All of the original main crew returns:

James Tiberius “Jim” Kirk – Chris Pine (Unstoppable, Jack Ryan)

Spock – Zachary Quinto (TV’s Heroes, TV’s American Horror Story)

Nyota Uhura – Zoe Saldana (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Avatar)

Dr. “Bones” McCoy – Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings II-III, Dredd)

Hikaru Sulu – John Cho (American Pie I-IV, Harold and Kumar I-III)

Montgomery “Scotty” Scott – Simon Pegg (Mission: Impossible III-IV, Hot Fuzz)

In present day they are a bit older and wiser, hopefully. After a near death experience where they almost lose Spock in a volcano, the crew returns to Earth in some serious bureaucratic trouble. Kirk has lost privileges to the ship and sulks, but meanwhile a terrorist has just bombed a Starfleet installation killing hundreds. The head honchos convene for a meeting to see what is to be done about the culprit when suddenly he appears and begins shooting into the room! With all of Starfleet teetering on the edge of a knife and desperate actions being made, Kirk is hired outside of regulations to simply hunt down this fugitive known as John Harrison, played by Benedict Cumberbatch (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Hobbit I-III). Yet as he is captured and interrogated, the crew of the Enterprise realize they have their most dangerous villain ever: Kahn.

From the very beginning we are thrown into exciting action sequences with homages to “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, then it veers more toward political aspirations with issues of diplomacies and corruption which does bog down the fun a little bit, then arrives Cumberbatch with the most cold blooded bad guy in the franchise to spice it up by killing a whole room full of guys with HIS BARE HANDS. We also get our first look at Klingons, and are introduced to the new cute crewwoman Dr. Carol Marcus played by sexy Alice Eve (She’s Out of My League, MiB III). So while the story is not as fresh or mind blowing as its predecessor, there are enough thrills and jokes to enjoy.

“Star Trek Into Darkness” is a fun summer popcorn movie and pretty good for a sequel. See it in IMAX 3D, get your free refills at the concession stand, and enjoy the ride.

Iron Man 2

If there is anything saving Hollywood right now, it’s superhero movies. Whether you love DC or Marvel, the good guys are saving the world and inspiring kids to purchase action figure toys. Oh I won’t slam the industry for these entertaining popcorn movies grossing billions every year, but eventually there comes a time to quit. “Superman III”, “X-Men: The Last Stand”, and now “Iron Man 3″ joins the risky line of trilogies that make-or-break a franchise. Does Oscar-nominee Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin, Tropic Thunder) still have what it takes?

We open in 1999 when Tony Stark is still a shameless playboy. At a New Years Eve party he meets a geeky scientist by the name of Aldrich Killian, played by Oscar-nominee Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential, The Time Machine). He has a revolutionary proposal deal to offer but Tony just wants to get laid and snubs him. Flash forward to today when Pepper, Rhodes, and Happy are living an idyllic work life as supporters of the Iron Man project when suddenly a terrorist threat is broadcast live to the world by a psychopathic killer. The Mandarin, played by Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Species) is bombing unprotected women and children all over the globe and Rhodes can’t trace any of the explosives. That’s when Tony steps up to publically announce him home address to the media and openly challenge Mandarin to a duel. Well that’s a smart move right? Dead wrong. Before we know it, attack helicopters are bombing Stark’s mansion and he barely escapes to the outskirts of Tennessee. What’s worse, Aldrich seems to be involved and has kidnapped Pepper. Now with this and the War Machine in the wrong hands ready to attack the President of the United States and Tony having frequent emotional attacks, can we really save the day?

With new director Shane Black (writ. Predator, dir. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) and more explosions than the 4th of July, the Iron Man series is coming to a close. That’s right, for better or worse this is the end of the big red robot. That’s not to say he doesn’t go down without a fight, and that’s the fun of the movie in all the creative ways he can kick ass with or without a suit. The problem is just how pretentious the characters have become. The real badguy is a total cop-out, not like the comic book Mandarin at all. And when Iron Man saves a baker’s dozen people from a falling aircraft it’s totally awesome and heroic…until we see he’s remote piloting the suit safely from the ground. What a chicken-s***.

While “Iron Man 3″ does wrap up the franchise nicely it still could have been done much better. Stark no longer needs the glow-in-the-dark chest plate, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him.

We open on Daniel Lugo, played by Oscar-nominee Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, The Departed). Daniel is in love with fitness, but more so the willpower to win and succeed in everything. Unfortunately the best he has done with his life is some low-end confidence scams and making a small gym a popular Miami destination. Then comes in Tony Shalhoub (Men in Black, Galaxy Quest) as Victor, a little rich twerp who can’t shut up about how rich he is. Although, this gives Daniel an idea. It doesn’t seem fair that some good people should be poor and dickwads should be rich, so he plans to kidnap Victor and force him to sign over his life’s savings. The only thing is he can’t do this alone, so he brings his two best friends in on the heist. There is Anthony Mackie (8 Mile, The Hurt Locker) and Dwayne Johnson (Faster, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), and this trio grab Victor wearing ninja costumes in broad daylight. The only thing is, they have no idea just how much trouble they are getting themselves into.

Directed by Michael Bay (The Rock, Transformers I-III), we get his darkest film yet. Maybe this kind of brutal story would seem more familiar in the hands of Eli Roth, Are you the type who wants to look like every glamour magazine supermodel? Are you in great physical shape? Can you bench 400lbs, maybe squat 500lbs? Is your body shredded more than a salad? Yes? Well that’s great, you’re living the American dream of being in great shape and rich too…oh wait, you’re not rich? You have a great body, so why are you broke? Can’t pay the rent on time? Can’t get out of your minimum wage night job? Can’t get a date because you’re too poor to afford it? So how is it that all the gorgeous ones are attracted to lazy, out-of-shape, jerks who simply have enough money to spoil? Well in 1994 there was a group of Miami fitness trainers who weren’t making ends meet, and rather than live out their 40′s in middle-class they hatched a scheme that makes the latest release from Paramount Pictures, “Pain and Gain”. And it’s a true story.

We open on Daniel Lugo, played by Oscar-nominee Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, The Departed). Daniel is in love with fitness, but more so the willpower to win and succeed in everything. Unfortunately the best he has done with his life is some low-end confidence scams and making a small gym a popular Miami destination. Then comes in Tony Shalhoub (Men in Black, Galaxy Quest) as Victor, a little rich twerp who can’t shut up about how rich he is. Although, this gives Daniel an idea. It doesn’t seem fair that some good people should be poor and dickwads should be rich, so he plans to kidnap Victor and force him to sign over his life’s savings. The only thing is he can’t do this alone, so he brings his two best friends in on the heist. There is Anthony Mackie (8 Mile, The Hurt Locker) and Dwayne Johnson (Faster, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), and this trio grab Victor wearing ninja costumes in broad daylight. The only thing is, they have no idea just how much trouble they are getting themselves into.

Directed by Michael Bay (The Rock, Transformers I-III), we get his darkest film yet. Maybe this kind of brutal story would seem more familiar in the hands of Eli Roth, because once the body count begins it goes from strange to totally bizarre. Think of a cross between “Bad Boys” and “Shallow Grave”, with plenty of cocaine and strippers. Actually the first 30 minutes of this are pretty good, with Wahlberg narrating the angst of being beautiful but unsuccessful. Then once the comedy faucet comes on you get a whirlwind of bad decisions and outrageous moments, mostly very violent. It gets very dismal near the end and by then any source of fun is drained away. On the other hand, we actually get to see The Rock cry. I’ll say that again: The Rock CRIES.

