Super 8

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A bunch of pre-teens, who are making a super 8 film (because it's 1979, and digital doesn't exist yet), witness a mysterious train crash, and as they put together the pieces, start to realize that there is an alien force involved.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Riley Giffiths, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Ryan Lee, Gabriel Basso, Zach Mills, Noah Emmerich, Richard T. Jones, Jessica Tuck, Joel McKinnon Miller, AJ Michalka, Brett Rice, Michael Hitchcock, David Gallagher

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! The story is hoaky as all hell, but the kids are adorable in a way that reminds you of Goonies and Stand by Me.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: If you stay for the Super 8 movie, which plays in its entirety about 45 seconds into the closing credits.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: If you're going to, it'll be at both Elle Fanning's amazing acting, and the boys' reaction to it.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Most Steven Spielberg-like movie since the 80s.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: The lead in this movie, Joel Courtney, has not a single credit to his name. He must've been very intimidated playing up against an old pro like Elle Fanning. Joel's co-star, Riley Griffiths, also breaks out as the amazingly talented fat-kid, so I'm assuming he'll grow up to look like Jerry O'Connell, and marry a gorgeous super-model.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: It's impossible not to think that the filmmaking aspect of the story is a little autobiographical to J.J. Abrams. Furthermore, if you don't think that, somewhere in the back of your mind, these 11-year-olds' level of expertise quickly starts to seem completely improbable for their ages... Of course, I'm talking 1979 11-year-olds, not the ones we see today. (But in all fairness to Generation X, digital is way easier to master.)

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I've heard mashups of music, I've seen mashup shorts on the web, but this is the first time I've seen a feature film mashup. Along with being part Goonies, and part Stand by Me, it's also part War of the Worlds, part Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and there's even some elements that are strangely similar to Kung Fu Panda 2.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: You're probably wondering why they decided to place this film in 1979. So was I. But I concluded that it was in order to use super 8 film. Then I wondered why it was so important to them to use super 8, when this film could have easily been in modern times... And I have yet to come to a conclusion. Let me know if you have any theories!

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Super 8 Trailer

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Paul

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A couple of English nerds (Simon Pegg & Nick Frost), who are in America for Comic Con, encounter an Alien named Paul (Seth Rogen), who is on the run from Area 51, and then, the English guys decide that it would be a good idea to help Paul get back home.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Jo Lo Truglio, Sigourney Weaver, John Carroll Lynch, Jane Lynch, Blythe Danner, David Koechner, Jesse Plemons, Jeffrey Tambor, Steven Spielberg (on the phone)

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! Don't let the slow start scare you, once it gets going, you won't want it to ever stop.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I went for the Hot Fuzz duo, but I stayed for the funny alien.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No, but if you have strong religious beliefs, it's probably going to piss you off.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Comedy Central is finally putting together the Comedy Awards, in order to compete with the Tragedy Awards, also known as the Oscars, and so far, Paul is the front-runner to sweep the new show.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Turns out, I'm not sick of Seth Rogen, after all.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Greg Mottola is lucky that he's friends with more talented writers than himself, because when given a good script, his work is not half bad.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Great for nerds because they will be able to pick out references to every sci-fi film and TV series ever made. And great for everybody else because they will be able to laugh at how lame it is to be so nerdy that you can recognize references to every sci-fi film and TV series ever made.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Paul Trailer

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Avatar 3D

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: After the Earth has used up all its resources-- and also developed the technology to fly people 6 years into space so they can inhabit the bodies of man-made beings that look like the aliens who live 6 years into space-- earthlings use their military to try to claim the distant planet Pandora's resources as its own.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi, Laz Alonso

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. I had totally forgotten what Dances with Wolves was about until I saw this movie, which when you change American Indians to blue-alien-nature-worshippers, is pretty much the same movie. That said, if you're a lover of art and fantasy, the sights in this land are not to be missed.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: All the hype and build up made me laugh.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Not likely, but the music might rock you to sleep.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It really does deserve to sweep the special effects and makeup categories. But anyone who calls this the best picture of the year should be fired immediately. Even if it's your dry cleaner.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: I kinda get what all the hype about Sam Worthington is about. But I did hear his Australian accent slip through noticeably several times.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: I wouldn't be disappointed if James Cameron won the Oscar for Best Director. The world he creates is truly stunning. I would almost suggest watching the movie on mute, and simply enjoying the visual artistry.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Hard to follow and filled with moments that you have to ask your friends to explain the justification for afterwards. Your friends won't be able to justify those holes in the logic either. And the dialogue (what little of it there is) is filled with cliched jingoisms. "Let's dance!"

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: Way too long. As usual. 162minutes. Egregious.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/avatar/26982/trailers

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District 9

(Guest Review by Russ)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Aliens are forced to live in a militarized slum after their spaceship breaks down over South Africa; twenty years later, while being moved to a new detention area, things start to go terribly wrong.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Mandla Gaduka, Vanessa Haywood, William Allen Young

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! District 9 is the definitive science-fiction film of the new millennium. No cute ETs like Spielberg’s creation or ethereal space landings as in Close Encounters, the aliens of District 9 – better known as Prawns – are angry, weird, homesick, violent, caring, curious and maybe up to something. And it’s all presented as if watching a CNN Special Report with Anderson Cooper, once again out there in some foreign locale unveiling some sickening truth about who the real bad guys are.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Despite the relentless squalor, action and violence, District 9 has more laughs than you might expect, springing mostly from the antics of the Prawns and also the innate intelligence of the film.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: If you have any Prawn-DNA in your system you will not only cry, you might not make it through the movie. (This answer doubles as an inside-joke which you will get after you’ve seen the movie.)

