Secretariat

One of the greatest race horses of all time stars in the latest Disney film to hit theaters for a sneak preview this weekend. The film stars Diane Lane as Penny Chenery who returns to her Virginia family home to help her ailing father after the loss of his wife and saves the family's horse business and reputation with the birth of a new foal that grows up and ultimately goes on to win the triple crown. Other cast notables are John Malkovich as Lucien Lauren the trainer, Margo Martindale as Mrs Ham the farm manager, and Nelsan Ellis as Eddie Sweat the horse's handler, who most will recognize as Lafayette from True Blood. Disney always deliveries in its bio pics and this one does not disappoint with re-enactments being augmented with actual footage from the time that I recall seeing live when I was a child. A great family film that make me nostalgic remembering watching all of the Disney classic films and cartoons on TV Sunday nights during The Wonderful World of Disney - good times.

Click here to check out the official website.

Case 39

Renee Zellweger has finally made it back to the horror genre in her latest film after a long hiatus since 1994's Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. Zellweger stars as overloaded social worker Emily Jenkins who gets stuck with another case file that turns dangerous when the child's parents are stopped in the act of trying to burn their child alive in the kitchen's gas oven. Are the parents really insane or is there something else going on with innocent little Lilith played by Jodelle Ferland who we remember from other genre favorites like Silent Hill and Kingdom Hospital. The effects are rather tame and the story is nothing really new but the bathroom scene with Bradley Cooper is fun to watch and channels a bit of E.G. Marshall from Creepshow. If you want to see a good horror flick this weekend, go and see Let Me In instead.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Social Network

I have been looking forward to the release of this movie ever since first seeing the trailer and I can say the film does deliver and Jesse Eisenberg's performance is a tour de force. They say beware of the woman scorned but heaven help you if you are on the receiving end of a genius computer geek who can write code in his sleep, can hack networks in a single bound and is pissed because he just lost his girlfriend. As a friend on mine stated so aptly, this film is not about the rise of Facebook but rather the rise of an internet empire and the collateral damage to friends and enemies along the way. Justin Timberlake delivers a good performance as well as Napster founder Sean Parker but the question is will the singer turned actor ever go back to singing? Who cares about the singing but do go see this movie because it is incredibly good and entertaining to watch unravel.

Click here to check out the official website.

Let Me In

2008's Swedish sleeper hit, Let The Right One in, gets the American film treatment this weekend and stars our new favorite young actress, Chloe Moretz, just off her big staring role as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass. Moretz stars as Abby, a twelve year old vampire who has been twelve for a very long time, who reluctantly befriends Owen, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, a fellow apartment complex resident who is bullied at school and has no friends. Richard Jenkins plays Abby's father who must sacrifice himself to protect Abby from the local police when one of his dinner procurements goes horribly wrong. As remakes go this is a good one with more money for effects but it does not surpass the original film in any way. This is a great original story that everyone should see and will surprise you on just how good vampire stories can be.

Click here to check out the official website.

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.

Click here to check out the official website.

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.

Click here to check out the official website.

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.

Click here to check out the official website.

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.

Click here to check out the official website.

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.

Click here to check out the official website.

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.

Click here to check out the official website.

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}

All About Evil

Local Maryland boy, Joshua Grannell, better known as the infamous Peaches Christ from San Francisco's Midnight Mass makes his big screen directorial debut with this gem. What adds to the movie is the live pre-show production at the AFI's Silver Spring location with Grannell performing with his drag queen cohorts for the 4D experience. Outside of the theatrics the movie is a bloody good time with plenty of horror to go around for horror fans old and new. The film stars Natasha Lyonne as our femme fatale, Deborah Tennis, who turns around the failing theater with her new horror themed short films that are all to real with other cult film icons like Cassandra Pererson, sans Elvira, and Mink Stole to fill out the cast. If you like horror then see this film made by a true fan of the genre but be sure to not drink the punch if you want to make it out alive!

Click here to check out the official website.

Takers

The trailer for this move has been out forever so it is about time this finally got to the screen. I wonder if any of the hold up was due to Chris Brown's troubles? Either way the movie is a caper movie with your current crop of popular young actors and rappers with Paul Walker thrown in for a little of The Fast and the Furious vibe for good measure. The plus is that Zoe Saldana is in the movie but unfortunately she is only eye candy which is a shame. This movie would be fine for an HBO late night action flick but is nothing to write home about event with the few decent names attached so save you cash.

>Click here to check out the official website.

The Last Exorcism

Nothing says fun will be had at the old cinema like a good exorcism picture. Like zombie movies, exorcism is back in vogue and this latest film follows traveling evangelist Rev Cotton Marcus, played by Patrick Fabian, as he tries to help a local possessed girl with a few magic tricks and show that possession is not real but all smoke and mirrors. The scare factor is mostly off screen but Ashley Bell as the possessed Nell is very creepy and the coven-like ending sequence is a bit of a surprise. I like my horror movies with a little bit more in front of the camera but for a pseudo-documentary they got the look and fell right. Not a great scare but and ok movie that you may want to wait for on Netflix.