“Pain and Gain” is so over the top that 90 minutes into it we need an on-screen reminder that it’s a true story. Unfortunately, it’s not a very entertaining one.because once the body count begins it goes from strange to totally bizarre. Think of a cross between “Bad Boys” and “Shallow Grave”, with plenty of cocaine and strippers. Actually the first 30 minutes of this are pretty good, with Wahlberg narrating the angst of being beautiful but unsuccessful. Then once the comedy faucet comes on you get a whirlwind of bad decisions and outrageous moments, mostly very violent. It gets very dismal near the end and by then any source of fun is drained away. On the other hand, we actually get to see The Rock cry. I’ll say that again: The Rock CRIES.

“Pain and Gain” is so over the top that 90 minutes into it we need an on-screen reminder that it’s a true story. Unfortunately, it’s not a very entertaining one.

We open on the planet Earth, 2077 A.D. Humanity is scarce, mostly just a memory. Aliens attacked, the planet was nearly destroyed, but we won the war. However, natural resources for replenishment are a rare thing, so the few survivors have to make the world inhabitable again. Enter Jack Harper, played by Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible I-IV, Minority Report), you know that guy who is 50 years old but manages to look 30 and gorgeous. Anyway, Jack is charged each day to search the barren wastelands looking for drones, these floating orbs meant to attack aliens in hiding. Of course whenever he’s not at work he does two things with his spare time: stay on a self-sustaining home base with his beautiful partner and lover Victoria, played by Andrea Riseborough (Happy-Go-Lucky, W.E.); or Jack takes his hover ship off the grid and relaxes at his private cabin by a lake. The latter place is idyllic, remote, and if only he had a dog it would make for a Wrangler jeans commercial. So he fixes attack drones by day, sometimes has to shoot an alien or two, and at night he looks forward to going home up in space to the “Tet”, the last colony of humans in a space station. Things are routine as usual, until one day the aliens send a signal from a beacon that was once the Empire State building. This signal brings down an ancient satellite full of cryogenically frozen astronauts, which Victoria warns Jack to avoid but he goes anyway (typical guy). Upon reaching the crash site he finds the survivors still asleep, but begins to recognize one of them. Astronaut Julia, played by Russian-French actress Olga Kurylenko (Hitman, Quantum of Solace) is still alive but look out, suddenly the drones arrive and begin killing the other survivors! Jack manages to save only her and bring her back to the base. Upon awakening, she tells Jack that she is his wife. It seems not all is what we think it is.

Now while I enjoyed this movie overall, I found there were a few problems. For instance, if you bother to read-between-the-lines, there are many references to other science fiction movies. Doesn’t the plot sound similar to “WALL-E”? How about a wide-eyed possessive lover haunting our guy, like in “Solaris”? If you’re familiar with Japanese Anime, you might find the movie’s climax is similar to that of “The Big O”. Yes, creator Kosinski has admitted that he is paying tribute to other movies of the genre but actually I have no problem with that at all, I mean it works for Quentin Tarantino right? However, all the twist-upon-twist plot developments are very tough to keep up with even for the smartest audience. All we need now is a church organ on the soundtrack and it becomes a daytime soap opera. On the other hand, for not being entirely original this movie is actually a lot of fun. The leading man worth $250 million continues to impress us with his heroics, even on a futuristic motorcycle and scores with two different women. Miss Kurylenko is good in her role but Riseborough manages to be both scary and sexy especially with a skinny dipping scene. Add a supporting role with Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby, The Dark Knight Rises) and a man-vs.-machine motif, and this makes for a good popcorn movie.

“Oblivion” has its faults but with this stunning production and star power you may just not mind.

We first open on Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey, wonderfully played by Oscar-nominee Harrison Ford (The Fugitive, Ender’s Game). Despite being as crotchety and old as the game itself, he has a fresh new plan: bring a Black player into White baseball. Such a thing has never been attempted before, who would ever allow it? Well after looking through a long list of candidates he finally lands on the guy with the most decorations from the war and also one assault charge: Robinson, played by newcomer Chadwick Boseman (TV’s Persons Unknown, The Express). He’s not exactly a nice guy; rather he’s a man of principles who is used to fighting. However, Rickey emphasizes that he must not get into a fist fight, otherwise the whole thing is blown. This is no easy thing, as his Spring Training with the Montreal Royals lets him know that there is racism even within his own team. Despite this, Jackie is able to outperform most of his team and through a lot of hard work he makes it into the Dodgers roster. Upon reaching New York there are even more catcalls and plenty of the word “n***er”. Yet with all these obstacles in his way, this proud and tough young man will prove that it doesn’t matter what color a man’s skin is; greatness comes from within.

Written and Directed by Brian Helgeland (Payback, A Knight’s Tale), he is usually a better writer than director but this is by far his best work. It’s still slow in a lot of places, and there is less emphasis on the game than on Ford, but it still works. Boseman and the beautiful Nicole Beharie (The Express, Shame) playing Mrs. Robinson have many fine moments together, and when he and Ford are in the same scenes together you can see sparks fly. One part in particular is when during a game the Phillies manager openly calls him a n***er and throws every racist insult imaginable to Jackie. You can see how much he would love to smash his bat over the redneck’s head, and we the audience want it too. But he holds back until he gets an out, then goes into the catwalk to scream and break his bat on the wall. Rickey comes in to talk him down out of his rage. This scene is so powerful it holds to the end of the film. None of it is pretentious or fake, it’s about as gut-wrenching and hurtful as you can imagine. It’s also the best dramatic scene in the movie that not only lets us see the African-American’s struggle but FEEL it too.

“42″ has all the clichés that you find sports movies, not excluding an all-male group shower joke, but it has enough cultural impact to transcend its genre and knock it out of the park.

We have a group of medical school students who are going to a log cabin to help their drug addict friend Mia kick the habit. There is also her brother David, his girlfriend Natalie, nurse Olivia, and teacher Eric, all worried that she will have a relapse so they take all necessary steps to keep her there. That’s ok because this secluded place has no wi-fi, telephone, Quik-E Mart, or any other grad student amenity, but it does have a creepy basement with hanging dead animals and a mysterious package bound in a garbage bag and barb wire. That doesn’t stop inquisitive Eric from opening it an revealing the Necronomicon, the book of the dead. As Mia is suffering in withdrawal and tries to run away, Eric reads the infernal prayer and the trees and vines suddenly come alive to attack her! She sees another girl there who vomits out a vine that proceeds to…well let’s just say “violate” her. Upon coming back to the cabin to recover, she begins to act funny, perform self mutilating acts, and blasts a shotgun into her brother’s arm declaring in a demonic voice “You’re all going to die tonight.”

Feature debut director Fede Alvarez was chosen to helm this project after making an impressive 5 minute YouTube video, and it has paid off because he doesn’t hold anything back. Admittedly some of this remake meanders on, but the middle 30 minutes is nothing but over-the-top violence and murder. Compared to the original this is not as atmospheric or claustrophobic, but the gore is very creative and plentiful. No real scares, but if one girl puking blood into the mouth or another doesn’t make you squirm maybe slicing a tongue with a box cutter might. So while the story isn’t really worth remembering, there are enough gross-out moments to impress your friends. Also, if you don’t recognize most of the cast don’t be surprised, they are mostly Australian and New Zealand actors younger than 30 (thank God). The only one you might recognize is newcomer Jane Levy from last year’s “Fun Size” playing the lead role of Mia. Her scream-queen performance might let you see more of her in bigger movies.

