Moon

Kudos to Duncan Jones on this sophomore effort that stars the magnetic Sam Rockwell. Although there are great effects and realism in the sets, the power of this film is the performance of Rockwell as the sole inhabitant of a moon mining base who is just a few weeks shy of completing his three year contract when he loses communication with the Earth and his family. Kevin Spacey voices his only companion, an operations robot called GERTY. Even though I figured out the plot pretty quickly, the story is well plotted and the revelations of Sam Bell's predicament is fully engaging. If you do not get to see this in the theater, then definitely add it to you NetFlix's queue to watch when it hits DVD.

Click here to check out the official website.

I Love You, Beth Cooper

I admit I only saw this movie because it stars the sexy and cute Hayden Panettiere. The plot is OK with a few chuckles thrown in even if it was not Shakespearean like O or 10 Things I Hate About You. I still prefer the American Pie films for my laughs and fun. Where are this generations' teen film classics like Porky's, The Last American Virgin, or Fast Times at Ridgemont High which I had back in the 80's? Come on Hollywood don't let down your new crop of horny teens with films their grandparents would approve of.

Click here to check out the official website.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

The motley crew of Manny, Sid, Diego and Scrat are back with some toothy new friends. To kick off this adventure Manny and Ellie are pregnant, Sid wants his own family and finds one by accident, Diego is feeling a little too domesticated, and Scrat finally finds a love greater than the ever elusive acorn. It is nice to see the dinosaurs make it in to this series and they are big, scary and fun on screen. The scene stealer this time out is Buck, voiced by Simon Pegg, who is the motley band's crazy wilderness guide as they try to track down one of their own who was taken by a perturbed mother dino. I am a huge fan of this animated series and recommend it to all families to see.

Click here to check out the official website.

Torchwood: Children of the Earth

Torchwood has been hands down the best spin-off series to come from the long running BBC scifi hit series Doctor Who. Russell T Davies relaunched the Doctor Who series in 2005 and has been hitting them out of the park since day one to the elation of all fans around the world. But with this latest installment of Torchwood, I have to give kudos to Davies as being a master storyteller with fantastic vision, a no-holds-barred writing style, and the unerring ability to entrap his audience in a story with the unforgettable characters that live there. John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness has come a long way from when I first saw him in Shark Attack 3: Megalodon and must be kissing the ground that Davies walks on for the creation of a cult favorite icon that will stand the test of time. Be sure to check this out on BBC America when it airs on July , or by any other means at your disposal, because you will love it!

Click here to check out the official website on BBC or on BBC America.

Spring Awakening @ The Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater

Even though there was no real introduction to this musical in the Playbill passed out before the performance, just reading the titles of the songs gives you the the basic plot. This is a coming of age piece about teenagers trying to break away from the repression of their parents and the consequences of their own hormonal actions. The music was phenomenal and how could it not be with titles like "The B**** Of Living", "Touch Me", "The Word of Your Body" and "Totally F*****". The punk-rock like performances really struck a chord with me. I hope everyone gets to see this before it leaves town because you will be moved by it and be glad you are no longer a teenager.

Click here to check out the official website.

Public Enemies

After seeing the trailers for the last six months, Michael Mann's next pseudo-epic bio-pic makes it to the screen staring everyone's favorite actor Johnny Depp. The film suffers from the typical Mann treatments of being just a bit too long, overly dramatic where it is not needed and a less then satisfying ending. If you are a fan of Depp, then see the movie. If not, wait for cable or NetFlix. Oh yeah, Christian Bale is in the film as well as Dillinger's nemesis but the role seems lackluster and underdeveloped when compared to Depp's performance.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Color Purple - Kennedy Center's Opera House

Well Fantasia was actually in this production and she was awesome as Celie. The play was more bawdy then I expected from seeing the movie way back when Whoopi Goldberg played the main character. The music was fantastic and I had to have it for my broadway musical soundtrack collection. My date for the evening is waiting on me to burn it to my ipod so she can borrow the CD and copy the songs as well. All in all a great night at the Kennedy and a good birthday gift for my date.

