I have been a huge fan of this series since the first, so have put in a good 70+ hours into this series, and have thought it was easily the best game ever made. Great gameplay, great graphics, a compelling story, excellent voice acting, and an incredible universe. I got Mass Effect 3 when it came out, but am married and working 50+ hours a week so was taking it slower than the previous games, and slowed even more when I heard about the awful ending. I started playing multiplayer, and going slow, finishing ever side mission. And I was still loving the game, and even thinking how it would be fun to play through as an adept. Now today I finished the game, and honestly have no desire to play again, the ending ruined it for me.

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OK I admit it, I am a fan of the film Titanic, and saw it 3 times in the theater originally and even owned the Laserdisc, so I wanted to see it in 3D, and Kelly, her sister and I went to the Arclight Sherman Oaks to check it out.

Now the Arclight Sherman Oaks is a different story. As there are a number of problems there that bother me. First off being that for $18 a ticket this movie should not have been shown on a tiny screen! And then the 3D glasses, while active (for higher resolution) have yet to be clean any time I have sene a 3D film here, and if you try and clean them the film on the lenses just gets worse and looks smeared which does not help the 3D experience at all. Not only that they have cheaped out and don’t even have napkins out, they hand you some if you get popcorn! For the ticket price, they can have napkins out! Anyway, back to topic.

I have to say the $18 million dollar 3D convert of Titanic is fantastic! The film looks really damn good, and the 3D was damn near perfect (except it always looked funny in the dissolves). And most of the film held up pretty well with a few exceptions. The big fly around of the ship in the daylight didn’t look very good, and the digital people are downright awful. And most glaring is the face replacement in the scene with the flooding corridor which looks beyond awful. And it was interesting to see that Cameron didn’t even remove the camera reflection from a glass door when Jack is going to the rich dining room for the first time. Strangely though I do hear that he did update the stars so they were correct for that position and time (as some scientist had been complaining since the film first came out). Honestly if a 3D upconvert can be this good, I can see it working on a lot of films, but at $18 million a pop I don’t think this level of upconvert will happen too often, and if they are going to do it they should do it right.

As for the film, it still holds up pretty well. Sure there are problems, but nothing too bad. The Romance doesn’t go on too long before you get Kate Winslet naked (and in 3D! Nice) and when the romance is really heating up the ship hits the iceberg and the action starts in. My biggest problems with the film are with the wrapper, as the whole thing with the old woman bothers me. Especially her dropping the priceless diamond into the sea instead of giving it to her family! And it is not only that, as we see her wheelchair bound for the whole film, not even able to get out of the helicopter and yet she walks fine to drop the diamond into the ocean! Why not put the diamond on after telling her story and die, and then go down into the ocean with her friends instead of dropping the diamond and doing it.

Honestly from the add campaign I had not been expecting much from this film and probably would have waited for Netflix, and then been sorely disappointed to have not seen it in the big screen in 3D, because this is a great film. Honestly Disney should have held onto it and released it as a summer tentpole, because it is that good. I can only think that the ad campaign is at fault, because this easily blows the Star Wars prequels out of the water. The story is great, and epic, the action is over the top fun, the effects are fantastic, with realistic 3D creatures, and the 3D was awesome, especially in IMAX 3D. I mean this is really a must see in 3D, and really a must see. It has romance, action, adventure. Everyone could enjoy this film, and should have if they released it right, though hopefully it’s international box office will help buoy the film as it is not doing too well (though better than expected by a bit). I hope Andrew Stanton of Pixar fame (he directed WALL-E gets other films off this, and I also hope this gets a sequel, though with the not so great box office it may not).

I will finish the review soon, but just wanted to get this up quickly after seeing it this weekend.

This strange and fun film that is a Korean, US and New Zealand produced by Lord of the Rings producer Barrie Osborne, done completely in English. It is a strange off the wall martial arts and love story with a bunch of wacky characters and some pretty incredible action. And with Ti Lung and Geoffrey Rush in it, it is a must see, though it is a little too quirky to have made any dent into the US market, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if it is really weird.

Yang (Jang Dong Gun) is a member of an assassin clan and the best swordsman in the world. He wipes out the last members of his clans enemy except a little baby girl, who he saves, but by doing so he makes an enemy of his clan, an they will be after him. Yang heads to the United States to visit an old friend who runs a laundry in a western town named Lode along with the baby. The down is completely run down and Yang is dead, and the residents are trying to rebuild the town into a circus to draw people back to what was once the Paris of the West. The town is run by the midget Eight-Ball (Tony Cox) and he almost meets the town drunk Ron (Geoffrey Rush) and Lynne (Kate Bosworth) who was friends with Smiley, Yang’s dead friend, and who adopts him and helps him take over the laundromat. Of course all is not good in the town, as it has been ravenged by a gang led by The Colonel (Danny Huston) who previously shot Lynne after trying to rape her and killing her parents.