Click here to check out the official website.

Batman: Under The Red Hood

DC Comics has just released one of its most anticipated story lines from Judd Winick that brought back Jason Todd, the second Robin, to the DC Universe. The story starts out with the death of Jason Todd at the hands of the Joker, one of Batman's greatest defeats, and then follows the rise of a new Red Hood that is taking over the Gotham City criminal underworld by force. This time out we get Nightwing, voiced by Neil Patrick Harris, and Batman, voiced by Bruce Greenwood, chasing down the Red Hood, voice by Jensen Ackles, to save the Black Mask, voiced by Wade Williams, and his crew from the escaped Joker, voice by John Di Maggio. Another DC comics DVD gem that all comic fans should check out ASAP.

Click here to check out the official website.

DC Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex

We all know that Thomas Jane wanted to be Jonah Hex and even did a promo photo donning the signature scarring but the role went to Josh Brolin instead. Lucky for us, he did get to do the voice over for this short released with the Batman: Under the Red Hood DVD. He was also joined by the voice talents of Linda Hamilton, Michael Rooker and Michelle Trachtenberg. The short is quintessential Hex and the script from Joe R. Lansdale is very tight and dark. Don't forget to check out this DVD extra.

The Switch

As romantic comedies go this is an odd one to place. The story is about best friends Kassie and Wally, played by Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman, and how Wally drunkenly replaces Kassie's sperm donation but does not tell her about it until they reunite a few years later and the kid shockingly has the same mannerisms and hangups as Wally. There are some funny moments but the movie itself is not funny or really fun. I like Aniston and am a huge fan of Bateman's ever since seeing him on the sitcom It's Your Move but there is no chemistry between the two and I cannot decide if it is because of the two actors themselves or their two characters and that is how it should be. Skip this for date night because there are no points for seeing this movie for either of you.

Click here to check out the official website.

Get Low

Robert Duvall stars as Felix Bush, an infamous loaner and hermit, who decides to throw his own funeral before he dies but to attend you have to tell a true story about him. Bush has his own story to tell that is painful and full of regret that gets to the crux of why everyone either loves or hates him but no one knows the full truth or wants to. The movie is a drama but it has great comedic beats that are delivered with the help of Bill Murray, Lucas Black and the lovely Sissy Spacek. Duvall has a long list of memorable on screen performances but I do believe this to be one of his best and most honest. Be sure to check this move out before it disappears from the theaters.

Click here to check out the official website.

Nanny McPhee Returns

I loved the first Nanny McPhee film and this sequel does not disappoint at all. Nanny McPhee, played by Emma Thompson, is back to help out the Green family whose father, played by Ewan McGregor, is off to war and cannot help them save their family farm. Things get further complicated when the family cousins show up to live with the Greens and Nanny McPhee must get them to work together to save the farm. Other notable cast members are Maggie Gyllenhaal as Mother Green, Rhys Ifans as Uncle Green, and Ralph Fiennes as Lord Gray. Nanny McPhee is no Mary Poppins but I will take McPhee's tough love over Poppin's spoon full of sugar any day.

Click here to check out the official website.

Lottery Ticket

Bow Wow stars as Kevin Carson who wins the Lottery but needs to keep it hidden from the neighborhood until he can cash in his ticket after the Lottery offices re-open after the long July 4th weekend while avoiding the local thug who wants to beat him up. Black comedy ensemble regulars abound like Ice Cube, Loretta Devine, Charlie Murphy, Terry Crews, and Mike Epps with a little help from new stars Naturi Naughton and Brendon T. Jackson. The movie follows the formula set out by movies like Friday and Barbershop but it is still a fun ride. The best part of these films are the neighborhood characters and how they help each other and pull together as a community behind the local hero. A good movie that does not break any new ground but is a fun way to kill an afternoon at the movies.

Click here to check out the official website.

Vampires Suck

The Twilight saga has many parodies out but one finally makes it to the big screen today and how bad can it be? Well its big name stars are Diedrich Bader and Ken Jeong who I like and the film makers do follow the ridiculous plot of the movies and novels so I guess the only difference between a cult tween phenom and a spoof are the cast and the producers - and yes it is gloriously bad just like the Stephanie Myer shiny vampires.

There are a few great sucker punches to the source material as future plot points are given away, Jacob's pack is really a pack of gay chihuahuas, and father Frank likes inflatable women. They even take on the fact that key characters from the films where replaced a la Bewitched's Darren.

Like I said these genre parodies almost always suck but at least we get to see the smoking hot Arielle Kebbel as another vampire babe even if it was not as good as her role as Lexi in The Vampire Diaries.

Click here to check out the official website.

