A romantic comedy based around the story from ’A Christmas Carol’  sounds like a terrible idea and something that shouldn’t have been attempted, but this rom-com was actually quite entertaining. Matthew McConaughey plays the Scrooge character with a difference; a mid 30s bachelor named Connor Mead, who has spent his life womanizing and breaking women’s hearts. Connor is a famous photographer, who has easy access to many models and beautiful women, and clearly makes the most of every opportunity. In an early scene, we witness him break up with three women on a conference call, whilst another woman is in the room with him waiting for him to finish his call.
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There is something that the basic consumer should be reminded of regarding 3-D glasses. The special pairs of glasses that theaters provide are to take advantage of the digital technology; the kind of 3-D glasses one will be offered with the video release are the standby cardboard that is not as effective. I personally find that some films are using the 3-D format more as a marketing gimmick, and therefore have little to no interest in those kinds of films. However, to my surprise, My Bloody Valentine, a remake of the 1981 slasher, used that format to its new improved body count and dismemberment in religious glee. Even in a 2-D format, killer Harry Warden can put Jason and Freddy to shame. The characters and story, however are just as cardboard as the cheap glasses.
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This remake of the 1957 classic Western stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale as the two main protagonists. It is refreshing to see two of today’s most talented actors in a Western, as for years, that genre with the occassional exception, has failed to attract the best actors.  Although the Western has never been able to regain the dominance it had in the 60s and 70s, when stars such as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood dominated the screen as cowboys, every now and again, a Western is released that reminds viewers why they were once so popular. 3:10 to Yuma is one of these movies.
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If one wanted a good dosage of robots big and small, a lot of shoot ‘em ups, fires and explosions, I’m pretty sure we’d find it in the upcoming Transformers sequel. Until that time, the overdone but still entertaining Terminator Salvation will have to do. It’s not that I might the effort put into the parade of stunts and CG mayhem. It’s just the fact that McG feels it necessary to pound the viewer in the face so much with it every three minutes. It looks great, the sound near deafening, dare I say the film can be appreciated on such a high octane level. But at what expense? There is a big battle going on in this picture, not between humankind and the renegade AI called SkyNet; but more with story lines that collide with one another. The result is that new characters are far more appealing…then the character who the bad cyborgs have been trying to kill since the first film.
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I have to say that there are two things I really liked about the Passengers, a little seen film from 2008 that starred Anne Hathaway and Patrick Wilson, about a psychotherapist attempting to help survivors of a horrific plane crash, and the bizarre aftermath that follows. The first of those two things is the score by Ed Shearmur. The soundtrack is moody and dreamlike. It (the score) is so good, one may find it music to fall asleep to. The second best thing in the film is the dog. There is nothing wrong with the dog. As for the rest of the film? Sad, sleepy and it is also a bit of a dog, just with no bark and no bite.
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It was only a matter of time when the pop culture legend known as Star Trek would return in some form. What was exciting about this new return, is that it will have some focus on the early days of Kirk, Spock and the rest of the classic original Enterprise crew, a concept long talked about in one form or another. It finally takes J.J. Abrams for a chance for audiences to get there-and truly boldly go where no one had gone before. Sure, there’s been time travel stories, but this timeline, which is actually more of a McGuffin, successfully reboots a franchise without really changing it. The main drive of the film isn’t really the threat at hand, but how, in the new Trek, do our beloved characters mesh together in this new modification, both in class, rank and behavior. As a result, many viewers will love this movie. Some will like it. Nobody will hate it. Not a soul. Not even a tribble.
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What’s up with Nicolas Cage these days? I wrote about how truly bad Bangkok Dangerous was a while ago, and I’m afraid Knowing isn’t much better. It reminded me of Signs a lot, which is not a good thing considering how I downright hated that movie. In many ways, Knowing is a dumbed down version of that movie, and I felt intellectually insulted almost from the moment I sat down in the cinema.

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One of the biggest problems with prequels to various movie franchises is that there are some characters who, despite being in rough, tight spots, deep down, the viewer knows that character has to live well into the events of the previously seen films. X-Men Origins: Wolverine hands us four such characters, three of which happen to be main characters. The action is there for the most part, but given the notion that the returning title character is also nearly immortal, and that character is the main character of the last three X-Men films, I feel satisfied in being entertained while also being robbed of enjoyment at the same time.
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