movies: news • premieres • awards • star birthdays • new to DVD • coming soon
posters: just in • hottest • extravaganzas • stand-ups | capsules: previous • next]
Most Recent Movie Reviews:
review archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
(click a poster to purchase a poster)
Movie Review of Step Brothers (2008) [R] 95 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $7.75
If the best thing that can be said about Step Brothers is that it's better than Semi-Pro, isn't that kind of a problem? Unfortunately, the statement is true nonetheless. Unfortunately, the Will Ferrell / John C. Reilly / Adam McKay collaboration comes nowhere near the par set by their previous collaboration, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby . The plot concerns the union of two families: Dr. Robert Doback (Richard Jenkins) and his son, Dale (John C. Reilly) merge with Nancy Huff (Mary Steenburgen) and her two sons, Brennan (Will Ferrell) and Derek (Adam Scott). Robert and Nancy have big plans to retire and sail his boat around the world. Unfortunately, there's a gigantic kink in their utopian future: Brennan and Dale, newly anointed step-brothers, won't move out of the house and get real jobs. When Dr. Doback throws down the gauntlet and challenges them to get jobs or feel his wrath, it might seem cruel were in not for the fact that Dale's and Brennan's combined age would approximate 77 years. Yeah, these aren't college kids still trying to find their place in the universe, these are middle-aged men in mid-life crisis. …continued…or read the spoiler points…2cOrNot2c…
Movie Review of The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) [PG-13] 100 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $9.25
"X-Files" fans will probably see the movie regardless. It's hard to see, though, how the film will have appeal beyond those fans. Meanwhile, it's plum difficult to admit that "X-Files" fans are not only destined to be disappointed, they are going to be positively perplexed how the genius of Chris Carter got turned into this pretty awful movie and why David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson agreed to reprise their roles for the film—without which it most likely never would have been made. …continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of Space Chimps (2008) [G] 81 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.50
Give Space Chimps a chance. Co-writer / director Kirk De Micco utilizes a good 1960s-ish story and style in this CGI-animated film about chimps sent into space as guinea pigs before human crews to discover what happened to a missing space probe. Adventure for the chimps on a new planet ensues. Maybe less humorous than other animated comedies, the stories many morality plays more than make up for it.…continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of Mamma Mia! (2008) [PG-13] 108 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.00
For those unfamiliar with the story of Mamma Mia!—the stage musical sensation written to link various ABBA hits into a semi-coherent love story—it all begins with Sophie (Amanda Seyfried). She's getting married to Sky (Dominic Cooper) at her mother's run-down Inn on a tiny island in Greece. Donna (Meryl Streep), her mother, secretly believes she's too young to make this decision but goes along with the wishes of her daughter. To ensure the perfect wedding, unbeknownst to her mother, Sophie has secretly invited the three men from her mother's diary who could possibly be her long-lost father: Bill, an adventurer and novelist, (Stellan Skarsgård), Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan) a well-to-do English businessman now settled in the US, and Harry Bright (Colin Firth) a very, very well-to-do English businessman still living in England. They all arrive quite spectacularly a few days before the wedding holding invites they think Donna has sent them, and each secretly longs to be back in her arms. …continued…or read the spoiler points…
Movie Review of The Dark Knight (2008) [PG-13] 152 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $14.50
With the Batman back story out of the way with Batman Begins, the brothers Nolan, Chris (writer / director) and Jonathan (writer) were given more time this film go round entitled The Dark Knight to focus on the eternal conflict in the superhero archetype between having a real life and living a lonely life of service. They do this with an astonishingly astute analysis of the hero in general capturing the notion in one simple line uttered twice in the film but originally attributed to the Gotham City D.A. Harvey Dent, "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." This simple yet elegant line veils the complexity of the notion much as does the superhero's mask hide the true person within. To take this amazing journey required the appearance of a mind-bending supervillain with a superego to match and his orchestration of the fall of the best of the heroes. Toward that end, with the seed of that villain planted in the final scene of Batman Begins, the brothers bring forth The Joker. Inasmuch as The Joker may remain the most compelling character of not just this film but any film this year, and not just because of all of the tragedy associated with the actor who becomes him, the film triumphs in its ability to share the attention and the wealth. This is, after all, a Batman movies, and where the previous series of films began to fail was when they began to focus more on the villains than the heroes. …continued…or read the spoiler points…
Other Recent Reviews:
American Teen (2008) [PG-13] 95 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.50
Meet Dave (2008) [PG] 90 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.25
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) [PG] 92 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.50
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) [PG-13] 110 minutes WIP™ Scale: $11.50
Hancock (2008) [PG-13] 92 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.75
Wanted (2008) [R] 110 minutes WIP™ Scale: $14.00
Get Smart (2008) [PG-13] 110 minutes WIP™ Scale: $10.00
The Happening (2008) [R] 91 minutes WIP™ Scale: $14.25
Son of Rambow (2008) [PG-13] 96 minutes WIP™ Scale: $13.75
The Incredible Hulk (2008) [PG-13] 114 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.50
The Love Guru (2008) [PG-13] 88 minutes WIP™ Scale: $7.50
Kung Fu Panda (2008) [PG] 92 minutes WIP™ Scale: $14.00
The Wackness (2008) [R] 108 minutes WIP™ Scale: $12.50
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008) [PG-13] 113 minutes WIP™ Scale: $10.25
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...
