RIGHTEOUS KILL NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

Here is the summary for the movie Righteous Kill from imdb

Turk (Robert De Niro) and Rooster (Al Pacino) are partners in the NYPD Homicide Division. They have 30 years of service investigating murders, and before they pull the pin, they want to solve their last big case. The city has a serial killer who is targeting criminals who have fallen through the cracks of the judicial system and have gotten away with rape, murder, and other heinous crimes. The serial killer believes that he is helping the police by taking the scum of the earth out of society for good, never to hurt any law abiding citizens again. The serial killer shoots the criminal at very close-range and leaves a four-line poem justifying the execution. Turk and Rooster want to give this person a medal, but instead, they must arrest him before he kills again. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)


Here is a review for the movie Righteous Kill from dvdtalk

Two veteran cops, two veteran actors, one predictable movie.

Righteous Kill comes to us trumpeting the fact that this is the first time Al Pacino and Robert De Niro have shared the screen together since 1995's Heat, and unlike that film, where they played adversaries and only had one scene together, Righteous Kill pairs them up for the bulk of the picture. De Niro is Turk and Pacino is Rooster, two long-in-the-tooth police officers who favor glory over retirement, and so they jockey for a high-profile case involving a serial killer who is dispensing a little vigilante justice on their city. He shoots bad guys at close range, leaving behind clumsy poems declaring his reasons for choosing each particular victim. Given the up-close-and-personal nature of the killings and the lack of any signs of a struggle, Rooster posits that the shooter has to have some way of gaining access to his targets. The most logical answer: a police badge.

If there is any joy to be had in watching Righteous Kill, it is from watching Pacino and De Niro working together. Neither of their roles requires them to be overly showy, and so instead of competing to see who is the more grandiose thespian, they confidently stroll through the film with the easy intimacy of two people who appear to have known each other a very long time and no longer have anything to prove to one another. Pacino peddles his usual brand of slickness, while De Niro is the more befuddled cop with anger management issues. Their characters end up teamed with two other detectives from a neighboring precinct (Donnie Wahlberg and John Leguizamo), and this extra pairing rounds out the acting quartet nicely, with Wahlberg providing a "good cop" analogue to Pacino's more together Rooster and Leguizamo's Perez being the young hothead version of De Niro's "bad cop" Turk. Perez and Turk also both have a history with Karen (the fantastic Carla Gugino), a forensic scientist with a taste for the rough stuff, and thus it's all the more questionable when Perez marks Turk as their #1 suspect.

Righteous Kill has all the makings of a good police thriller. Screenwriter Russell Gerwitz, whose material fared much better under Spike Lee when the director helmed his Inside Man script, has concocted an intriguing set-up with complex characters and interesting moral questions. Unfortunately, at some point, either Gerwitz or director Jon Avnet, a man whose back catalogue contains such diverse items as the universally panned Pacino-vehicle 88 Minutes and the chick flick Fried Green Tomatoes, made a fatal error along the way when they decided to open Righteous Kill with a videotaped confession from Turk. This confession runs throughout the movie, and it not only removes any suspense from the mystery, but it tips the movie's hand in such a way that any viewer with half a brain can guess where the plot is heading. Just stop for a moment and ask why all of this information is being laid out for you, and the bait-and-switch becomes obvious.

It's a cheap trick, and it only serves to keep the audience from becoming invested in the movie, because it actively discourages the viewer from getting as wrapped up in what is going on as they should be. (Confusion, friends, is key for audience participation in a good thriller.) The even bigger trick of Righteous Kill, though, has to be that Avnet has somehow convinced this remarkable cast that he is a capable director. There are some very good individual scenes within the movie, but the disjointed editing, overwrought use of slow motion, and CSI-level camerawork come off as desperate attempts to dress up a pig to try to sneak it into the Oscars. It's hard to tell if one should laugh at how obvious the disguise is, or be mad that the perpetrators think we will fall for it.

There is actually a good movie somewhere in Righteous Kill. Schedule some reshoots and a new pass through the editing bay, and this movie could be salvaged. Unfortunately, as I write this, the film is set to be released in less than twenty-four hours, so I don't see that happening. The movie is a massive squandering of riches, taking a solid premise and a marvelous ensemble of actors and doing nothing with them. As Turk and Rooster might say, someone has put two right between the eyes of this movie. The stench of the corpse isn't so bad that you should avoid it entirely, but you still might want to approach Righteous Kill with your nostrils pinched closed all the same.

Jamie S. Rich is a novelist and comic book writer. His current novel is entitled Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? and was released by Oni Press in the summer of 2007. It follows up on both of his successful books from 2006, the pop-culture hit The Everlasting, and his original graphic novel with Joëlle Jones, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her. Rich is currently writing the ongoing independent comic book series Love the Way You Love.

Here is the direct download for the movie Righteous Kill.

UNEMPLOYED NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Unemployed from imdb

Jamal and Dex, out of work actors, come to terms with reality when they realize they've been pursuing their dreams for over ten years and still haven't booked a single speaking role. When the two run out of cash and face eviction they hit the pavement in search of a job. With no experience, no skill set and little ambition, the audience gets a front row seat to this hilarious journey in which these two characters can't seem to catch a break. Written by Anonymous

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STAR WARS EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Star Wars A New Hope from imdb

Part IV in a George Lucas epic, Star Wars: A New Hope opens with a rebel ship being boarded by the tyrannical Darth Vader. The plot then follows the life of a simple farmboy, Luke Skywalker, as he and his newly met allies (Han Solo, Chewbacca, Ben Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2) attempt to rescue a rebel leader, Princess Leia, from the clutches of the Empire. The conclusion is culminated as the Rebels, including Skywalker and flying ace Wedge Antilles make an attack on the Empires most powerful and ominous weapon, the Death Star. Written by P. Wong {pwong@nt.net}

In a galaxy far, far away, a psychopathic emperor and his most trusted servant - a former Jedi Knight known as Darth Vader - are ruling a universe with fear. They have built a horrifying weapon known as the Death Star, a giant battle station capable of annihilating a world in less than a second. When the Death Star's master plans are captured by the fledgling Rebel Alliance, Vader starts a pursuit of the ship carrying them. A young dissident Senator, Leia Organa, is aboard the ship & puts the plans into a maintenance robot named R2-D2. Although she is captured, the Death Star plans cannot be found, as R2 & his companion, a tall robot named C-3PO, have escaped to the desert world of Tatooine below. Through a series of mishaps, the robots end up in the hands of a farm boy named Luke Skywalker, who lives with his Uncle Owen & Aunt Beru. Owen & Beru are viciously murdered by the Empire's stormtroopers who are trying to recover the plans, and Luke & the robots meet with former Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi to try to return the plans to Leia Organa's home, Alderaan. After contracting a pilot named Han Solo & his Wookiee companion Chewbacca, they escape an Imperial blockade. But when they reach Alderaan's coordinates, they find it destroyed - by the Death Star. They soon find themselves caught in a tractor beam & pulled into the Death Star. Although they rescue Leia Organa from the Death Star after a series of narrow escapes, Kenobi becomes one with the Force after being killed by his former pupil - Darth Vader. They reach the Alliance's base on Yavin's fourth moon, but the Imperials are in hot pursuit with the Death Star, and plan to annihilate the Rebel base. The Rebels must quickly find a way to eliminate the Death Star before it destroys them as it did Alderaan. Written by Derek O'Cain

Luke Skywalker stays with his foster aunt and uncle on a farm on Tatooine. He is desperate to get off this planet and get to the Academy like his friends, but his uncle needs him for the next harvest. Meanwhile, an evil emperor has taken over the galaxy, and has constructed a formidable "Death Star" capable of destroying whole planets. Princess Leia, a leader in the resistance movement, acquires plans of the Death Star, places them in R2D2, a droid, and sends him off to find Obi-Wan Kenobi. Before he finds him, R2D2 ends up on Skywalkers' farm with his friend C3PO. R2 then wanders into the desert, and when Luke follows, they eventually come across Obi-Wan. Will Luke, Obi-Wan, and the two droids be able to destroy the Death Star, or will the Emperor rule forever ? Written by Colin Tinto {cst@imdb.com}

