movies: news / premieres / awards / star birthdays / new to DVD / coming soon
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Most Recent Movie Reviews:
review archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
(click a poster to purchase a poster)
Movie Review of The Ruins (2008) [R] 91 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $4.75
Think quickly and you'll be smart enough to skip this hogwash pseudo teen horror flick. Despite the young and beautiful cast and slickly scary trailer with that awesome sound effect that reverberates through one's bones, um, this film couldn't possible be more ineffectual in its aims if its goals were to thrill, chill, and entertain that is rather its bore, snore, and needless gore. Theoretically, the premise is kind of good though it violates an awful lot of rules. A group of four [note: violates rule #1 of good horror films: you need at least 6 young people 17-23 preferably 4 women and 2 men otherwise once you kill off one, what's left?] college kids vacationing in Mexico get invited by a suspicious dude named Mathias (Joe Anderson) to go the next day to see a cool Mayan ruin that's off the tourist map [note: violates rule #1 of vacationing in a foreign country: don't go to places off the tourist map, there's a tourist map for a reason].…continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of Nim's Island (2008) [PG] 95 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $8.25
Don't be fooled by the preview for Nim's Island as this film might look like a magical and wondrous children's story, when in fact, it's more like Home Alone meets "Survivor: Vanuatu" collides with "LOST". The film, co-directed by Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin (who also co-wrote), starts out with an depressing animated tale of a young girl's marine biologist mother getting devoured by a whale and lost forever at sea. Her father, Jack Rusoe (Gerard Butler) then raises Nim (Abigail Breslin) alone on a deserted 'dreamy' island created by a now extinct volcano somewhere in the uncharted waters of the south Pacific. He orders in supplies and somehow manages to keep the idyllic island off the radar. They live in Swiss Family Robinson-style with Nim's animal friends: a pelican, a sea lion, and a racket-making lizard. Things are swell on Nim's Island until her father needs to leave to try and find some undiscovered plankton he's been seeking out for a decade, and Nim prefers to stay back and protect the baby turtle's hatching on the beach from being devoured by crabs. He acquiesces to her demands that turns out to be a good thing for her since his ship is wrecked at sea in a surprise storm disabling his communication as well as his ability to sail home. Fortunately, for Nim, at precisely the same time, her father receives an email on their home computer from none other than her favorite adventure novelist Alex Rover (Jodie Foster) seeking information about his island she's seen in National Geographic and hoping that he can end her writer's block so she can finish her latest novel. Nim has read all of the Alex Rover novels and considers herself quite a fan of Alex Rover the superhero in the novels. Nim has no idea that the author is a woman. Via their email communications, Alexandra Rover realizes that Nim is alone on the island and decides to fight her agoraphobia and traipse halfway around the world to find and rescue a lost child. While awaiting either the return of her father or the arrival of Alex Rover, a cruise ship of Australian tourists is set to arrive on her island for a few hours of idyllic life. Hence, defending the island becomes her top resource.…continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of Leatherheads (2008) [PG-13] 114 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.00
It's pretty difficult these days to sit down and dream up the kind of movie they used to make back in the 1920s. What's kind of cool about George Clooney's Leatherheads is that, honestly, is that's exactly what's been done. Without special effects and gadgets and wizardry, using a simple story with "aw shucks" kind of values, chiseled features, and complete sass, the result represents a film that could have cozied on up to the sofa and been read aloud as a radio play. No, it's not a perfect film by any means. Still, it's important to give credit when credit is due, and it's about time somebody tried to revitalize the old-school style of filmmaking which hinged so much more on the simple things and how you feel when the film is over. …continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of Superhero Movie (2008) [PG-13] 85 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $5.50