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 Premiere • The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Premiere • X-Files: I Want to Believe Premiere • Swing Vote Premiere • Meet Dave Premiere • Step Brothers Premiere • Mamma Mia! The Movie Premiere • The Dark Knight Premiere • Wanted Premiere • Wall-E Premiere • The Love Guru Premiere • Kung Fu Panda Premiere • The Incredible Hulk (2008) Premiere • The Happening Premiere • Hancock Premiere • Get Smart Premiere • Camp Rock Premiere • You Don't Mess with the Zohan Premiere • Sex and the City Premiere • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Premiere • (continued)
Brand New Posters Just In:
New Poster Archive: 2007 • 2008 | TV Posters: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
New as of 30-July-08
Brand New Stand-Ups Just In:
New Stand-Ups Archive: 2008
New as of 30-July-08
Recent Movie Star Birthdays:
birthdays: last month / this month / next month / by month / alphabetically
[click star names to see tribute pages]
| 3-Aug | 2-Aug | 31-Jul | ||||||||
| Martin Sheen | Peter O'Toole | Dean Cain | ||||||||
(click to purchase) |
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| Also: Jacinda Barrett Joanna Cassidy Edward Furlong | Also: Michael Biehn Wesley Snipes | |||||||||
| 30-Jul | 29-Jul | 28-Jul | ||||||||
| Lisa Kudrow | Stephen Dorff | Lori Loughlin | ||||||||
(click to purchase) | (click to purchase) |
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| Also: Laurence Fishburne Vivica A. Fox Arnold Schwarzenegger Hilary Swank | Also: Wil Wheaton | Also: Alexis Arquette Elizabeth Berkley Evan Farmer | ||||||||
| 27-Jul | ||||||||||
| Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Related DVDs | Related DVDs | ||||||||
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| Also: Maya Rudolph |  |  |
Movies Now on DVD and Download:
DVD releases: Archive / This Week / Next Week
(click poster to purchase)
Doomsday (2008) [R]-- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $10.75
Review-lite: Talk about a radical upgrade, writer director Neil Marshall's The Descent was a cave horror movie of reasonable chills and success, whereas his film Doomsday, despite it's off-beat marketing campaign making it look a lot like a take off on a graphic novel, is a slick, stylistic, adrenalin fueled Mad Max-like film for the 2000s. Focusing on agent Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) who's been given the task of returning to a previously virus-ravaged Scotland to recover a possible cure now needed by recently-infected London proper, the final 20 minutes are one fun, action-charged race for survival that's in your face, on your feet, cheer worthy. Smartly executed, Neil Marshall has done a superb job of elevating this film slightly above the genre. The film presents what could be one of the most quotable lines of dialogue this year, "Here, try a piece of your friend." (click for full details and complete review) • (click to purchase Doomsday)
(click poster to purchase)
Never Back Down (2008) [PG-13]-- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $10.50
Review-lite: In what could have been the heroic equivalent to The Karate Kid for the XYZ generations, unfortunately Jeff Wadlow's direction of Chris Hauty's screenplay Never Back Down starring Sean Faris, Djimon Hounsou, and Cam Gigandet "taps out" instead sacrificing principles, morality, and inspiration for street thug basal immorality, gang brutality, and way too much drippy perspiration. By using and glamorizing illegal fight clubs, they have created a film from which it's probably best to "tap out" early. (click for full details and complete review) • (click to purchase Never Back Down)
Also This Week:
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay• Shine a Light •
Previously or Recently Announced Available for Pre-Order:
88 Minutes • August • Baby Mama • Camp Rock • Deception • The Forbidden Kingdom • Forgetting Sarah Marshall • Hannah Montana And Miley Cyrus: Best Of Both Worlds Concert • Leatherheads • Made of Honor • Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day • Nim's Island • Pathology • Prom Night • Smart People • Speed Racer • Street Kings • What Happens in Vegas • Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? •
Movies Coming Soon:
Dynamic Calendar Jan 2007 - Jun 2009 with links to official sites, trailers, reviews & more
Plain Calendars: 2006 • 2007 • 2008-09
Friday, 1 August 2008
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor • Swing Vote
In Limited Release Only: Frozen River • In Search of a Midnight Kiss • Midnight Meat Train • Sixty Six • South of the Border
Friday, 8 August 2008
Pineapple Express • The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
in limited release only: Bottle Shock • Elegy • The Perfect Game • Red • Towelhead
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:
We pay tribute to Brendan Fraser's The Mummy Franchise with this movie poster extravaganza.
Here we honor the Batman franchise with this movie poster extravaganza.
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