Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2009)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy

Starring: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Catherine Keener

The Greek Gods are not a figment of our imagination as some would believe but are in fact existing and controlling the earth to this day. The lightning bolt of Zeus (Bean) is the most powerful weapon on Earth and it has been stolen. Zeus suspects his brother Poseidon's (McKidd) involvement in the theft and blames his son, Percy Jackson (Lerman) of being the lightning thief. The Greek Gods are often known to come down on Earth and mate with Earthlings to leave behind off springs that are half-god and half-human and thus known as demi-gods. Poseidon once fell in love with Sally (Keener) who gave birth to Percy. Poseidon started neglecting his duties and paid more attention to his new family which made Zeus pass a new law which forbid the gods from meeting their family members on Earth. Word soon gets around the gods that Zeus' bolt is stolen and everyone is in pursuit of Percy to get their hands on the bolt and become the most powerful being on the planet. Haedes holds Sally as ransom for the bolt and in order to save his mother he goes searching for an object he never stole. He has Grover (Johnson) a satyr, meaning half-human and half-goat to protect him at all times and Annabeth (Daddario) the daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom and war strategy. The movie does explore a very interesting plot but still the fundamental outline is still very cliched. A boy discovering his unknown powers and eventually using it to save the world. Been there, done that. Adapted from a book with the same title, expect a sequel to it very soon.

Thumbs up: Greek Gods in the modern world
Thumbs down: Fundamental outline is too cliched

Rating: 7.2/10

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Knowing (2009)

Genre: Action/Thriller/Science-fiction/Fantasy/Drama

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Chandler Canterbury, Rose Byrne, Lara Robinson

In 1959, a schoolgirl predicted the outcome of natural disasters and major global catastrophes by writing a complex numerical chart and putting it in a fifty year time capsule. 2009, the capsule is opened and the prediction falls in the hands of young Caleb Koestler (Canterbury). Caleb's father, John (Cage) is an MIT professor who manages to decipher the code and learns about the details of life-taking accidents yet to occur. He starts investigating and wants to get to the bottom of the entire mystery and meets Diana (Byrne) the daughter of the girl who wrote the prophesy. As John keeps getting deeper into the mystery, he realises there is much more to it than he can imagine. The movie is a true thriller and Nicolas Cage is his amazing self as always. The movie explores a unique and interesting plot, but kills the entire show by the larger-than-life and unrealistic end. Probably a more sane and acceptable climax would have made the movie an even better watch

Thumbs up: Nicolas Cage, plot
Thumbs down: Unrealistic ending

Rating: 7.6/10

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CHLOE

Written by Erin Cresside Wilson
Directed by Atom Egoyan
Starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried

Catherine Stewart: I don’t know whether I should be relieved or just go hang myself.

Atom Egoyan is one of Canada’s most celebrated auteur filmmakers but you would never know it from watching his latest, CHLOE. I thought the hyper-sexualized erotic thriller went out in the ‘90’s but Egoyan seems bent on bringing it back with this remake of the 2004 Anne Fontaine (COCO AVANT CHANEL) film, NATHALIE. He also seems bent on proving that Toronto, where the film takes place, is just as stylish as New York City, but he may just end up ruining his reputation for being talented and insightful at the same time.

Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) is the first person we meet. She is pulling up her stockings, presumably getting dressed after an intimate encounter, or on her way to one, from the look of her under garments. She thinks to herself about how much attention must be paid to detail in her line of work. As she continues on about sexual needs and how to anticipate them, it becomes explicitly clear what line of work that really is. The words that come out of her mouth are sharp and meant to be shocking. Only we’ve met this girl plenty of times already and she has nothing new to say. She’s just pretty when she says it.

We next meet Catherine and David Stewart (Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson). They are a well-to-do couple who have been together for many years and have an adolescent son living with them. They are surrounded by excess and yet she’s miserable and he doesn’t care. She suspects he’s having an affair; he flirts shamelessly in front of her. They can’t even work together when it comes to dealing with their own son. It should be no surprise then that instead of confronting her husband when she suspects him of having an affair that she hires a prostitute to trap him so that she can know for a fact. Enter Chloe and exit all sense of suspense and surprise.