Click here to check out the official website.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The IMAX Experience

The galactic ass-kinking robots are finally back and look awesome on the IMAX screen. Optimus Prime is still the coolest autobot on the planet while Megatron gets relegated to the role of flunky in this outing. The move is fun, action-packed and pure eye-candy in every sense. The whole opening sequence with the family could have been cut down dramatically and would have made for a tighter and better film. Megan Fox's role is demoted to the slutty, hot girlfriend in daisy duke cut-offs but that was fine by me - oink oink!

Click here to check out the official website.

King Lear @ Sidney Harman Hall

Stacy Keach bare-assed on the Sidney Harman Hall stage was not what I expected but hey that's theater. The play was definitely for mature audiences and a must see for all Shakespeare fans. I forgot that everyone dies in this play even though it is a tragedy. This is the last production of the 2008-2009 season and it was a great season finale. I may not have been able to renew my season tickets this year but I will definitely still be hitting next season's shows as often as I can.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Proposal

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds have great comedic chemistry in this new romantic comedy from director Anne Fletcher. I have always been a fan of Ryan's films and it is great to see him making a bigger splash in this film then his previous summer release as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Sandra Bullock seems to be back on track as well after a two year hiatus if The Internet Movie Database is correct. Betty White, my favorite Golden Girl, is wonderful as the eccentric grandmother and always brings great impish moments of hilarity to all her roles. A good date movie for both men and women here with a bit of partial nudity for both sexes to enjoy.

Click here to check out the official website.

Year One

It ain't no History of the World: Part I by any stretch. As you see in the trailer, Jack Black is unfortunately just being himself in this film and it just does not hit any funny bones for me and Michael Cera is ok and scores the only slightly amusing moments in the film. Even with Harold Ramis directing and the cast filled out with comedic staples David Cross, Paul Rudd, Hank Azaria and Oliver Platt the film falls flatter then manna from heaven. The best thing about this film is the beautiful Olivia Wilde as Princess Inanna better know as Thirteen on House M.D. Skip this film and watch in on a rainy afternoon on Comedy Central next year if a rerun of any of the three Blue Collar Comedy Tour movies is not airing for the nth time.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Hangover

Being a fan of the movies Bachelor Party and Very Bad Things I had high expectations for this film and man did it deliver! The premise is that three friends wake up in their Las Vegas suite and try to piece together and remember how their suite got destroyed, where did the baby in the closet come from, how did a tiger get in the bathroom and where is the bachelor himself. This movie is crazy fun and Bradely Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and yes, Mike Tyson, delivery hilarious performances. The best part of the film is the ending montage of what actually happened that night from a recovered camera. This is the best comedy I have seen in a while and a must see for man out there who is thinking about a Vegas bachelor party!

Click here to check out the official website.

Land of the Lost

Being a kid in the 70s and growing up on Sid and Marty Krofft's Land of the Lost Saturday morning show, there was no chance I would not be seeing this movie. Even after watching the SciFi channel marathon reruns and my childhood wonder dampened, I still had to see the film and ultimately enjoyed it. Being older now I enjoyed the older sexier Holly and the "ugly and hairless" paku females. This movie suffers from the same mentality that hurt the Grindhouse film in that why spend 200 million on a remake of a film genre or TV series that was low budget to start with and was loved for it? I would have been just as happy with a man in a rubber dinosaur suit playing Grumpy and stomping a scale model set of the cave.

Click here to check out the official website.

Drag Me To Hell

Fan favorite director Sam Raimi has finally made it back to the genre that has been missing him so much since taking up the reins of the Spider-Man franchise. As a long time horror movie fan, it is great to see a classic horror film that has some great scares and shows that Raimi has truly mastered his craft since the days of Within the Woods and Evil Dead. The goat shadow demon that haunts Christine Brown in the film is terrifying and some of the best visual effects I have seen on film. Justin Long, from Jeepers Creepers, takes a break from being the Apple guy and plays the protective boyfriend who tries to help save his cursed love. As in all great horror films, the ending is satisfying and painful as it should be for us long time fans.