Princess Leia is held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the Galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing Captain Han Solo team together with the lovable robotic duo, R2-D2 and C-3PO, to rescue the beautiful princess and restore justice in the Empire. Written by Robert Lynch {docrlynch@yahoo.com}

In a distant galaxy eons before the creation of the mythical planet known as Earth, vast civilizations have evolved, and ruling the galaxy is an interstellar Empire created from the ruins of an Old Republic that held sway for generations. It is a time of civil war, as solar systems have broken away from the Empire and are waging a war of rebellion. During a recent battle techical schematics for a gigantic space station, code named The Death Star, have been unearthed by Rebel spies, and a young woman who is a dissident member of the Imperial Senate, under the cover of a diplomatic mission to the planet Alderaan, is trying to smuggle these plans to the Rebellion. But her spacecraft is attacked by a vast warship of the Empire and seized. The dissident Senator is captured, but the plans for the Death Star are nowhere to be found. While soldiers of the Empire search the nearby planet Tatooine, a series of incidents sweeps up a young desert farmer with dreams of being a fighter pilot in the Rebellion, as he winds up with the Death Star plans and also the assistance of an elderly hermit who once served as a warrior of an ancient order whose chosen weapons were powerful energy swords known as light sabers. The pair recruit a cynical interstellar smuggler and his outsized alien copilot with an ancient freighter heavily modified for combat to help them reach Alderaan - but the planet is obliterated and now the foursome must rescue the young woman held prisoner by the Empire and lead an attack by the Rebellion against the Death Star before it can annihilate all hope of restoring freedom to the galaxy. Written by Michael Daly

Here is a review for the movie Star Wars A New Hope from dvdtalk

The Movie:

NOTE: The top screenshots are from the 'special edition' on disc one and the screenshots on the bottom are from the 'theatrical cut' on disc two. They might not match up perfectly but they serve the purpose of showing the difference in quality between the two discs contained in this set.

In 1977 George Lucas had the novel idea of basically setting the old serials/adventure stories that kids enjoyed years before and placing one in outer space. The film that came out of this idea was, as we all know, Star Wars and with it, George Lucas made history. Ever since then Star Wars has been less of a blockbuster film than a part of the world's pop culture psyche. Everyone in the modern world knows what Star Wars is – they can't help it. It's everywhere around us, from movies to video games to comic books to toys to clothes to any kind of spin-off or merchandising tie in you can imagine. There are fan conventions, online communities, costume contest and even plenty of Star Wars tattoos around – people take the film and it's sequels/prequels very seriously and it stands as the most successful science fiction film franchise of all time, bar none.

So why then, since making history in 1977, has George Lucas been constantly re-writing it? Well, in his defense, these are his films and so he is free to do what he wants with them. That being said, the fans are what made the series the success that it is and what the fans wanted was not the versions of the movies that Lucas has altered to suit his current vision but the theatrical cuts that we all fell in love with in the first place. When the original trilogy was released as a deluxe boxed set two years ago, Lucas said that the 'special editions' (referring to the altered versions of the three original films in the series) were all that we'd ever see again. Fans bought it regardless, Lucas made a bunch of money off of it, and now – surprise surprise – he's given us the option of re-buying the 'special edition' films as single releases (two discs each) to get the original theatrical versions that he should have released in the first place.

Why the change of heart? Only he knows for sure. Granted, no one is forcing us to buy these but the fact that since the advent of DVD technology there have been countless bootlegs of the original theatrical versions making the rounds (some sourced from the laserdiscs, others from VHS tapes) what probably happened is that Lucas decided to make some of that money back for himself with the least amount of effort possible. IF this were being done 'for the fans' then the issues with the audio and video quality on the theatrical cuts (see below) wouldn't be issues at all. If Lucas cared about those who have made him a wealth and powerful figure in Hollywood he'd have done the set right the first time and not pulled a fast one on the Star Wars faithful by dumping out rather unimpressive versions of the theatrical cuts he had previously said we'd never see again. Don't be fooled – this is not a favor to those who have helped Star Wars become the phenomena that it is, this is a cash grab. Lucas wants your money and he knows that a lot of you will give it to him.

With that said, Star Wars is a great film. Not a masterpiece in the same way that something like Citizen Kane is or The Godfather is but for pure, unadulterated action/sci-fi entertainment the first film to debut in the franchise holds up really well almost thirty years since it was born. Luke might be a little too corn-poke for his on good in some scenes and some of Leia's dialogue is a little tough to swallow but there's no denying the sheer coolness of Han Solo and Chewbacca and Darth Vader is still one of the greatest cinematic bad guys of all time. Peter Cushing and Alec Guiness bring a whole lot of class and charm to the film and their experience and professionalism gives Grand Moff Tarkin and Obi-Wan Kenobi some genuinely impressive screen presence while Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker do a fine job of providing the comic relief in the form of C-3P0 and R2-D2 respectively – the Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy of outer space. When the Death Star blows up that first planet it's still shocking even if we know it's all going to work out in the end and the cantina scene that takes place on Tattooine is still fantastic with more alien creatures in it than you can shake a stick at. We can still snicker when Obi-Wan tells the Stormtroopers that 'these are not the droids you're looking for' and we can still get a little misty eyed when Darth Vader strikes him down.

The action and adventure is still rich and exciting, the heroes are still likeable and the villains are still sinister. The outer space battles and chase scenes remain exciting and the film is one of those rare movies that is literally fun for the whole family – you can watch it with your kids and your grandparents in the same room and it's almost a sure thing that everyone will get a kick out of it. One of the most beloved space epics of all time and a cultural behemoth was born with this film, it's difficult not to love it particularly if you grew up on the material as so many of us did.

The crass exploitation of the film movie and its fans does not take too much away from the enjoyment that Star Wars still offers those who love a good adventure story. It might hurt to see a part of your childhood that you do sincerely love used in commercials and merchandising tie-in's at fast food restaurants or reissued in various home video formats over again but when the opening scrawl tells us about that 'It is a period of civil war' the nostalgia and fun do come rushing back, particularly when Han shoots first.

The question lies not in whether or not you should fork out the cash for the original theatrical cut of Star Wars, but when you should. Having already lied about making these films available one has to wonder if next year, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the film, if we won't see a proper release. Though there's been no official announcement Lucas' track record indicates that at some point there will be yet another release, possibly a boxed set of all six films with the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy included – who knows. This release, along with the releases of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi are supposedly going to be available for a limited time only – if you don't get them know you run the risk of not owning the original cuts on DVD (or having to make do with the bootleg releases which isn't ideal at all). On the other hand, if you buy them, you run the risk of having to (or at least wanting to) upgrade down the road if and when proper releases emerge. With that in mind, what is the consumer to do? It's a fairly underhanded marketing strategy designed to milk Star Wars fandom for all its worth and obviously it all comes down to personal choice and how bad you want the original cut of the film. You've also got to take into account the technical specifications of the presentation, and with that in mind…

The DVD

NOTE: For the record, the 'star ratings' to the right of this review reflect the second disc which contains the original theatrical cut of Star Wars, the reasoning behind this being that the inclusion of this version is really the only reason anyone is interested in it in the first place, which is why that version of the movie is not being included in the Extras section of this review.

Video:

The 'special edition' of Star Wars contained in this two-disc set utilizes what is essentially the same transfer that was included in the boxed set release from two years ago, which is fine as it looks great. We already know that it's a fantastic transfer and that some would even go so far as to call it reference quality. It's been painstakingly cleaned up, it's got a lot of really nice fine detail in both the foreground and the background of the image and the color reproduction is gorgeous. Going into any more detail would be redundant – the tinkered with version of the movie looks great.