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The only thing that can really be said for this film, is that the effects have finally caught up with it, and that they used the great music from the original, but other than that there is not too much here too love. Sure it looks great, but no one in the cast really shines, and honestly I would have rather had a really perfect restoration of the originals for blu-ray instead of this film which is fun, but not something I will care to see again, I would rather just watch the original, especially since the changes to the story don’t add anything, and how can you really top the originals cast? And by making it a love triangle, you really kill the main love story with Ning Choi Shan that is supposed to be the hear of the story, and make him a shallow love that really has no meaning.

This time around ghost fighting Taoist priest Yin Chek Ha (Louis Koo Tin Lok) on his first mission was sent to destroy the spirits at Black Hill, especially the 10,000 year old Tree Demon (Wai Ying Hung) but instead fell in love with the Fox Spirit Siu Sin (Liu Yifei), when he finally realized they could not be together, he used his ultimate weapon, which was meant for the tree spirit on Siu Sin to make him forget him completely. Then young bumbling scholar Ning Choi Shan (Yu Shaoqun) arrives at the town at the bottom of the hill, which is dyeing for lack of water, and they get him to go into the black hills to get the water flowing, along with a gang of convicts. They find the water source, where the tree is, but Siu Sin’s demon sisters take the convicts and eat them. Siu Sin likes the sweet Ning Choi Shan who gives her candy just as Yin did before, and Yin shows up and starts killing the spirits, and Ning Choi Shan thinks he is a murderer.

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An Epic Kung Fu drama with gorgeous production values that harkens back to Martial Arts films of old, with a character who is too arrogant then must learn the true ways of kung fu to be able to go against an enemy of his own devising. Not the best film, but Andy Lau Tak Wah is great, and the Jackie Chan cameo is quite fun, and Nick Tse is always good at playing a slimy baddy. A must see for Kung Fu fans, and it really does have an epic feel to it. Sure we have all seen the tale of the fall of Shaolin before, but this is a different twist to the story than I have seen before, though keeping with the old school kung fu esthetic, that doesn’t stick too closely to the facts. There are also some great martial artists in the film, and the film is done with very little CGI so it looks amazing. I do recommend checking it out if you have a chance.

Andy Lau Tak Wah plays Warlord Hou in the early 1900′s fighting to carve China up. He chases a rival General to Shaolin where many refugees have gone to seek food and shelter. Huo’s right hand Tsao (Nicholas Tse Ting Fun) has shown some mercy, but Huo shoots his rival on the sacred grounds, teaching Tsao that he has to be non-compromising. Hou then makes a deal with a general who is a friend of his to marry his daughter to the other generals son, but in fact sets him up to betray him, but in turn is betrayed by Tsao. He runs with his daughter, but Tsao knocks them over a cliff and his little daughter is hurt. Both Huo and his wife (Fan Bing Bing) end up at Shaolin Temple, and they watch as the daughter dies, and Huo’s wife leaves him. Huo with no where to go stays at Shaolin, being apprenticed to the cook Uncle Wudao (Jackie Chan) and slowly starts practicing his martial arts and learning the ways of Shaolin.

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I picked this up for rental on Netflix because I am a fan of Ray Stevenson (especially as Pullo on Rome on HBO), not expecting much, and was blown out of my seat! I can’t believe I had never heard of this film, and that it did not do well in theaters! It really is a new Scorcese film! A beautifully shot, well directed crime drama set in Cleveland, based on the true story of Danny Greene. This film is a must see! How this went under the radar I will never know, but it had better have a huge life on video, because this is a great film!

Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) is an Irish American in Cleveland, working at the docks. He is respected by his coworkers because he is smart and well read. He and his buddies are badly treated by the union, and the union leader Kerry Merke (Bob Gunton) sends his heavy after Danny, but Danny takes him out and kicks out Merke, taking over the union. He makes friends with the local mafia, especially John Nardi (Vincent D’Onofrio) and starts making a huge profit extorting ships out of their money. He meets and marries a waitress named Joan (Linda Cardellini), and has 3 kids. Danny grew up with a local cop Joe Madnitski (Val Kilmer) who is always watching him, and a reporter informs Manditski that he has a bunch of info on Danny, and runs a story. Everyone runs except Danny and he is arrested. The FBI comes in and takes Danny from the locals and make a deal to get information on the mafia from him, and he calls, though never really gives them anything.

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Well I was so excited for this that I rented all I could of Star Blazers on Netlix (they are missing some discs though) and watched all the movies, and some of it was great, but only some. The casting was good, the production design and sets, and the actual Yamato looked awesome, but the story they totally fucked up! As a fan, I just wanted to see an adaption of the seminal Anime series that I grew up watching as Star Blazers, and this is unfortunately not that. This is a whole new beast, where they changed the story, and not for the better. The Aliens they call the Gamilas, are more a Halo enemy than the Gamilus from the Anime, and much less scary for it. The changes made are arbitrary and don’t add to the story, and the ending is much more the failed Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato than the successful series (where they destroy the ship and crew), and while I am impressed by the actual effects, the small size of the Yamato’s bridge really distrubed me. And the lack of Desklock and a human like enemy that you could really hate, and who could eventually become friends hurt the story as much as the arbitrary changes. I like the effects and casting, so I am glad I saw it, but still wish for a more accurate depiction of the original anime.

