Captain America: The First Avenger
Paramount Pictures
7/10
Captain America: The First Avenger is the origin story of well-known comic book hero Captain America. Set in the 1940′s during WWII, the film follows Steve Rogers, a scrawny Brooklyn man who wants nothing more than to serve Mother and Country and do his part. Unfortunately, Rogers is deemed physically unfit to join the U.S. Armed Forces, but a simple twist of fate finds him volunteering for the “Top Secret Super Soldier Project.” Quickly transformed from sickly young man into Captain America, this superhero fights …

Turns out the best villains are the silent steel belted types.  In this film by Quentin Dupieux an isolated desert off-ramp is gripped with terror when a sentient homicidal car tire with an ominous lust for blood and smokin’ babes rolls into town. You would think a rogue killer tire would run people over or something, but you would be wrong, it blows people’s heads up with its telepathic powers.  Why? Because it’s awesome.
Surprisingly artfully shot and self-aware, this movie is all style and sass. Rubber is a hilarious homage …

The AFI FEST 2010 presented by Audi announces this year’s crown jewels. The festival is springing off with the world premiere of Love and Other Drugs staring Ann Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal  in a Viagra-fueled tale of romance, and plans to end with a bang with Natalie Portman’s pirouetting spiral of self destruction in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.
Other gala screenings announced include the romance Blue Valentine, Barney’s Version starring Dustin Hoffman and Paul Giamatti, Abel- A tale about a disturbed child trying to become his own father, Company Men with …

They say that skateboard videos are dying.
In the late ‘90s, my baggy pants, butt cut, chain wallet early skateboarding days, videos were the trick-by-trick estimation by which professionals were measured.  Each new video brought me, or whichever one of my grubby little friends could scrounge up 20 bucks, down to the local shop to make the eager purchase.  As we gathered around my parents’ 13-inch TV and watched Jamie Thomas switch lipslide into the Venice sunset to the crashes of “Baba O’Riley,” I swore, at 15, that I had found …

Ladies and gentlemen, fire up your projectors, the very first Anaheim International Film Festival is about to start! 5 days, almost 100 films. The festival features an array of selections ranging from heartbreaking documentaries, trashy horror, and rollicking comedies sprinkled with a slew of shorts.
Don’t have much time? Come check out the One Minute Film Festival, a snack-sized fast paced whirlwind of entertainment. For those of you with little ones there’s a delightful children’s animation program and even old classics like Sixteen Candles you can come enjoy together as a …

Big Money Rustlas
Psychopathic
3/10 or 8/10, I can’t tell.
Big Money Rustlas is, get this, a WESTERN, starring INSANE CLOWN POSSE…in full on CLOWN MAKE-UP. Let that sit for a second. Savor it.
The king Juggalos, ICP, star in what could have been a 70’s B Movie, but instead stands as a testament to the weirdness that non-Juggalos see in everything that is Psychopathic Records. The obsession with Faygo, stoner humor and, well, the fucking make-up are all well-represented, but along with the basics, you have what could actually pass for a plot …

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
Universal Pictures
Dir: Edgar Wright
10/10
Spoiler Alert: This movie fucking rules. Now, my criteria for movies has always been: explosions, hot chicks, well-choreographed fight scenes. Done and done. While Michael Cera still channels his best Wonder Years’ Kevin Arnold-esque awkwardness, he takes his first real step past being typecast with insane fight scenes, the hottest love interest for him yet: Ramona Flowers, portrayed by Mary Elizabeth Winsted. I call nexties, Scott. Also, his character is actually kind of an asshole.
Cera’s portrayal of the Oni Press character is as …

I spent a good portion of my time at San Diego Comic-Con this year watching panels, as opposed to forlornly wandering the main convention hall (which, while fun, is difficult to navigate through the crowds). While I unfortunately (and kick myself or a bit for this) did not manage to get into the Harry Potter panel in the AM, I did scoop some pretty great preview panels. Here’s a rundown of what I caught:
Let Me In- Starring Kick-Ass’s Chloe Moretz, Let Me In is a remake of the Swedish film …