So what about the theatrical version? In a nutshell, it's not bad for what it is, but unfortunately what it is happens to basically be the laserdisc slapped onto DVD. The image is presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35.1 but no one has seen fit to give it anamorphic enhancement, which, to a lot of us, is a very big deal. Let the record show that the movie is perfectly watchable here but the differences between the loving restoration afforded the 'special edition' version compared to the theatrical cut is definitely very, very noticeable.

Going into a bit more detail, the first thing that you're likely to notice is the grain. While it's all but been completely removed on disc one, on disc two it is very noticeable. Some scenes suffer from this more than others do, but one need only to look at the scene where the Millennium Falcon takes off from Tattooine to see it in all its glory. The colors are also fairly uneven. Some scenes are pretty bright, others look flat and almost dead in spots.

The amount of grain coupled with the lower resolution stemming from the non-anamorphic transfer directly results in a significantly less detailed picture. Depending on how large your set up is, results are obviously going to vary a fair bit. For comparisons sake, the disc was sampled on a 20" set, a 32" flat screen tube set and a 78" screen by way of a projector and – though this should go without saying – the flaws were definitely more noticeable on the larger sets than the smaller ones, particularly the print damage and the over saturated reds in a few scenes. It's never overpowering and the movie is watchable even on a larger display but the fact of the matter is that this version of this movie deserved better than this. The video quality is okay, when really it should have been as good if not better than the 'special edition' version. These transfers were fine in the laserdisc days, but those are long gone and by today's standards they are just not up to where they should be.

Sound:

The 'special edition' of Star Wars on disc one has a fantastic Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Surround Sound mix in English and Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround mixes in English, French and Spanish with optional subtitles available in English. The 5.1 mix is very active and makes excellent use of all channels. The subwoofer gets some serious action during the combat and space battle scenes although there are a few spots where the dialogue fluctuates a little bit. Even with that said, this is still a nice mix, even if it isn't quite perfect.

One disc two, the theatrical version of Star Wars contains Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround mixes in English, French and Spanish with optional English subtitles. The same fluctuations in the dialogue that are on the first disc are here as well though they don't seem to be as pronounced. There's some nice channel separation contained throughout and even with the ups and downs of the dialogue there aren't any problems understanding what anyone says at any given time. A true surround sound mix would have been nice to see here, but again, this is basically the laserdisc on DVD and in defense of Fox/Lucas, it's close to the original mix that played in theaters decades ago - so flaws or not, that's a good thing.

Extras:

The first disc, which represents the 'special edition' of Star Wars contains only the audio commentary that was provided on the last DVD release that came out via the boxed set release in September of 2004. The participants on the track include George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher and if you haven't heard it, it's a pretty decent discussion even if you can tell that they weren't all sitting in a room together and were likely recorded completely separately from one another. Regardless, their collective comments have been edited together quite nicely and we do get a well-rounded talk about the history of the film, what it was like on set, where some of the location shooting was done and how some of the effects were pulled off. Lucas has a bit more to say than anyone else, which makes sense as this really was his baby from the start (whether we like it or not!) and what you get out of this track will directly relate to your tolerance for the man. There isn't a whole lot of enthusiasm to be found in his comments, and that can be a bit off putting. One can't help but be left thinking that the commentary could have been stronger than it is, but on the flip side, it could have been a lot worse. There's also a web-link included here for those who care to put the disc into their DVD-Rom and be whisked away to the official Star Wars website.

The only extra feature included on the second disc which houses the theatrical cut of the film is a playable demo and a trailer for Lego Star Wars II game, which admittedly looks very cool but is nothing more than an advertisement. Aside from that we get chapter stops and a menu screen. It might irritate some to learn that the menus for the theatrical version don't match those designed for the special editions and the three prequels and oddly enough, though the feature isn't anamorphic the menus are. Figure that one out, kids.

Inside the packaging is an insert that contains chapter stops for both discs and some nice artwork from the movie in addition to an advertisement for other Star Wars DVDs.

Final Thoughts:

It's hard to recommend a release like this when it seems like such an obvious cash grab. Granted, by non-anamorphic standards the unaltered Star Wars doesn't look bad here but there's no excuse for the lack of enhancement on such a popular and important film and the fact that fans are pretty much being forced to re-buy the 'special edition' version of the film in order to get the theatrical cut is, quite frankly, lame. Unless you're a completist, rent it.

Ian lives in NYC with his girlfriend where he writes for DVD Talk and for AV Maniacs. He spends a lot of time wandering around exploring and generally wondering what to do with himself.

Here is the direct download for the movie Star Wars A New Hope.

DEATH RACE NOW AVAILABLE

DEATH RACE NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVE DEATH RACE FROM IMDB

In 2012, the United States economy collapses and life for everyone is not the same. Once a NASCAR champion, Jensen Ames, (Jason Statham), hits rock bottom and spent several years in prison. His life was improving and changing for the better after meeting and marrying Suzy (Janaya Stephens) and having a baby girl. Then the steel mill closes, and he loses his job. But that was not the worst thing to happen to Jenson that day. Suzy is brutally murdered, and he is framed for her murder. Jenson is sent to Terminal Island, the worst and toughest for-profit prison in the country run by Warden Hennessey (Joan Allen). She has created the country's most popular pay-per-view sport, a kill-or-be-killed car race where the inmates race to win their freedom from prison after 5 wins. Every inmate driver is driving a monster car that they built which is loaded with machine guns, missiles, flamethrowers, napalm, and no rules. Warden Hennessey convinces Jensen to secretly take the place of the late 4-time superstar winner, Frankenstein, and wear his metallic mask in the race. If Jensen wins just one race, he can go home to his baby daughter. To get to the finish line, Jensen must kill his competition before they kill him. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE DEATH RACE FROM DVDTALK

While I won't pray at the altar of the 1975 cult film "Death Race 2000," I definitely enjoyed its satiric spit-take on outrageous violence and media-fed bloodlust. It was an innovative and enormously entertaining exploitation picture, blessed with a brain to compliment the body count. The remake takes everything that was imaginative about the original feature and reduces it to an ear-splitting energy drink commercial, topped off with some of the worst filmmaking decisions to be found at the multiplex this year. Yes, that's right: Hollywood has allowed Paul W.S. Anderson to make another movie.

Framed for the murder of his wife, former race pro Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) is sent to prison, where corporate overlord Hennessey (Joan Allen, in full boat-payment mode) is waiting for him. Forced to partake in the brutal "Death Race" sporting event, Jensen must don the mask of deceased champion Frankenstein (David Carradine, in a voice cameo) and combat his fellow inmates on a private roadway. Armed to the teeth with weapons and defensive gadgets, Jensen, his pit crew (including Ian McShane and Frederick Koehler, Chip from "Kate & Allie"), and his navigator (Natalie Martinez) battle to stay alive as Hennessey unleashes the full wrath of her prized track, provoking the other racers (including Tyrese Gibson) to go after Jensen/Frankenstein to secure their freedom.

Of course, when dealing with a remake (or "reimagining"), there's bound to be a certain level of disappointment with the upgraded results. However, the new "Death Race" is a sickening reflection of today's wretched filmmaking standards, eschewing robust satiric drive for a brain-dead romp around mortifying base sensibilities. Anderson is awfully good at shaping crud ("Aliens vs. Predator," "Mortal Kombat"), but "Death Race" is his Mona Lisa as far as I'm concerned. It's an outrageously irritating, mouthbreathing spectacle, dripping with loathsome, pandering machismo, which often clouds the most basic filmmaking functions one would think Anderson could've mastered by now.

The updating is immediate: the year is now 2012, and the dystopian world is ruled by corporations. The public demands blood to mask unemployment and environmental fears, leaving "Death Race" the profitable focal point for the masses. However, if the world is falling to pieces, how does Hennessey find 75 million subscribers willing to shell out $100 a pop to watch the races? Why does Jensen's crew use VHS tapes to monitor chase mishaps? Why does Jensen, having recently lost his wife and infant child, openly flirt with his navigator? Asking questions of "Death Race" is a waste of time, since Anderson is only fascinated with the bewildering visceral whack of the premise, not the goofy, fascist futureworld conceived in 1975 and promptly dumbed-down for 2008.