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Let’s see, it is now more than midway through August and this is easily one of the best films of the year. So I won’t bet against it come awards time. (And no, I’m not talking about some made-up award like: Best Use of Cat Food In A Movie.)

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Even though District 9 oftentimes resembles a documentary (or docudrama) – and apparently almost all the dialogue was improvised – none of that takes away from the excellent performance of South African star Sharlto Copley. The emotional weight of the movie sits squarely on his shoulders (and it’s a lot of weight) and he really delivers in a believable performance that goes from weasely, nervous and unlikable at the start, to heart wrenching and heroic in the end.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Neill Blomkamp, welcome to the start of your massive Hollywood career. Everything works in District 9 thanks to the direction. The effects, humor, pathos, acting, story and design – everything is in such perfect harmony that it becomes seamless. Blomkamp makes this all look so easy you’ll wonder why every science fiction film can’t be this entertaining. Oh yeah, maybe it’s because not every filmmaker is as talented as Neill Blomkamp (and it can’t hurt to have Peter Jackson as a producer). Hey Neill, hurry up and get working on District 10.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: There is nothing revolutionary about this story, but it doesn’t really need to be. On the surface it’s simple, yet deceptively smart and extremely well executed. Underneath however is a not-so-subtle allegory commenting on South Africa’s sad history with apartheid. But really, that sort of history can easily extend to many countries and therefore District 9 is like a mirror being held up to the human race, reflecting back its tragedies when it comes to racial discrimination. It’s ugly and sad and soul crushing and makes you wonder if we’ll ever be enlightened enough to be capable of better. District 9 deserves as much credit for that thought-provoking question as it does for being a kick-ass entertaining sci-fi action movie.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/district-9/31920/trailers

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Star Trek

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The beginnings of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the USS Enterprise crew from before they had a famous television series, or as is the case with this new cast, an inevitable film franchise. This Star Trek movie is so special, it doesn't even need a number.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder, Tyler Perry, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Morrison, Rachel Nichols, Faran Tahir

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! I have a long history of hating Star Trek. First it was a source of fights with college roommates about what was or was not allowed to be cluttering the air of our living room, via the television airwaves. Then, as luck would have it, my first job out of college was as a director's assistant on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager-- a job that forced me to watch endless episodes of those series, and worse, to have to read boring scripts, geeked out with techno-babble beyond my comprehension-- and that's not to mention the constant dodging of Trekkies who had-- to my misfortune-- asked, "So what do you do?"... Well the years have passed, and this movie has none of the old, stiff tone of the television shows. It's fun, and vivacious, and thrilling, despite the fact that I still only understood about two-thirds of what they were talking about with their trans-thrusters and their parallax beams.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Surprisingly, quite a bit. And even more so if you're in the know.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: I almost cried twice, and one of the times was in the first act, so that's unusual, but the reasons James T. Kirk is given, as to why he should join Starfleet Academy, are deeply moving.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Anyone who can reinvigorate this tired old series deserves an award for something.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Chris Pine is Brad Pitt: The Next Generation (TNG for those on the inside). He's sexy, charismatic, and he even has those little pockmarks on his face. But the whole cast is fantastic and well defined, each building on and amplifying what their predecessors brought to the table in the 1960s. We will look back on this film as the one that launched a lot of young actors into the A-list.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: In a lot of ways, it is the look of this film that sells it to the non-Trekkie audience. It is modern, and big, but still true to the standard angles so often highlighted on the Starship's Bridge, like the whip pan from the Captain's chair to the Flight Engineer, or the side angle, slow pans and push ins of two shots and three shots, as the crew looks dramatically at some disaster on a screen. I'm sure it's deliberate on J.J. Abrams' part, but having been on the bridge of several of those ships, I can tell you that it's also because there are very few places to put a camera on those sets, especially if you want to capture anything that looks dynamic. Oh God, I'm having flashbacks!

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I love time travel! It keeps your mind in a constant state of jumble, so you almost don't notice the wormholes in the plot, or care, for that matter, about how many incredible coincidences it takes for this story to work itself out. And anyway, the characters are so well developed, and the dialogue is so snappy, that I have to assume it all makes sense.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: The area that requires the biggest suspension of disbelief and has probably not been mentioned by anybody else is this: How many times can Kirk hang off the edge of a cliff by just his fingers and not fall? Do it once, and I'll give you a pass, but in this movie it happens about 4 times. Maybe it's an inside joke I don't know about, but all I kept thinking was, "Not only is it rare to manage to catch yourself mid-flight that way, when gravity is pulling you downward, but it's nearly impossible to lift yourself up from that position using only the strength of your own arms." Try it if you don't believe me. I can't do it, and I was a trained gymnast.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/star-trek/29301/trailers

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