Let alone that rich, white people bringing problems upon themselves is hardly something an audience can sympathize with, Egoyan is also overtly obvious with all of his other intentions as well. I understand that he wants to open the discussion about sexual politics and the increasing disconnected nature of our modern society but I don’t need scene after scene of Seyfried talking dirty to Moore about her husband or a breakup on web cam to get those points. And while Seyfried does her best to remain hauntingly distant and neutral throughout to mask her deep-rooted emotional issues, it is still pretty clear every step of the way what is coming next. CHLOE is a thriller without any thrills, sexual or otherwise. Toronto looks good though.

For a previous interview with Atom Egoyan, regarding his 2009 film, ADORATION, click the title.

For an interview with Steven Soderbergh about THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, a much better insight into the life of a high-priced escort, again, click the title.

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Black Sheep presents Blu-Tuesday

Two giant holiday releases from last year make their way to homes everywhere this week.  It should be a pretty insane sales week, what with these titles and Easter coming up this weekend.  The reigning sales champ is THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON.  The set sold 4 million plus units in its first week of release, 17% of which came from BD sales.  Somehow though, on the rental side of the board, the whiny little vampire folk only managed a second place debut.  Second place is none too shabby considering the film only came out on the Saturday of that week, giving it only two days to qualify.  Still, it lost the crown to DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS?  That's got to be a pain in the neck

Here are this week's biggest BD releases ...

SHERLOCK HOLMES
The good folks at Warner Bros. sent me over a copy of this Guy Ritchie hit from 2009.  I caught the SHERLOCK HOLMES in theatres and, at the time, thought it was somewhat overly complicated but still a good thrill ride nonetheless.  Holmes is supposed to be some sort of super detective genius and, while his genius as channeled through the further genius of Robert Downey Jr., provides wit so quick, it can be tricky to keep up with, it also alienates the viewer from figuring out any part of the mystery themselves.  I like to have a fighting chance as someone watching to figure out what is going on.  Still, in my living room, the exquisite sets and art direction are something to behold and the thrills are still there.  BD extras include a full picture in picture tour from Ritchie and look for Downey Jr. himself to join in a community screening of the film through BD live options, this Thursday, April 1, at 9:00 PM, EST.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL
Every time I have to type the word "squeakquel", I want to vomit a little.  This juggernaut of a family film did even better business than its predecessor and not surprisingly will be followed up with a third film in 3D.  I'm not sure what the appeal is for children.  This isn't exactly a well-known brand to this generation, or at least it wasn't before the first film came out.  Yet still, the kids seem to be eating up just as quick as these little rodents are eating up their own poo.  BD extras, so you can be sure to really get your chipmunk on, include plenty of interactive games and sing-a-long's for your kids to drive you insane with all throughout Easter weekend.

AN EDUCATION
Now this is where my money is going this week.  Lone Scherfig's Oscar-nominated film is an elegant and tasteful experience but it is also a telling lesson that all should learn.  I intend to learn my lesson again in my Sunday best with tea and scones just to make sure I do it right.  I should be careful though; I don't want to give the impression that AN EDUCATION is a snotty film.  It is quite the opposite.  The brilliant cast, led by the enchanting Carey Mulligan, paint a beautiful portrait of what it was like to be a girl in 1960's Britain.  Author, Nick Hornby's first screenplay is so subtle and so insightful that you don't even realize how much you're being schooled until it's done.  You will not want to miss this class.  BD extras include commentary with director, Scherfug, Mulligan and co-star, Peter Saarsgard.

