movies: news • premieres • awards • star birthdays • new to DVD • coming soon
posters: just in • hottest selling • extravaganzas | capsules: previous next]
Most Recent Movie Reviews:
review archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
(click a poster to purchase a poster)
Movie Review of The Strangers (2008) [R] 90 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.00
The Strangers debuted the same weekend of 2008 as Sex and the City apparently with the marketing strategy, "If you cannot beat them, join them," meaning there's probably not a week in the year when The Strangers would be able to hold the number one spot for Box Office results, so why not just pick the thick of things, right after Chronicles of Narnia 2, Indiana Jones 4, and Sex and the City: the movie and hope for the best. If that doesn't sound brilliant to you, well, maybe there's a job for you at a major motion picture studio marketing department available on Monster.com (unsolicited plug). Worse, if you're a fan of the psycho horror drama genre and have seen all of these films before, well, you're going to scratch your head as you endure Bryan Bertino's writing / directing debut pondering how he got funding for this recycled film plot. His story, according to the opening sequence, is based on real events. Viewers of Funny Games (which had the superlative acting) and/or Vacancy (which had the superlative plot) will probably surmise the film is based rather on these two pre-existing films which share an astonishingly similar number of plot points. [editor's note: Imagine Kate Beckinsale's conversation with Underworld co-star Scott Speedman when he phones to tell her about the cool new movie he's been filming only to have her gasp and ask him to rent her film Vacancy. Scary stuff.] Being on the short side of both the plot and the acting versus the other two films would have to place The Strangers on bottom rung of this genre ladder, one would think. Actually, of the three films, though, it turns out that The Strangers—which, by the way, has to be one of the worst titles of the year when it comes to capturing what this film is—is by far the most scary and harrowing of the three films and probably the most psychologically terrifying from the long-lasting point of view. If you find yourself unable to sit in the dark theatre alone for the entire length of the ominous closing credits, well, don't consider it a black mark on your bravery chart as there are few people who could make it through. No film in recent or gradually fading long-term memory has really spooked me as deeply as this one. And it's simple, non-gory, mostly noise-oriented, pop-out from the closet type of scares. The soundtrack by tomandandy is half of what makes the film work when it comes to stirring up dramatic tension because, really, not that much happens.…continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of Sex and the City (2008) [R] 148 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.25
Though it might be terribly difficult to believe, I never watched the show. Well, I possibly saw it once or twice maybe on the road in a hotel that had free HBO®. Nope, never watched a single episode of the "The Sopranos" either. If you don't have HBO®, you don't have HBO®. So, when it comes to "Sex and the City" which I always thought was called, "Sex in the City" until I started priming up for the film version and discovered, to a bit of admitted disillusionment, the error in my mind, I'm pretty close to being a virgin. Does that disqualify me from giving it its proper due via critique? Probably "yes" for some ardent fans, but maybe "no" to the many other millions of potential viewers of the film who, likewise, don't know much about the now infamous foursome of NYC self-obsessed gal pals, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), who might believe this review to be a more potent "see it or not" guide. What I cannot do, however, is let the astute aficionados of the acclaimed television series know if it closes loose ends (though I can predict at least one) and / or lives up to their expectations. One thing's for sure, I've not sat in a more entranced 12:01 a.m. audience since the last Star Trek film; and, indeed, the fans, maybe they're properly called 'Sexies' or 'Sexers', were out in full force, similarly costumed, and unapologetically prepared to worship what ever might splash up on the screen.…continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) [PG-13] 124 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.50
On the heels of the success of what most believed would be the ending chapter of the 'ginormously' successful Indiana Jones trilogy, rumors and speculation began to circulate that producer / director Steven Spielberg and Indy Jones production partner George Lucas would be open to a fourth film. Yet, as time wore on and no news was not good news, a time clock was added to the mix suggesting they'd better make the film ASAP to ensure participation by Sean Connery. Well, the wait for the fourth film is now over, the speculation laid to rest, the rumor sites all quiet (except for speculation of a 5th film of course), and a detail that should be spoiled, Sean Connery appears only in a photograph on Henry Jones's desk despite being alive and well, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull roars on to the big screen at last with beguiling force and rampant nostalgia. Filmed to look and feel like the next chapter in the saga, it works in every way but one. How many books have you read where three chapters take place around the same approximate time continuum and then jump ahead some 20 years in the next without making any attempt, however small, to fill in the gap with something about what's been going on in the lives of those in the continuum? Well, it's a jolting lurch forward in this David Koepp screenplay right smack into the thick of a new Indiana Jones adventure. …continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) [PG] 147 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.75
Co-writer / director / and co-producer Andrew Adamson has been said to have described his second installment in the Walt Disney Pictures / Walden Media adaptations of C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series as a darker, more grown-up, summer film. He's correct on all three counts. In fact, there's probably a need to remind parents and guardians of young children that despite the plethora of toys and product tie-ins no doubt pitched at little kids, the Chronicles of Narnia and the two recent films are not really. These are battle-driven films with lots of scenes of kids in peril or fighting at advanced levels with swords and daggers. Granted, care has been taken in ways that are quite obvious and significant to downplay the violence rather than glorify it, but it is there nonetheless. Some have said the film is to be appreciated most by the 'tweens' (those children in the age between little kids and teenagers sort of the 10-12 range) and above. Certainly, that is the case insofar as the 10-12 year-old in your family can differentiate real from fantasy violence and mayhem.
…continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of Frontier(s) (2008) [NC-17] 108 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $4.25
If there were any doubt in any USAers' minds that only USAers can produce shockingly grisly, pointlessly horrifying films like The Hills Have Eyes and The Hills Have Eyes II (the remakes), Hostel and Hostel: Part II, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, let them fall to rest as Frenchman Xavier Gens has certainly proven that, indeed, other nations can stoop as low. Xavier Gens directed and wrote Frontière(s) in the same vein as these others but managed to take it a step further by employing a cartel of left-over Nazis instead of radiated inbred country folk like Wes Craven or high class Euro monsters like Eli Roth. You be the judge as to which works best for you. Oh, and it just wouldn't be a French film if it were not for the requisite mentions to civil unrest and rioting against the government would it; so, of course, Mr. Gens starts his film out with a bank robbery during the rioting by a gang of hoodlums who would simply shoot you dead to prove their manhood. Four men and a young pregnant woman among them they flee the police with tragic consequences for one.…continued…or read the spoiler points…
Other Recent Reviews:
What Happens in Vegas (2008) [PG-13] 99 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.75
Speed Racer (2008) [PG] 129 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.25
Made of Honor (2008) [PG-13] 101 minutes WIP™ Scale: $10.75
Iron Man (2008) [PG-13] 126 minutes WIP™ Scale: $14.00
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) [R] 102 minutesWIP™ Scale: $3.00
Baby Mama (2008) [PG-13] 96 minutes WIP™ Scale: $11.25
Deception (2008) [R] 108 minutes WIP™ Scale: $11.00
The Wackness (2008) [R] 108 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.50
88 Minutes (2008) [R] 108 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.00
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) [PG-13] 113 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.00
Street Kings (2008) [R] 109 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.25
The Ruins (2008) [R] 91 minutes WIP™ Scale: $4.75
Nim's Island (2008) [PG] 95 minutes WIP™ Scale: $8.25
Film Premiere and Award Photo Sets
archive: 2008 • 2007 | Videos from the Latest Premieres
Listed in Order of Publication in the mEd database not necessarily chronologically...
Film Premiere Photo Sets
Sex and the City Premiere • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Premiere • What Happens in Vegas Premiere • Made of Honor Premiere • Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Premiere • Forgetting Sarah Marshall Premiere • The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Premiere • Speed Racer Premiere • Iron Man Premiere • Baby Mama Premiere • Street Kings Premiere • Prom Night Premiere • 88 Minutes Premiere • The Ruins Premiere • (continued)
Brand New Posters Just In:
New Poster Archive: 2007 • 2008 | TV Posters: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
New as of 1-June-08
Recent Movie Star Birthdays:
birthdays: last month / this month / next month / by month / alphabetically
[click star names to see tribute pages]
| 1-Jun | 31-May | 30-May | ||||
| Andy Griffith | Colin Farrell | Chris Elliott | ||||
(click to purchase) |
| (click poster to purchase) | ||||
| Also: Eric Christian Olsen | Also: Colm Meaney John Terlesky | |||||
| 29-May | 28-May | 27-May | ||||
| Annette Bening | Jesse Bradford | Joseph Fiennes | ||||
(click poster to purchase) | (click poster to purchase) |
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| Also: Rupert Everett | ||||||
| 26-May | ||||||
| Pam Grier | 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)
Rambo (2008) [R]-- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $6.00
Review-lite: Did Rambo ever say, "I'll be back!"? Well, regardless, he's back, this time under total control of Sylvester Stallone as writer, director, and Rambo reborn. The aging action hero is convinced by missionaries to take them to Burma to assist in war relief. Once safely there, they get kidnapped and their pastor hires Rambo to lead a gang of mercenaries to their rescue. Violence and maelstrom mayhem ensue with Rambo leading the charge. Not for the weak of stomach or victims of nightmares, this film takes no hostages. While some fans of the character and the actor may have hoped that this would be Rambo's most triumphant victory and one where he finally grows able to live a meaningful life, no such luck here. This is just pure basal Rambo carnage. Either you like that or you don't. • (click to purchase Ramob)
Also This Week:
Cassandra's Dream • Grace is Gone
Previously or Recently Announced Available for Pre-Order:
10,000 B.C. • August • The Bank Job • The Bucket List • Charlie Bartlett • College Road Trip • Definitely, Maybe • Doomsday • Drillbit Taylor • The Eye • Fool's Gold • Hannah Montana And Miley Cyrus: Best Of Both Worlds Concert • In Bruges • Jumper • Meet Bill • Meet the Browns • Meet the Spartans • Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day • Never Back Down • Semi-Pro • Sex and Death 101 • The Spiderwick Chronicles • Step Up 2 The Streets • Vantage Point • War, Inc. • Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins • Witless Protection
Movies Coming Soon:
Dynamic Calendar Jan 2007 - Jun 2009 with links to official sites, trailers, reviews & more
Plain Calendars: 2006 • 2007 • 2008-09
Friday, 30 May 2008
Sex and the City: The Movie • The Strangers
in limited release only: Bigger, Stronger, Faster • The Foot Fist Way • Savage Grace • The Unknown Woman
Friday, 6 June 2008
Kung Fu Panda • You Don't Mess with the Zohan
in limited release only: Miss Conception • Mongol • Mother of Tears • The Promotion • When Did You Last See Your Father?
Top 10 Hottest-Selling Movie Posters:
(source: our friends at
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 |
| The Dark Knight | Iron Man | Sex and the City | Hancock |
| #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 |
| Wall-E | Indiana Jones 4 | Harold and Kumar 2 | Speed Racer |
| #9 | #10 | ||
| Chronicles of Narnia 2 | Quantum of Solace |
Movie Poster Extravaganzas:
archive
Here we honor the George Lucas / Steven Speilberg collaboration, the Indiana Jones Quadrilogy with this movie poster extravaganza.
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