Ryan Gosling stars as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night. Though a loner by nature, Driver can’t help falling in love with his beautiful neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac). After a heist intended to pay off Standard’s protection money spins unpredictably out of control, Driver finds himself driving defense for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals. But when he realizes that the gangsters are after more than the bag of cash in his trunk-that they’re coming straight for Irene and her son-Driver is forced to shift gears and go on offense.
The first car that is assigned to our guy, in “Drive,” is indeed a Chevy Impala, in numbing silver-gray. “No one will be looking at you,” he is told, and that’s the point. Though tuned and buffed under the hood, the Chevy remains a heroically dull machine, perhaps the least memorable chase weapon since Roy Scheider clambered into a Pontiac Ventura, the color of a very tired squirrel, in “The Seven-Ups” (1973). That model was even glummer than the Pontiac LeMans—who was kidding whom, with that name?—in which Gene Hackman raced against an Elevated train, two years earlier, in “The French Connection”; and both, of course, were nothing beside the gleaming flanks of the Mustang used in “Bullitt” (1968). If you want to be seen, like Steve McQueen, you sport your car as if it were a suit, tailor made to your skills. If you want to fade into the background, though, like the fellow in “Drive,” you get something you can steal and leave behind.

‘Red Dawn’ is a remake of the 1984 invasion movie starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen (the enemies in that flick were the Soviet Union). The new version stars Chris Hemsworth, ‘Hunger Games’ star Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and likely won’t hit theaters until 2012.
Half the reason 1984′s Red Dawn worked was because the U.S. Government had us all scared that the U.S.S.R was, “gonna get YOU!” The fact is the Soviet Union was never in any position to invade the U.S. If there ever was a war between Russa and the United States it would have been fought over in Russia, and not here. The biggest obstical an invader would have is the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, not to mention the worlds greatest navy. With that said it was a good movie, just the fact is it was a military fantasy and nothing more.
Red Dawn is a film that’s very much a product of its time. I doubt a film about Communist invasion will resonate with anyone in 2011 like it did in 1984. The N. Koreans aren’t our friends, but I don’t think many people see them the same way people viewed the Soviets and Cubans either. N. Korean simply isn’t doesn’t pose an actual threat to us.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is an odd title for a film that gives you nothing but good reason to be afraid of the dark, but I guess that’s all part of the fun of it! There is a lot about this film that makes it a cliched horror film, the only difference is that there are some impressive A-list actors, interesting new monsters and a splash of Guillermo del Toro (interview) from time to time. The problem is, that this film asks you to suspend your beliefs in the wrong ways. Believing that monsters exists in basement and are after your teeth — awesome! Buying that human beings act the way they do in this move — failed movie magic. There were a lot of good things about this movie, but it loses its way about halfway in, making it a horror film that will likely not be remember.
Caught in the midst of two divorced parents who both seem to only be concerned with their careers, a young girl is sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend. She’s alone, angry and in need of friends, Unfortunately the friends she finds are some creatures that live in her new home, that pull her in with love, but have quite heinous intentions.
I wanted to love this film, there are some many great parts to it but unfortunately it doesn’t add up to the whole that I hoped for. That being said, there are some quality elements to it that if you’re not a crazy cinefile like me, you probably won’t notice them and have a fine time. I have a low threshold for horror but found that I could easily make it through this film. Yes the opening and moments of the film are tense, but for the most part this is a very easy to watch film to watch or bring a date to.

