Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Up

Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Junior Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life.






Trailer

Starring: Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, Delroy Lindo, John Ratzenberger
Directed by: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Kids/Family and Animation
Running Time: 1 hr. 29 min.
MPAA Rating: PG for some peril and action
Yahoo! Critics: A-
IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10 (83,492votes)
My Rating: &&&&

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Number 23

Spiraling into a dark obsession with the number 23, Walter Sparrow twists his once idyllic life into an inferno of psychological torture that could possibly lead to his death as well as the deaths of his loved ones. Spurred on by a mysterious novel, The Number 23, that he doesn't dare put down, Walter is forced to unlock the secrets of his past before he can continue his future with his wife, Agatha, and teenage son, Robin. The novel, given to Walter by Agatha as a birthday gift, depicts a chilling murder mystery that seems to mirror Walter's life in dark and uncontrollable ways. The life of the book's main character, a brooding detective named Fingerling, is filled with moments that echo Walter's own history. As the world of the book starts to come alive, Walter becomes infected by the most frightening and evocative part of it: Fingerling's obsession with the hidden power of the number 23. This obsession permeates the book and begins to control Walter. He sees the number everywhere in his own life and becomes convinced that he is damned to commit the same horrific crime as Fingerling--murder. Nightmarish fantasies come to haunt Walter, ones that portend terrible fates for his wife as well as family friend Isaac French, placing him on a desperate quest to understand the mysteries of the book. If he can unlock the power behind the number 23, he may be able to change his future.

Trailer

Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Danny Huston, Rhona Mitra, Logan Lerman
Directed by:
Joel Schumacher
Genres: Drama and Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr. 37 min.

MPAA Rating: R for violence, disturbing images, sexuality and language
Yahoo! Critics: C
IMDb User Rating: 6.2/10 (55,325 votes)
My Rating: &&&

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

It's the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson's Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they're not happy: Zeus' lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy's mother. As Percy adapts to his newly discovered status as a demi-god (his father is Poseidon), he finds himself caught between the battling titans of Mt. Olympus. He and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy's mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.

Trailer

Starring: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan
Directed by:
Chris Columbus
Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 120 min.

MPAA Rating: PG for action violence and peril, some scary images and suggestive material, and mild language
Yahoo! Critics: C+
IMDb User Rating: 6.2/10 (4,632 votes)
My Rating: &&&&&

V for Vendetta

Against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, a young working-class woman named Evey is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked man known only as "V." Profoundly complex, V is at once literary, flamboyant, tender and intellectual, a man dedicated to freeing his fellow citizens from those who have terrorized them into compliance. He is also bitter, revenge-seeking, lonely and violent, driven by a personal vendetta. In his quest to free the people of England from the corruption and cruelty that have poisoned their government, V condemns the tyrannical nature of their appointed leaders and invites his fellow citizens to join him in the shadows of Parliament of November the 5th--Guy Fawkes Day. On that day in 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered in a tunnel beneath Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder. He and his co-conspirators had engineered the treasonous "Gunpowder Plot" in response to the tyranny of their government under James I. Fawkes and his fellow saboteurs were hanged, drawn and quartered, and their plan to take down their government never came to pass. In the spirit of that rebellion, in remembrance of that day, V vows to carry out the plot that Fawkes was executed for attempting on November 5th in 1605: he will blow up Parliament. As Evey uncovers the truth about V's mysterious past, she also discovers the truth about herself--and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plan to ignite a revolution, bringing freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

Trailer

Starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, John Hurt, Stephen Fry
Directed by:
James McTeigue
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Adaptation and War
Running Time: 2 hrs. 11 min.

MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and some language
Yahoo! Critics: B
IMDb User Rating: 8.2/10 (207,016 votes)
My Rating: &&&&&

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Hard

Cop Raymond Vates is gay, though closeted. When a serial killer begins murdering male hustlers, Vates investigates despite official indifference. His professional interest becomes personal though when he unknowingly has a one-night stand with the killer, who steals his badge and uses it to implicate him in the crimes. Vates is forced to come out at work in order to clear his name, and must track down the killer before he becomes the next target.

Starring: Noel Palomaria, Malcolm Mooreman, Michael Waite, Arron Zeffron, K. D. Jones
Directed by:
John W. Huckert Jr
Genres: Thriller and Gay
Running Time: 1 hr. 41 min.

MPAA Rating: Rated R for violence and grisly afterviews, strong sexual content, language and some drug content
Yahoo! User Rating: C+
IMDb User Rating: 5.7/10 (252 votes)
My Rating: &&&&

Monday, February 1, 2010

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Dr. Parnassus has the extraordinary gift of inspiring the imaginations of others. Helped by his traveling theatre troupe, including his sarcastic and cynical sidekick Percy and versatile young player Anton, Parnassus offers audience members the chance to transcend mundane reality by passing through a magical mirror into a fantastic universe of limitless imagination. However, Parnassus' magic comes at a price. For centuries he's been gambling with the devil, Mr. Nick who is coming to collect his prize -- Parnassus' precious daughter, Valentina on her upcoming 16th birthday. Oblivious to her rapidly approaching fate, Valentina falls for Tony, a charming outsider with motives of his own. In order to save his daughter and redeem himself, Parnassus makes one final bet with Mr. Nick, which sends Tony and Valentina and the entire theatre troupe on a ride of twists and turns, in and out of London and the Imaginarium's spectacular landscape.

Trailer

Starring:
Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Genres: Action/Adventure, Art/Foreign and Science Fiction/Fantasy
Running Time: 2 hrs. 2 min.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violent images, some sensuality, language and smoking
Yahoo! Critics: B-
IMDb User Rating: 7.4/10 (11,674 votes)
My Rating: &&