Iron Man

MUST-SEE: (Jon Favreau) This movie is perfect for any audience. It's awesome! (to be simple) I think that is what makes it such a "must-see." It combines action, humor, fantasy and good morale into one hulking man of steel... Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, president of Stark Enterprises, a company currently responsible for an explosives raid through small African villages. Kidnapped and held hostage by one of the foreign warlords, Stark is under the ultimatum to build them a bomb or die. Instead, he builds an un-stoppable man of steel, running on an unique power-source and taking out anything in its way. Stark escapes the prison and returns home with a new business plan: protect the world, don't destroy it. With the help of his techno-savvy robot and just plain savvy assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Stark perfects his iron man and takes on the destroyers. Even as a 24-year-old, the film makes you googli-eyed for superheros, immediately wishing for your own special talent, or ingenious creativity in this case. I mean, this guy can fly, he can take any hit, blow things up, not to mention he has millions of dollars, several sports cars and a house with a personality. Not much gets better. Maybe that is why this film's hint at a greater picture makes us excited again about a possible superhuman alliance. It's light, yet intriguing, adventurous, but with purpose. Here's to hoping the SHIELD succeeds (in theory and in theatres). That said, see this before you see The Incredible Hulk, or so I have heard...

Superbad

ALMOST: (Greg Mottola) I just can't bring myself to say this one is worth it. When you compare it to other notables within the genre, 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and the recent, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, it just doesn't measure up. Sure, throw in sex-driven high schoolers, lots of sugary alcohol and a million do-good dorks and you've got a recipe for inappropriate humor, a type that seems to be acceptable these days as good film. Unfortunately, Superbad barely reached over the lines of crude humor to make it worth movie length entertainment. The jokes got old, the scenes got uncomfortable, and if it wasn't for the truly unique performance of Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the dorkiest boy I think I've ever seen, this movie wouldn't have even made it through the 118 minutes of unrated dialogue. Writer Rogen (who I like in most everything) lets his writing take him to limits that should actually be left untouched, like a girl dropping menstrual goo on boys legs at a party. Um, seriously? When was that ever okay to talk about in public? And for the record, it's hardly possible. But I digress. Movies should never be taken for real life, as they serve to pacify our need to release... unfortunately, Superbad never made it there. I laughed, I mean some parts are funny, but the touching happy ending with semi-well intentioned morals leaves no anxiety for an encore, or a recommendation. Rogen, I know you've got better.

The Fall

MUST-SEE: (Tarsem Singh) In a hospital outside of Los Angeles in the 1920s, an injured and heart-broken stuntman named Roy (Lee Pace) and an innocent five-year-old Spanish field-worker named Alexandria (Cantinca Untaru) meet amidst the injured and together embark upon one of the most beautiful and fantastic love-stories ever told. Alexandria, barely speaking English and stuck with her healing arm in the air, finds Roy, curious and anxious for company, in the quiet and otherwise empty adult ward. The two make introductions before he begins a story of five bandits (including Charles Darwin) who trek across country to each's unique avengeance. It's unique, original, and strangely hypnotic, but captures Alexandria's attention immediately. Using the suspense of the story, it eventually becomes Roy's bribe to get morphine to numb the pain not only after a tragic fall left him paralyzed, but also from a broken heart. Without his true love or a career left, he yearns for death, moping about what's left of his life, intertwining his tragedy into a story of morbid heroic hope for Alexandria. And she doesn't for one day give him peace to let his own thoughts marinate, resulting in stories that dawdle on the line between fiction and reality. What was once seeming affection for the little girl (who never spoke a word of English before taking this role, equalling adorable) becomes a greedy and cold-hearted attempt to feed his pain and end his life. His storyline strangely mirrors his life, or maybe his nightmares, taking Alexandria on a roller coaster through his emotions. Only as he moves towards death, she adores him more, fighting to keep him happy and alive, ignorant to the fact that what he asks her for is what is killing him. Even when Roy sees the error of his ways (Alexandria gets injured stealing pills) he still can't drag himself out of the misery, even if only for her sake... and the struggle between the two is breathtaking, gut-wrenching, and most of all, beautiful. Beauty is actually the most prominent feature of The Fall. Whether through color, film speed, rhythm or motif, the imagination brought to life on screen is one that goes beyond what words are able to describe. It's most literally eye candy, substituting a concrete plot or timeline for a mystifying cine-scope that not only steals your focus, but also grips your heart in tune for these unknown, yet genuinely phenomenal characters.