SOURCES: BLU-RAY.COM    ROTTEN TOMATOES

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Doubt (2008)

Genre: Drama

Starring: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams

Set in 1964, a Catholic school in Bronx, New York. is run by Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Streep). Being the school principal, the students are afraid of her and she is a strict follower of discipline. Her way of life knows no fun and joy and only strict discipline and adherence to the rules. On the contrary, the church priest, Father Flynn (Hoffman) is fun-loving and knows how to balance work and play together. Sister Aloysius is a very suspicious being and always doubts peoples actions and their motives behind it. She doubts Father Flynn and his attitude towards the school boys and manages to get school teacher, Sister James (Adams) to spy on him. They suspect Father Flynn's behaviour with a boy as not as that of love and care but of other non-acceptable motives. Even though there is no firm evidence pointing towards the accusation, Sister Aloysius is banking upon her own beliefs of right against wrong and wishes to fight with the Father on these precise thoughts. The movie has an amazing star cast and each of them put on healthy performances. The movie has an interesting plot that it builds up upon but has an extremely abrupt ending. It shows how many of our beliefs of reality are actually centred not upon facts but suspicion which turns into faith and later a fact. Meryl Streep in particular, shines above the rest.

Thumbs up: Performances
Thumbs down: Abrupt end

Rating: 7.4/10

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

I met a guy last week who was really keen on seeing HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON.  No, it was not the 3D element that was calling to him, as it did to millions of people this weekend.  No, he just really digs dragons.  With the positive reviews, both from critics and audiences alike for this Dreamworks animation, I'm pretty sure he won't be the only one digging on dragons for very long.

Between HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and ALICE IN WONDERLAND following in second place, 3D pictures continue to command the dollar of the movie going audience.  There isn't enough room for three 3D titles in the Top 10 this weekend though.  The biggest box office success of all time, AVATAR, exits the Top 10 for the first time in its 15 weeks of release.  Its disappearance from the public consciousness will only be temporary though as the film will be made available to purchase within the next month.

As HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON basks in the warm, soothing bubbles of its own great success - one of the Top 10 March debuts in history - HOT TUB TIME MACHINE had to wait in line to get in.  The buzz for this time travel comedy has been boiling over -  I promise, I'll stop - in recent weeks and most were expecting a surprisingly large gross this weekend .. which wouldn't really make it a surprise, mind you.  The insider buzz didn't spread though and this Steve Pink film had to settle for third place.

A few Top 10 titles managed solid holds this week, suggesting repeat business and good word of mouth later in the run.  I tried to warn you guys but yet THE BOUNTY HUNTER managed a reasonable drop of only 40% this weekend.  If you missed it last weekend, you really should have just let it go.  I want to see a much steeper decline next week, alright?  Meanwhile, SHUTTER ISLAND and SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE managed even better declines of less than 40%.

Below the Top 10, Noah Baumbach's GREENBERG, starring Ben Stiller, added 178 screens for a grand total of 181, and saw an increase of nearly 800%.  It pulled in a solid average of just under $6K and has made $1.2 million in two limited weeks.  On less screens, it managed to pull in more than Canadian filmmaker, Atom Egoyan's latest thriller, CHLOE.  The Toronto-based love triangle debuted in 13th place this week, with a total of just over $1 million on 350 screens.  Some of that money is mine as I saw the film on Friday.  The Black Sheep review is coming in the next week.

NEXT WEEK: Next Saturday is my birthday.  Every year on my birthday weekend, there is nothing but garbage released in theatres .. or at least what I presume to be garbage or movies that completely disinterest me.  This year is no different whatsoever.  On Wednesday, hoping to score some early Easter money, the Miley Cyrus movie, THE LAST SONG, opens on 2500 screens.  The Tyler Perry sequel, WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO? opens on 2000 screens on Friday.  There are a few indie sprinklings here and there but the big guy in town with be CLASH OF THE TITANS, roaring on to 3600 screens, with a bunch of them being 3D.  Of those three, which do you think I have no interest in and which do you think I think look like garbage?  Happy birthday to me, indeed.

