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 Son of Rambow (2008) [PG-13] 96 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.75
Deliriously engaging from the raucous opening sequence juxtaposition of the lives of two English school boys: Lee Carter's a maverick, virtually unsupervised renegade, and Will Proudfoot's the son of Brethren parents and now single mom after his father's untimely brain aneurysm, Son of Rambo represents the collision of the imaginations of two opposites attracting and discovering in each other a best friend and eventual blood brother. The gifted young actors, Will Poulter and Bill Milner, star as Lee and Will respectively; and, not since Jamie Bell starred as young Billy Elliot, have English lads so captivated and commanded the big screen. Both are perfectly cast with Poulter as a middle school bully turned budding filmmaker, Lee Carter, and Milner as the scrawny cartoonist turned Lee Carter's personal stunt man. The duo are introduced when Lee, routinely tossed out of class by teachers whose patience he wears razor thin, and Will whose mother's religious rules prohibit him from viewing on the television the instructional documentaries his history teacher utilizes frequently thereby subjecting him to a solitary life in the hallway, tussle over Will's sketch book ending in a smashed gold fish bowl and a date with the Headmistress. Lee capitalizes on the opportunity, in exchange for his taking the full blame, to extract penance from Will including a protracted commitment to serve as the stunt man for his film which he intends to submit to the Screen Test Contest sponsored by the BBC. Two shades shy of Charlie Bucket when it comes to weight class, don't let Will's size fool you though for within his tiny package lives the soul of the son of Rambow. …continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of The Incredible Hulk (2008) [PG-13] 114 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.50
With sufficient homage to satisfy almost any ardent fan-boy of The Incredible Hulk, the new film, sprung from out of nowhere and begging the question "Why another one?" when Ang Lee attempted, most felt badly, the last translation of the bulky green behemoth from comic book page to CGI animated superhero, Director Louis Leterrier and Executive Producer and Incredible Hulk originator Stan Lee (with requisite cameo) unleash this new interpretation with Edward Norton both as co-writer and as Bruce Banner plus a killer cameo at the end that speaks to a larger 'Avenger Team' of films being built from the House of Marvel. Contrasting with so many superhero films of late, the creation of the gamma-ray-induced Hulk inside Dr. Bruce Banner and his subsequent quest to learn to control his rage and tame the beast inside him are set up in the opening credits leaving the rest of the film's running time for even greater conflict. On the one hand, Banner, now working in a soda pop factory in Rio strives both to achieve mental control of his heart rate and to find a cure for his affliction, on the other hand, General Gen. Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross (William Hurt), wants to locate and capture him to turn the biotechnology that created him into a super soldier weapon. In the middle, as always, is Bruce's love interest Dr. Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) and daughter of General Ross who, despite finding a new boyfriend after Bruce disappeared, still pines away for her tragic hero she believes is lost and gone forever. …continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of Kung Fu Panda (2008) [PG] 92 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $14.00
With the anticipation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics building every day, there could be no more befitting release time than the present for Dreamworks Kung Fu Panda set in ancient China and featuring the voice talents of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong, Dan Fogler, and Michael Clarke Duncan. The story, about an unlikely hero—a chubby panda named Po (Black) with a passion for eating food far more than preparing it as his father Mr. Ping (Hong) would like—coming to the aid of his peaceful valley at a time of grave need, may sound a bit unoriginal on the surface it packs a powerful punch beneath. …continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008) [PG-13] 113 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $10.25
While clearly still being impacted by shades of the 'SNL Cast Curse', Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess with the Zohan (a needlessly verbose title) falls into the "other" in the "every other film is good" category--meaning this one is good while last summer's Chuck and Larry was not. Unfortunately, what will be referred to here simply as Zohan--for a savings in the economy of verbiage and not to be confused by the savvy reader as the main character's name--possesses a lingering, semi-bad-taste-in-your-mouth quality (do I smell the hand of Judd Apatow) reducing it to a "funny, but could have been so much better" position on the W.I.P. Scale.