Twilight

WORTH-IT (for the book lovers): (Catherine Hardwicke) To be fair, I have to admit that this review is biased because I am a Twilighter. But don't take that as me thinking the movie was awesome. I did love having my obsession illustrated on film, but I also struggled with its potential to stand alone. The first half was choppy and shallow, jumping from scene to scene quickly as to cover up the poorly avoided overacting, or maybe the incredibly awkward writing that made co-stars Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart look like facial expressions are their forte. It is hard though, to take such an emotionally gratifying book and put the same underlying intensity on screen without the baggage of droning narration. (or not, i.e. No Country for Old Men, Diving Bell, There Will Be Blood, anything Jane Austen...) But where they missed the mark was in the sacrificed depth in scene for quantity of book-correlated events. It pleased me as a reader to see everything addressed. (I can now finish out the series with less of an imagination). But anyone out of the novel-loop is strained, robbed of emotionally-inevitable sentimentality or the ability to identify with and believe in the characters. And, as a film-fanatic, I recognized just that. It lacked a unifying motif and instead offered unbelievable exchanges in dialogue that took us on a roller coaster of happenstance, taking the reality out of Author Stephenie Meyer's pages and making it a ridiculous on-screen display of love-struck teenage fantasy. This does nothing in the defense of those of us who (at 24+) have jumped on the Teen Vamp Train. Bottom line: Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) needs a new face, Rosalie (Nikki Reed) should have been played by a real blonde, Elizabeth Reaser (as Esme) will never do it for me after ruining "Ava/Rebecca" on Grey's Anatomy, and Bella Swan's Stewart might want to heed those Disney kids talent, and substitute a little genuine emotion for her constant efforts to be the miffed, disturbed, troubled, etc. young actress. No harm done from Pattinson; he mastered Edward's velvety voice, bears the strong jaw well, and stole my heart right there alongside every other swooning 14-year-old. How could it have been better? Either screen-writer, Melissa Rosenberg, or Hardwicke should decide who this movie is for: the fanatics or the masses? If for the fanatics, it should have gone deeper, lasted longer and resisted watering it down for someone less vamp-crazed. Edward's skin should have radiated crystals! Bella should have been more careful! Charlie should have had more lines! If for the masses, skip the high school jibe, simplify the plot to play up emotion, eradicate narration, and give us some real vampire violence. (That one fight scene is awesome!) Hopefully take 2 finds a director-elect that can round out the shortcomings, find a few replacements and truly scare us into believing Bella's real-life nightmare. Obviously, I can't recommend this to non-Twilighters yet . But if you don the label, enjoy putting faces to names (except avoid Jacob's). I know nothing can deter you from finishing the series or seeing the next film. We're just happy to know what Edward really looks like!