SOURCE: BOX OFFICE MOJO

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Genre: Drama/Comedy/Science-fiction/Adventure

Starring: Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman (voice), Warwick Davis

Planet Earth has been destroyed. British national Arthur Dent (Freeman) never knew his true friend, Ford (Def) was an alien belonging to a planet which is in the vicinity of planet Betelgeuse . Ford rescues Arthur from the destruction of Earth by hitchhiking onto a Vogon spaceship. The Vogon's apparently destroyed Earth to create a hyperspace expressway and they resent hitchhikers. Due to an extremely rare co-incidence they get rescued by the galaxy President, Zaphod Beeblebrox (Rockwell) a man who became President for the fame and money and doesn't give two hoots about the galaxy. Arthur finds on board the ship his long-lost love, Trillian (Deschanel) along with a highly-depressed robot, Marvin (voiced by Rickman and acted out by Davis). Zaphod wants to know the ultimate question which would answer the problems of life and gets on an inter-galactic adventure to hunt for it. The movie is plagued with irrelevant psychological and scientific thoughts along with funny one-liners. Although the movie does make you laugh on more than one occasion, the story seemed to have lacked a structure and seems flimsy. The screenplay has been adapted from a book of the same name written by Douglas Adams.

Thumbs up: Humour and graphics
Thumbs down: Unstructured story

Rating: 6.7/10

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Changeling (2008)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller/Biography/History/Mystery

Starring: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Michael Kelly, Jason Butler Harner, Gattlin Griffith

Changeling by definition, is a mythical creature left behind in place of a human child. A true life story of Christine Collins (Joile) whose son, Walter (Griffith) abruptly goes missing while she was at work. The LAPD has repeatedly been pronounced as corrupt and incompetent by the citizens of Los Angeles. After several months of searching, Captain J.J. Jones of the LAPD finds Walter and hands him over to Christine. Christine, however, claims that the child been brought to her is not Walter and there has been a mistake. The police refuse to buy her story and give her various medical reasons for the change in Walters appearance, memory, height and other features. Christine gains the support of Reverend Gustav Briegleb (Malkovich) who helps her to find Walter. Christine is declared mentally unfit by the LAPD and is sent to an asylum. An absolutely astounding story and something one can expect from the stable of Clint Eastwood. One of the most fantastic performances put on by Angelina Jolie till date and I cannot think of any actress who can come even close in matching her performance. A movie worth watching right till the very end, absolutely flawless. I don't think I have ever sung so many praises for any movie.

Thumbs up: Angelina Jolie all the way
Thumbs done: None whatsoever

Rating: 8.8/10

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GREENBERG

Written and Directed by Noah Baumbach
Starring Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Jason Leigh

Florence: Hurt people hurt people.

Noah Baumbach, the Oscar-nominated writer and director of THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, has a knack for creating characters that are troubled and difficult to be around. His fascination with giving a voice to those no one wants to hear, shows his immense sympathy as a writer and director, but it also means that his characters are not easy to endure for two hours straight. In his latest film, GREENBERG, he gives us another gem of a man – complicated, broken and the kind you would desperately avoid if you could.

Ben Stiller is this man, one Roger Greenberg. Fresh from his time in a mental hospital for a nervous breakdown, Greenberg has left the comforts of New York City to do nothing for a while at his brother’s place in Los Angeles. While in the city, he meets up with buddies and ex-girlfriends from his rock star youth days but not because he wants to. He does so because it is a lot easier than forming any new relationships in his life. The supporting cast - Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Jason Leigh representing the old and Greta Gerwig charmingly representing the new - struggle too but the way they handle themselves only further shows how little dealing Greenerg is actually doing. Still that naïve, failed rocker, he has not progressed past his glory days and he is quickly realizing that they weren’t so glorious to begin with.

Stiller doesn’t have to try very hard to be unlikable but he still does the depth of Greenberg’s sorrow justice all the same. Successfully capturing a character that is so narcissistic and oblivious not an easy feat. The more successful you are though, the more you run the risk of alienating everyone watching. You want to like Greenberg; you can tell the people around him want to like him; but until he actually considers liking himself, there isn’t a lot to like about him. Fortunately for him, at least Baumbach still has his back, and fortunately for us, Baumbach still has ours too.