This "Death Race" is all about the testosterone. Now the cars are souped-up murder machines with explosive accouterments for every whim, the navigators are all busty model-types to help boost ratings (do you really need assistance to drive around in a circle?), the musical score by Paul Haslinger offers a headbanging mood, the villain of the race is a homosexual (zing!), the trendy camerawork is set on permo-zoom to lazily generate tension, and the event itself is an over-edited (to a nauseous degree), violent jaunt around an island prison backyard, not the cross-country design of the 1975 film. Also missing is the point accumulation contest, racked up when the contestants ran over pedestrians with their automobiles; why Anderson stopped short of that delicious idea is a mystery, considering the rest of the film is a gory, excitedly immoral production.

I guess killing the innocent places last on Anderson's "to do" list, falling behind such priorities as: "offer plenty heart-stopping displays of unreasonable misogyny," "destroy art of drama," and "piss all over Paul Bartel's grave."

Visually, "Death Race" is as hackneyed a film as can be. Performance-wise, it's in REM sleep. It's playing with fire to put Tyrese Gibson, Joan Allen, and Jason Statham in the same room together, and Anderson often leaves the cast to their own devices, each hamming it up in their own special way. I'm concerned most for Statham, an actor of special growly menace who has apparently made it a personal quest to work almost exclusively with dreadful directors (Uwe Boll, Philip G. Atwell, Hunter Richards, James Wong, Mark Neveldine, and Brian Taylor), digging a hole in his career that appears motivated by the highest bidder. Jensen holds no arc, no chance for Statham to find interesting angles to play. It's a paycheck film in a career full of wrong moves. A few more clunkers, and it might lead to an E! reality show before you know it.

Again, "Death Race 2000" was a scrappy Roger Corman B-film, not high art. It contained wit to plug the budget holes, fearlessly crossing the line of taste to make a broader statement of delirium. "Death Race" is unbearable tripe from a worthless director; a hack job to rile up the late summer box office blues. It's a complete affront to the 1975 picture, but, criminally, the target demo of young men and the recently lobotomized won't notice what they're missing.

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ALL HAT NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie All Hat from imdb

An ex-con returns to his rural Ontario roots and outwits a corrupt and wealthy thoroughbred owner trying to take over a slew of local farms. Ray Dokes, a charming ex-ballplayer, returns from jail to discover the rural landscape of his childhood transformed by urban development. Determined to stay out of trouble, Ray heads to the farm of his old friend Pete Culpepper, a crusty Texas cowboy who trains losing racehorses and whose debts are growing faster than his corn. Sonny Stanton, gambling addict and spoiled heir to a thoroughbred dynasty, is in the process of buying up an entire concession of farmland to build a casino and golfing resort, and the only one brave enough to stand in the way of Sonny is Etta Parr, Ray's old flame, who might be willing to forgive Ray if it wasn't for her pride and common sense. The situation is a minefield, one Ray is determined to avoid. He hooks up with Chrissie, a sexy, sassy and talented jockey and steers clear of Sonny. But when a ten-million-dollar thoroughbred goes missing from the Stanton Stables, Sonny pushes things too far and forces the sale of the community's remaining farms. Ray reacts by coming up with a plan to stop Sonny in his tracks and right a few wrongs in the process. The scheme is unlikely and audacious; the players are as unpredictable as nitroglycerin. One false move and Ray will land back in jail. And the smart money is against him. Written by Anonymous

Here is a review for the movie All Hat from dvdtalk

Some movies mosey. This one crawls. Adapted by Brad Smith from his novel of the same name and directed by Leonard Farlinger, "All Hat" is a modest attempt at combining small town drama with a pinch of modern western, which would work if the characters were less numerous and/or more interesting. There's too much going on and none of it excites, and the movie spends nearly half of its 91 minute running time figuring out where to take the story - only to wind up picking the wrong destination. As our film opens, Ray Dokes (Luke Kirby) is fresh from a two-year jail term and has made his way back to his rural Ontario home and the farm of horse trainer Pete Culpepper (Keith Carradine), an old friend, boss, and something of a surrogate father. There, he runs into old flame Etta (Lisa Ray) and firecracker jockey Chrissie (Rachael Leigh Cook, whose presence leaves me calling the movie "She's All Hat"); Luke enjoys a roll in the hay with the latter while passions still smolder for the former. Enter Sonny Stanton (Noam Jenkins), the arrogant son of the tycoon who's been buying up land in the town while Ray was locked up. (Because the plot fails to be very original, the baddie wants to turn the land into a golf course. What is this, "One Crazy Summer"?) Sonny's putting the pressure on Etta, who refuses to sell her farm. Meanwhile, a prize thoroughbred has gone missing from the Stantons' stables, creating a tangled web of deceit in every corner of the plot: Sonny, a gambling addict deep in debt, hopes the missing horse can lead to an insurance payoff, while Ray concocts a plan to use the missing horse to outwit Sonny on a racetrack. The movie has a clean divide between its first half, in which Ray integrates himself back into the small town (with the occasional fight thrown in for fun), and its second, in which the horse goes missing and everyone starts scheming. Both halves are a clutter of half-baked characters and sloppy drama, but at least the pace picks up for the final lap. The first forty-some minutes of the film are longwinded chunks of introduction and exposition that don't create enough of a dramatic kick to keep us interested through Farlinger's lethargic tempo; in trying to create a mood that matches the small town's laidback attitude, the filmmaker loses the viewer. Both the clumsy direction and the iffy screenplay do a poor job of properly introducing all of the characters, so when the second half arrives, we're still playing catch-up on which crony is which, who's doing what and why, etc. Consider a scene in which Ernie Hudson (playing a farm hand, or trainer, or something) gets whacked on the back of the head with a shovel and is apparently left for dead by one of Sonny's henchmen (or something). It's followed by a scene in which Hudson is awake, bruised and achy but otherwise fine, hanging out with the same henchman, continuing their planning. The audience is stuck mentally backtracking the entire picture, wondering if we missed a scene, or misjudged who was who, or, you know, something. By the time the finale rolls around, we're supposed to be grinning with the pleasure of being in on the con. But despite the fact that it receives a set-up worthy of "The Sting," what with multiple scams and tricks being placed all at once, the pay-off it short, flat, and not really complete. Instead of getting that "a ha!" moment, we merely get an "oh, OK, um, sure" moment. (The villain's comeuppance fizzles, and the film tacks on a follow-up scene during the closing credits to make up for the initial underwhelming response of the wrapping of his storyline.) Even the cast barely seems interested - Kirby goes extra-low key and becomes far too apathetic to work as a central character. But why should they get excited about a project as bland and blah as this? There's too little in "All Hat" to earn dramatic thrills, with a screenplay that coasts along on its small-town-drama formula and direction that aims for lethargic in every scene. The DVD

Video & Audio It should be noted that Screen Media sent us a watermarked disc for review, so any comments on video quality may change if final retail product arrives. Fortunately, my best guess is that this review disc is mostly reflective of final product, as opposed to the sort of over-compressed DVD-Rs sent by some studios. If the final product is comparable to my check disc, customers will be treated to a lovely anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer that crisply showcases the film's lush cinematography, notably the rich Ontario autumn landscapes. The image is a little soft, owing perhaps to the film's low budget. Most of the movie's racing sequences and a few quick-pan shots hold up well, with no motion problems. The 5.1 surround soundtrack is a solid, unassuming mix, delicately handling dialogue and music. The DVD artwork states that optional Spanish subtitles are provided, although those were not included on my disc. Extras "Behind the Scenes" (5:07) is a collection of EPK-style cast and crew interviews, offering very little in terms of depth or actual making-of information; film clips are used too often to pad the featurettes run time. Presented in a mix of aspect ratios: 1.33:1 for on-set behind-the-scenes footage; 1.78:1 flat letterbox for interviews; and 2.35:1 flat letterbox for film clips. Six deleted scenes (approx. 9 min. total) add small character details that only clutter up an already overloaded story. Presented in 2.35:1 flat letterbox with time coding. Final Thoughts A somber, meandering tone could work well if story and characters are strong enough to carry the audience through the slow pace. "All Hat" has plenty of slow pace, but no strong story and certainly no strong characters. Skip It.