In the tradition of Airplane! comes the spoof parody of superhero movies from writer / director Craig Mazin and featuring most of the tricks of the trade of the older school spoof parody films including the must-be-cast Leslie Nielson. Roughly following the plot of the Spider-man trilogy, Superhero Movie introduces us to the newly hatched superhero, Dragonfly (Drake Bell) formerly the mild-mannered Rick Riker. Whenever possible, references and themes from the Fantastic Four, X-men, etc. superhero films have been weaved into the over-arching Spider-man plot. The result is as effective as it is ineffective. The purpose, of course, of spoof parodies is generally uproarious comedy. Well, Superhero Movie is not that. It does have several hilarious scenes, but the overall film minus those few falls a bit flat on its face. The reasons are numerous but the most obvious is that the material isn't that fresh, and the story of course derivative and recycled—as parodies are nearly by definition. Unfortunately, Craig Mazin probably erred in his thinking about a superhero film spoof because he decided to make his hero pretty heroic. He's very likable and Drake Bell plays him a lot like Tobey Maguire portrayed his Spider-man. Because of this little problem, it's frustrating to see him flounder rather than funny.…continued…
Movie Review of 21 (2008) [PG-13] 123 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.50
Fans of the Ben Mezrich book beware that the term 'inspired by' is used very loosely as the Allan Loeb / Peter Steinfeld screenplay bears only mild resemblance to the book. The film version of Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions re-entitled 21 concerns a boy-genius named Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) who has the intention of becoming a physician and graduating from Harvard Medical School as a tribute to the hard work of his working class mother and long-deceased father. His vehicle for admission is an M.I.T. undergrad degree and his plan to afford the $300K price tag is a special full-ride scholarship. He works diligently with his two side-kicks Miles (Josh Gad) and Cam (Sam Golzari) to perfect a self-driving car from which they all three hope to derive great acclaim, that is until devious professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) lures Ben to his 'dark side' involving a card-counting team of wunderkind math geniuses and the prospect of earning his Harvard tuition in one weekend.…continued…or read the spoiler points…
Other Recent Reviews:
Stop-Loss (2008) [R] 113 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.00
Funny Games (2008) [R] 107 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.00
Shutter (2008) [PG-13] 85 minutes WIP™ Scale: $8.50
Drillbit Taylor (2008) [PG-13] 102 minutes WIP™ Scale: $9.00
Doomsday (2008) [R] 105 minutes WIP™ Scale: $10.75
Never Back Down (2008) [PG-13] 110 minutes WIP™ Scale: $10.50
Horton Hears a Who (2008) [G] 88 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.75
Semi-Pro (2008) [R] 90 minutes WIP™ Scale: $6.50
10,000 B.C. (2008) [PG-13] 109 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.75
Jumper (2008) [PG-13] 90 minutes WIP™ Scale: $11.75
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) [PG] 97 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.75
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008) [PG-13] 114 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.00
Shrooms (2008) [NR] 84 minutes WIP™ Scale: $7.00
Fool's Gold (2008) [PG-13] 113 minutes WIP™ Scale: $7.25
Wild West Comedy Show (2008) [R] 100 minutes WIP™ Scale: $5.00
The Kite Runner (2007) [PG-13] 122 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.25
The Eye (2008) [PG-13] 97 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.00
Teeth (2008) [R] 88 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.50
Over Her Dead Body (2008) [PG-13] 95 minutes WIP™ Scale: $9.00
Strange Wilderness (2008) [R] 87 minutes WIP™ Scale: $3.00
How She Move (2008) [PG-13] 98 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.25
U2 3D (2008) [G] 85 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.75
Film Premiere and Award Photo Sets
archive:2008 • 2007
Listed in Order of Publication in the mEd database not necessarily chronologically...
