John: Definitely vampires, not zombies. Whoever wrote that copy is wrong.

I think a "zombie invasion" sounds better!

I found myself wondering how and by whom these bloodthirsty killers get haircuts. Think about it.

Rendition has a top-line cast, but I've hardly seen any promo for it...

Actually went to see Elizabeth last week...my wife was a big fan of the first. So-so is about right. Cate was very good (all the actors were), but they really give short work to the actual battles...yet on the flip side it was a long movie.

Went yesterday to see Across the Universe. We basically had the theater to ourselves. It was much better than I thought it was going to be... a little on the long side...but some very interesting reinterpretations of the classics...personal fave was Joe Cocker's 'Come Together'. What is so amazing is that they could make another movie with a different set of songs which would have been just as classic - hell probably two or three more.

So who's seeing this weekend's nunber #1 movie event....Saw IV?

I actually enjoy this series twisty plots. The first one was a low budget winner, didn't like the last one as much.

Skipping Saw IV (not to mention I, II, and III) , but if it is not pouring too badly I am heading out to see Control. I guess there's a little horror in that story too.

For my usual Friday afternoon movie, instead of Saw IV (haven't seen any of 'em, don't intend to), I went to see Nightmare Before Christmas, which is back in 3-D on the big screen. Since it wasn't filmed that way originally, the effect gives it a depth that looks great, rather than stuff jumping off the screen. Gotta say though that Danny Elfman's songs, besides "This is Halloween," really don't wear to well on me. Lackluster lyrics, with lots of lame rhymes.

I saw Nightmare 3D last year at the movies and it was great to see it in 3D.

Guess its gonna be an annual treat.

Wish they'd bring The Polar Express back in IMAX 3D for the holidays. That was fun on a large screen in NYC.

btw...the Saw series are actually done very well. The first one is a true classic. Today I watched House Of A 1,000 Corpses on DVD. That is not a classic.

Rob Zombies "The Devils Rejects" is much better. You gotta love Captain Spaulding!

Now THAT surprised me! Why not, J-Bo?

Well color me shocked once again by Pixar because I saw Ratatouille for the first time last night and absolutely loved it. Much like Cars last year I had absolutely zero interest in seeing this movie on the big screen when it first came out since it seemed incredibly stupid to me, and wasn't even sure I wanted to rent it later on DVD either, but I rented it anyway for the heck of it yesterday and came away from it as pleasantly surprised as I was last year when I rented Cars. Yes the movie felt a little too convenient at times like how Remy had no idea he was actually living in Paris the whole time when that was the one place he had always wanted to visit, and I gotta admit that Remy communicating with the spirit of a dead chef felt a little creepy. Plus only in a Pixar movie could a rat have his own restaurant lol. And it could just be me but the animation didn't seem to blow me away like it did in say Monster's Inc. or Finding Nemo or even in last year's Cars, but really these are all minor nitpicks because overall the movie was outstanding and a heck of a lot funnier and sweeter and just plain better than I ever imagined it could be. The only Pixar movie I can honestly say I hated so far was that dull snoozefest they called the Incredibles which surprisingly was also directed by Brad Bird but isn't even in the same league as Ratatouille or the Iron Giant either for that matter. Ratatouille's just a real gem of a movie and nobody's more surprised than me.

Just finished watching Deck the Halls now, another surprisingly good film I thought. Parts of it were a tad too silly for me and the Matthew Broderick character grated on my nerves throughout most of it, but overall it was a very good movie with some great messages in it as well. Definitely doesn't beat Ratatouille in my mind but it was pretty darn good anyway.

I highly recommend that anyone fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch Redacted do so. Very few theaters are choosing to show it, perhaps because of right wing pressure or perhaps because of the disturbing images.

This film is NOT for children, but I believe it should be required viewing for every American over 13 or so. For those that haven't heard, it's a reenactment of the al-Janabi rape & murder by US soldiers in Iraq & the circumstances surrounding it. It officially masquerades as fiction for legal reasons, but it's intent is to be a biopic/documentary. It's quite powerful.