In the year 2199 the earth has been under attack for 5 years by the evil aliens the Gamilus, and they have turned the Earth into a irradiated planet without a chance for life, and humans have moved underground to live. An Earth Defense Force Fleet led by Captain Jyuzo Okita (Yamazaki Tsutomu). His fleet is destroyed, and he is saved by another captain Kodai Mamoru (Tsutsumi Shinichi) who dies to save his commander. Fighter pilot Mori Yuki (Kuroki Meisa) also survives. On Earth former Ace Pilot Kodai Susumu, Mamoru’s younger brother works searching for hidden metals on Earth’s surface, but while out, something crashes, and he finds a probe, but is badly irradidated, and should die. He is saved by Okita’s ship, but blames the captain for his brother’s death. The doctor Sado (Takashima Reiko who is OK, but not as good as the older male character from the Anime) thinks Kodai should die. The message contains plans for a new engine, and space coordinates. Okita gets the Earth defense to let him have the Earths last Battleship the Yamato with the new engine, to instead of evacuate Earth with the best and brightest to follow the plans to give Earth Hope, and they ask Civilians to volunteer.

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Honestly I should get my head examined, because I actually enjoyed this film. It is over the top ridiculous, and I am sure would have been better in 3D, as the effects that were obviously for 3D looked pretty lame in 2D, but it was fun, and not what I expected. I don’t know what I expected, but not this, just Nick Cage being his over the top self and kicking some ass, and Amber Heard is pretty smoking hot, so… Not sure I can really recommend this to anyone but guys, and even most guys will probably hate this, but I thought it was pretty violent over the top fun with some great car action as well. Well worth renting on Netflix.

John Milton (Nicholas Cage) driving a classic muscle car takes out another car load of guys in his quest to find Satanic Cult leader Jonah King (Billy Burke). Jonah (nice name) has killed John’s daughter, and is going to sacrifice his baby granddaughter in order to create hell on earth and live forever. Milton meets up with a beautiful waitress named Piper (Amber Heard) driving a hot muscle car, and helps fix it and gets a ride with her. When she gets to her house, her boyfriend is fucking another woman, so she gets in a fight with him, and Milton saves her, and takes her in her car (actually her boyfriends that she paid for) toward Florida where she said she wanted to go, and his business is on the way. Milton is being chased by the Accountant (WIlliam Fichtner), who seems to have supernatural powers, and kills people wantonly on his way to get MIlton, including Piper’s ex.

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Now I am a comic book fan, and have read Captain America on and off for a long time, but I have to say this film is way better than the reviews. I really enjoyed it, maybe better than Iron Man. I love the whole world war 2 setting, but also they really stayed true to the material, and made it great. I am really impressed by how good it was, and even more so by how much I enjoyed the 3D. I used to think I did not want to see 3D up converts, but if they are as good as Thor, Deathly Hallows 2 and this, then I am sold, because it looks amazing, and really does add to the film. In fact it makes me dream of having an 3D HDTV! I really think it adds so much! I have to say I was skeptical of Chris Evans as Captain America, but he is great, and the effect to make him look like a 98 pound weakling is perfect. I hear complaints of the modern tech in World War 2, but that was the story with Hydra, and I think they did it perfectly, and love how this leads right into the Avengers. Marvel is doing a great job, and I hope they keep it up, and hope they get back the films they sold the rights to, because honestly the new Spider Man looks awful, and I would rather have a more accurate X-Men, Fantastic Four and Daredevil. It is too bad they released this when they did, because being pinned between Harry Potter and Cowboys & Aliens it is not going to make as much as it should, at least domestically.

In modern times some US government agents are called into to the arctic to deal with a huge crashed something that is discovered. They go in and find a red white and blur circular shield and call their superiors. Back in 1942, the head of the Nazi science wing Hydra, Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull (the great Hugo Weaving) smash though a castle in Norway, and steal the cosmic cube, which is said to be something of Odin’s of great power. In New York city, the 98 pound weakling Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) keeps getting rejected for World War II Military service, not matter how many times he lies about where he is from. His best friend Sergeant James “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) takes his out before he is to go to duty with two girls. They got to the Modern Marvels of Tomorrow exhibit and see Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) giving a demonstration of a flying car. Steve skips out on the date, to try and enlist again, and a scientist hears his plight, and decides he might be perfect for a secret project. This is Dr Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) from Bavaria who works fro the US Government Strategic Scientific Reserve. He has Steve enlisted, and has him brought to a camp under the command of Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and SSR Officer Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Phillips doesn’t like Steve right off, as he is the worst soldier, but he proves the most spirit, even jumping on a dummy grenade he thinks is live to save everyone else. He is perfect.