Click here to check out the official website.

Up

Pixar is back in the theaters with their latest tour de force that has the best opening sequence I have ever seen on film. I actually teared up over the opening sequence and lost myself in the film until the end credits. This film is a must see for everyone. All of my friends and colleagues who have seen it agree. This is the second must see film of the summer and a definite must-have addition to my ever growing Pixar film library.

Click here to check out the official website.

Angels & Demons

Tom Hanks and Ron Howard are back with another film based on a Dan Brown novel featuring Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon. This time out the Vatican is being attacked my the Illuminati and Langdon is brought in to solve the clues before more priests die and the Vatican destroyed. Unlike when I watched The Da Vinci Code, I was more engaged with this movie since I had not read the novel and enjoyed the ride even though I figure out the plot twist well before the end of the film. Who thought the Catholic Church's convoluted history and secrets would still be so interesting the second time out? A good film and worth seeing especially since Tom Hanks is no longer sporting the atrocious hairdo from the first film.

Click here to check out the official website.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

The sequel to the 2006 family sleeper hit, Night at the Museum, is here and it takes place in my own back yard at Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian Museum. The premise is that the museum's historical artifacts are being relocated due to waning interest in the New York museum and former nightwatchman, Larry Daley played by Ben Stiller, must get them back and save the museum. The regular cast of characters are back in this non-stop action film and joined by Amy Adams and Hank Azaria as Amelia Earhart and the Pharaoh Kahmunrah respectively. Amy Adams can do no wrong and as my friend Steven said "her button looks great in those aviator pants". The plot is weaker in this outing but it is still fun and the seeing it in IMAX was a real treat.

Click here to check out the official website.

Terminator Salvation

The much hyped fourth installment, or new launching point for the Terminator franchise, is on the screen with the smoke of war and the washed out grays that are our future due to the machines. I don't get the back and forth between directors McG and Michael Bay over their "giant robots" but I didn't see anything on the screen that would over shadow the new Transformers sequel coming out later this year. Also, the film is more about the Marcus Wright character than John Connor. I am hard pressed to see how they plan to do another two films if this was the best the could do to relaunch the franchise. Fox should have renewed Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles which has a better plot and was more interesting then this film and its heart-based ending.

Click here to check out the official website.

Design for Living @ Landsburgh Theater

The Shakespeare Theatre Company present's a Noel Coward classic that is hilarious and completely engaging. The play reminds me of the movie Threesome I saw back in 1994 and makes me wonder if it was not the inspiration for Andrew Fleming's screenplay. The acting is superb as expected from the STC and the comedy effortless with fantastic dialogue. A must see for theater fans before it leaves the stage. I love my season tickets and can not see what is in store for next season.

Click here to check out the official website.

Fighting

Channing Tatum, from such films as Coach Carter and Step Up, is trying his hand at the fight movie. The film has some ok fight scenes but they do not hold a candle to a few of my favorites like Gladiator, Lionheart, or Fight Club. The reason he fights in the film is flimsy at best and of course his wrestling rival and him both land in New York City. The film has Terrence Howard in a role I would think that could have had more depth but seems a waste of his talent. Not sure there was enough here to warrant wide release to the big screen but ok for a network action flick on Saturday night.

Click here to check out the official website.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Hugh Jackman officially kicks of the 2009 summer blockbuster with a film that leaves the rest of the X-Men back at the mansion and focuses on his origin. Unfortunately, there are plenty of other mutants and future X-Men around to take up the screen time instead of delving in to a rich and bloody R-rated Wolverine origin that long time Wolverine fans would have liked to have seen. That said, it is a fun film and the peripheral characters are fun with Ryan Reynold's deserving more screen time as Deadpool. Good thing there is a spin-off movie planned for his character. A good start to the summer and don't forget you popcorn.

Click here to check out the official website.