“Evil Dead” really for the fans of the original who want something new, but it goes for broke and shatters the audience’s senses. Also, stay after the closing credits for a special cameo appearance.

Returning from the movie is Duke, played by superstud Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street, Magic Mike). He’s still the leader of the “Joes” and his team has been deployed by the U.S. President himself, played by Jonathan Pryce (Glengarry Glen Ross, Pirates of the Caribbean I-III), for a top secret mission. His team has to deploy into Pakistan, intercept an experimental weapon, and bring it to American soil before terrorists can use it. A new member of the team is Roadblock, played by the colossal Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (The Scorpion King, Fast Five). The team grabs the weapon and bounces back without a casualty on their side or even a scratch, but just when all seems clear the G.I. Joe base is attacked by American helicopters! The few survivors go into hiding and soon learn that this is the work of Cobra team member Storm Shadow, played by Lee Byung-hun (The Good, the Bad, the Weird; I Saw the Devil). What’s more, the President is actually the Cobra disguise artist Zartan, played by Arnold Vosloo (Progeny, The Mummy I-II). With no allies and ovewhelming forces, not to mention one nasty satellite weapon armed and redy, what can the G. I. Joes do? They turn to their company founder: Bruce Willis (Die Hard I-VI, Looper) as General Joe. With serious weaponry and some good ol’ American know-how, the Joes will fight to save the world.

With new series director Jon M. Chu (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never), we get the same kind of big action from the first G.I. Joe movie but (get this), half the intelligence. There are too many ideas rolling around for 110 minutes for solidarity, yet no plot is really discovered here other than the old “save the world for America” cliché. Early on we see Tatum and Johnson dicking around with video games, then with assault rifles aimed at cupcakes, then with the latter’s two little girls. It’s nice to establish camaraderie with comic relief, but once the action starts it’s all about tough guys flexing their egos. Later we get a ridiculous sequence with RZA (American Gangster, The Man with Iron Fists) as a blind samurai master of sorts, and a subsequent battle on a mountain face with ninjas on ropes. Does this sequence need to be in the movie, or even be the highlight in RealD 3D? No it doesn’t, but it is. Pryce acts as two versions of himself; one as a campy villain who leisurely blows up London while playing Angry Birds on his phone, and the other as the poor but grumpy victim like from his “Pirates of the Carribean” days. Speaking of which, when the entire city of London is wiped off the face of the Earth from a cosmic death-ray, the Joes have an opportunity to stop it but decide to lay low and wait. After first melting the Eiffel Tower and now this what’s next, nuking the Vatican?

“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” has moments of fun but is honestly pretty dumb. It’s not for the audience that likes to think, rather this is for either pubescent boys or viewers who don’t care about watching a real movie (or women who want to look at these sexy hunks in uniform). Something close to “The Expendables” for kids, we get a nice warm-up to the upcoming summer blockbusters, but you can later expect to find this in the $5.00 bin.

Meet the father and leader of the group Grug, voiced by Oscar-winner Nicholas Cage (Raising Arizona, Ghost Rider). He’s big and exceptionally strong, a jock in essence, and loves his family so much he’s willing to hide them in a small cave for days at a time just to make sure they’re all safe. The rest of his family is Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich, The 40-Year Old Virgin), Clark Duke (Kick-Ass I-II, Hot Tub Time Machine), Cloris Leachman (The Last Picture Show, Young Frankenstein), and finally a head strong teenager Eep played by Emma Stone (The Help, The Amazing Spider-Man I-II). Eep is a fiery redhead with a tiger skin dress, amazing athletic abilities, and an unquenchable taste for curiosity. Grug doesn’t like this, because all the other families who used to be curious too had a bad habit for dying off. You see, outside the cave it’s a dangerous world where one mistake could kill you. Then one day Eep goes outside to follow this new thing that is bright like the sun, but you can carry it with you. It’s this discovery that saves the Croods from a dangerous cave-in, and the biggest adventure for survival beyond anything they could have imagined.

Written by John Cleese of the legendary Monty Python comedy troupe and directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon), this feels like “Quest for Fire” for kids, with a pinch of “The Flintstones” thrown in for good measure. While the story is lacking, characters are clichéd, and the scenario could use some help too, the comedy is the best part about this movie. The rock drawings/stories are pretty clever, the jokes are good, but the physical slapstick is the real appeal here. This nearly dysfunctional family (Cage especially) runs into nearly every conceivable way to get hit in the face (rocks, monkeys, each other, more rocks). Honestly, even The Three Stooges would be proud of these knuckleheads. There is also a big menagerie of weird-but-cool animals to wow the kids (I suppose in lieu of dinosaurs), and Ryan Reynolds (TV’s Two Guys and a Girl, Green Lantern) steps in as the outsider who invents clever things like shoes, fire, and a hilarious sloth named Belt (guess what he does). Yet under the fun stuff there are moral choices such as how tight to protect one’s children vs. when to let them grow on their own, and the importance family has in life.

“The Croods” isn’t a great movie but succeeds in being enough fun for both kids and adult alike. As a wise Caveman once said, and I quote, “Boogah Loogah Woogity Doo!”

Oscar-winner Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball, Cloud Atlas) stars as Jordan, a Los Angeles 911 operator with years of experience and calm poise through murders, rapes, assaults, and the occasional lonely man who enjoys hearing her sweet voice. Jordan’s boyfriend is officer Paul, played by Morris Chestnut (Boyz n the Hood, Kick-Ass 2), and also her liaison to how crime is resolved in the city. See, most of the time operators are unaware of how their calls play out, they just make the connections and move on to the next one. That is until Jordan runs across a call from a frightened teenager who has a stranger breaking into her house. She tries to calm the girl down and help her with advice to hide, but it’s all in vain. Jordan briefly tries to reason with the killer, but all he does is reply, “It’s already done”. The next day she sees on the news how the girl was killed and buried, so as a heavy burden of guilt sets in she decides to take an easier job as a trainer to fresh operators. Then six months later we shift to 16 year old Casey, played by Oscar-nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Zombieland). While walking home from a downtown shopping mall she is stopped in the parking lot, grabbed, and thrown into the trunk of a car. As she is sped down the road Casey calls 911 and Jordan takes over the intense phone call. As before she tries to assist the girl and guide her with things she can do while in the car, such as knocking out the tail light to see or pouring paint cans out as a trail. Yet when our villain gets wise to the plan and switches cars he eludes the Police until finally he takes poor Casey out of the car to an unknown location. Once again Jordan tries to persuade him to turn himself in, but when he says, “It’s already done” she realizes it’s the same killer.

I’ll start out by saying that this is not a good movie. Directed by Brad Anderson (The Machinist, TV’s Fringe), we get extreme close-ups of both victims in super wide lenses, squeezing and distorting their faces. Then the story itself, which actually starts out okay, quickly descends into a near rip-off of “Silence of the Lambs”. Berry loses Breslin, Paul and the boys in blue can’t finds her, so Jordan is asked to go home and recuperate but instead goes out to the last suspected location. What’s more, she does not phone the Police or her own 911 squad of dispatchers. I’ll spoil the movie here to make point: the girls get the better of our creep and beat the snot out of him, then again instead of calling the cops they leave him strapped to a chair in his own secret lair. What could have been a decent thriller drops sharply into B-movie trash. Also, our villain played by Michael Eklund, is one of the worst performances you may have to watch all year. His slack-jawed overacting is not creepy or scary, conversely it will evoke many unintentional laughs. He listens to the silly “Puttin’ on the Ritz” while driving a screaming girl down the road, has a collection of blonde girls’ scalps in a pink bedroom covered in blood, and even when killing the occasional nosey bystander he looks ridiculous.