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Honestly one of the best films in the series, not as good as the third film (but none of them are), but as good as the 6th, and really an epic war film. And, it surprises me to say this, but I found the unconverted 3D version to be better than the 2D version. Sure there were moments where I felt the 3D was forced (too much depth on backgrounds), but it did make the film more dynamic, and having seen both versions it was far superior. Daniel Radcliffe hands down gives his best performance here, proving he might actually have a career after Harry Potter, and the film is really good. Of course that is not to say that I don’t think there are problems. First off Desplat’s score is mediocre at best, and should have been Williams gain, since it is all his score they are riffing off of anyway. Then some stupid changes, like why have to spell a goblin when they have Bellatrix’s wand anyway? The high points are the kiss, and of course Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) who really gets to shine. And I missed some deaths as well (though some were already in the book as not being there are felt rushed), and the final fight doesn’t really convey everything. And finally after the review I want to talk a little about some of the wholes that this film brings up in the whole series. I mean I still love the books, and greatly enjoy the films, but there are certainly some issues this final story brings up. Overall though this is an absolute must see film, and I am glad they split it into two films as more of the story got to be shown and it was better presented. I mean I actually like how they did Game of Thrones with 10 episodes being one book! This is a really great film, and go see it in 3D while you can, and after seeing it I am sure Warner will be re-releasing all the films in the theater in 3D, possible special editions in a few years, and I am sure my wife and I will be there opening day, maybe it will convince her to let me get a 3D TV! He he he!

The film starts right where the last one ended, looking at Dobby the house elve’s grave. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), and his best friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) go to talk to the Goblin Griphook (excellently played by Warwick Davis, though he was played by Verne Troyer in the first film) about the Sword of Gryffindor, which Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) thought should be in her vault at Gringot’s, along with something more important, which they figure must be one of Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) Horcrux’s (each containing a part of his soul and each must be destroyed before he can be killed once and for all). Griphook agrees to help them get into the vault. They then go to talk to the wandmaker Olivander (John Hurt) who says Bellatrix lestrange’s wand is still dangerous, but that Draco Malfoy’s (Tom Felton) is now Harry’s as he disarmed him. And they talk to him about the Elder Wand, which was Dumbledore’s (Michael Gambon) but Voldemort now has, and is the most powerful wand and one of the 3 Deathly Hallows (along with Harry’s Invisibility Cloak and the Resurrection Stone). Hermione uses a hair of Bellatrix’s to change into looking like her (and Carter does as an awesome job as her) and they head to Gringots to get into Bellatrix’s vault.

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I was reading the British Doctor Who Magazine when I learned about the amazing Doctor Who Big Finish series and could not be happier that I did. They make the perfect way to drive in LA traffic, by distracting me in an amazing audio story.

Big Finish has gone and made Audio Adventures of past Doctor Who’s, starring Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor, Collin Baker, the sixth doctor, Sylvester McCoy, the 7th Doctor, and Paul McGann, the 8th Doctor, as well as old and new companions in brand new audio adventures. And these are not like a read story, but a complete audio adventure with sound effects and many actors, and most of them are pretty amazing.

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I went to see Thor on opening day, but was suckered by AMC theaters as I wanted to see this film in 2D, but they reversed their 2D and 3D listings. so everyone was pissed to be having to pay $4 more for a 3D upconvert. That being said as an upconvert, it looked pretty good, with my only complaint of sometimes the faces seemed a bit strange, still at the very least it did not detract from the film, and it was an enjoyable film. Branagh may have in fact made the next most enjoyable Marvel produced film after the first Iron Man film. Even the changes from Thor’s origin story did not bother me (the Marvel movies have always felt more like the Ultimate Universe than the normal one anyway, and having Sam Jackson as Nick Fury further illustrates that point). And I liked the little in jokes about Donald Blake, being Jane Foster’s (Natalie Portman) old boyfriend. Overall I enjoyed the stuff of Asgard, especially making Bifrost the rainbow bridge technological. Honestly I am looking forward to seeing Thor again in the Avengers, and hopefully in Thor 2. Well worth checking out, a great origin story about a man growing up and learning responsibility, which is oh so much more important for a man with the power’s of Thor, who is next in line to the throne of Asgard.

The film starts with Physicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) taking her mentor Dr. Erik Slevig (Stellan Skarsgard) and assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) out into the New Mexico dessert to see some strange atmospheric affects that Jane’s research had been able to predict. They see a huge flash from the sky and drive into a cloud, barely missing running over, and just hurting a huge strange name, Thor (Chris Hemsworth last seen as Kirk’s father in the Star Trek reboot). He is dazed, and babling and Darcy uses her stun gun on him, and they wonder where we came from, and we go back to Asgard, where Thor The God of Thunder is from.