25 Days of Victoria's Secrets Widget

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

WORTH-IT (Kevin Smith): What begins as an uncomfortable glimpse into the lives of long-time friends and roommates, Zack and Miri, watching them debate the best sex toys online and or hand warmer burning hair off body parts, slowly becomes a story worth appreciating and if you can believe it, relatable. Try-outs for the duo's film star Lester the Molester (Smith's Jay), a talented hooker named Bubbles, a Stripper who prefers one end to the other and a Broadway-hopeful looking for his film debut wherever he can get it (literally). What saves this movie from downright nonacceptance, is the fact that there is actually a story underneath the skin and leather. The misfit group is on a journey to find hope and friendship in their poor excuses for lives. Smith's story has heart, perseverance, and at the very least credibility. Not only does his group find friends in each other, but the movie instills an unlikely faith in proving the world wrong. The center-story here is the one between Zack and Miri. as they literally dance around their first sexual experience with each other on camera and in front of people. Expect to see just what the titles entails, but if you think you can laugh off an awkward visual of no-name porn star wannabes doing the nasty for money and happiness, it's truly a hilarious story. Better than the mix of inappropriate and funny found in Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and comparable to the brainless sense of Clerks, Zack and Miri levels out at just the right amount of each making it inevitable to fall for the characters, look past their flaws and into their hearts, cracking up the whole way.

Rendition

WORTH-IT: (Gavin Hood) CIA Analyst Douglas Freeman, played by a wimpy Jake Gyllenhal questions his newest assignment after witnessing an unorthodox interrogation by secret detention officers, outside the US. When Egyptian-native, now-US resident, Anwar El-Ibrahimi, played by Omar Metwally, goes missing seemingly in the air on a flight to America from South Africa, his wife, Reese Witherspoon searches for answers to his suspicious disappearance. What she discovers is not only a brick wall surrounding the CIA's covert operations for terrorist control, but an icy Meryl Streep who refuses to budge in favor of her American counterparts. Rendition is the story of an uncovering of hard and ugly truth of a counter-terrorist plan taking extreme measures to hold its reputation. There are too many turns to give you a bare-boned plot in this review, but I can say that the film moves through them easily. Hood seamlessly entraps his audience into a whats wrong and right and who is in the wrong and right. Until the end, no one knows the truth and that keeps this film on its feet. he might have played up the darkness too much, as well as the silence, no doubt trying to overlay the film with El-Ibrahimi's torture, but all in all the film comes across as it should: sad, hopeless, but good and truthful. No Oscar-worthiness here, but a good story, a jolt of reality, and a pleasing film.

The Women

MUST SEE for women: (Diane English) Pour Hollywood's favorite sweethearts into a 1930s classic, don't allow any men on the bill, make it about the best and worst qualities in females and you've got the recipe for The Women, one of the most enjoyable, light-hearted, yet emotional films that anyone with a va-jay-jay will appreciate. Aside from loving to laugh and cry, women love to watch train wrecks, see imperfection in action and soak up good clothes. English brings back the success from 1930s original and packages it into a 2008 version of why we love being women. What began over a decade ago as a vision between Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts has twisted and turned to 2008, leaving Ryan as the lead, Roberts passing completely, and Eva Mendes, Annette Benning, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith rounding out a fun, feisty and all-together charming star bill. Bette Midler, Cloris Leachman and Candice Bergen are icing on the cake of estrogen and provide perfect comic relief for a movie of genuine real-life emotion. We see betrayal, friendship, success and failure, divorce and new love all sprouting, growing and dying in just under two hours. Like all good chick-flicks, The Women is a a roller-coaster of feelings, capped by humor and tears, but leaving you happy and satisfied, AND encouraged that mood swings and temper-tantrums are all just part of being a girl.