“The Call” is the sort of movie that should have gone straight-to-video but add some Oscar brass and we get a wide theatrical release. Actually the target audience of young women may enjoy the film’s final moments only because they get to see that one creepy man from their life get the crap beat out of him. Hey, wasn’t this supposed to be about 911 operators helping people?

“If I were King of the forest…”

“There’s no place like home.”

Most of us recognize these famous lines from the 1939 MGM production of “The Wizard of Oz”, which is the most beloved motion picture of all time. Based on the 1900 book by L. Frank Baum, the little girl Dorothy found adventure in the magical land of wonder and fantasy, befriending Munchkins, Scarecrows, Tin Men, Lions, and captured the hearts of millions even to this day. Now suppose we took a slight detour in storytelling, and focused more on the Wizard more than anything. Now 74 years after that amazing shift from sepia tone to Technicolor amazed audiences, Disney has brought us back to Oz with a new story and an adventure for the ages, “Oz the Great and Powerful”.

So Oscar Diggs, played by Oscar-nominee James Franco (Milk, 127 Hours), is a Depression-era traveling magician with a circus dog-and-pony show making very little money and even insulting some audience members with his tricks. Oscar is a very lonely man, but highly ambitious. He is a dreamer with big ideas, he just feels he needs a chance to prove himself. After a bad show for rude hayseed farmers, he gets in trouble with the circus Strongman who chases him into a hot air balloon. As fate would have it, the balloon snaps its rope and Oscar is sent drifting over the Midwest. Honestly he couldn’t be happier to be free, but he gets caught up in a terrifying tornado, totally. Spinning up and up into the stratosphere Oscar is afraid for his life…yet when the storm clears and the sailing is smooth once again he sees he is not in Kansas anymore. Oscar is in a new world of mountains, rivers, valleys, and COLOR (not to mention Cinemascope!). Upon crash landing he first meets the witch Theodora, played by the gorgeous Mila Kunis (Date Night, Ted). She believes he is the Wizard of prophesy who will bring peace to Oz, become the new King, and also hopes he will take her as his Queen. Of course there’s her sister Evanora, played by Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener, The Bourne Legacy). She will officially declare Oscar as the new King of Oz…but there’s a catch. In order for him to rule, he needs to defeat the Wicked Witch who has been laying waste to the land. With the help of a talking/flying monkey and a little girl made of China porcelain, he finds the dangerous Witch but there is a complication. Oscar has actually found Glinda the Good Witch, wonderfully played by Oscar-nominee Michelle Williams (Shutter Island, My Week with Marilyn). She informs him that he has been deceived, and a war is coming that will rewrite the future of Oz.

Directed by Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead I-III, Spider-Man I-III) and produced by Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland), this is a visual treat from beginning to end. The Emerald City shines, the Yellow-Brick Road takes you to places you never imagined, and the flying monkeys are now scary baboons! Children and adults alike will enjoy all 2 hours of spectacle. If I have only one complaint it’s just how selfish and greedy our titular character, but even he eventually finds the inner courage to stand up and be a hero.

“Oz the Great and Powerful” is not as fresh as the 1939 “Wizard of Oz”, but even without Judy Garland we get a great companion piece to be fully appreciated in IMAX 3D. Bring the kids, then get a big swell of childhood awe. This kind of popcorn entertainment is the reason we go to the movies.

I smell the blood of an Englishman,

Be he alive, or be he dead,

I’ll have his bones to grind my bread.

Many children instantly recognize that line being from “Jack and the Beanstalk”, an old English fairy tale with many versions but the giants and the colossal vegetation always remain. Maybe there’s a childhood fantasy of meeting enormously tall people or visiting magical worlds that has fascinated the imagination, or so it would seem with New Line Cinema and Legendary Pictures who have adapted the story into a nerly $200 million movie, “Jack the Giant Slayer”.

The titular character is played by young up-and-coming star Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class, Mad Max: Fury Road). Jack is a poor farmer taking a visit to the city to sell off an old horse and cart. As it goes, the only person he can sell to is a shady monk on the run, who purchases the horse for five strange looking beans. He swears they are ancient runes, but Jack just believes they are beans. He takes them anyway, thinking he can resell them, as the monk takes off chased by armored knights. Meanwhile, the princess Isabelle, Eleanor Tomlinson as (The Illusionist, Alice in Wonderland) is having issues with her daddy, King Brahmwel played by Ian McShane (TV’s Deawood, Kung Fu Panda). She is getting ready to be placed in a forced marriage to the boorish Lord Roderick, played by Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones, The Hunger Games). Instead she runs away in the middle of the night, but running into a storm Isabelle has to stop at a nearby cottage where, you guessed it, Jack lives. They have some nice conversations, he tells her about his deceased father’s storybook about giants and an equally giant beanstalk that would lead to another world. Well this very same night those little beans Jack has happen to fall through the floorboards and sprout up…way up…up through the floor, ceiling, and lifts the house up hundreds of feet in the air along with Jack and Isabelle! Only, Jack falls back and the next morning King Brahmwel wants answers. Jack volunteers for a rescue mission alongside Lord Roderick and Lord Elmont, played by Ewan McGregor (Star Wars Episode I-III, Beginners). They’ll climb the big green terror, find a land in the clouds, and face off against 100 ft tall monsters who have a taste for human blood.

Directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men I-II), this bloated budget fantasy/adventure might have worked but come off as a pale “Lord of the Rings” parody. There’s plenty of exciting action that’s geared toward older kids (mostly boys), and some amusing comic relief, but the worst thing about the movie is the villainous Giants who are either boring in their idiocy or just plain disgusting (especially the Giant Cook) . The CGI makes all the Giants look ludicrously fake and therefore not that scary or impressive. The story could use some work too, with many side characters either stomped or eaten by the Giants just to keep the tension. On the other hand, the stunts and action are enough fun to keep your interest.

“Jack the Giant Slayer” is an average popcorn movie for the afternoon when nothing better is on. Hope, courage, and excitement are all over this movie, just not in Giant amounts.

Bruce Willis returns as John McClane, the smart-ass who has been whoopin’ ass since 1988. He’s having some family issues, in particular with his son Jack, played by Jai Courtney (TV’s Spartacus, Jack Reacher). See, father and son haven’t talked in about a year and Jack has been in Moscow, Russia as a CIA spy. John takes a plane overseas to find Jack and bring him home. The thing is the boy is running from police and helping a political prisoner who has a dark secret about the Chernobyl accident. He’s also running from armed bad guys working for a corrupt politician, who come with fun toys like armored personnel vehicles and assault helicopters. Does that stop a McClane? Hell no. All along the way John is helping little Jack fight off the baddies and saving his butt. However, can father and son reconcile their problems amidst RPG’s and Communism?