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I have to admit to have a soft place in my heart for these films. I used to hang with a couple of rice burners, and while the films were never accurate to the scene, they were always a fun time. And Justin Lin has been having a good run with these films. His first was a reboot, that was more about real drifting, and Fast & Furious was the best in the series until now. Sure the action is over the top ridiculous (I mean those metal cables would have snapped so fast in the final action scene), but it is still fun, and he has taken the series forward, from a racing film with some crime, to a full on caper film with racing. Hell the one real pink slip street race in the film isn’t even shown! And my only complaint is that the big fight scene between Diesel and the Rock looked too much like an American action film with close up shots and quick cuts, vs. a hong kong style action scene, where you can really see what is going on, but hopefully he improve on that in the inevitable sequel. And they really did everything else right, bringing back a ton of characters from the earlier films, and finally answering how Han Lue (Sung Kang who has been in the last two films, but died in the first of those and is also a carry over from Lin’s own excellent indie, Better Luck Tomorrow) is still alive (these are all prequels to that film as many have been speculating). I also love how while these are total caper films, the heart is about your friends as a family, who you will do anything for, no matter how crazy. This is really a fun film, and worth checking out, though might be weird to just jump in here, but it is a very enjoyable popcorn action film that I will certainly get on blu-ray. And if you see make sure to stay till at least the middle credits, as their is a hint at the next film.

The film starts just as Fast & Furious ends, with Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel) being carted off to Lom Pac Maximum Security Prison for his past crimes, even after helping FBI Agent Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) to bring a major drug lord. Well O’Conner who betrayed the gang once, but let Dom go, and paid for it, can’t agree, with the help of his lover, Dom’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and Dom’s friends Tego Leo (Tego Calderón) and Rico Santos (Don Omar) wreck the bus he was in, and get him, and only him out, and they all head to Rio via separate means. Mia and Brian arrive first, where they meet up with Vince (Matt Schulze) who has a kid now. Vince was in Dom’s family in the first film, and never trusted Brian (mainly because Mia liked him, though he was right) and they still don’t like each other, but Vince has a job that is supposed to be easy money, and since Dom hasn’t arrived they agree to do it. And Mia does it even though she is pregnant, but hasn’t told Brian yet. The job is to steal 3 sports cars off a train going through the desert. Brian and Mia break in and get the keys, and find that they are from an American DEA seizure, and they know something is wrong. Vince and his gang show up in a buggy and cut through the side of the train, and Dom is with them, though disapproving of the job, and Vince takes the first car. The Brazilians are after the Ford GT40, but Mia takes it, but goes to a different location. The Brazillians try and double cross Dom and Brian, and kill the DEA agents, but Brian and Dom escape, only to be captured by more of Herman Reyes’s (Joaquim de Almeida) men. They learn they want the GT40, and manage to escape.

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Honestly I had thought I could watch Tony Jaa in anything, his martial arts are so much fun to watch, but this film is so pretentious and trying to be epic that it really falls completely flat, and has more flaws than good points. Sure it looks great, and the fighting, at least what their is of it is pretty fun to watch, but it is everything in between and it’s use of tricks and convolutions to the plot that are completely useless that makes this a total yawn. I love watching Tony Jaa, but this is pretty much a stinker, and I am glad it was for free on HDNET. And not only that, but to change the villain really lowers the film.

This film starts just as the last film ends with Tien (Tony Jaa) having been captured by Lord Rajasena (Sarunyu Wongkrajang). Tien is beaten, and almost manages to escape, but is overpowered by superior numbers and his elbows and knees snap and he is held as a trophy. Some rebels try to free him, but fail when Bhuti Sangka (Dan Chupong) comes and kills them. Lord Rajasena tries to hire him, but Bhuti refuses and says he will come to him begging to remove the curse that is driving him crazy. Rajasena orders Tien to be killed, but one of the kings men arrives and pardons him and takes his broken body to be healed at Kana Khone village. Rajasena of course sends out assassins to kill Tien, but he is losing it and even kills some of his closest advisors.

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I have been a a Jackie Cheung fan for a long time, and a fan of the films of Ivy Ho (especially Comrades, Almost a Love Story which she wrote) and I was actually pleasantly surprised by this film, because it is not your typical Hong Kong romantic comedy, but instead a dramedy with great characters, that is very well done. I very much enjoyed this film, it is well done with great performances.

Loy (Jacky Cheung Hok Yau) is getting older and has had only one real love in his life, and she got left him and got married, and so he has never grown up. He would sleep through every day if he could, though his aunt (Mimu Chu Mi Mi) wakes him and tried to get him going. His mom, Mrs Chiang (Bau Hei Jing) who runs an appliance store where he works keeps trying to set him up with women, and he is introduced at a dim sum lunch to Oi Ling (Tang Wei) a girl whose uncle and aunt adopted her and she works at their toilet shop. The meeting does not go well as Loy doesn’t care and Oi Ling has a boyfriend, a punk named Xu (Andy On Chi Kit) who is currently in jail for beating someone up. They do end up meeting again though, and make friends, going to a restaurant where the meet an Indian waiter, who keeps showing up, and they want to know who he actually is. The title refers to the road which you must cross to go from one’s parents shop to the next and changing neighborhoods.

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A strange but enjoyable science fiction tale (with a really out there, almost 2001 ending) which is the first solo directed work by Caro, who once worked with Jean-Pierre Jeunet on Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children. Well worth seeing, but the ending is a bit out there, and certainly doesn’t bring any closure, not living up to the rest of the film at all.