…continued…or read the spoiler points…
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…
Other Recent Reviews:
Sex and the City (2008) [R] 148 minutes WIP™ Scale: $11.25
Indiana Jones 4 (2008) [PG-13] 124 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.50
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) [PG] 147 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.75
Frontier(s) (2008) [NC-17] 108 minutes WIP™ Scale: $4.25
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
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 / Video Coverage
The Happening Premiere • You Don't Mess with the Zohan Premiere • Kung Fu Panda Premiere • The Incredible Hulk (2008) Premiere • 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 • (continued)
Brand New Posters Just In:
New Poster Archive: 2007 • 2008 | TV Posters: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
New as of 10-June-08
Recent Movie Star Birthdays:
birthdays: last month / this month / next month / by month / alphabetically
[click star names to see tribute pages]
| 15-Jun | 14-Jun | 13-Jun | ||||||||
| Helen Hunt | Will Patton | Ashley Olsen Mary-Kate Olsen | ||||||||
| (click to purchase) |
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| Also: Ice Cube | Also: Tim Allen Ethan Embry Chris Evans Ally Sheedy | |||||||||
| 11-Jun | 10-Jun | 9-Jun | ||||||||
| Shia LaBeouf | Leelee Sobieski | Michael J. Fox | ||||||||
(click to purchase) |
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| Also: Adrienne Barbeau | Also: Shane West | Also: Johnny Depp Natalie Portman | ||||||||
| 8-Jun | ||||||||||
| Julianna Margulies | Related DVDs | Related DVDs | ||||||||
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| Also: Kathy Baker Keenen Ivory Wayans |  |  |
Movies Now on DVD and Download:
DVD releases: Archive / This Week / Next Week
(click poster to purchase)
The Bucket List (2008) [PG-13]-- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $13.75
Review-lite: Here are Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in The Bucket List directed by Rob Reiner from Justin Zackham's screenplay at their finest. Playing each a cantankerous old man of his own kind, Freeman on the softer side, the accidental hospital roommates learn of similar six-month fates. Shortly after, they are jet-setting spending as much of Nicholson's Edward Cole's money as they can. Along the way, the two become best friends each impacting the other's lives in more ways than one. The result is a dramedy that can have a miraculous effect on a willing soul. (click for full details and complete review) • (click to purchase The Bucket List)
(click poster to purchase)
Jumper (2008) [PG-13]-- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $11.75
Review-lite: Possessing more hype than substance in the end, were it not for Jamie Bell's role as Griffin that semi-redeems the film from pointless doldrums, then Jumper could be quickly relegated to a complete pass up list, instead, it falls on the 'wait for DVD' list. Unfortunately, too many writer-cooks sort of spoiled this adaptation of Steven Gould's novel with a nearly unlikable 'hero' David Rice (Hayden Christensen) and a malevolent villain Roland (Samuel L. Jackson) who lacks clear motivations. (click for full details and complete review) • (click to purchase Jumper)
Also This Week:
Funny Games • The Grand •The Other Boleyn Girl • The Signal • Witless Protection
Previously or Recently Announced Available for Pre-Order:
21 • 10,000 B.C. • August • The Bank Job • Charlie Bartlett • College Road Trip • Definitely, Maybe • Doomsday • Drillbit Taylor • Fool's Gold • Hannah Montana And Miley Cyrus: Best Of Both Worlds Concert • Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay • In Bruges • Meet Bill • Meet the Browns • Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day • Never Back Down • Nim's Island • Prom Night • Sex and Death 101 • The Spiderwick Chronicles • Step Up 2 The Streets • Vantage Point • War, Inc. • Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
Movies Coming Soon:
Dynamic Calendar Jan 2007 - Jun 2009 with links to official sites, trailers, reviews & more
Plain Calendars: 2006 • 2007 • 2008-09
Friday, 13 June 2008
The Happening • The Incredible Hulk
in limited release only: Baghead • Kicking It • My Winnepeg • Quid Pro Quo
Friday, 20 June 2008
Get Smart • The Love Guru
in limited release only: Brick Lane • The Children of Huang Shi
Top 10 Hottest-Selling Movie Posters:
(source: our friends at
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 |
| The Dark Knight | Indiana Jones 4 | Sex and the City | Hancock |
| #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 |
| Wall-E | Iron Man | Twilight | Mummy 3 |
| #9 | #10 | ||
| Chronicles of Narnia 2 | Quantum of Solace |
Movie Poster Extravaganzas:
archive
Here we honor the George Lucas / Steven Spielberg collaboration, the Indiana Jones Quadrilogy with this movie poster extravaganza.
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