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TRAITOR NOW AVAILABLE

TRAITOR NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE TRAITOR FROM IMDB

When strait arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn (Don Cheadle). A mysterious figure with a web of connections to terrorist organizations, Horn has a knack for emerging on the scene just as a major operation goes down. The task force links Horn to a prison break in Yemen, a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, but a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his quarry is a disaffected former military operative - or something far more complicated. Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue.


HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE TRAITOR FROM DVDTALK

We can thank Jason Bourne for making the multiplex a safe haven for men who dabble in the practices of both good and evil. Without Bourne, there would never be a film like "Traitor," a snappy global terrorism thriller that faithfully dissects the exquisite torture of the clouded conscience.

Arrested in Yemen on terrorism conspiracy charges, Samir (Don Cheadle) is befriended by Omar (Said Taghmaoui) in prison. A dangerous member of a terror cell, Omar brings Samir into the fold, and when the two escape from detention, they join up with a larger radical membership, with plans to strike on U.S. soil using a tightly choreographed suicide bombing campaign. On the other side of the law sits F.B.I agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce), a dedicated tracker who finds Samir's actions ruthless yet puzzling. Digging deeper into the terrorist's background, Clayton finds Samir's motives to be vague, traveling all over the world to catch him and discover just what is motivating his unusual acts of violence.

I supposed the valuable lesson to be gleamed from the "Traitor" experience is that there's still some excitement to be scooped up from a terrorism thriller. A fatigued topic in today's cinema landscape, "Traitor" steps away from obvious passageways of geopolitical provocation to survey the instability of those who choose to participate in violence, either in the name of God or their home country. The feature finds a wellspring of inspiration taking the unexpected path, and "Traitor" is often as thought-provoking as it is exhilarating.

Keeping away from media-fed soapbox moments of heroism and villainy, the screenplay (with a story credit going to Steve Martin) pays consideration to the individuals who endure the system of death and dishonor on a daily basis. The focus here is Samir, a devout American Muslim who finds himself entrenched in the Middle East for reasons the film doesn't make immediately known. He's a loving, caring fellow with a conscience rooted in his beliefs, yet faced with a world that's spun out of control, bastardizing the Muslim faith to a point of unavoidable retaliation. Cheadle's interpretation of Samir's pain and exhaustion is whole-heartedly felt through the smallest of nuances. It's a majestic performance of internal crisis, creating an unforgettable character arc of discipline and despair for Samir, who has lost his prized sense of soul to take a shot at salvaging the world. Cheadle has rarely, if ever, been better.

Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, "Traitor" is amazingly light on its toes, erecting a maze of captivating intrigue and sprinkling around a few effective, plot-smashing twists to underscore the unexpectedly charged emotional content. "Traitor" is, after all, intended to get the heart pumping, and Nachmanoff accomplishes the challenge with a few chase sequences and an overall throb of forbidding terrorist threat. The only real piece that's missing is the ying and yang relationship between Samir and Clayton. The screenplay seems to be reaching for an unsettled, profound connection between the cat and mouse, but the finished film never quite achieves the desired union. More compelling is Samir's tentative relationship with Omar, which soon assumes brotherhood status, thickening the quagmire for Samir, pushing him to a breaking point.

"Traitor" is smart and confidently assembled; it packs a satisfying punch, especially to those who come to the movie cold. It may dip a toe or two in the waters of previous international conspiracy thrillers, but it works the genre with tremendous spirit and a robust sense of humanity, eschewing standard action honors to observe the actual consequence of death.

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LAKEVIEW TERRACE NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Lake View Terrace from imdb

A young couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their interracial relationship. A stern, single father, this tightly wound LAPD officer (Samuel L. Jackson) has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly harassing to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives causes the couple to fight back.

Here is a review for the movie Lake View Terrace from dvdtalk

Neil LaBute has a lot of apologizing to do after his last picture, 2006's "Wicker Man" remake, failed at the box office and became the unintentional comedy smash of the last decade. While already surfing an unsteady career of provocative curiosities, "Wicker" sent LaBute's credibility into the toilet. "Lakeview Terrace" represents only a slight gasp of oxygen for the filmmaker, helming a mediocre suburban thriller absent any of the LaBute touches admirers have come to expect.

Moving into an idyllic Californian community, interracial couple Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa (Kerry Washington) are eager to start their dream life together. Living next door is police officer Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson, doing the traditional Jackson shuffle), a widowed father of two who doesn't take kindly to the pairing paraded in front of him. While Chris considers Abel's initial hostile neighborly invasions to be the stuff of common misunderstanding, it becomes clear that the cop is dead serious about the couple moving out. Trying to mount something of a counter attack, Chris learns the true power of Abel's badge and the reach of his threatening ways.

This isn't the first time LaBute has worked without the comfort zone of his own screenplay, yet "Lakeview Terrace" feels devoid of anything LaBute is known for, even with a plot that picks away at unnerving, humiliating situations at the hands of the morally corrupt (LaBute's bread and butter). The filmmaker is on autopilot, going through the motions with this flaccid story; it's a survival piece of moviemaking, not an authoritative one. The script by David Loughery and Howard Korder instead works customary "Unlawful Entry" moments of intimidation and helplessness, as Chris and Lisa strain under Abel's thumb, unable to retaliate through expected legal channels, or even the suburban justice David craves.

Considering the plot takes on severe racial and domestic antagonism issues, LaBute would likely be the one to make the material sing. Instead "Terrace" puts the filmmaker into a PG-13 half nelson that he can't escape from, neutering the movie's efforts to shade the central conflict a pleasing color of grey for optimal audience manipulation. The early head-butting between Chris and Abel shows wonderful promise, both in concentration of suspense and in performance, with Wilson and Jackson having a grand time as the combative, suspicious neighbors. Sadly, the film sours quickly as LaBute is powerless to explore the tension to more perverse conclusions that could snap the film awake.

By the last act, LaBute's batteries run down and the plot slips into formulaic thriller mode, moving the premise from an encouraging place of terror to an obvious one, sending the film out on a substandard note. Granted, this is hardly "Wicker Man 2: NOT THE BEES!," but LaBute should be counted on for a movie with more teeth than what "Lakeview Terrace" is prepared to offer.

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JACK BROOKS MONSTER SLAYER NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Jack Brooks Monster Slayer from imdb

As a child Jack Brooks witnessed the brutal murder of his family. Now a young man he struggles with a pestering girlfriend, therapy sessions that resolve nothing, and night classes that barely hold his interest. After unleashing an ancient curse, Jack's Professor undergoes a transformation into something not-quite- human, and Jack is forced to confront some old demons... along with a few new ones. Written by Anonymous

Here is a review for the movie Jack Brooks Monster Slayer from dvdtalk

"Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" is the type of predigested cult film that's easier to admire than actually enjoy. A polite tip of the hat to "Evil Dead" and all things "Buffy," this horror/comedy is lacking proper oomph in both categories, resulting in a movie of commendable purpose, but lackluster realization.

Ever since he witnessed his family brutally murdered by a forest troll as a child, Jack Brooks (Trevor Matthews) has battled furious bouts of depression, unable to deal with his volatile temper or act civil to those around him. A terrible plumber taking night classes, Jack is alarmed when his science teacher (Robert Englund) starts to exhibit ominous signs of possession after forcibly consuming an ancient demonic heart. When all hell breaks loose at the school, it's up to Jack to stifle his fears and assume his place in monster slaying history.