In deep space is an orbital space station shaped like a cross, which is a prison facility and psychiatric station for criminals who are the worst of their kind around the fiery planet of Dante 01. A new shuttle arrives with a Vietnamese scientist named Elisa (Linh Dan Pham) who has come with new techniques from the company to test on patients and also brought another patient. This is a strange man who the prisoners end up calling Saint Georges (Lambert Wilson). He was found on a ship with the rest of the crew dead, and completely covered in blood. He doesn’t talk and is pretty out of it. He meets the other prisoners. The leader César (the great Dominique Pinon), the viscous recluse Bouddha (Bruno Lochet), the large Moloch (Francois Hadji-Lazaro), César’s right hand Lazare (Francois Levantal), the computer hacker Attila (Yann Collette) and the religious Raspoutine (Lotfi Yahya Jedidi) who believes that the new patient is actually Saint Georges come to slay the dragon and set them free, and he just might be right. Elisa immediately buts heads with the station commander Perséphone (Simona Maicanescu) who objects to her nanotech experiments, but the other researcher Charon (Gérald Laroche) sides with Elisa and the company over her old boss, but not before setting Attila to start hacking to find out about Elisa and what is going on and he finds out that all the prisoners are expendable.

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Another of the best films of the year, with both Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth proving just how good of actors they actually are! This historical drama is fantastic, a great duel of minds, and another must see film of the year. Do not miss this one.

Prince Albert, Duke of York and son of King George V (Colin Firth) makes a speech at the 1925 Empire Exhibition, stammering his way through it. He and his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter here in non-insane mode) have him go through stammer cures including smoking and trying to talk with his mouth full of marbles, but none work, and he vows to stop trying to cure his stammer. Elizabeth, the duchess of York goes on her own to meet with an Australian speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) and persuades her husband to try his radical treatments. Logue and Albert but heads right away, as Albert has quite a temper, and does not like being treated as an equal, which Lionel insists on. He calls Albert “Bertie” which only his family calls him, and makes him stop smoking. He also bets him a shilling he can make him read without a stammer. Lionel has Bertie listen to music on headphones while he reads Shakespear’s Hamlet soliloquy and records it. Bertie is convinced he stammered throughout, and Logue gives him the recording with him reading it perfectly as a memento.

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This is a case where I am so glad that my wife gets screeners, because I would never have seen this film otherwise, not being a huge fan of Jim Carrey’s ridiculous comedies, but then I would have missed one of the best films of the year, and that would have been a real shame. In fact it is a real tragedy if Carrey doesn’t get nominated for an academy award for best actor, he is that good, and this film is that good. Really well done and really enjoyable. Too bad the title makes you think it is something that it isn’t (I thought it was about the cigarette company, but has nothing to do with it). A must see film.

Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) is dying in a hospital bed, and we go back to seeing hoe this all got started. Steven grew up in Virginia Beach, an adopted son, who became a happily married police officer with a wife named Debie (Leslie Man) and a lovely daughter, but his life changed when he was in a terrible car accident. He came out as he was really was, gay, and moved to Miami to change his life. Steven worked in at a grocery, but his extravagant lifestyle with boyfriend Jimmy (Rodrigo Santoro) leeds him into the life of a Con man, until he is caught and sent to prison. In prison Russell meets and falls in love with the sweet and unassuming Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). From then on Steven does anything and everything for his love Phillip, getting transferred to his cell, having people beat up, and doing everything for him.

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I have to say when I heard about this film it is not a film I felt like rushing out to see. Sounds like way too brutal of a story, and I am never a big fan of people losing limbs. And all I can say is I am so glad I did not stay away because this is easily the best film of the year. It fills you with wonder and hope, and James Franco deserves the Oscar. This is an absolute must see film, even if you must hide your eyes for some of it. Do yourself a favor and go see this film right now! This makes me want to read Ralston’s actual book Between a Rock and a Hard place. Wow, what a story and what a person.

In April of 2003 Engineer Aron Ralston (James Franco) is heading out to go hiking. He ignores a call from his mom, and can’t find his swiss army knife, only a really crappy multi-tool and heads out in his truck to go hiking in Utah. Ralston is in his element, and having a great time all alone in the wilderness, though he does run into two beautiful hikers, Megan McBride (Amber Tamblyn) and Kristi Moore (Kate Mara) who he shows a secret way to a watering hole, and has them dropping into it from above. The invite him to a party that night, and he agrees, but skips off on his own, electing not to go with the girls. Shortly thereafter he goes into a small canyon and a knocks a rock lose and it falls on him, pinning his right arm under it, leaving him stuck.