El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

PHENOMENAL: (Juan Antonio Bayona) Laura is a young and fiery girl living in an orphanage with 5 other children. They are too old to be adopted and innocently pressing the patience of some of the employees. But Laura is the lucky one of her firends, and gets adopted at the age of 11. She never hears of the orphanage again, except that eventually everyone was gone and the house was left abandoned. At present, adult Laura (Belen Rueda) brings her family back to the house where her dream is re-open the house as a home for special needs children. Unfortunately, the house has others plans. Plans that reveal her little friends may have been poorly treated and their disappearance not to normal. Slowly, eerie occurances start to happen, noises in the walls, suspicious visitors to the house, and her son, claims to be friends with littel chuirldren no one else can see. For weeks Simon plays games with the children, doing scavenger hunts, playing hide-and-seek, leaving Laura avoiding the obvious, that these imaginary friends are her friends from the orphanage. The tipping point comes when her son goes missing during a masquerade party. They don't see him in the house, on the property, or even in the surrounding areas. Search crews find nothing and her husband loses hope. But, as a last resort, she hires a ghost whisperer, who uncovers a blazing tragedy from the past, facing Laura with the decision to stay in the house alone to solve the mystery the children have left for her. Her search uncovers the truth she was lucky enough to escape, and forces her to play witht he children as Simon did in hopes they will reveal his whereabouts. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, director of Pan's Labyrinth, The Orphanage follows suite with the same dark thematic and fantastic reality. Also similarly, The Orphanage places our main character in a state of mind questioning the line between fantasy and reality, ultimately leaving her to choose which state makes her happiest. The Orphanage seamlessly pulls together the story of Laura's love for her past and for her dreams, but easily opens the door for thrilling possibility. Expect to hold your breath as you watch grown-up Laura initiate a chilling game of tag with the ghosts, hoping to get answers in return for playing. Shaking, she knocks three times on the wall until finally she turns around to see 5 little children frozen in position, waiting for another knock to move forward. It is the best scene I have ever seen, and established the precedent that The Orphange is more than just a scary movie, it is a phenomenal ghost story that tests love and sanity with passion and brevity. Scenes like this appear throughout the film, never letting you get comfortable or bored, and constantly questioning what is real and what is not. The Orphanage is powerful, intelligent and overall genius. Don't miss this bone-chilling experience.

City of God

MUST-SEE: (Fernando Meirelles) From the director who brought us 2005's Constant Gardener and this month's thriller, Blindess, it's one of his earlier works, City of God, that gives him a reputation among movie-watchers for a unique beauty within tragic darkness. Here, he illustrates Paolo Lins' novel of the same name, based on actual events among gangs in the forgotten Brazilian city. Young boys growing up in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, a city starved of electricity, running water, or the chance for a better existence, the children are left with hood life to keep their attention. Narrator Rocket is one of few who avoided a life of crime and instead focuses on photography, running his life aside members of the most dangerous gangs, eventually serving as an involuntary embedded journalist for the big city's paper. The film is heartbreaking, filled with nauseating suspense and merciless violence; but at the very least, it grasps the beauty and potential within the hearts of a lost innocence. Lins highlights details of the troubled boys and the morals that are constantly questioned a world with no rules. He solidifies that fact that you're allegiance constantly shifts, introducing good people who kill and bad people who rule. He paints fear through the eyes of a young hood getting his foot shot off and then killed by a member of his own gang, or another young boy joining the gang to kill his own father's murderer. The sadness exists in the innocence of children lost completely at no fault of their own. But with director Meirelles vision to match Lins story-telling, the tone simmers with triumph, humor rounds out an intolerable lifestyle, and the moral doesn't even get a turn on the totem pole. The motif reflects the negligence the boys have for a future. It reveals their ignorance to the possibility of a life without guns, without killing your enemies as the answer to problems, and living completely in the present. As young as 7, the thought of justice, respect and of morality are lost, erased to make room for vengeance and superiority. Rocket serves as the one unbiased voice to recount the details of his troubled town. As one who grew up with the hood for friends, but now serves as the photographer to document their progress, Rocket recounts as though it were a bedtime story. City of God, based on actual events of the real-life Rocket, journalist Wilson Rodriguez, is a film not to be overlooked. It is a wake-up call to what happens in the slums, a slap in the face for what happens on the other side of the tracks, the mindset that intrinsically exists within a hard-knock. Take your strong stomach and a expect to leave with a heavy heart, but rest assured the magic that happens onscreen, between a unique kind of innocence and raw emotion will leave you hugely impacted, eerily content in your own reality, and genuinely enthused for the survivors, how few they may be.