"Jack Brooks" is a throwback of sorts to the days before computer enhancement turned bloodletting into a sophisticated, expensive art form. Here is a sloppy, goopy monster film that takes an enormous amount of pride in detailed creature make-up and bruising practical effects, and the results are genuinely impressive. Director Jon Knautz lovingly captures the chaos of guys in rubber suits, geeking out over the finer details of slime and blood as they spew out of the talent in every conceivable fashion. It's a kick to watch the monster mash unfold in "Jack Brooks," which touches delightful whip-crack Raimiesque contact highs when the title character straps on his plumber belt and sprints to his destiny.

Unfortunately, it takes nearly an hour for the feature to position itself into full-throated slaying mode.

Apparently an origin tale to an upcoming, sequel-happy DTV franchise, "Jack Brooks" is dullsville when attempting to pad the story with the title character's banal motivations and day-to-day existence. The screenplay just doesn't scrounge up a compelling backstory for Brooks, holding to uneventful anger-management issues and vague relationship woes. The character is pleasingly rounded by Matthews, who refuses to give himself over to winks, unlike the rest of the cast, who ham it up obnoxiously. The actor keeps Brooks grounded in seething frustration, to better execute the transition from punch-happy loner to global monster killer. Englund has the showoff role, running around bleeding, eating, and vomiting (it's a cheerfully disgusting character), but Matthews keeps the feature together during the glacial first half with his skillful restraint.

It's unsettling to watch Knautz squander the possibilities of the premise on arid subplots and extended lead time, perhaps hoping to return to the deliberate genre pacing of the 1980s. Unfortunately, there's no suspense and the jokes aren't funny. Once the film explodes in the final reel, where Jack slip-n-slides around after-hour high school hallways dealing with a ghoulish, flesh-hungry menace, the picture finally finds an enterprising footing to build on, making room for buckets of blood and a superb parade of triumphantly handmade horrors. If only the entire film held the same aspiration.

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Heroes Season 3 Episodes 1 and 2 now available

Heroes Season 3 Episode 1 and 2 Now Available Online

Here is the summary for episode 1 of season 3 of Heroes from TvRage

Moments after the press conference shooting, the identity of Nathan's assassin is revealed, resulting in Peter and Greg delving into an unknown world. Sylar -- now with his powers partially restored -- visits Claire with the motive of giving his powers a boost that would make him an unstoppable force. Across the globe in Tokyo, Hiro and Ando must guard a family secret that, if revealed, could tear the planet apart; and learn that speedster Daphne, may have a hand in a grim future. In New York City, Maya and Suresh have a breakthrough that may change the world forever.

Here is the direct download for Episode 1 of Season 3 of Heroes.

Here is the summary for Episode 2 of Season 3 of Heroes from Tvrage

Angela and Peter square off over how to prevent a seemingly unstoppable worldwide catastrophe. Sylar heads up an attack on the Company's main facility, but is shocked by what he finds on Level 5. While battling Elle, a dozen criminals with potentially devastating abilities are able to escape the facility. Meanwhile, Claire makes a discovery about her abilities; Hiro and Ando follow Daphne to Paris; Suresh's research, as well as his relationship with Maya, progress; and Matt finds a guide to lead him through unfamiliar territory.

Here is the direct download for Episode 2 of Season 3 of Heroes.

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL NOW AVAILABLE

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL FROM IMDB


Devastated Peter takes a Hawaii vacation in order to deal with recent break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know Sarah's traveling to the same resort as her ex ... and she's bringing along her new boyfriend.


HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL FROM DVDTALK

For some, the Apatowing of American comedy has perhaps lost its luster through repetition. For others (and this would be me), the unwashed comedic sensibility of the Apatow family is a godsend, and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is another barnstorming success, flush with peculiar performances, a frothy stream of vulgarity, and a universal tale of brokenhearted loathing that's sure to make it the finest awkward date movie of the year.

A television composer, Peter (Jason Segel) is happily dating small-screen superstar Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). When she leaves him for rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), Peter is torn apart, lost without the comfort of his girlfriend. Trying to clear his senses and find his center, Peter takes a trip to Hawaii, only to find Sarah and Aldous on vacation at the same resort. Now even more miserable, Peter finds peaceful energy with fetching hotel employee Rachel (Mila Kunis), which leaves Sarah in a jealous rage, soon questioning her own slapdash relationship.

Truthfully, Judd Apatow only produces "Sarah Marshall." However, the man's fingerprints are all over the material, written by Segel and directed by Nicholas Stoller, executed in the same freewheeling, semi-improvisational format that informed "40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up."

The beauty of "Forgetting" has to be that it's a decidedly angry film about relationships that strives to misdirect the audience into thinking it could be something more saccharine and cutesy. Granted, the film eventually wields cupid's arrow, but the rest of the picture is a supremely toxic expression of breakup rage and hatred for the ex. Credit Segel's disarmingly feral screenplay, which has a blast toying with audience expectations while picking away at some genuine moments of disgust and self-loathing. The laughs here are quickly chased by sympathetic stomach cramps.

As with other Apatow-approved endeavors, casting is the key. The ensemble here is terrific and startling, especially Kunis, who after spending nearly a decade on the shrill "That 70's Show," reveals a newly freshened allure as Peter's rebound girl, who also happens to be the best antidote for him in his time of need. Kunis is funny and utterly lovable, and holds her own against Segel, who obviously caters the screenplay to his strengths of punching-bag straight man comedy and bursts of full-frontal nudity. Brand and Bell make for fun adversaries, though both take some time to warm up to the speed of the material.

It also wouldn't be a party without plenty of guests, and appearances by Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, Carla Gallo, and Paul Rudd as a sun-baked surf instructor add their special sauce to the mix. Even William Baldwin pops up as the co-star on Sarah's awful "C.S.I." rip-off crime show, channeling reptilian Carusoesque pausing like a heavyweight champ.

Segel's gift is making weird situations bleed into the uncomfortable, and "Forgetting" is ripe with sequences that dive off the deep end of absurdity, yet still remain a plausible gas. Peter's ambition to write a rock opera about Dracula (performed by puppets) is a perfect example of how Segel boldly walks this thin line throughout the picture, yet his comfort with ludicrousness is where the film is most confident and uproarious. It's a corrosive feature, with Peter slowing coming to the realization that Sarah is Satan incarnate, and the material rides that perfect razor's edge between humanity and throat-slicing comedy, never pausing for comfort.

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is non-stop laughs in both the obvious and the sneaky material stuffed into the corners of the film. It's a firecracker of a picture, paying tribute to stomped hearts everywhere, not to mention throwing valentines toward the Muppets, luscious Hawaii, and the comedic value of the penis.

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WILD CHILD NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Wild Child from imdb

Sixteen-year-old Poppy Moore (Emma Roberts) has always got what she wanted and lives a pampered life in her L.A. world. Though she's handed credit cards with unlimited balances and surrounded by countless hangers on, Poppy can't escape the mounting frustration she feels with her family situation and she makes sure everyone knows it. After an over-the-top prank pushes her father (Aidan Quinn) one step too far, Poppy is shipped off to an England/English boarding school.

Finding herself in a foreign world of early curfews, stern matrons, and mandatory lacrosse, the United States|American princess has finally met her match: a school of British girls who won't tolerate her rebellious ways. Under the watchful eye of the school's headmistress (Natasha Richardson) and surrounded by a new circle of friends (Josie, Kate, KiKi & Drippy), Poppy begrudgingly realises her bad-girl behavior will only get her so far. But just because she must grow into a fine young lady doesn't mean this Wild Child won't be spending every waking hour shaking up a very proper system. Poppy Moore starts Abbey Mount as she means to go on-her way,or no way.