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Wow, I have been excited for this film for a long time, and while it was visually stunning, the film’s story is laughable bad, as is the directed, and because of it the acting. Disney should have let someone who actually got the first film do this sequel, because great visuals do not make for a great movie. Sure the effect of making Jeff Bridges young is great, but the story veers completely away from the themes of the first film, and tries to be it’s own thing, but it’s storyline is just contrived and ridiculous, and even Olivia Wilde can’t lift the mediocrity that we see here. The first film was about computers taking over the fledgling computer networks of the world, and this movie abandons that for plans to take over the real world, huh? And while the 3D was great, I have to say the good electronic glasses they had at the Arclight were so covered in an oily film that the whole movie looked fuzzy, and my mom and I weren’t the only ones constantly trying to wipe out glasses!

in 1989 the CEO of ENCOM, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) tells a story about a fantastic new world, and then disappears that night, never to be seen again. ENCOM, though owned mostly by Flynn’s son, is run by it’s board of directors in complete opposition to Flynn’s ideas of free software, and they spend each year releasing a new upgrade to their system software (as developed by Edward Dillinger Jr [Cillian Murphy] a nod to ENCOM executive Ed Dillinger who was played by David Warner in the first film) which is really only advertising and doesn’t add anything. The only executive who fights it is Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) who stills believes in his old friend. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) an adrenaline junky pulls his yearly prank on ENCOM and steals the new OS and releases if for free, before being arrested after base jumping from the top of the building. That night Alan goes to see Sam to tell him that he got a page from Kevin’s old arcade, though the number has been disconnected for 2o years. Sam goes to the old arcade (which strangely features a Tron game instead of the Space Paranoids that is should have, and which they had at the recreation in San Diego for Comic Con) where he finds Kevin’s secret office, and using the same laser as the first film gets digitized into a world created by his father, the computerized world of the Grid.

Sam is taken, stripped and given an identity disc, and forced to fight in the game grid. Sam proves himself to be most able, defeating everyone who goes against him, until he goes up to the raining champion Rinzler who realizes that Sam is not a program but a User. Rinzler takes Sam to see the head of the Grid, Clu (a young looking Jeff Bridges) who is a program that Kevin created to help create a perfect world, and he took over from Kevin and forced him to go into hiding. Clu decides to take on Sam himself in the grid in a light bike competition.

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With Aronofsky I either love or hate his films, loving most of them, but having hated Requim for a Dream I didn’t know what to think here, but it turns out this is a hate. The film is completely one night and pretty nonsensical, seemingly about a dancer who is completely insane, and whose life is paralleling the story of the Black Swan. I am usually a fan of Natalie Portman, but even her seemingly prodigious ballet skills cannot help her completely one note performance, and she is so skinny that she seems to have gained 20 years. I really don’t see why this film has gotten so much oscar buzz because it is really not an enjoyable film in any way shape or form. Not even the lesbian makeout scene between Portman and Mila Kunis can help raise this film above the crappy pulp that it is.

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a ballet dancer with the New York Ballet company, living with her overbearing mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who was a failed dancer and now controls every aspect of Nina’s life. The ballet company’s director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassell) has cast away the companies old lead Beth (Winona Ryder) and is searching for someone new to play the White and Black Swan’s in Swan Lake. Nina is amazing as the white Swan, as she is all about perfection, but doesn’t seem to have the emotion to play the Black Swan. And her rival Lily (Mila Kunis) who has just joined shows emotion without even trying. When Leroy tries to kiss her, she bytes him and this surprises him, and excites him, causing him to cast Nina, but wants her to try and find her emotion, trying to get her to seduce him, and giving her homework of masturbating (which she tries but stops when she realizes her mom is in her room sleeping in a chair).

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I have to admit that the Cohens have become really hit or miss for me. Sure, No Country for Old Men was decent (though in my opinion not deserving of all the hype), but A Serious Man, Burn After Reading, The LadyKillers, Intolerable Cruelty and the Man Who Wasn’t There all stunk. Of course all before that were pretty fantastic, but that is a pretty big list of stinkers. Of course the trailer of this film looked amazing, and I must say the film easily lived up to the trailer. The Cohen’s are back and in force. Everyone is amazing is in this, and it is a really great Western. This is another must see film this holiday season. And this film should certainly easily get some acting nods. Jeff Bridges is as fantastic as he usually is. Matt Damon is hysterical. And wherever they found Hailee Steinfeld, they really found a gem. She makes the film and is fantastic.

The young girl Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) heads into town to deal with her murdered father. He was killed by his hand Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Mattie sends her slave back to her mother with her father’s body, and then sets out to hire someone to catch Chaney. She manages to get money her father was owed, and sell the horses he bought. She decides to hire, the baddest of the U.S. Marshals, the notorious one eyed Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). Cogburn doesn’t want anything to do with her. A bit of an idiot Texas Ranger named La Boeuf (Matt Bamon) shows up also looking for Chaney, and wants to team up with Cogburn, as he knows the Indian territory an terrain, but Mattie will have none of it, as she wants to take Chaney home to be hanged and not to Texas for his crime of killing a congressman. Mattie does manage to hire the drunken Cogburn, though he gets more than he bargained for, when she decides to come along. Cogburn attempts to leave her behind, and meet up with La Boeuf, since with 2 bounties he can make more money, but Mattie will have nothing of it, and swims her horse along the river and comes along anyway.

