DVD Review: Fanboys

Rated PG13 for language, drug content, sexuality

Starring Jay Baruchel, Dan Fogler, Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, Kristen Bell, Seth Rogen

On Halloween 1998, Eric reunites with his high school buddies Linus, Hutch, Windows and Zoe, however tension runs deeps, as Eric is the only one of the group who has moved on past high school, while the rest haven't changed one bit, however they still all share a love for Star Wars. After learning that Linus has cancer and is only given 4 months to live, while Star Wars: Episode 1 doesn't come out for another 6 months, the gang decides to drive out to Skywalker Ranch and steal a rough cut of the film, so Linus can see the next Star Wars installment before he dies.

Their trek takes them to various stops on their road trip and rekindles the friendship they once had.

If you're a geek and/or enjoy sci-fi films and Star Wars and Star Trek you'll enjoy this fun geeky adventure. While the focus of the film is Star Wars episode one, we do get to witness a bit of the Star Wars vs Star Trek rivalry among fans. This is one sci-fi comedy that you don't want to miss!

DVD Review: The Spirit

Rated PG13 for comicbook violence and action, sexuality, brief nudity

Starring Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes

In Central City, the masked Spirit is a vigilante who protects the city. After a tip from the Detective that something big is going on near the docks that could include Spirit's arch-nemesis The Octopus, he rushes to the scene, where he finds the Detective dead and only 1 of 2 chests remaining. He also encounter The Octopus and the 2 duke it out for quite sometime until The Spirit is knocked unconscious, waken up a bit later at the hospital, appearing fully healthy despite being shot. Trying to find who killed the Detective and why, The Spirit finds a golden locket on the Detective's body that he recognizes as belonging to his childhood friend Sand Saref.

The Spirit, directed by Frank Miller, is reminiscent of Miller's previous work in Sin City, having the same stylized action and comicbook feel to it. The plot however, if you're not paying attention, can become a bit confusing as well.

If you enjoy comicbook films and liked Sin City, be sure to check this one out as well, as it's much of the same, but on a PG13 scale, otherwise, you're not missing much if you decided to skip this one.

DVD Review: Adventureland

Rated R for language, drugs, teen drinking, sexuality

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig

It's Summer 1987 and James has just graduated from college and is looking forward to spending his summer in Europe and attending grad school at Columbia in the fall. That is, until his parents announce that due to financial problems, they won't be able to help out with the money for either as was originally planned. In an attempt to at least have some money to put towards grad school, James takes a summer job at the local amusement park, Adventureland, where he is assigned to the games area.

Throughout the summer, James spends his days at Adventureland mingling with the other staff, which include saracastic Joel, popular Lisa P., Sue, childhood friend Frigo, and repair technication Mike who is older than the rest of the kids working the park and despite being married, has a habit of picking a different girl each summer to have an affair with. There is also Em, who saves James from being knifed by a disgruntled customer. The two begin hanging out regularly outside work and James believes he is falling for Em, however she is a complete mess, and is secretly hooking up with Mike throughout the summer.

Despite not being in theaters long, Adventureland was a pretty good film about summer work and romance.

Filmed on location at historic Kennywood just outside Pittsburgh, PA, it really does feel like 1987 with the clothes, cars, music. Having just visited Kennywood weeks before I saw this film, it was really neat to watch the movie and see all the rides and locations in the park that I had just been at.

This one is definitely worth a view in case you missed it!

The Ugly Truth

Rated R for language, sexuality

Starring Gerard Butler, Katherine Heigl

Abby is a Sacramento morning show producer, who's show is failing in the ratings and on the verge of being canceled. In an attempted to render the situation and save the show, the show's owner decides to bring on Mike, a man with a cynical view on love and relationship who runs a cable access show called The Ugly Truth where he shares his cynicism.

Abby is disgusted by Mike and the two get off to a rough start, however when Abby meets the man of her dreams who meets all the qualities on her list of the perfect man, Mike makes her a deal - if she follows his advice and gets the guy, she has to agree to happily work with Mike, however if she follows his advice and doesn't get the guy, he will quit and they will never have to work together again. Desperate to get rid of Mike, Abby agrees to the terms.

What follows for the remainder of the film is predictable, but there are quite a bit of adult humor and laughs along the way!

My husband surprised me by taking me to this one for a date night film, as much as he expressed he didn't want to see it, but he came out of the film admitting that he actually enjoyed it and while even though it was predictable, it was better than he was expecting.