Realising her Dad's not coming back to get her, and having nowhere to fit in, room-mate Kate tells Poppy she'll have to get herself expelled. Later that night, Poppy reads a book (Alice In Wonderland - her punishment for fighting) with a lighter when her room-mates sneak up on her with torches, and offer their help. They give their ideas on how she can get expelled, and act on them as a group, and let her take the blame. This brings the girls closer, but Poppy still wants to leave. When none of the plans to get Poppy expelled are working the girls realise they will have to go all out and hit the headmistress closer to home by snogging her son Freddie, which is completely forbidden by the school. After some flirting, Freddie asks Poppy out on a date, during which they kiss. Before going out with Freddie, Poppy is so excited she doesn't log off the computer, and runs off. Harriet takes her revenge on Poppy by rewriting her emails to best friend Ruby, and sticks one on the girls' door, suggesting that Poppy is just using them and is faking the friendship. Harriet also rewrites an email about Freddie, stating Poppy's plan to kiss him only to get expelled and that she thinks he is a loser.

Coming back from her night out, Poppy is ready to confess she's actually happy, to find the girls upset. They read the email to her and leave. Upset, Poppy goes to see Freddie but he has found the email about him also and feels betrayed. Poppy, with no one else to turn to, sneaks down to the cook's room to use the phone and rings Ruby, who it turns out is sleeping. Even more alone, Poppy starts playing with her lighter, setting a curtain alight. Hearing footsteps, she quickly puts out the fire and runs off. A few minutes later, she looks out her window to see a fire, and wakes Kate and the rest of the school. After the fire is put out, Freddie looks at the damage and finds her lighter. He gives it back to her, refusing to listen to what happened. Poppy goes to the headmistress and confesses. Poppy also asks Mrs. Kingsley to give a letter to Freddie apologizing and confessing her feelings about everything.

While waiting for the Honour Court which will decide if she should be expelled, she finds a picture of her Mum and the lacrosse team. Poppy sits with the picture when Freddie finds her crying. After a heart to heart, they are friends again. At the Honour Court, Poppy tells her story while her room-mates find out Poppy was out with Freddie when the email was sent, and Harriet was the only one around. Going to the court,they get the whole school to confess they were present at the fire. Harriet then lets slip about Poppy's lighter being used to start the fire, which only Poppy and Freddie knew about, and accidentally confesses to restarting the fire after Poppy successfully put it out. Poppy is innocent. The movie is left off where Harriet is expelled, and Poppy will remain at Abbey Mount.

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NIMS ISLAND NOW AVAILABLE

NIM'S ISLAND NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE NIM'S ISLAND FROM IMDB

Anything can happen on Nim's Island, a magical place ruled by a young girl's imagination. It is an existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary character, Alex Rover - the world's greatest adventurer. But Alexandra, the author of the Rover books, leads a reclusive life in the big city. When Nim's father goes missing from their island, a twist of fate brings her together with Alexandra. Now they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and find strength in one another to conquer Nim's Island. Written by Anonymous

A young girl inhabits an isolated island with her scientist father and communicates with a reclusive author of the novel she's reading. It is an existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary character, Alex Rover, the world's greatest adventurer. But Alexandra, the author of the Rover books, leads a reclusive life in the big city. When Nim's father goes missing from their island, a twist of fate brings her together with Alexandra. Now they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and find strength in one another to conquer Nim's Island. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE NIM'S ISLAND FROM DVDTALK

I think it's wonderful to see Jodie Foster attempt to break out of her cycle of gritted-teeth dramatic roles with a fluffy family comedy. However, the grating "Nim's Island" is pitched too aggressively, and Foster's bug-eyed, pratfall-packed performance is embarrassing to witness.

Nim (Abigail Breslin) is an adventurous pre-teen girl, living on an isolated South Pacific island with her scientist father, Jack (Gerard Butler), passing the time reading her favorite books by author Alex Rover. In San Francisco, Alex Rover (Jodie Foster) is an agoraphobic novelist currently stuck on her latest work, e-mailing Jack for information on the local volcano. When Jack finds himself stranded at sea, Nim is left alone on the island to fend for herself against storms and tourists. Fearful, she e-mails her hero Alex to come help her, sending the violently phobic writer out into the big scary world of germs and human interaction with the help of her Indiana Jonesesque literary alter-ego (also played by Butler).

Based on the book by Wendy Orr, "Nim's Island" is an unruly family film tied to the idea that restless direction and a blaring soundtrack will keep the antsy kids in the audience glued to the screen. What directors Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin are pursuing with "Island" is a dreamlike quality, where fantasy and reality intermingle on a colorful scale. The filmmaking embraces cartoon qualities by giving Nim animal friends with human characteristics, or the island setting itself, which is a McDonald's Playland of volcanoes, zip-lines, and Talking Heads dance parties. I can understand the temptation of such material, but Flackett and Levin sell the whimsy of it all with a jackhammer, playing to the rafters any chance they get. They seem more interested in elaborate transition shots and other showoff camera tricks than finding a flexible, working tone for the picture.

The result is a headache-inducing film that grows more obnoxious as it plays, but the most piercing element of the movie is Foster. It's not that she's terrible in the frantic role of Alex, but the actress is trying with every fiber of her being to be funny, and bless the multifaceted Foster, but clowning around just isn't in her DNA. Alex is supposed to be a complete pill, but the squeaky way Foster plays the anxiety is difficult to watch. Flailing about like a puppet, Alex spends the entire picture confronting her fears (a major theme of the picture), but the situations provided by the screenplay consist primarily of Alex horsing around or plugging Progresso Soup and Purell, not really making inroads on her list of uncertainties.

"Island" is really three stories in one, following Nim, Alex, and Jack as they fight separation in their own comical ways, but it never ties together. "Nim's Island" isn't dreary, just miscalculated by filmmakers too eager to please and a lead actress much too willing to be the butt of a joke.

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MADE OF HONOR NOW AVAILALBLE

MADE OF HONOR NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE MADE OF HONOR FROM IMDB

Made of Honor revolves around Tom and Hannah, who have been platonic friends for 10 years. He's a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn't found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is starting to think that he is relationship material after all, Hannah gets engaged. When she asks Tom to be her "maid" of honor, he reluctantly agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and woo her. Written by Orange

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE MADE OF HONOR FROM DVDTALK

At this rate, it looks like the entire cast of "Grey's Anatomy" will eventually have an awful wedding movie to call their very own. Coming right off the heels of Katherine Heigl's unwatchable "27 Dresses" is Patrick Dempsey's "Made of Honor," and it's as robotic and tedious as can be expected from fluffy summer-weekend counterprogramming.

A womanizer who lives by a series of strict rules of feminine engagement, Tom (Patrick Dempsey) can't wait to spend quality time with his long-standing best friend, Hannah (Michelle Monaghan). When Hannah heads off to Scotland on an extended business trip, Tom comes to the realization he can't live without her. When she returns, Tom is ready to admit his attraction, only to find Hannah has found a fiancé (Kevin McKidd) and wants Tom to be her maid of honor. Accepting the responsibility only because it offers a shot to disrupt the engagement, Tom faces a huge speed bump in his plan when it's revealed that Hannah's new love is just about perfect in every way.

Actual human characters are in short supply in "Honor," and heaven knows this material could use any speck of unpredictability it could locate. It's a mechanical romantic comedy, meant to trigger wedding day goosebumps and leading man heart palpitations in the audience, but there's no pizzazz to "Honor," and it features a complete absence of inspiration. It's a lazy picture, and, even worse, it's difficult to sit through. A simple love story shouldn't feel like a prison sentence.

Perhaps equating "Honor" to jail time is an inch too harsh, but watching the filmmakers lead the material through every possible cliché is discouraging. There are some jewels to be mined in the film, especially scenes with Tom's gender-confused role as maid of honor. The concept swings open large comedy doors that should rightfully exploit the situation for every last bachelorette party faux pas, but "Honor" only wants to make sexual preference jokes and take hoary bridesmaidzilla jabs. Dempsey is breezy enough in the role and appears ready to jump off the page and liven up the proceedings, but he's held down by director Paul Weiland, who has some strange ideas of what makes for a giggly, romantic night at the movies.

Let's just say that glow-in-the-dark anal sex toy sight gags fail to conjure up a desired mood of friendly, good-natured fun.