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Now my wife is a huge Harry Potter Fan, and I do love the books, but the movies have been more let downs to me than joys, and this one has proved no exception. The films hit their peak with the third film, The Prisoner of Azkabhan by Alfonso Curon, and the only film to come close was David Yate’s Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, but his Order of the Pheonix film is my least favorite in the entire series, and this one has dropped back down in my opinion. Not only does Eduaro Serra’s cinematography not touch that of the amazing Bruno Delbonnel’s, but the pacing was off enough to drag at times, and though they claimed to not have cut anything out, they did in fact cut things that seem like they should be important to the story. And the did in fact add to the film, though the big addition of a dance between friends Harry and Hermione I did enjoy, though it does seem to suggest that Harry does love Hermione which is not even hinted at in the books. Honestly the kids do a great job here, and have really grown as actors, but the film really left me flat. First off the score I thought was jarringly bad, and really should have been John WIlliams, and should have continued some of his themes for characters, even if they had grown and gotten darker. But with all new music here, I am never drawn into the world as I was with William’s score. Once again it felt to me like they really didn’t get the novel, and were just going through the motions, instead of really getting into it. And the big opening chase scene was not only too confusing, but to me it felt like it was staged as a big 3D spectacular, which really fell flat without the 3D conversion (which I am glad they did not do), but I think the scene could have been done better if it wasn’t intended to have been done for 3D. I also felt that the film wasn’t ominous enough, as in the book Voldemort is always right on Harry’s heals waiting to get him, but here we only see him in the big chase, and that seem is so disjointed that I couldn’t tell if Voldemort was supposed to be there, or Harry was dreaming it. Maybe the ultimate extended edition they will eventually release will make it better, as maybe they filmed it all, but if that is the case, what they ended up with was just badly paced (something that really bothers me as an editor) and didn’t draw me as I hoped it would. Sure it had some good moments, but had too many things that threw me out of the film (why did Dobbie’s voice sound so different, especially with Toby Jones playing him in the two films he appeared in?). I am sure after repeated viewings I might find more to like in the film, but overall it just left me feeling flat. Let’s hope part 2 is better, and since they covered so much of the book in the this film, lets hope for an hour long battle scene at the end (especially since they cut the big battle out of Half Blood Prince which took a lot away from the ancillary characters and made the ending fall much flatter than it should have).

The film starts with the new Minister for Magic Rufus Scimgour (the great Bill Nighy) giving a speech about how the ministry still being strong, while Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) meets with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and the Death Eaters at the house of the very damaged by prison in Azkhaban, Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs). Snape informs them of the exact time that Harry Potter will be moved. Voldemort knows his wand will not kill Harry so he takes Lucius’s wand to do the dead. Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) erases the memories of her parents, erasing herself from her parents lives (an awesome addition to the film). The Dursley’s leave for their safety, leaving Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) alone at the house. Mad Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) along with Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), Hermione, Fred and George Weasley ( James and Oliver Phelps), Bill Weasley (Domhnall Glesson) and his fiancee Fleue Delacour (Clémence Poésy), the thief Mundugus Fletcher (Andy Linden), Rebueus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) and Nymphadora Tonks (Natalia Tena). Half of them take Polyjuice potion and they head out to fool the death eaters, but are ambushed. Harry with Hagrid is saved by his owl Hedwig who is killed, but is still almost taken by Voldemort, but again the wand will not kill Harry, and he manages to get to the Weasley’s house the Burrows. Mad Eye Moody is killed though when Mundugus evaporates, and George is hexed and hurt. Harry wants to leave so no one else is hurt, but Ron convinces him to stay. Scimgeour arrives with Dumbledore’s will. Ron is left his Deluminator to get him through his darkest time, Hermione is given a copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard and Harry is given the snitch from his first Quiditch game. He is old told he was left Godric Gryffindor’s sword, but not only is it lost, but it belongs to the ministry so it won’t be given to him. At Bill and Fleur’s wedding, death eater’s attack, and Harry along with Hermione and Ron apparate and arrive in London, and start on the run.

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I have been a fan of Superchunk since college, and have been psyched that they finally started recording again after 7 years with they Leaves in the Gutter EP and now their ninth album Majesty Shredding. And Kelly and I have really enjoyed seeing shows at the Music Box as it has a great sound system which is not too loud, and we love the balcony, which was unfortunately closed last night. I did get their early enough to claim one of the side seats though, so Kelly and I were able to sit for the show, especially great since it was so hot and humid last night.

The first opening band was from Seattle, and is a band called Telekinesis, with their singer being the drummer. And they were very enjoyable and had a great energy. I ended up picking up their album for $10 at the show, and it is quite good.

The second band was the Vaselines, and I was not much of fan, neither was Kelly.

Superchunk though were amazing! Mac McCaughan and his high pitched voice were fantastic, and played songs spanning their whole career, not just focusing on Majestic Shredding. McCaughan has so much energy it is infectious (really shows you were he got the song Hyper Enough, one of my personal favorites, along with Nu Bruises, which they also played).

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