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Bruno (2009)

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten

From the makers of Borat comes another stupidly mindless comedy, Bruno. Bruno (Cohen) is an Austrian fashion-designer, who like all other designers is gay. Due to an incident he loses his reputation and decides to go to Los Angeles to become famous. Repeated attempts at becoming famous miserably fail. Be it acting in a movie, starting his own talk show or doing charity, nothing helps Bruno in becoming a star. His side-kick Lutz (Hammarsten) is crazily in love with Bruno, but Bruno doesn't pay any attention to his advances. The movie is similar to Borat in some ways. The same immigrant with a companion coming to the United States. Sex-filled, stupid, mindless jokes that disgust you more than making you laugh are carried forward from its predecessor. If you liked Borat then only should you dare to watch this movie, else its better left alone.

Thumbs up: Sacha Baron Cohen's guts to do something like this
Thumbs down: Jokes, similar to Borat

Rating: 3.0/10

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Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Genre: Drama/Romance

Starring: Anne Hathway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe

Kym (Hathway) a drug addict, is out of rehabilitation and rejoins her family. She was responsible for her kid brothers death, which happened cause she was driving while she was still high on drugs and their car drove off the bridge and she drowned. Kym's elder sister, Rachel (DeWitt) is all set to get married to Sidney (Adebimpe). Kym realises that she is finding it hard to get back into the family, with everyone either being overtly overprotective or despising her for her past. Her relationship with her sister starts to sour, when Rachel accuses her of trying to seek too much attention and still holds Kym responsible for their brothers death. Kym, in turn feels that her family fails to understand the situation she is in and the life she underwent and are doing little to help her. Majority of the movie revolves either on the family tension or on the wedding preparations. Rachel's wedding is a dream wedding for many and seems just so perfect. The movie gets monotonous and boring and the weak plot doesn't help things either. Decent performances and being a typical family movie one can expect something better.

Thumbs up: The wedding
Thumbs down: Average plot, performances

Rating: 6.5/10

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Black Sheep's Blu-Tuesday

What a crazy day for the buying public it is .. myself included. I'm going to have to dig into my sofa cushions because there are just way too many things to buy today. I know I won't be able to resist when I walk past so either I just don't walk past or I give in now and just accept my fate. This could mean that by the end of the day, the following items will find their way to my already crowded shelves.

TOY STORY / TOY STORY 2
I was fortunate enough to catch these two great Pixar films back to back and in 3D when Disney re-released them last fall. Both films are looking fantastic so many years later and, although you can feel the concessions Pixar would have had to make at the time to appease Disney, you can also see the great promise of Pixar that was made then but has been fulfilled time and time again. Extras on the first time BD releases are as plentiful as any Pixar release, including commentaries, elaborate behind the scenes features and sneak peaks at TOY STORY 3

MAD MEN: SEASON 3
I just finished the fourth season of LOST last night so I'm looking forward to taking a small break from the island and getting back to the good old traditional values of the great men and women and MAD MEN. I don't know much about the third season but if it is anywhere near as stylish, subtle and suggestive as the first two seasons, there is no way I can be disappointed. I wonder if Don will try to quit smoking.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Ordinarily, when I enjoy a film as much as I enjoyed this one by Wes Anderson, I tend to see it more than once on the big screen. That was just not possible in this case so I am very much looking forward to my second viewing of this film in the comfort of my home. I cannot wait to devour the gorgeous imagery and delight in the magical tale that is told with such smooth flair. Extras promise to give plenty of insight into the process that brought this classic Roald Dahl tale to life. Click here for the original Black Sheep review.

ALSO NEW ON BD AND DVD

See Sandra Bullock's Oscar winning performance in THE BLIND SIDE.

George Clooney and Ewan McGregor spend some time with farm animals in THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman play while Tobey Maguire is away in BROTHERS.

Criterion gives us Terrence Malick's DAYS OF HEAVEN, Nicholas Ray's BIGGER THAN LIFE and Akira Kurosawa's YOJIMBO on this the 100th anniversary of his date of birth.