The Ugly Truth may not be as raunchy as most Judd Apatow films of these days, but this one is still not suitable for kids! So if you enjoy fun rom-coms with a dash of raunchy sex humor, be sure to view this one with your spouse after the kids are in bed.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Rated PG13 for dark elements, fantasy violence

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter

Taking place directly after the events of the previous film, Voldemort is back and his loyal followers, The Deatheaters, are wreaking havoc on not only the wizard world, but the muggle world as well. Draco Malfoy has also been recruited to carry out a task for the dark lord, one that Harry tries to figure out through most of the school year.

Back at Hogwarts, Harry and Ron are taking potions class with new returning Professor Slughorn, as Snape is now the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry receives a potions textbook that appears to have belonged once to the mysterious Half Blood Prince, in which the pages of the book are covered with annotations, which Harry uses to his benefit. Harry is also kept busy by Dumbledore, who, through the use of a pensive, shows Harry various memories of a young Voldemort, known back then as Tom Riddle, and teaches him about seven Horcuxes that Voldemort has created to safeguard his soul, that they need to find and destroy in order to stop the dark lord for good.

Love is also in the air at Hogwarts, as Harry begins to fall for his friend's sister, and Ron becomes smitten with a fellow student which makes Hermoine insanely jealous.

In comparison to previous Potter films, just like the books, the films are continuing to get darker and darker, with this being the darkest installment yet.

It does make for a good adaption from the book however - sure there were some parts that were left out or slightly changed for time, but overall, it left most fans satisfied and eagerly anticipating 2-part installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the last book in the series.

In spite of the dark and scary moments in this film, there also are some cute moments amongst our favorite wizard teens, as they continue to grow up and experience romantic love too, but in a way that is still innocent compared to other teenage films with teen romance.

While I wouldn't recommend this one for the younger kids, as some of the scenes might scare them a bit too much, the older kids, especially if they've read the book, will be just fine!

The Hangover

Rated R for language, violence, nudity, sexuality, drugs and alcohol

Starring Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong

Doug is getting married this weekend and asks his closest friends and groomsmen Phil and Stu to take him to Vegas for his bachelor party. He also invites his fiance's socially awkward brother Alan for the trip, in hopes of bonding with him. They arrive, book a penthouse suite at Caesar's Palace and get ready for a night they'll never for forget... or one they won't remember!

Waking up the next morning with no recollection of the night before to a trashed suite, the groomsmen trio discover a huge tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, Stu is missing a tooth and wearing a wedding band, Phil has on a hospital bracelet, and there is no sign of the groom! Having roughly 36hrs to get the groom to the alter, they go on a wild and hilarious search to backtrack what had happened the night before in hopes that they will learn where the groom has gone.

Probably one of the funniest adult comedies this summer, this is one Hangover that won't be soon forgotten!

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

Rated PG13 for action violence, mild language, sexuality

Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibbons, John Turturro

Picking up two years after the original film, The Transformers are now working with a top secret government group called NEST, headed up by Major Lennox (Duhamel), in order to track down and disassemble Decepticons throughout Earth. Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) and Mikaela (Fox) are preparing for Sam's first semester away at college across country.

Little do they know, Sam still has a sliver of the Allspark that when he touched it, filled his mind with Cybortron hieroglyphics and now he can't help but go crazy, writing them everywhere, trying to figure out what they mean. Meanwhile, the Decepticons devise a plan to break into a government building, steal the Allspark, and then ressurect Megatron. Megatron wants the information Sam now has in his head, as it contains information as to the location of The Matrix of Leadership, which is needed to activate a Sun Harvester device on Earth which will take out our sun and turn our planet dark and cold forever. The race to the Matrix of Leadership and to the destroy the Sun Harvester leads us to Egypt and the middle East.

The first time around, this movie was entertaining, however the more you watch, the more you catch simple flaws and holes in the film that a simple editing job of the script could have prevented. This film is pure mindless entertainment, with very little depth to it. Like a typical Michael Bay movie, Transformers 2 focuses heavily on explosions, chase scenes, more explosions and extended action sequences which make you wonder if you really did just spend the last 20 minutes watching characters run through the desert through constant explosions.

Up!

Rated G

Starring Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, and Jordan Nagai

Everyone wonders why Carl Fredrickson is a grouchy old man. Not many know that he lost his wife, who was the love of his life.

Ellie and Carl met when they were just kids. They shared a love for adventure and exploration and both want to growup and explore the world like the famous explorer Charles Muntz. They made a pact to someday move their clubhouse (an abandoned home in their neighborhood) to Paradise Falls, a mysterious place in South America where Muntz is rumored to live. Carl and Ellie get married and they moved into the old abandoned home, making it theirs for good. As the years go by, they try to save for their trip to Paradise Falls, but different financial hardships come to them. On the eve of presenting Ellie with their travel tickets, she gets sick and passes, leaving Carl alone.