I saw Southland Tales and I'm Not There today.

I liked Southland Tales but I can see how it received mixed reviews. The story was almost completely incoherent. There was a traceable arc of sorts but it seemed like the director lost track of the relationships between the characters or lost track of whether he told the viewers about the relationships. I kind of liked it anyway. There was enough interest in each scene to keep me from being bored at the minimum and often enough there was more. I wouldn't recommend going out of my way to pay for it but it is worth doing Netflix for when it comes around.


Loved I'm Not There. I admit I was predisposed to liking it but I think it was done absolutely right. This is the only way to tell even part of Dylan's story. Haynes directs this like a cubist painting. You see all sides of the artist at all times. In a way it makes the dual case that there is no one Dylan and that it is always the same Dylan we just see different facets of him. That the film provokes even that much thought tells you that he dodges (and even mocks) traditional music biography movies. There is a lot of food for thought, he uses the music very well and the performances are very good. There are more laughs than you would think. Julianne Moore is both uncanny and hysterical as the "Joan Baez" type.

There are only a couple of "versions" of Dylan that are placed in real events and that makes placing the other Dylans a little difficult (particularly the Richard Gere incarnation) but once I let go of trying to figure out what era we were in the movie grew in depth. For example the Gere figure ties together the very early Dylan, the Basement Tapes Dylan and the "back to his roots" Dylan of the last 20 years or so without making those connections explicit.

One of the two best movies I have seen in the last 6 months I would guess (with No Country for Old Men).

Even if people hate it I would love to see what some others think.

I saw The Mist over the weekend. I've read the novella a couple of times and listened to the audio production, so I thought I knew what I was in for. Wrong!

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

The first 90 minutes or so of the movie had a good mix of laughs and scares, but the tone gets seriously darker as the film goes on, and I knew I was in trouble when mournful, operatic female vocals started blasting away on the soundtrack -- never a good sign. The director/screenwriter decided to take this movie in a very disturbing direction in the final act, far from King's open-ended conclusion. In fact, this may be the first movie based on a Stephen King story that actually has a darker ending than the book.

No doubt there are some who will think the ending is brilliant, but I thought it was way over-the-top. From what I heard other people saying as we left the theater, I wasn't alone.

I saw Beowulf in 3D yesterday with my son. Not bad at all, we enjoyed the story and the special effects. And Angelina Jolie has never looked finer....wow!

Everyone has to see this in 3D if its near your home.

btw...finally saw The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer on DVD last night. Yuck! Just terrible. I wish this franchise would go away.

I saw Juno yesterday afternoon. This is my favorite movie of the year so far. A small movie, but very funny, smart script with a terrific cast. Ellen Page gives an astoundingly accomplished performance as the title character. Like Little Miss Sunshine last year, I expect this to become a breakout hit, and wouldn't be surprised if it gets a few Oscar nods. Highest recommendation.

P.S. This is the 4th movie I've seen this year which involves a young woman who finds herself pregnant, but spurns abortion in favor of giving birth (Waitress, Knocked Up, Bella, Juno). Interesting trend.

If you like Ellen Page, see her previous movie called Hard Candy on DVD.

She is quite the actress at 20 years old though she looks younger.

btw...Golden Compass sort of bombed at the movies this weekend. $28M is very underwhelming for the kind of movie that usually does at least $40M during opening week.

Is it the curse of Kidman?

I just got back from The Golden Compass. I thought it was pretty darn good. Certainly beautiful to look at. The only limitation for me was that we were not around the individual characters long enough to give us some emotional connection to them when they reappear in differnet parts of the story. I think they condensed it too much, it would have had a much stronger effect if it was about a half hour longer. Certainly doesn't explain why it did such weak business though, especially given more or less strong reviews.

Narnia btw did over $65M during its opening.

I would guess I Am Legend will do good numbers next week. I'll be in the theater for that one.