Much like "27 Dresses," the predictability of the material is exasperating. Weiland is terrified to challenge anything in the script, and he gives himself over to the most moronic ideas of conflict, chipping away at basic (and needed) relationship logic to make it all fit together. Traditionally, cliché can be subdued by some fragment of imagination, but once Tom finds himself off on a horse to stop a wedding in the finale, all hope is lost that anyone associated with the production was interested in elevating the material to either funnier or more emotional ends.

Again, Dempsey is good here, and shares pleasing chemistry with the adorable Monaghan, but it's hard to isolate their obvious allure when "Made of Honor" remains such a blinding display of loathsome formula.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE MADE OF HONOR

MIRRORS NOW AVAILABLE

MIRRORS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE MIRRORS FROM IMDB

Kiefier Sutherland is a ex NY cop battling sinister forces in mirrors that endanger both him and his family.

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE MIRRORS FROM DVDTALK

With the magnificent "High Tension" and his exhilarating remake of "The Hills Have Eyes," director Alexandre Aja positioned himself as a genre innovator with unusually lucid ideas on how to return some fright to horror cinema. "Mirrors" is Aja stepping up to the big leagues, taking on his largest budget to date and working with an authentic Hollywood star. It's a tricky position for Aja to find himself in, and the obscene pressure has blurred his once pristine vision for scares.

Reeling from an accidental shooting during his time as a NYPD detective, Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland, putting forth minimal effort) has drowned his guilt in booze and rage. Trying to clean up his act and win his family (including Amy Smart and Paula Patton, fighting her cleavage for screentime) back, Ben takes a job as a security officer guarding the spooky ruins of a department store that suffered a massive fire. During his rounds, Ben spies strange visions in the massive mirrors that decorate the hallways, images that forecast gruesome death. Attempting to investigate the history of the store and its past tragedy, Ben finds he's brought the visions home to terrorize his loved ones, forcing him to fight back against the ghostly wrath of the mysterious reflections.

A remake of a 2003 Korean production, "Mirrors," like all of these reheated Asian imports, fails to sniff out how to accurately translate supernatural scares for American audiences. What's here really isn't a horror film but a mystery, with Ben spending more time piecing clues together than feeling the heat from demonic forces. Aja seems at a loss how to process the material, perhaps envisioning "Mirrors" as his transition piece out of the scare zone, yet he doesn't possess the dramatic storytelling tools necessary to keep Ben's personal crisis convincing. In short: "Mirrors" is pretty damn boring.

The picture is often slapdash in execution as well. The dialogue consists of painfully awkward expositional conversations, not pulse-quickening exchanges of worry; every single time a character opens their mouth, it's only to restate the obvious or patch holes in the script. Instead of plunging into the glassy unknown right away, some time with the leads would've been appropriate, instead of obvious character positioning for future torment. Again, Aja appears bewildered on how this film should ultimately stitch together, caught between the chills he knows like the back of his hand and the more leashed menace he's unfamiliar with.

When "Mirrors" slips into terror mode, it mucks with the story even further. The bloodletting doesn't feel organic to the plot, showing up in a vague studio-mandated fashion over an instinctive need to creep out the room. "Mirrors" confounds at times as well, with Ben diving headfirst into the mystery of the department store without blinking an eye, even after witnessing events that would make the Ghostbusters wet their pants. A supporting character's literal jaw-ripping death doesn't seem to rattle the narrative either, with Ben and the local cops carrying on as though nothing occurred, when clearly it has to be the most heinous crime imaginable, even by loose NYPD standards.

If you sit down with "Mirrors" and end up invested in Ben's lukewarm detective work, consider yourself the most patient filmgoer around. With Aja slathering on the cheap boo scares, overseeing rancid performances, barely investing in his screenplay, and showing questionable gorehound taste in violent imagery, "Mirrors" eventually reflects absolute tedium, not appealing supernatural fury.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE MIRRORS

DEAL NOW AVAILABLE

DEAL NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE DEAL FROM IMDB

As an ex-gambler teaches a hot-shot college kid some things about playing cards, he finds himself pulled into the world series of poker, where his protégé is his toughest competition.


HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE DEAL FROM DVDTALK.

THE FILM

Poker has been dealt some terrific cinematic hands before, but "Deal" is hardly cinematic. The feature finds a perfect home on the small screen, where the curious lack of energy running through this picture doesn't seem quite as severe. "Deal" is a passable diversion for poker junkies, but I fear will hold little interest for anyone not enthralled by gambling.

A poker prodigy at age 21, Alex (Bret Harrison) has trained himself with online tournaments and dorm room games. Now vying for a shot on the professional poker circuit, Alex piques the interest of former gambler Tommy (Burt Reynolds), who takes the young man under his wing and teaches him the details of the game. Ready for his shot, Alex heads to the World Poker Tour tournament in Las Vegas to match skills with the best of the best. However, ego and mistrust rear their ugly heads, leaving the partnership strained and futures uncertain with a multi-million-dollar jackpot on the line.

"Deal" is a film of limited ambition, yet I think someone forgot to explain that to director/co-writer Gil Cates Jr. Intoxicated by the recent chess-like romanticism of poker, Cates Jr. directs with an aim to be cutting edge, often abusing commonplace editing techniques, blasting whiny emo-rock leftovers, and idolizing the nightlife of Las Vegas with all the visual invention of a Travel Channel special. He's sweating hard to make "Deal" feel electric and edgy, at the same time filling up his screenplay with hoary scenarios of conflict and redemption that keep the whole affair thoroughly sedated.

It's difficult to tell if poker maniacs will dig into what "Deal" has to offer, but the film appears to get the surface details of the game right. It's a familiar road of tells, bluffing, and bravado, but "Deal" does settle into a passable atmosphere of high-tension gambling, using WPT iconography for street cred and the likes of Jennifer Tilly to cameo, lending the picture a reality the rest of the film is sorely lacking. Perhaps Cates Jr. is ultimately more fascinated with the bright lights of competition than the mechanics of the game, but when "Deal" focuses on the cards and chips, the film's nagging problems melt away.

The mere presence of Burt Reynolds offers a mixed bag of production quality reactions; however, he's the best thing to happen to "Deal." Sure his hair looks like a tennis ball and the man's face is pulled tighter than the villains of "Star Trek: Insurrection," but he's the only one in the cast with Hollywood-bred gravitas, making Tommy far more complicated (and therefore compelling) than Cates Jr. could have ever dreamt of. It's a sharp performance of concentration and star-powered snap, and he burns his co-stars off the screen; leaving me to wonder why the production even bothered with the Alex arc, since Tommy and his troubled road back to the limelight is sturdy enough for its own movie.

THE DVD

Visual:

Heavily tinkered with in post-production, the anamorphic widescreen image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) on the "Deal" DVD brings out the details - an unfortunate quality for Reynolds's plastic surgeon. Black levels tend to mush together, but colors pop generously and grain remains.

Audio:

The 5.1 Dolby Digital mix does just fine with casino atmospherics, but keeps most of the action up front. The dialogue and soundtrack are separated agreeably. A 2.0 mix, French 5.1, and Spanish 5.1 are available as well.

Subtitles:

English and Spanish subtitles are provided.

Extras:

"PokerStars Presents: Winning Big at Texas Hold 'Em with Isabelle Mercier and Greg Raymer" (13:22) offers the DVD viewer a primer on cards from two champions. Walking through the intricacies of betting, bluffing, and (hopefully) winning, the featurette is ideal for the poker buff in your life. For added fun, it's hilarious to listen to Mercier's French-Canadian accent tackle card table lingo, especially her repeated use of the term "to da nuts."

A Theatrical Trailer for "Deal" has not been provided on this DVD.

FINAL THOUGHTS

"Deal" is confused when separated from the comfort of the green felt, piling on way too many clichés. As a poker diversion, it should pass the time, but if you're hoping for a dramatically rewarding piece of filmmaking, your odds are better with a different movie.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE DEAL.