And finally, Hollywood classic, THE AFRICAN QUEEN, has been packaged in a commemorative box set.

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The Messenger (2009)

Genre: Drama/Romance/War

Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton

For regular civilians, the army has always been about guns and bloodshed. US Army Staff Sergeant Will Montogomery (Foster) has been reassigned to the Casualty Notification Team, after being injured during war in Iraq. His job requires him to notify the death of a soldier to their families even though he doesn't have any prior training in that field. He has Captain Tony Stone (Harrelson) for company, an alcoholic and sex-obsessed soldier who has never been on the battlefield. Will sees that going up to the front porch and giving bad news to families is not the easiest task in the world, although it may sound so. He suddenly finds himself attracted to Olivia Pitterson (Morton) a lady to whom he had notified her husbands death. He finds himself facing an ethical dilemma whether to seduce the wife of a fellow soldier or respect her feelings and stay away from the relationship. For a change this movie explores a different side of the army, relatively unknown to regular people and does a decent job. The movie doesn't have any plot to build up on and most of the movie shows the duo notifying families and the hardship of their job. Woody Harrelson puts on an amazing performance but that is probably the only highlight of the movie.

Thumbs up: Woody Harrelson
Thumbs down: Slow and repetitive

Rating: 6.4/10

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The Reader (2008)

Genre: Drama/Romance/History

Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralf Fiennes, David Kross

Set in post World War II Germany, a young man, Michael Berg (Kross) falls in love with a much elder woman, Hanna Schmitz (Winslet). Hanna is a tram ticket collector in Neustadt and responds to his love with equal passion. They set a routine wherein Michael would read her books and later make love to Hanna. Their romance continues for a considerable period of time when due to a disagreement, Hanna leaves Michael and leaves Neustadt too. Years later, Michael sees Hanna undergoing a trial for working as a guard at Aushwitz, a German concentration camp for Jews during World War II. She along with other guards, are held responsible for the death of many and sentenced to imprisonment. Their relationship has deeply affected Michale's life and years later, a much elder Michael (Fiennes) is still finding it hard to forget his past love. Kate Winslet puts on one of her best performances to date and although the story is slightly cliched, she doesn't let you give you that feel. Shes not the dazzling seductress from Titanic but the old simple ticket collector, a role tailor made for her. Her outstanding performance gave her a well-deserved Oscar and any amounts of praise is not enough. Its only now that I realised how old shes actually become.

Thumbs up: Kate Winslet all the way
Thumbs down: A bit slow at some parts

Rating: 7.8/10

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

ALICE IN WONDERLAND continues to dominate the spring box office but the spring box office bestows it's riches upon a number of other films regardless. Tim Burton's biggest career hit dropped off a respectable 45% in its third week and continues to rule internationally as well, with a grand global total of $565 million so far.


The runner-up spot was fought for all weekend. The Jennifer Aniston-Gerard Butler dud, THE BOUNTY HUNTER, opened second behind ALICE IN WONDERLAND on Friday but the family crowd push throughout the weekend helped DIARY OF A WIMPY KID overtake the supposed romantic comedy for a number two finish. Final results may vary when the final numbers come in on Monday but my money is still on the kid flick.


Past that, there was very little love for the REPO MEN remake, starring Forest Whittaker and Jude Law. Buzzed about Sundance Joan Jett biopic, THE RUNAWAYS, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning pulled in a disappointing $3300 per screen average on 244 screens. Roman Polanski's latest, GHOST WRITER, expanded as successfully as possible considering its rough start with a 71% increase after adding 595 screens. The film's total gross now stands at just under $7 million with a reported budget of $45 million. Providing hope though, art house success Noah Baumbach's latest, GREENBERG, pulling in over $120K, on just three screens, with an average of $40K. The Black Sheep review will be coming later this week.

NEXT WEEK: The much-hyped, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, will be cracking it up on 2750 screens. 3D animated offering, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, will be exploding out of 3000 screens. And Atom Egoyan's latest, CHLOE, hits the limited scene.