Luc Besson directed Le Femme Nikita, one of the best women as assassin films ever. Colombiana isn’t as good as that film, but it’s a fine movie if all you’re looking for is a lot of action and a good looking lead who can actually act.
I was in a mood for a film where I do not need to think and this film was perfect. It is packed with amazing action and silly dialogue and that is what I was looking for, it also has a beautiful and acrobatic leading lady. Zoe Saldana makes this film better than it is, she is very talented and I hope she gets better roles in the future. Honestly, the film is a total mess and it is not worth the price of the ticket, it is one of those films where you stuff yourself with popcorn while watching it and forget about it it as soon as you leave the the theater.
Zoe Saldana plays Cataleya, whose parents are killed when she is young. She moves to the US and spends the next few years honing her skills to become a killer for hire. Really, she just wants revenge on the guys that killed her parents. Of course, she’s got the feds after her, and a boyfriend who doesn’t know what she does, just to add a little emotional resonance, but who really cares when the action keeps coming like it does.
The story is one we’ve seen before, so the twist is that it’s a girl. Luckily, Saldana is a pretty good actress, and has a physical presence on screen. She keeps the film grounded and looks good firing guns and dispatching the bad guys. Colombiana may not be anything new, but it’s a fine way to spend a few hours in an air conditioned theater in these hot last days of summer.

Spy Kid 4D tells us about the aftermath of the success of the OSS (world’s top spy agency). Jessica Alba joins the film with her two step children Rebecca and Cecil (Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook) to fight against a sinister Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) who attempts to take over the world.

To be fair, the first movie, plain and simple Spy Kids, was a fresh film filled with mazes, codes, pranks and anagrams. It gave many children that fantastical space, which was unexplored before the Harry Potter series. But as we’ve seen with many films (especially with children’s films in Hollywood) – by the 4th installment you have a star to make the film’s worth triple fold (Alba) – high technological placing (4D, and we’ll take about that later) and no story. It’s pretty much like a moving, technology spewing version of the very toy I see at fast food joints.
Alba takes her kids along with her on the mission, and so Rodriguez manages to throw in a few laughs here and there – all of it banks on the scatological humour, which does work with most kids. But other than that it seems like he’s written the movie in his sleep. The overall effect of the film – with its watered down visual effects, bad chroma backgrounds and horrid acting on almost everyone’s part is not worth your time, to put it mildly. You almost wonder if the film was made for lesser than Rodriguez’s $7000 debut El Mariachi.
The film does have a Rodriguez watermark on it though – we see a few witty moments and the entire series is Hispanic dominated, one thing that remains a constant. Kids will find the robot dog (voiced by Ricky Gervais) pretty amusing, as he’s stupid and funny with the humour. For those who have been following the series, Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino (parents from the previous films) will be missed – but much respect to them for staying out of this one.

Following a relationship on one day a year over more than 20 years is an interesting idea, and this film features a solid cast and some genuinely moving situations. But it’s ultimately too slushy and dreamy to really resonate.

On St Swithin’s Day, 15th July, in 1988, Emma (Hathaway) meets Dexter (Sturgess). Both are university students in Edinburgh, and there’s a clear spark between them, but circumstances prevent them from becoming a couple. The years pass. Dexter moves from being an annoying TV host to a chef and has a daughter with Sylvie (Garai). Meanwhile, Emma has a career as a teacher and maintains an unsatisfying relationship with Ian (Spall). And they keep running into each other along the way, wondering what might have happened – and may yet happen – if they got together.
Hathaway and Sturgess are engaging and likable, as always. And even if their accents roam the length and breadth of the UK, there’s a realistic sense of the period in both Edinburgh and London over the years, thanks to subdued costumes and settings plus a lot of great music. And side characters add their own layers of interest, from the scruffy-smiley Spall to the icy Garai, while the always-terrific Clarkson and Stott add texture to their roles as Dexter’s parents.
Meanwhile, the relaxed and off-handed pace almost wins us over as we move through the decades. But a frustrating coyness takes over whenever sex, drugs or serious themes (like childlessness) threaten to appear, which leaves the film feeling like a cute, sweet pre-teen movie when it really ought to be passionate and intense. There are strongly dramatic and witty moments along the way, but not nearly enough to let post-pubescent filmgoers engage with the story in a meaningful way.