Film Premiere Photo Sets
Street Kings Premiere • The Ruins Premiere • Leatherheads Premiere • Forbidden Kingdom Premiere • Nim's Island Premiere • 21 Premiere • Stop-Loss Premiere • Never Back Down Premiere • Vantage Point Premiere • Horton Hears a Who Premiere • Semi-Pro Premiere • 10,000 B.C. Premiere • (continued)
Brand New Movie Posters Just In:
New Movie Poster Archive: 2007 / 2008 | TV Posters: 2005 2006 2007
New as of 4-April-08
Recent Movie Star Birthdays:
birthdays: last month / this month / next month / by month / alphabetically
[click star names to see tribute pages]
| 13-Feb | 12-Feb | 11-Feb | ||||||||||||
| Mena Suvari | Christina Ricci | Jennifer Aniston | ||||||||||||
(click photo to purchase) |
| (click photo to purchase) | ||||||||||||
| Also: Josh Brolin | Also: Matthew Lawrence Burt Reynolds | |||||||||||||
| 10-Feb | 9-Feb | 8-Feb | ||||||||||||
| Ziyi Zhang | Nick Nolte | |||||||||||||
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| Also: Joe Pesci | Also: Seth Green Mary Steenburgen | |||||||||||||
| 7-Feb | ||||||||||||||
| Related DVDs | Related DVDs | |||||||||||||
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Movies Now on DVD and Download:
DVD releases: Archive / This Week / Next Week
(click poster to purchase)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) [R]-- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $14.25
Review-lite: As sinister as it is spectacular, Tim Burton's adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's acclaimed Broadway Musical, Sweeney Todd, rises from the darkness on the incredible performances of leads Helen Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp. Unbelievably, these two sing their songs and carry the story of a barber who is falsely imprisoned so that the judge and accuser can pursue his wife and adopt his child. A bloody, horribly tragic film culminates with mistaken identities as Todd must reconcile his vengeful serial murders with the hope of restoring the long-lost love of his daughter, Johanna. The dark ending seals the fate qualifying it as a spectacular downer. There's no question as to the overall achievement of the filmmaking: the acting, directing, lighting, music, special effects, costumes, make-up are all universally of the highest skills around, it's just hard to leave with a sense of anything other than deep and lasting regret. (click for full details and complete review) • (click to purchase Sweeney Todd)
(click poster to purchase)
Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) [PG]-- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $12.25
Review-lite: Alvin and the Chipmunks directed by Tim Hill and starring Jason Lee as Dave with the voices of Justin Long as Alvin, Matthew Gray Gubler as Simon, and Jesse McCartney as Theodore, despite a formulaic plot, brings the chipmunks into the new millennium with CGI animation endowing them with more character than 2D animation ever could. You'll be singing their tunes and believing in them before you know it. Ian Cross plays the 'bad' guy to smarmy perfection. With great music and dance numbers, great and funny/funky chipmunk animated antics, and a solid story, Alvin and the Chipmunks is the perfect family holiday film of 2007. (click for full details and complete review) • (click to purchase Alvin and the Chimpmunks)
Also This Week:
none
Previously Announced Available for Pre-Order:
The 11th Hour • 27 Dresses • A Collection Of 2007 Academy Award®-Nominated Short Films • Aliens vs Predator - Requiem • Before The Devil Knows You're Dead • Cassandra's Dream • Charlie Wilson's War • Cloverfield • December boys • The Diving Bell and the Butterfly • El Cantante • The Final Season • First Sunday • The Golden Compass • Grace is Gone • The Hottie and the Nottie • How She Move • I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With • Juno • Lars and the Real Girl • Lions For Lambs • Little Children • Mad Money • Nanking • National Treasure: Book of Secrets • Nina's Heavenly Delights • One Missed Call • The Orphanage • Over Her Dead Body • P2 • Rambo • Reservation Road • Resurrecting the Champ • The Savages • Semi-Pro • Starting Out In The Evening • Teeth • There Will Be Blood • Trailer Park Boys: The Movie • Untraceable • Walk Hard • The Walker • War Dance • The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep • What Would Jesus Buy? • Youth Without Youth
Movies Coming Soon:
Dynamic Calendar Jan 07 - Jun 09 with links to official sites, trailers, and reviews
Plain Calendars: 2006 / 2007 / 2008-09
Friday, 4 April
Henry Poole is Here • Leatherheads • Nim's Island • Religulous • Shine a Light • The Ruins • Wild Child
in limited release only: Meet Bill • My Blueberry Nights
Friday, 11 April
College • Foodfight • Prom Night • Smart People • Street Kings
in limited release only: Chaos Theory • The Visitor • Young @ Heart
Top 10 Hottest-Selling Movie Posters:
(source: our friends at
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 |
| The Dark Knight | Harold and Kumar 2 | Horton Hears a Who | Iron Man |
| #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 |
| Wall-E | Indiana Jones 4 | Semi-Pro | Speed Racer |
| #9 | #10 | ||
| Nim's Island | Chronicles of Narnia 2 |
Movie Poster Extravaganzas:
archive
Here we honor two film series as they began and then merged into one mega film franchise: Aliens and Predators then Aliens vs. Predator with a movie poster extravaganza.
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