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The Lovely Bones (2009)

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Crime/Mystery/Fantasy

Starring: Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Saoirse Ronan, Rose McIver, Susan Sarandon, Michael Imperioli

Set in the 1970's, a happy average American family faces one of the most disastrous crimes of society. Young 14-year-old Susie Salmon (Ronan) is murdered by her rapist, paedophile neighbour, George Harvey (Tucci). Her father Jack (Wahlberg) and mother Abigail (Weisz) get into a desperate search for the rapist and for months altogether are left without a trail. The family finds it hard to get over the loss and cracks in their relation start to appear. Meanwhile, Harvey is busy planning his next victim. The movie has an extremely strong and emotional plot, but plays too much on Susie's afterlife. The constant transition between reality and heaven goes a bit too far and the movie would be an absolutely fantastic watch if it wasn't this aspect. Stanley Tucci has put on a fine piece of acting which simply steals the entire show away.

Thumbs up: Stanley Tucci, plot
Thumbs down: Susie's afterlife story

Rating: 7.3/10

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THE BOUNTY HUNTER

Written by Sarah Thorp
Directed by Andy Tennant
Starring Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler and Christine Baranski


Jennifer Aniston is looking a little tired these days. Fortunately for her though, the attempted humour in her latest starring vehicle, THE BOUNTY HUNTER, is infinitely more unoriginal than she is, so you don’t necessarily notice her worry lines so much.


I don’t really blame her for worrying though. There is no way she could have been making this movie and thinking it was actually going to turn out well. I’m sure it sounded great when somebody pitched it to her. It’s Aniston and romantic comedy hunk, Gerard Butler, playing exes on the run. He, being the aforementioned bounty hunter, is giddily tracking down his ex because she skipped her court appearance for a traffic accident involving a police officer. Before they know it, they’re mixed up in a major undercover police operation that could get them killed. And, now this is the clincher, while they’re stuck together in this crazy impossible scenario, this old flame of theirs has the chance to be reignited again. Clearly, with all this deliberate and obvious set up, hijinks should ensue. Instead, scene after repetitive scene followed with not a trace of laughter to be had.


In order to catch a criminal, an effort must be made. In order to entertain people at a movie, an equal effort must be made. Between Butler barely trying to mask his accent and director, Andy Tennant, barely focusing on anything other than Aniston’s back side, it seems pretty fair to say that the only real effort being made in this film is Aniston running around in ridiculously high heels all the time. I’m sure if she was wearing more sensible footwear, she would have ran right off the set.

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Equilibrium (2002)

Genre: Action/Drama/Science-fiction/Thriller

Starring: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, William Fichtner, Taye Diggs, Emily Watson, Angus MacFayden

A third world war in the early 21st century, threatens to bring mankind to extinction. Realising that war rises out of human emotion, a clan of people develop a medicine, Prozium, which subdues human emotion and makes them robotic and hence curbing war. They belong to Libria. The Tetragammaton Council governs Libria and its law enforcement agencies' only task is to hunt down people who don't take Prozium at regular intervals and hence are termed as 'sense offenders'. John Preston (Bale) is a Cleric of the highest class and is a master of combat. His partner, Errol Partridge (Bean) stopped taking Prozium and was killed by Preston for the crime. Somehow Preston himself stops taking the drug and over a period of time gets convinced that the natural life is the way to live and not the robotic one that he has been leading for so long. The movie has a decent start but becomes hopelessly slow until the end where it once again picks up pace and ends on a high note. The action is definitely Matrix material but becomes a bit too repetitive and does not do much to improve the movies slow pace. Worth watching for the climax, the rest is a long bore.

Thumbs up: Action, climax scene
Thumbs down: Slow

Rating: 6.4/10

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Blu-Review: PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL "PUSH" BY SAPPHIRE

Written by Geoffrey Fletcher
Directed by Lee Daniels


I saw PRECIOUS twice in theatres and when I sat down to watch it again from the comfort of my own couch, I felt almost like I had never seen it before. It was surreal. The film came with so much hype attached to it upon its theatrical release and is such a powerhouse of difficult yet necessary imagery that perhaps it was just too much to take in when I first saw it. With awards season now behind us though, it is possible to watch PRECIOUS with a degree of expectation removed. What I saw this time was an insightful and inspired piece of filmmaking.