Inexplicably, Martin Lawrence returns as the police officer Malcolm Turner, who must bring out his undercover alter ego “Big Momma” when his stepson Trent (Brandon T Jackson) witnesses a murder while following his father on a job. The difference this time is that Trent will be going undercover too, as Big Momma’s great-niece. The pair hide-out in an all-girls’ performing arts school, evading their pursuers along the way. The only thing stranger than the fact that this series has become a trilogy is the lowbrow, dreadful humor crammed into the script. The plot goes nowhere and instead, the film contents itself with vulgar jokes, slapstick and the eventual neat conclusion.
It’s all an openly lame excuse for Lawrence to hop back into the eye-assaulting muumuus of his alter ego Big Momma, a wheezing, overripe hybrid of a Southern dumb-belle and a Julia Child drag impersonator. The trouble is, once the movie drops its cop-drama trappings, it doesn’t do any better as a comedy. Lawrence’s gender-bending jokes are played out, and his slapstick is wooden and slow. It’s understandable: Clowning around underneath that fat suit must be exhausting. Almost as much as watching it.

Chances are you’ve already made up your mind about Justin Bieber. He’s either that annoying child with the lesbian haircut and girly voice (although you can’t deny he has the face of an angel and you secretly don’t totally hate “Baby”). Or he’s the greatest, hottest, most amazing thing to ever happen to humanity and you use the last name Bieber across all your social networks because obviously that will be your real last name someday.
At he end of all 105 minutes, Bieber himself still seems like somewhat of a mystery as most of his story is told through the perspective of his team. Saving it for the sequel, we guess, if this is indeed the forever story Team Bieber hopes it to be.
Never Say Never is also a 3D concert film to delight the shy 13-year-old with braces that lives in all of us. Bieber fever spikes big time when our star pulls a fan from the audience at every show to sing “One Less Lonely Girl.” Still there are tolerance levels to consider. The Bieber croons “baby baby baby baby” more times than Lindsay Lohan pleads “not guilty.” After a while the movie starts to feel like lethal injection by bubblegum.

It is directed by Danish filmmaker Christian E. Christiansen from a script by Sonny Mallhi, the film largely dispenses with such apparently antiquated notions as character development or back story, choosing instead to just sort of dole out information Mad Libs-style as it seems most convenient. That sort of info, which actually might help to lend depth, emotional credibility and logical sense to of all this, is just casually tossed out there and then just as carelessly tossed aside.
“The Roommate’s” early going any deficiencies in Meester’s character are signaled largely by the fact that she has meekly limp hair, in counterpoint to Kelly’s luxuriantly bouncy locks. Meester is the brassy, belligerent Blair Waldorf on TV’s “Gossip Girl” and there she often seems to be performing in a slightly different register than the other actors, as if she alone is in on the joke. (There was also her scene-stealing sass and vinegar turn in the recent “Country Strong.”) Here her performance often has the feeling of a sports car in neutral.

When she punches it for quick changes of tone from manic to wounded or around the bend, she shows how much more she is capable of, as in a seduction scene with Billy Zane as a skeevy design teacher. Kelly, on the other hand, remains either bland — or bland but slightly frightened.

“The Other Woman,” which attracted little attention when it premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, has been a hot ticket through IFC’s video-on-demand program and is getting a well-deserved theatrical run beginning today at the IFC Center. One satisfying aspect of movies can be witnessing an actor’s artistic growth.
The Other Woman” is a well-acted movie about people acting badly. There is the angry, younger second wife who snaps at her stepson and urges him to eat ice cream because she doesn’t believe he’s “really” lactose intolerant.There is the bitter, older first wife, who rages at her ex and pitches a fit on the steps of a prep school — in front of her boy — when he fails to earn admission.Then there is the spineless man between them. And the spoiled, moody, openly hostile little progeny.This is Portman’s movie and while she’s good in it, and effortlessly versatile — this is neither the neurotic girl of “Black Swan” nor the guilt-free lover of “No Strings Attached” — the character feels forced. (A third-act revelation, meant to suddenly explain her behavior, is a particularly bald plea for sympathy.)
It’s a good-looking movie (Roos takes particular care with compositions, separating Portman within the frame to emphasize her loneliness). And both actresses are superb. But when all is said and done, it’s just 90 minutes of terrible people behaving terribly.