Irish director John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines, Max Payne) has given us something unique here in this legend: a bad movie. From the beginning we are treated to shaky-cam cinematography and some of the most impossible stunts conceived to survive. The action is actually boring, a first for these movies. While there is enough automobile carnage to rival “The Blues Brothers”, it can only put you to sleep. What’s only slightly less boring is the dialogue between Willis and Courtney, where the latter points a gun at his own father and hates him enough to refuse calling him “dad”. That’s a very unlikeable character. And if you’re seriously bored try counting the number of times Bruce says, “Jesus!” or “I’m on vacation!” There is essentially no story here, period. No reason to enjoy the new characters or listen to the old ones. Previous movies had an air of mystery and desperate choices, this is just one bombastic scene after another in great big IMAX screens. And I thought that the 4th one was lacking credibility.

“A Good Day to Die Hard” shows that some movies are meant to stop after a while. Willis has admitted that after this he wants to do one final “Die Hard” movie. For the ever faithful, this might be a fun escape for a weekend matinee, but don’t expect the same magic from 25 years ago.

We open on Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man, X-Men: First Class) as “R”, which is the only syllable he can utter and may or may not be the first letter of his name, he can’t remember. Limited brain function makes all zombies kind of spacey, but R isn’t alone. He lives at an abandoned airport with other zombie inhabitants, and the closest thing he has to a friend is another walking dead guy named “M”, played by Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World). They don’t say much, but that’s ok. We hear R’s internal monologue in voice over and what he really wants is just to connect with someone, anyone. Then comes a group of young human survivors looking for medical supplies, and R and M find their dinner. So while the group is attacked and the brain-buffet is opened, R spares one scared girl named Julie, played by Teresa Palmer (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, I Am Number Four). She’s young, scared, has a heartbeat, and is blonde; who wouldn’t be attracted? R, after guiltily eating her boyfriend, decides to spare her life and take her home with him (such a nice guy). There she is still on her guard but finds R to be much different than other undeads. He lives (or does he?) in an airplane and collects vinyl records such as John Waits, Guns ‘n Roses, and Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” (I like that) among others. R’s good nature lets Julie trust him a little more as time goes on, and then something wonderful happens: he gets a single heartbeat. This budding romance is beginning to cure R’s condition, and it’s starting to spread to M and all the other zombies! There’s just one problem: Julie’s dad is General Grigio, played by Oscar-nominee John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons, RED I-II). He’s gung-ho about blasting every zombie away just to be safe, so can R’s love for Julie make a difference?

Directed by Jonathan Levine (The Wackness, 50/50) on a meager $30 million budget, this is actually a clever disguising of “Romeo and Juliet”, but with zombies. Hoult continues to show why he’s a rising star, wonderfully progressing from monster to human with abundant empathy for his human counterparts. Sadly Malkovich doesn’t have much to do here other than be old and cranky. Corddry plays the best character, who can still be funny without saying a word, but when he says “f***” just once it’s hilarious. There are many funny moments (when R drives a BMW, the makeup scene with “Pretty Woman”) and nothing scary at all, in fact it’s conversely very sweet and romantic. Hoult and Palmer work well together right up to the final moments, and the climax is incredibly humane. Unlike Shakespeare’s version, this has a happy ending when the problems of the world are not solved by old people with weapons. Rather it’s young people radically changing the world with love.

“Warm Bodies” is a winner for this Valentine’s Day. I wonder if older audiences will appreciate this, but teens and young people will love it, even bring the kids it’s okay. Who says you can’t make a zombie romance movie?

In case you don’t know the story, here’s a refresher. Young boy Hansel and his sister Gretel find themselves out in the woods on a dark and creepy night. However, they do find out in this wilderness an entire house made of candy! Well kids usually have a sweet tooth and begin devouring the insulation, when all of a sudden an evil witch snatched them up and prepares to eat them instead. The good news is the children are able to overpower the witch, chuck her into the oven, and escape unharmed. Now in this movie the siblings are all grown up and not Aryan fatties, instead they are lean and athletic and have made a lifelong career out of killing witches. Oscar-nominee Jeremy Renner (Thor, The Avengers) and Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) are badass hunters with a large arsenal of weapons designed for defeating evil. In their latest village they find many children are missing, more than usual. Their skills of detection and witch interrogation (with brass knuckles) reveal a mass Sabbath of witches forming soon and the slaughter of twelve children at once. At the same time, a Grand White Witch Muriel, played by Famke Janssen (GoldenEye, X-Men I-III), is behind the gathering and also informs the pair that their childhood holds more secrets than they could have ever thought.

Written and directed by Norwegian Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow), ” Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” is a bad movie with a plot thinner than the paper it was printed on. The cliches pile up in the first 15 minutes and never end, though it does get slightly better by the end. This IMAX 3D feature is not meant to be deep or serious, but sometimes it does manage to be enough fun to sit through. Renner’s deadpan delivery is a welcome relief to the over-the-top violence and gore, and the occasional laugh will help you forget all the unnecessary 3D arrows flying past your eyes. Horror movie fans will enjoy this, and in the audience I even saw little girls accompanied by their mothers! So don’t expect too much and you should enjoy it.

We open on Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker (Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, The Last King of Scotland) as FBI Agent Bannister. He plans a late-night transport through the city of Las Vegas for drug kingpin Gabriel Cortez, played by Eduardo Noriega (Thesis, Vantage Point). A full SWAT team accompanies the convoy but wouldn’t you know it, the transport gets hijacked and Cortez escapes! Not only that, but he’s a former race car champion personally driving a Corvette ZR1, basically a rocket on wheels. Agent Bannister is baffled and scurrying around with other agents to figure out the master escape plan, which eventually leads to a speck on the map near the Mexican border called Sommerton, AZ. In this little one-horse town there’s a Sheriff who goes by the name of Ray, played by action movie legend Arnold Schwarzenegger (Terminator I-III, The Expendables I-II). Well he’s old and the weekend has arrived, so he’s walking around in plain clothes and plans some fishing. What he’ll soon realize is that there is a dangerous fugitive about to blast through his town. What’s more, part of the bad guy’s crew are already there and planning a heavy assault of automatic rifles on anyone who interferes. So what’s the Sheriff to do? Assemble the other three cops on his staff (who are all young and/or inexperienced), deputize some more men, and put your life in the hands of Johnny Knoxville (Jackass I-III, Walking Tall) and Luis Guzman (Boogie Nights, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) among others. Sounds hopeless? Just get ready for a school bus armed with a WWII 50 cal. machine gun and other various ideas that are just plain nuts.

Directed by Kim Ji-woon (The Good, the Bad, the Weird, I Saw the Devil), this plays like an R-rated direct remake of “Rio Bravo”. Just think of Schwarzenegger as John Wayne and instead of Dean Martin we get Jerry Lewis. That said, this movie is bad. The cliché’s keep stacking up until the final jokes, but that’s not why we’re watching this movie. We really want to see the return of Schwarzenegger kicking ass for the first time in 10 years, and if that’s all you need for a testosterone boost then you’ll probably have a good time.

“The Last Stand” is hopefully not Arnie’s last movie, but it’s fun to see him doing what he’s done best: saving the day with a witty one-liner.

We open on a black screen and only the sounds of actual 9/11 phone calls. These are undeniably disturbing.

Then we cut to two years later with the focus on a redheaded C.I.A. Agent Maya, played by Oscar-nominee Jessica Chastain (Take Shelter, The Tree of Life). She is fresh out of training and already in Pakistan to observe various techniques of finding the known fugitive, and these techniques rely almost solely on human torture. Her associate Dan, played by Jason Clarke (Public Enemies, Lawless), is well-versed in how to break even the strongest mental will, even through water smothering and nude exposure of male suspects. The thing is it all does make a difference, as more names are mentioned and a paper trail of new suspects are found and questioned. Some are so afraid of Americans that they spill all information for fear of further abuse. However, during all these interrogations more people are dying, international attacks are continuing, and the methods are more sneaky. Maya’s friends are other C.I.A. agents who either rotate back to the world or get killed off in numerous bombings, but she stays for almost a decade. Then finally a break comes: a doctor/courier going by the name Abu Ahmed is discovered to possibly be working for Bin Laden. Dan traces him to a house outside of Abbottabad, of which there are 20 ft walls and iron doors, so could this be the hideout of the most dangerous man of the 21st century? Only a night raid by Navy SEALS will tell for sure.

Directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow (Strange Days, The Hurt Locker) with expected handheld camerawork throughout, this movie is both tense and unpredictable. Looking around the weekend audience at 2:30pm on a Sunday, I observed that the audience was nearly full with older generations, yet everybody was glued to the screen. Though there are many moments that are hard to watch, and the movie is 2 hours 30 minutes long, this is still worth watching even for entertainment’s sake. The story is not entirely about the manhunt, it’s also about Maya’s struggle for a singular purpose that engulfs her entire young adulthood. Chastain plays her as tough as nails, proudly announcing to her superiors, “I’m the motherf***** who found him.” During the final scene when she is ready to return to America, her solitary scene is absolutely heartbreaking.

“Zero Dark Thirty” is not for everyone, definitely an adult viewing experience for mature viewers. Actually I overheard one movie patron mention this as the most boring movie they had ever seen. I disagree (despite some long draws) and found that this is a very satisfying and important film.

We open on Oscar-winner Sean Penn (The Game, Mystic River) as Cohen, the most dangerous man in the City of Angels. His gambling, prostitution, and narcotic trades have made him the most powerful and feared mobster on the west coast. Even when police officers who can’t be corrupted actually make arrests the bad guys are released that very same day on technicality loopholes. So what is the LAPD to do? They take off the kid gloves and play dirty, enlisting a small group of shamelessly tough cops who can’t be bought and have them conduct illegal raids on known business fronts. The “Gangster Squad” is as follows:

Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men)

Ryan Gosling (Drive)

Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker)

Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar)

Michael Peña (Crash)

Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgement Day)

They don’t carry their badges or make arrests, they just hurt gangsters both physically and financially. Of course things get complicated when one of the members becomes romantically involved with Cohen’s girlfriend Grace, played by Emma Stone (Zombieland, Easy A). The police are both brutal and smart, but then so are the bad guys. False leads and Tommy Gun attacks on their homes keep the Squad on their toes, and it all ends in a blizzard of shootouts and explosions.

Director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less) is coming off his third feature film and sadly it just doesn’t gel like his debut did. The coolest elements are all there: a fascinating villain, the 1940′s noir (complete with fedoras) screams off the screen, the action is plentiful. Men will at least enjoy the car chases and tough guys who are artists with firearms. Yet for all that the overall film is rather uninspired. It feels like a cross between “L.A. Confidential” and “The Untouchables” (two far better movies) without the spark. Then again you have to question the validity of historical events. Did cops openly murder gangsters in the open street? Did Mickey Cohen really rent out an entire hotel for himself? Maybe, but you get the feeling that a lot of elements were enhanced for the sake of entertainment. All the elements of a great crime drama are there (heroic cops defending their families, epic shootouts, etc.) but this is a failure only because we never get a moment to breathe and appreciate all the details; those are all lost in a blur of super slow-mo gun battles. Even Gosling’s cool charm is too icy to enjoy.

“Gangster Squad” is not boring by any means but will leave you with something to be desired. It seems the actors had more fun on screen than the movie they are made, but if you don’t mind the convoluted story you might at least enjoy standard car chases and other clichés.

We open on Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx (Ray, Horrible Bosses) as the titular character: Django. The “D” is silent. He is being delivered from Tennessee to Texas on foot, chained along with four other slaves, by the Speck Brothers. En route late one chilly night, they are all intercepted by one Dr. King Schultz, played by Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, Water for Elephants). The German dentist here is looking specifically for Django and makes an instant proposition to purchase him. Of course the Specks refuse Schultz at gunpoint, to which he very politely replies with his own gun. As Django and Schultz ride into town the next morning, the latter explains he is a bounty hunter and needs help apprehending the famed Brittle Brothers…who once tortured Django and separated him from his wife Broomhilda, played by Kerry Washington

(Fantastic Four, The Last King of Scotland). The plan: Django will help track down the bad guys, and Schultz will help him find and rescue his wife. Meanwhile, the German will teach his volatile friend to kill without mercy, to become a hardened weapon with a singular purpose. Django becomes one tough mo-fo taking on racist southern plantation owners and freeing slaves along the way. However, the game changes entirely when the dynamic duo track Broomhilda down to Mississippi and a cruel rotten-toothed slave trader Calvin Candie, played by Oscar-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, Inception). Mr. Candie enjoys Mandingo fighters and training large slaves to fight to the death, not exactly a humane character. It will take a lot of clever charade and charm to steal Django’s wife away and live happily ever after, or if that doesn’t work some pistols will do the job.

Tarantino is used to referencing his favorite movies and doesn’t change his formula at all. Obviously “Django” and “Mandingo” are direct inspirations, but watch close for nods to “Battle Royale” and a bloody 2-part climax equal to “The Wild Bunch” in ferocity and gunplay. Fans of Tarantino’s work will expect lots of violence and nothing changes here, but it’s usually over-the-top funny and disarming. The only bad parts are the torturing sequences with Foxx and Washington, while nude, and his being strung-up upside down and nearly castrated, yikes! Otherwise there are many fun moments, like cameos from Tarantino himself, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Johnson, Walton Goggins, Tom Savini, and a hilarious 5-minute argument from Jonah Hill on the incompetence of Klan masks. Waltz retells the story of Brunhilde as a great parable to Django’s plight. Go in with an open mind and you’ll have a good time. One more point to make, this is Tarantino’s most beautiful movie, with gorgeous Wyoming locations and a wide variety of soundtracks including Jim Croce and Rick Ross.

“Django Unchained” is a crazy Blaxploitation/Spaghetti Western action comedy, and one of the most entertaining movies of the year. Even if you don’t like being reminded about slavery or the persecution of blacks, this is a wholly satisfying movie experience.

Tom Cruise (Rain Man, Mission Impossible I-IV) plays the titular character as cold and aloof, the ultimate loner who has no job, no home, and gets around town via bus or simply steals a random car. Jack is in town because the arrested murder is known to him, and being a former Army detective knows how to investigate guys like Barr. Why did Barr shoot from a building when the sun would be in his eyes? Why did he pay the parking meter with an obvious thumb print on the quarter? Why gun down five random people, or were they deliberate targets? By collaborating with Barr’s blonde defense attorney Helen, played by Rosamund Pike (Pride & Prejudice, Surrogates), they find suspicious activity in one of the victims that leads Jack to declare that this was not Barr’s doing. The truth is he’s been framed by a Russian bad guy only known as The Zec. However, the deeper Jack goes the more fights and bad guys he has to push through. These are dangerous people he’s stepping on, but Jack won’t go down without a fight.