I realize that only furthers the hype for the film but inviting PRECIOUS into your home is a cathartic experience. One might think it difficult to identify with an obese 16-year-old African-American girl who is pregnant for the second time by her biological father and who struggles to learn to read while her mother drills how stupid she is into her at every opportunity. There is a universal appeal to PRECIOUS though and it was one for me that only showed itself when I could be alone with the movie at home. Yes, Precious (the title character played by the revelatory, Gabourey Sidibe) is everything I just said but she is also just a person who wants to be someone and wants to be heard but doesn’t know how to make that happen and doesn’t it believe it even could. Everyone can identify with that to some extent.


Making PRECIOUS was clearly an equally precious experience for all involved, as is evident in the bonus material on the BD release. Not only does it look incredibly sharp but a sensitive director commentary from Lee Daniels and a number of featurettes about how the film was made really showcase how important PRECIOUS truly is.

THE FILM


THE BLU-RAY

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Blu-Review: BROKEN EMBRACES

Written and Directed by Pedro Almodovar


If you’ve fallen before, it is easy to fall again and again for Pedro Almodovar. His works are always sumptuous and sincerely passionate, with strong female characters braving through emotional turmoil. His latest, BROKEN BEMBRACES, is certainly no different in terms of tone but Almodovar becomes his own worst enemy as he dives head first into a complicated plot that he barely manages to get out of.


Almodovar muse, Penelope Cruz, is a the top of her game, which is only more impressive when you consider that her character is essentially comprised of three different women. She is an actress playing a part in a movie but she also pretends when she comes home and plays the part of a doting wife to a controlling man she doesn’t love. The only time she can be herself is when she is in the arms of the director who is shooting the movie she is in. There is more than enough to work with there but Almodovar shoots in another ex-lover as well as troubled offspring and we haven’t even started talking about the movie within the movie within the movie. Almodovar is pushing himself visually but in order to get through to the other side of his own plot, he has to force some lengthy sequences that slow the film down significantly.


I was actually quite taken with BROKEN EMBRACES when I first saw it but I lost some interest the second time around and the BD extras, including a new short film from the director, did little to get that interest back. This is definitely not the film you want to use to introduce Almodovar to your friends. The traditional Almodovar tone is still intact and fans will forgive but unfortunately they may also forget.

FILM AND EXTRAS:

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In the Loop (2009)

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, Chris Addison, Mimi Kennedy, James Gandolfini, Anna Chlumsky

The United States President and the United Kingdom Prime Minister fancy a war on the Middle-East. UK Minister for International Development, Simon Foster (Hollander) makes a statement on radio that the war is 'unforeseeable'. This statement causes an uproar in countries on both sides of the Atlantic with some supporting it and some against it. The Prime Minister's foul-mouthed communications chief, Malcolm Tucker (Capaldi) lets his tongue lose on any soul who dares cross him or support Simon and his statement. New recruit Toby (Addison) is not sure on which side does he belong and tags along with Simon on a trip to the United States. Simon just doesn't know when to speak and when not to, due to which he lands up in more than one embarrassing situation. Not to mention that a garden wall in Simon's constituency is threatening to collapse and it has gained enough momentum to reach the top brass in the government. The movie is a spin-off of a famous British television series and mocks the behind-the-scenes run-up to the Iraq war. There is no roll-over-the-floor humour here but sarcastic one-liners that one may find a little hard to catch. You need to pay hard attention to the dialogues if anything should be understood of the movie and the only saving grace is Peter Capaldi and his innovative abuses. Nice, but not good enough.

Thumbs up: Peter Capaldi and Tom Hollander
Thumbs down: Lack of laughable humour

Rating: 6.9/10

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