The Last Airbender
Dir: M. Night Shyamalan
Paramount Pictures
6/10
Who would have thought to take a goofy anime made by white people about a bald kid with a magical construction sign tattooed on his head, give it a dark spin, a multi-million dollar special effects budget, and have M. Night Shyamalan direct it? If someone told me that before I would have puked in a bucket and thrown it at whoever pitched it to me. Though it seems I would have had that same shame-filled puke bucket thrown right back at me, because …

How to Train Your Dragon
Dreamworks
9/10
How to Train Your Dragon is hands down one of the best Dreamworks films to come out in years. It goes to show that when they drop the saucy wink-at-the-camera humor shtick and get their hands on a good story with some heartfelt characters they can really wow. It follows the unlikely friendship between a boy and a salamander-dog-cat-dragon thing. What could easily have just been a boy-and-his-Pokemon type plot delivers a compelling and beautifully animated tale. Vikings and Dragons are at war and bumbling young …

Shrek Forever After
Dreamworks Animation
5 of 10
In theaters May 21, 2010
I tend to have an oversimplified taste in movies- if it exceeds my expectations and I find myself entertained for the majority of the movie, I consider the film a success. I mean, I’m not going to go out and buy the DVD or anything, but at least I don’t feel like I lost two hours of my life I’ll never get back.
For that reason, among others,  I am a fan of the Shrek franchise. There are enough stupid giggles and …

A Town Called Panic
Aardman Animation
10/10
Another hit from the studio that brought Wallace and Grommet to the screen. This hysterically hyperkinetic adventure has charm in spades. Unlikely roommates Cowboy and Indian end up getting mixed up in more than they bargained for when they try to build their friend and landlord Horse the best birthday present ever and instead end up making a mess of epic proportions that turns their tiny town upside down. Based on the Belgian TV show shorts which originally aired under the French title, Panic Au Village …

Moon- 9/10
Sony Picture Classics
Out on DVD and Blu-Ray- Jan. 12
Moon is a well constructed and beautifully shot sci-fi film written and directed by Duncan Jones, who is also known as the son of David Bowie. The movie stars Sam Rockwell, who gives a surprising performance as a lonely moon-miner, and his only companion, a computer that communicates via emoticon smoothly voiced by an unseen Kevin Spacey.  The film is paired with a stunning and well-matched soundtrack from composer Clint Maswell, best known for his work doing the music for Darren …

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Sony Pictures
10 of 10
On DVD and Blu-Ray Jan. 5th
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, based off of the classic children’s book by Judi Barret, is a deliciously delightful film about an overzealous young inventor who cooks up a plan to make it rain a hail of cheeseburgers and ice-cream to save the townsfolk from a fate of sardines. Meatballs is bright and imaginative and has an awesome early 80’s feel that pops with color; even the end credits are gorgeous. It also is just a …

Sherlock Holmes- “Bros Before Hoes”
Warner Brothers
7/10
Sherlock Holmes trades in his opium pipe and monocle for a pile of action-packed Blow and brass knuckles in this Bro-rotic romance bowler-hat adventure.
Holmes is given a case seemingly more fitting for Scooby Doo- tracking down a spooky magician’s ghost. You know the drill: ancient cult, dudes in robes, world domination, diffusing a bomb, if it weren’t for those pesky kids… Unlike Scooby Doo, though, Holmes is out to get laid. The twist is, he has his sights set on his trusty companion Watson. Jealous …

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Twentieth Century Fox
10 of 10
As a kid I read a lot. Specifically, I read a lot of fantasy. Real life stories were too normal, too boring, too unadventurous. I spent loads of time as a child nose deep in L. Frank Baum, C.S. Lewis, and Roald Dahl creations. I always balk at film adaptations of my much-loved childhood memories- too often, the story is contorted to be mass-marketable, generic, or romanticized. Of course, I was ever so slightly apprehensive to hear that one of my favorite directors was …