Written and directed by Oscar-winner Christopher McQuarrie (Way of the Gun), we are treated to a genuine hard-ass who can beat up several punks at once, shoot a gun with deadly precision, and resist any feminine charms. Child’s character is a machine built to solve crimes and hurt people, nothing more. Then again, we still love Cruise and at age 50 still looks good with his shirt off. His charm makes the character likeable, if not very sympathetic. The overall story is a clever whodunit with suspects multiplying and twisty clues to keep the audience guessing. German director Werner Herzog is great as the creepy lead villain. Regardless, while I liked this movie I didn’t totally love it. Pike’s doe-eyed second-guessing lawyer serves little purpose other than to act frightened in a low-cut top. A bit appearance from Robert Duvall is amusing though he only exists as an NRA sidekick. The obligatory car chase in downtown Pittsburgh, while exciting, feels like a forced element to keep the audience interested in the movie’s second half.

“Jack Reacher” is a cool little popcorn movie at the end of the year, though I don’t expect it will fly off the DVD shelves in six months. Too many clichés keep it from rising to greatness, but at least it’s a smart mystery to keep you entertained.

We open on a prologue with an old Bilbo getting ready for his famed 111 year old birthday party, but as the “NO ADMITTANCE” signs are posted he’s also working on a book. Thus we jump back 60 years, when he was a young man – er, Hobbit. Martin Freeman (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, TV’s Sherlock) plays the titular role as a humble bachelor with a simple life, if just a little lonely. Then a tall wizard arrives by the name of Gandalf, reprising his role is Sir Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters, X-Men I-III). His business is simple: he’s looking for someone to share in an adventure. Bilbo just isn’t interested; after all those things like “missions” and “quests” aren’t just dangerous, they make you late for dinner! Well like it or not, that evening a whole bevy of tough, masculine Dwarves come bursting into his home and start eating his food! There is Dori, Nori, Ori, uhhh, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, oh forget the rest. Their stoic leader Thorin Oakenshield lays down the plan: to take back their mountain home of Erebor where a fierce dragon has invaded. Does Bilbo want to help? With a detailed contract of lacerations, eviscerations, and or course incinerations, he faints in plain sight of them all. However, there’s something unseen in this guy, even to himself, and the next morning he volunteers to go into a real adventure. Of course to say he has no idea what to expect is a gross understatement.

Filmed in the experimental 48 fps, co-written by Guillermo del Toro, and reuniting most of the original cast, we are treated to a visual banquet of eye-candy galore. There are moments to rival the excitement of the original movies and plenty colorful characters. While I did enjoy this revisit and you should too, I had many problems. Though the book was written to be much lighter than LotR, there are many scenes and moments that bear no relevance or use. Radagast the Brown, though prevalent in the books, here exists like a Jar Jar Binks (I can’t believe I’m writing that, but it’s true). All the bases are covered in being faithful to the book but at nearly three hours it splits at a cliffhanger for TWO MORE MOVIES! Don’t be surprised if you keep checking the time to see how much longer it will take. On the other hand we see the triumphant return of Gollum and his “Game of Riddles” is a highlight.

“…An Unexpected Journey” is not as good as the previous movies over a decade old, but it’s still fun excitement for the holidays, and if you know anything about the story you’ll know it only gets better from here.

We follow the life of a man in his 40′s who still wants to be 20 (not that far from cliché). George Ryer used to be an international soccer star, one of the best in world. Now he’s a divorced single-father with no job and mounting debts. I guess being beautiful isn’t everything, right? Well his 6 year old boy Lewis is on a losing youth soccer team and the coach doesn’t care, so George decides to step in a help a little. What he doesn’t realize is he’s quite an amazing coach, and the team begins to improve. Now George has a job and the respect of his son, though some of the single soccer moms are looking his way too. Well who wouldn’t want the attention from such babes as Judy Greer (Three Kings, Carrie), Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill), and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Traffic, Chicago). George is suddenly turning his whole life around, but it gets more serious when he connects with his ex-wife and mother of his son Stacie, played by Jessica Biel (The A-Team, New Year’s Eve). Old sparks are reunited, so can ladies man George pull it all together or will it blow up in his face?

So with a better than average $35 million budget and some good star power, you’d think this is a good movie right? A fluff piece around the holidays, bring the kids right? Well I’ll say I didn’t hate this movie, but I didn’t like it. Even with the target audience being mainly female, this amazingly predictable story is really a middle-aged man’s fantasy. Bonding with son, check. Getting back together with ex-wife, check. Screwing every hot MILF in a 10 mile radius, check that as well. While there are a lot of problems with this painfully unfunny airplane movie, at least it’s good natured enough to be enjoyable…if you leave your judgments at the door. The highlight of the movie is the adorable Greer, who has some genuinely funny nervous breakdowns.

“Playing for Keeps” isn’t terrible but it’s a long shout from anything good, or memorable. As much as I like these actors, Butler in particular, you have to wonder why they ever signed up on a script like this. Mr. Butler, I please urge you to look into darker, meatier roles that you especially know you’re better at.

We open on Indian actor Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire, The Amazing-Spiderman) as Pi, who is entertaining a Canadian author who claims there is a story here that will make him believe in God. That’s a big order, but over the course of a nice sunny afternoon Pi will tell his life’s story to this man, and through such extraordinary circumstances where he came from his native country to Western culture…

It begins with the formation of his name, Piscine Molitor which as a kid made him the butt of many jokes. Then he declares his vast skill with mathematics, accurately writing out the entirety of the number π to the newfound astonishment and respect of his peers. Then we hear how Pi discovers religion, not just from Hindi but also Muslim, Christianity, and a smattering of Hebrew, all driving his Atheist father crazy.

Next is the story of his father’s zoo and the fierce tiger that is its prize exhibit, and how through a harsh lesson Pi discovers just how dangerous it is. We later learn the tiger’s name, Richard Parker, and that it will be sold to a zoo in Canada where the family plans to relocate. This is devastating to the 16 year old Pi, who has to suddenly start a new life and even leave behind a girlfriend. As the family travels via Japanese fishing boat through the Pacific Ocean, suddenly in the middle of the night a fierce typhoon capsizes the boat and throws Pi into a lifeboat. All the people on board drown in the ocean, including his family and most of the zoo animals. As the storm dies down he slowly discovers several animals who survive and get onto his lonely lifeboat, only to have them all eaten by a hyena to Pi’s grief. Then a mysterious guest emerges from the canvas: Richard Parker! He kills the Hyena and claims the boat for himself. That means Pi has to fashion a small raft tied to the boat for himself, lest he be a tiger happy meal. These two species have nothing in common, yet they will have to depend on each other to survive for months in the middle of nothing.

Lee has taken a good story and made it his own in a truly bizarre way: CGI animals in 3D that seem to leap off the screen. It’s a bold move, but thankfully all looks believable. I didn’t say real, as most of the events seem real one moment then dazzlingly surreal the next. It’s a beautiful movie to look at, then the nature of ocean storms become enraged and frightening. We are asked to follow first time actor Suraj Sharma as our hero who plays innocent and naive along with smart and brave. The PG rating will attract some younger viewers but this is not for kids at all. There is violence and plenty of dark themes. We also have a heavy handed questioning of God’s existence, if He is really there and if so why does he torture our hero so much. I could have taken all of that and said this was a great movie, but the very last 10 minutes reveal Pi telling an alternate story which is much darker and more realistic. We the audience are then asked to decide which story we think is real, thus making us doubt all the movie we have seen thus far. It’s a real buzzkill, so keep this in mind.

Lee’s “Life of Pi” is not a great movie, but it’s still a big achievement in visual artistry and should be seen once. Just be prepared for a sucker punch to the gut if you aren’t on your guard.