Piranha 3D

Remakes are the staple of the horror genre at the moment with 3D being the new marketing strategy so it was a given that a remake of a classic horror 3D film was going to have to happen sooner or later and today it is here. For this new outing we get better 3D, more tits and ass, and buckets of vibrant red gore that puts the original to shame even if the piranha are not really any more realistic with the CGI enhancements.

But this time out it is a prehistoric version of the classic piranha that terrorizes a lake front community as it is over run with students on spring break and the local sheriffs played by Elisabeth Shue and Ving Rhames are out to save the revelers with the help of Adam Scott and Christopher Lloyd as the resident scientists. But if they can save the spring breakers and stop the piranha will the threat be over?

Althought Playboy's September 2010 cover girl, Kelly Brook, is the red bikini hottie getting our tongues wagging it will be the head splattering demise of Eli Roth that will get my fellow horror fans howling - all a must see in my book.

Click here to check out the official website.

Carnivale

Since being on vacation this week I finally got the chance to watch this HBO series that I have always heard good things about and seemed to be up my alley. The essence of the show is a showdown between good and evil with a whole lot of gray in between where miracles can be done but a balance has to be maintained - in order to give life, one must take life. I have always been a fan of Clancy Brown ever since his role as The Kurgan in Highlander and his role as the corrupted Brother Justin Crowe was fun to watch unfold. It was great to see some of my genre favorite actors making up the carnies like Adrienne Barbeau, Patrick Bauchau, and Michael J. Anderson along with other mainstay and indie actors like Nick Stahl, Clea DuVall and Tim DeKay. Too bad it only got two full seasons but they did close the current series story arcs with a hook for a possible continuation which would have made for a really interesting start to a third season.

Click here to check out the series weekly lead in.

The Expendables

With the action star line up of this film you have to know what you are getting and it lives up to expectations. The story is good but it ain't Shakespeare, the action if violent and fun to watch, and each star gets their moment in the spotlight but with enough comedic banter to make it not seem that anyone was trying to out do the other. Jason Statham seems to be the one star to rise to the top with the best subplot and the most screen time. The barbs that are tossed back and forth between Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger are great and show they do have a sense of humor about their reps which is great to see. Kudos to Sylvester Stallone on another fun action film and hopefully the band will get back together again for an encore.

Click here to check out the official website.

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Where as the first movie, Cats & Dogs, had the great voice cast and a really good plot for a kid's movie this movie's plot is really weak and the voice cast really cannot save it. This time out our villain Kitty Galore, voiced by Bette Midler, is trying to take down both the secret agencies of the Cats and the Dogs who must join together to stop the rogue former agent. The one hilarious highlight of the film is the return of Mr Tinkles, voiced by Sean Hayes, in a Hannibal Lecter inspired role to help the agencies bring down his unworthy successor. The best take away from the film was the Shirley Bassey cover of P!nk's Let's Get This Party Started - a great cover of the song hands down. You may get suckered in to seeing this by your children but remember I warned you first.

Click here to check out the official website.

Step Up 3D

As I admitted to my co-workers I do like dance movies - even the bad ones - and I have seen Step Up 2: The Streets so why not see this one. First off 3D adds nothing to the movie but makes the cool dance moves look cartoonish which is hopefully not what the film makers were looking for - not everything needs to be done in 3D people. One of my favorite characters, Moose played by Adam G. Sevani, is back in this sequel and his story line is the strongest one in the film and the dance sequence with Alyson Stoner in the street is fun to watch. The plot is nothing new and the focus of the film are the battles which are fun with the cool robotic slam sequence from the trailer still being my favorite. If you like these types of films then check it out but don't be suckered in just because it is in 3D.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Kids Are All Right

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore star as same sex parents with their oldest child getting ready to head off to college but before she can head out her brother wants her help to find out who their mutual natural birth father is much to their parents surprise. I was intrigued to see this movie based on the trailer and was glad that it did not disappoint. The movie portrays family in a very realistic light, with all its troubles and complications, but all the time honestly with gay parents making for an interesting perspective that is not really different from other family types. A good drama with great comedic moments that come up naturally from the situations. Thanks to Lisa Cholodenko for writing and directing a very good movie that everyone should make a point of seeing and hopefully they will enjoy it just like I did.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Other Guys

Will Ferrell movies tend to be hit or miss with me but I am happy to say this one hits home. Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz, played by Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, try to fill in the gap when the two super cops of their department, played by Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson, die in pursuit of criminals by ridiculously jumping after them from the top of a building because they think they are invincible. The rest of the cast includes Michael Keaton as the Police Captain who an odd second job, Eva Mendes as Allen's unbelievably hot wife, and Steve Coogan as the investment broker trying to save his own ass before those he has slighted can get him. For a comedy it has a good plot that holds up amongst the antics with a few good plot turns. If you need a good laugh and missed Dinner For Schmucks, this is a good second choice.

Click here to check out the official website.