Friday, January 23, 2009

Pride and Glory

Four New York City cops are dead, killed in an ambush that has the entire police department on alert and on edge. With a cop killer on the loose and so much riding on the case, Chief of Manhattan Detectives Francis Tierney, Sr. asks his son, Detective Ray Tierney, to lead the investigation. Reluctantly Ray takes over the case knowing the cops who were lost had served under his brother, Francis Tierney, Jr., and alongside his brother-in-law, Jimmy Egan. On the surface, it looked like a routine drug bust gone terribly, tragically wrong. But as Ray delves deeper into the case, he realizes someone had to have tipped off the drug dealers that the cops were coming. Someone on the inside. Worse, the evidence starts to point in an unthinkable direction: to his own brother and brother-in-law. As the questions mount, the case forces the family to choose between their loyalties to one another and their loyalties to the department.

Trailer

Starring: Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Ehle, Noah Emmerich, Lake Bell
Directed by:
Gavin O Connor
Genres: Drama and Crime/Gangster
Running Time: 2 hrs. 9 min.

MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, pervasive language and brief drug content
Yahoo! Critics: C+
IMDb User Rating: 7.0/10
My Rating: &&

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Igor

In a world filled with Mad Scientists and Evil Inventions, one talented evil scientist's hunch-backed lab assistant has big dreams of becoming a Mad Scientist himself and winning the annual Evil Science Fair.









Trailer

Starring: John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Jay Leno, Jennifer Coolidge
Directed by:
Tony Leondis
Genres: Comedy and Animation
Running Time: 1 hr. 26 min.

MPAA Rating: PG for some thematic elements, scary images, action and mild language
Yahoo! Critics: C
IMDb User Rating: 6.1/10
My Rating: &&

Monday, January 12, 2009

City of Ember

For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights--underground. Built as a refuge for humanity and powered by a massive generator, this City will only sustain for 200 years. Now Ember is falling into darkness as the generator fails. Despite growing concern for the future of their beloved City, Ember's students find themselves confronting the next step in their lives. A rite of passage for all graduates, it is Assignment Day, the day on which the Mayor himself will stand before the graduating students as they choose, by lottery, how they will spend their lives working for their society. Lina, praying with all her might to be a messenger, is devastated to be assigned to the Pipeworks, the vast network of pipes underneath the City. Her classmate, Doon Harrow, who wants more than nothing else to work in the Generator, panics when he pulls the messenger assignment. Doon offers to swap assignments with Lina. She is thrilled and grateful and eagerly changes jobs. Thus, an unlikely friendship is born. Lina finds herself zipping all over Ember, delivering important missives to even more important people, including the mayor himself. At home she cares for her aging and forgetful grandmother, and her baby sister Poppy. When an old metal box is discovered in their closet, Lina's grandmother is overjoyed. Completely sure that the contents of the box are of the utmost importance, she is completely bereft of any memory as to why. Lina manages to jimmy the lock open, and discovers some cryptic papers inside. Unable to piece the papers together, but sure that they are important, Lina resolves to decipher their meaning and enlists Doon's help. As blackouts in the City become more frequent, Lina and Doon realize that the information inside that box could lead to the salvation of their City and their fellow citizens. Now racing against the clock, the two follow the clues, cleverly maneuvering around corrupt politicians and unsavory characters hoping to keep them from their goal: restoring the light in the City of Ember.

Trailer

Starring: Bill Murray, Toby Jones, Saoirse Ronan, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau
Directed by:
Gil Kenan
Genres: Action/Adventure, Kids/Family, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 1 hr. 39 min.

MPAA Rating: PG for mild peril and some thematic elements
Yahoo! Critics: B-
IMDb User Rating: 6.6/10
My Rating: &&&

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Saw V

Following Jigsaw's grisly demise, Mark Hoffman, the final apprentice to the serial killer is deigned a hero. Meanwhile, Agent Strahm is tested and puts the pieces together. While Strahm realizes that Hoffman is helping Jigsaw, five seemingly unconnected people face a horrible lesson about teamwork.Strahm follows all the leads he can get off Hoffman, including the death of his sister and why he joined Jigsaw. Hoffman and Strahm circle each other until it boils down to a gruesome and bone-crushing finale.

Trailer

Starring:
Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Julie Benz, Meagan Good
Directed by:
David Hackl
Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Horror and Sequel
Running Time: 1 hr. 32 min.
MPAA Rating: R for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, language and brief nudity

Yahoo! Critics: D
IMDb User Rating: 5.9/10
My Rating: &&&&

Friday, January 9, 2009

Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story

An over-zealous high school janitor takes on the task of coaching a group of lovable misfits to the Nebraska state tennis championship, overcoming their motley backgrounds in the process.








Trailer

Starring: Seann William Scott, Randy Quaid, Brando Eaton, Leonor Varela, Brent Anderson
Directed by:
Danny Leiner
Genres: Comedy and Sports
Running Time: 1 hr. 33 min.

MPAA Rating: Rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, some nudity and brief drug use
Yahoo! Critics: NA
IMDb User Rating: 5.6/10
My Rating: &&&

Burn After Reading

Osbourne Cox, a Balkan expert, is fired at the CIA, so he begins a memoir. His wife wants a divorce and expects her lover, Harry, a philandering State Department marshal, to leave his wife. A diskette of Osbourne's musings falls out of a gym bag at a Georgetown fitness center. Two employees there try to turn it into cash: Linda, who wants money for elective surgery, and Chad, an amiable goof. They try to sell the disc back to Osbourne, who has a short fuse, then they visit the Russian embassy. To sweeten the pot, they decide they need more of Osbourne's secrets. Meanwhile, Linda's boss likes her, and Harry's wife leaves for a book tour. All roads lead to Osbourne's house.

Trailer

Starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt
Directed by: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Genres: Comedy and Crime/Gangster
Running Time: 1 hr. 35 min.
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence
Yahoo! Critics: B
IMDb User Rating: 7.4/10
My Rating: &&

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Arthur and the Minimoys

Ten-year-old Arthur has a lot on his plate: a real estate developer is about to snap up his grandma's home--and there's no way Arthur's going to hang around for his parents or grandparents to sort out the problem. Maybe the solution lies in his grandpa's treasure, which is hidden somewhere on the "other side" in the land of the Minimoys. The creatures that inhabit this world are just a tenth of an inch tall and live in perfect harmony with their environment. Arthur ventures into this world of the Minimoys, where he meets Princess Selenia and her brother Betameche. Together they set off to look for the treasure that will save his grandma.

Trailer

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Mia Farrow, Madonna , Calvin 'Snoop Dogg' Dogg, David Bowie
Directed by:
Luc Besson
Genres: Art/Foreign, Kids/Family, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Animation and Adaptation
Running Time: 1 hr. 34 min.

MPAA Rating: PG for fantasy action and brief suggestive material
Yahoo! Critics: C-
IMDb User Rating: 5.9/10
My Rating: &&&&