We open on the birth of a teenaged spirit named Jack Frost, played by Chris Pine (Star Trek I-II, This Means War). He’s a plucky boy with platinum hair, a magical staff, the ability to fly, and a boyish face that makes all the girls swoon. However he’s also invisible, and this immortal life of solitude is tough on him. The only person he knows is Manny, the silent “Man-in-the-Moon”. He gave Jack life, but has no direct answers for his future. Then meanwhile at the North Pole, where Santa Claus himself is working hard, there is a dark omen of approaching evil in the form of black sand. He sees this as a time to call in the Guardians:

Santa Claus – Alec Baldwin (Beetlejuice, The Hunt for Red October) with a Russian accent, tattoos, twin swords, and a constantly positive attitude

E. Aster Bunnymund- Hugh Jackman (X-Men I-IV, Les Misérables) with an Australian accent, super-fast running speed, magical eggs, and is 6’1″ tall

Tooth Fairy – Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers, Rango) who resembles a hummingbird-humanoid, has an army of hummingbirds to collect children’s teeth in exchange for coins

Sandman – silent character, short and round but very powerful, resembles a magical Harpo Marx

Together they meet at Santa’s headquarters to battle the boogeyman Pitch, played by Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes I-II, Contagion). The Nightmare King, Pitch is planning to throw the world of children into pure fear and eliminate any hope or love. To take on such an adversary, the Guardians enlist Jack Frost to help them, finally letting him be useful. They have to work together for an epic battle of the imagination in order to save the magic of children’s’ lives.

First time director Peter Ramsey has worked as a storyboard artist on such films as “Batman Forever” and “Men in Black” but shows a real knack for action in some really thrilling scenes. The look of the film, most likely inspired by Executive Producer Guillermo del Toro, makes this feel like “Hellboy” for little kids: beautiful, imaginative, weird, and totally cool. It’s a fairy tale of centuries old characters, but supercharged for the 21st century. Not only is there lots of cool action in eye-popping 3D, but there is tongue-in-cheek humor and a real heart to the movie, especially the main character of Jack.

“Rise of the Guardians” is the most fun you’ll have this Thanksgiving weekend. There are even talks of a sequel if audiences demand it. I’d love to see more about these oddball heroes of childhood imagination, and audiences both young and old will enjoy every minute of it.

We open on a battle field where the titular character, played by Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood). He’s a celebrity who is adored by young soldiers who are too awe-struck to do anything but comically misquote his Gettysburg Address. All Lincoln can do is patiently smile and amuse his fans with silly jokes and ironic stories. See, this is January 1865, the very end of his administration and nearing the end of the Civil War. The casualties have amounted up to around 600,000 and nothing is getting better, but Abe believes that this war is a positive step forward toward his ultimate goal: national abolition of slavery. Everybody wants the war to end, but working for peace is something much scarier than battle. It could mean a tyrant in the White House, and even scarier is the idea of black people having their own homes, jobs, or even (Heaven forbid) voting. Even the average people of the Union are afraid of losing their jobs to African-Americans. The place where this will all be decided is not on the battlefield, but in the House of Representatives where the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States will simply be put to a vote by white God-fearing males with much to lose. Lincoln will have to use every impassioned speech and sly con man he can muster in order to see his vision come true.

As heavy as this movie is, it’s mostly just honest. One of the reasons for this movie’s delay was the changes in the script, changing through several writers. You can see that Spielberg wanted to do this the right way, and thankfully he has succeeded. Lincoln is the President but he’s also a man, the same as any other with flaws but with the power to change the history of his country. Not only is Day-Lewis’s performance incredible to watch (he’s not just an actor, he IS Lincoln), but the supporting cast deserve their praise as well. Oscar-winner Sally Field (Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump) plays the First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, who shows us just how crazy and mean she was to Abe. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises, Looper) plays his son Robert, who is aching for military action. Then we get Oscar-winner Tommy Lee Jones (TV’s Lonesome Dove, Batman Forever) as the volatile Thaddeus Stevens, debating the Amendment to his opponents with a sour prune-face and hilariously calling them all “nincompoops”. There is drama, there is comic relief (the story of Ethan Allen in the outhouse is a riot), and there is reverent awe as we see the true story of one of history’s most incredible men. Day-Lewis gives a performance as amazing as Gregory Peck in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. This is simply one of the best films of the year.

“Lincoln” is a triumph, pure and simple. It’s no wonder why he was called “honest Abe” because the blunt honesty of this character pulls no punches. You’ll leave with a feeling of earned respect for a very brave man who wouldn’t give up for human rights.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

All good things come to an end, and so do campy supernatural soap opera movie franchises, thankfully. Author Stephanie Meyer is rolling in cash, Summit Entertainment’s recent buyout by Lionsgate Entertainment has not been in vain, and girls’ sleepover parties will have something to watch until the next hunky heartthrob franchise comes around. Now it’s all coming to a conclusion, but after the others had mixed results can this one go out with a bang?

So Bella and Edward are married, living happily as any other couple, and now they’re both vampires with an eternity to live together. However, when we last left the lovers she was dying and he was in tears. The only answer was to turn her into a vampire to survive the labor pains of birth, but miraculously both mother and child survived. Now Bella is a real vampire, running around the woods of Washington state with a thirst for blood. Edward is happy to be both a husband and a father, raising little Renesmee along with the Coven. Even Jacob, the shirtless hunk of beefcake, is satisfied that he has “imprinted” on the newborn baby to act as Uncle Jake to love and protect her too. Then as years go by the little girl begins to grow at ridiculous speed, aging very quickly and growing up at twice her normal age. Oh yeah, and she can levitate too. Then one day as Bella, Jake, and Renesmee are out in Winter catching snowflakes, another vampire Irina, played by Maggie Grace (The Fog, Taken I-II) sees a grave crime here. Vampires interacting with Werewolves, and also an immortal half-breed child? To her that’s a big mistake, so she goes straight to Italy where the Volturi will know how to handle this. Vampires Michael Sheen (Underworld, Tron: Legacy), Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), and Dakota Fanning (Coraline, The Runaways) will all make a trip to the North American continent to approach this Christ-like child and make their assessment. The thing is, based on their violent past these three Italians will probably kill Renesmee in the most brutal way imaginable. It’s up to the Cullens to start globe-trotting and raise an army of the undead to protect said child. Apparently the Volturi have p***** off a lot of people and the army is full of international vampires ready to rip some heads off, literally. The board is set, the pieces are moving, but will there be a grand coup or maybe does this have a happy ending?

The arduous task of bringing this story to a satisfying close by director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Kinsey), screenplay writer Melissa Rosenberg, and $130 million from Lionsgate has paid off as something much better than previous films. That’s not to say part two of this novel isn’t without faults; it’s very slow and could have easily been cut down to half its two hour runtime. Then again, the climactic confrontation has been what us macho-guys-dragged-to this-by-our-girlfriends have been waiting for: violence. Diplomacy is thrown out the window for an action sequence you won’t soon forget. Even for a PG-13 movie that you can bring your kids to, Condon only holds back on the violence to just avoid an R rating. Then something really cool happens: first we get Shakespearian tragedy, then it all ends with a plot twist worthy of M. Night Shyamalan! Even Kristen Stewart is more likeable as a vampire Queen, and my does she look sexy when fierce.

Not everyone will enjoy “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2″, but it’s a satisfying conclusion that makes it the least campy and overall best entry into the series. Ladies, you will enjoy this. Guys, you’ll enjoy parts of it. At least we can hope vampires will go back to blood and not sparkly sunlight.