Years go by and the city begins to grow up around Carl and the house. After getting into a fight with a nearby construction worker, Carl is required to move into Shady Oaks Retirement Home. But he has other plans for himself and his house. Just as the orderlies are about to take him to the rest home, Carl launches thousands of balloons out his chimney and the house takes off into the air towards Paradise Falls, in an attempt to keep his promise to Ellie. Only Carl didn't plan on the neighbor Wilderness Explorer, Russell, to be hiding out on his front porch when the house took off!

On a course for getting the house to the perfect location in Paradise Falls before all the balloons pop, Carl and Russell encounter a "talking" dog named Dug, a colorful tropical bird Russell names Kevin, and Charles Muntz himself. However Carl learns various life lessons on their short journey and realizes that sometimes the people you idolize may not always be who you think they are.

Disney and Pixar have done it again, with their 10th film together, creating another heartwarming story that both kids and adults can enjoy. Adults will be moved by Carl's undying devotion to Ellie and his promise to her, while kids will love Russell, Dug and Kevin.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Rated PG13 for language, sexuality

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Michael Douglas, Breckin Meyer, Lacey Chabert

This take on the classic Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" focuses on Connor Mead (McConaughey), a playboy magazine photographer.

Connor and his younger brother Paul (Meyer) lost their parents when they were just kids and were raised by their playboy uncle in his lavish mansion. After having been rejected by his best friend Jenny (Garner) at a junior high dance (she has her first kiss with the popular jock, rather than Connor), he takes comfort in Uncle Wayne (Douglas), who goes to show him how to pick up women and teaches him in the ways of becoming a playboy.

On the eve of his brother's wedding, Connor is visited by the ghost of Uncle Wayne, who tells him he will endure visiting his past tonight to learn the error of his ways. Soon after, Connor is visited by the ghost of his first girlfriend, Allison (Emma Stone), who takes him on a journey of all his many many past relationships (some which lasted a whole 30 seconds!). Next he is visited by the ghost of his assistant Melanie (Noureen DeWulf), who shows him his present, which is pretty pathetic. Before the night is over, he is visited by a mysterious ghost of the future, who shows him what a dim lonely future he has ahead of him if he continues on the same path.

It was a cute and had it's funny moments when Connor is conscious and freaking out about seeing ghosts, however it was extremely predictable. Connor does realize that there's more to life than just being a playboy and that sleeping around all time can still leave you feeling lonely when you have no solid relationship with someone. It also points out the importance of family, as Paul defends his brother despite his fiance (Chabert) and her friends objections towards Connor, and after majorly messing everything up, Connor sets out to make things right with Paul.

If you like girly movies, but don't mind them being predictable, settle in for the night with this twist on the classic Dicken's tale.

Star Trek

Rated PG13 for sci-fi action and violence, mild language

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, John Cho, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin

In the year 2387, the galaxy is threatened by an unusually volatile supernova. Ambassador Spock (Nimoy) pilots a ship carrying "red matter", which will create an artificial black hole to consume the supernova. Before not before it destroys the planet Romulus. Captain Nero (Bana) blames Spock for the destruction of his planet and chases him through a black hole's event horizon, putting them both in the past.

Nero's ship arrives first, 154 years earlier, and since his arrival appears in the form of a space lightning storm, the Federation sends out the ship Kelvin to investigate, which ends up getting attacked by Nero. Acting Captain George Kirk orders an evacuation, which includes his wife and unborn son, saving over 800 lives in a matter of minutes while he stays behind on the ship and acts as a cover for the departing shuttlecraft. Spock arrives 25 years later, where he is captured by Nero and marooned on the planet Delta Vega so that he can witness the destruction of Vulcan, as retribution for Spock's failure to save Romulus.

James T. Kirk (Pine), now born without a father, grows up to be an intelligent young man, despite his reckless rebel behavior. After an encounter with some Starfleet Academy students, Captain Pike realizes who Kirk is and encourages him to enlist in Starfleet and do better than his father did, in order to get Kirk to realize his full potential. We also see a younger Spock, mocked by the other kids because of his half human, half Vulcan heritage.

The rest of the film takes place during Kirk's third year at Starfleet, and follows how Kirk became Captain of the USS Enterprise and together with Spock (Quinto) and the rest of the crew, they overcame Nero and the Romulans.

Personally, I've never really been into Star Trek, but I did find myself enjoying this movie. The characters were likeable and had depth to them, and the plot was easy enough to follow for a non-Trekkie with little to no previous knowledge of Star Trek. This was a good film to kick off the summer season.