Year One Directed by: Harold Ramis Cast: Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins Rating: PG-13 Release Date: June 19, 2009 Plot: Zed (Black) and Oh (Cera) are two lazy hunter-gatherers who are just trying to scrape by in life. But when Zed gets kicked out of the [...]

Moon Directed by: Duncan Jones Cast: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins Rating: R Plot: A mining engineer (Rockwell) stationed on the moon faces complications when he uncovers something about his project only weeks before his scheduled departure date. Who’s It For? This is sci-fi fare paced for an intelligent crowd. [...]

The Hangover Directed by: Todd Phillips Cast: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha Running Time: 1 hr 45 mins Rating: R Release Date: June 6, 2009 Plot: Four guys head to Las Vegas a couple nights before one of them (Bartha) gets married. The next day, three of the guys wake [...]

Up Directed by: Pete Docter Cast: (Voices) Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins Rating: PG Release Date: May 29, 2009 Plot: Carl Fredricksen (Asner), a widower about to lose his home to developers, comes up with a scheme to escape his problems. He attaches thousands of balloons to his [...]

Drag Me to Hell Directed by: Sam Raimi Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long Running Time: 1 hr 45 min Rating: R Release Date: May 29, 2009 Plot: Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is trying to impress her boss at the bank by denying a gypsy an extension on her overdue mortgage. And, like everyone in the [...]

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Directed by: Shawn Levy Cast: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria Running Time: 1 hr 35 min Rating: PG Plot: Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is now a successful entrepreneur with his own line of useful, household inventions. He is soon pulled into a rushed and [...]

Dance Flick Directed by: Damien Wayans Cast: Damon Wayans Jr., Shoshana Bush Running Time: 1 hr. 15 mins Rating: PG 13 Plot: Visualize a room filled with coherent, albeit, formulaic plots. Now picture a demolition crew blowing up that room with zestful overkill. Pick through the remaining detritus, piece together random flotsam, and voila! There’s [...]

Terminator Salvation Directed by: McG Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Michael Ironside Running Time: 1 hr 50 mins Rating: PG-13 Release Date: May 21, 2009 Click here to read Nick Allen’s Top 7 Ultimate Christian Bale Roles Plot: After Judgement Day and in the year 2018, Skynet and all [...]

Angels & Demons Directed by: Ron Howard Cast: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgård, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Nikolaj Lie Kaas Running Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Rating: PG-13 Release Date: May 15, 2009 Plot: Based upon the bestselling novel by Dan Brown, Harvard religious iconology expert Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) once again finds that [...]

Star Trek

Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Leonard Nimoy
Running Time: 2 hrs. 5 mins.
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: May 8, 2009

Plot: This is the voyage of the starship USS Enterprise, with a twist. A hell-bent Romulan (Bana) shifts time and is out to destroy Spock (Quinto, Nimoy). A black hole twists the past, but Kirk (Pine) and the rest of the starfleet soldiers are brought together on the Enterprise to defend Vulcan and Earth from a massive, destructive ship.

Who’s It For? Sci-Fi fans who never gave Star Trek a chance, fans of the classic series willing to see new actors in the iconic roles, and those who just love blockbusters … yeah, put those three groups

Next Day Air

Directed by: Benny Boom
Cast: Donald Faison, Mike Epps, Cisco Reyes, Mos Def
Time: 1 hr, 30 minutes
Rating: R

Plot: An unthinkably outlandish tale about a young postal worker whose life is turned upside down when one procedural mistake lands him in the middle of an underground war between would-be drug dealers, oddly-named thugs, and Mexican drug lords so intimidating it nearly trumps their very existence. A comical take on how being down on your luck doesn’t nearly measure up to having a very large price on your perpetually “altered” head.

Who’s It For?: TV fans will be lured into this because of Faison’s (Turk on “Scrubs”) inclusion. Since he broke onto the big screen in Clueless his movie career has left much to be desired. Now a TV star, his return

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Directed by: Mark Waters
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Michael Douglas
Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: May 1, 2009

Plot: A successful photographer (McConaughey) who scrooges women for a hobby is visited by three … Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

Who’s It For? The dating crowd – particularly those who share the on-screen ages of Garner and McConaughey. Of course, this really just means anyone not seeing X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Expectations: The Matthew McConaughey + romantic comedy formula was recently cracked by a popular humor blog that offered some frighteningly plausible ideas. Considering McConaughey’s track record, it was expected for him to play some slimy and smiley womanizer who gets “put in his place” by a female (Garner) aware of his smooth-talking … but not idiotic enough to

Lymelife

Directed by: Derick Martini
Cast: Alec Baldwin, Rory Culkin, Jill Hennessy, Emma Roberts
Time: 1 hr, 49 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: May 1, 2009 (limited)

Plot: In late-1970’s Long Island, 15-year-old Scott Bartlett (Culkin) finds that he’s growing up amidst a much fishier situation than his well-to-do father (Baldwin) would insist. In hopes to shield her son from a recent outbreak of Lyme disease, Scott’s mother doesn’t allow Scott to leave the house without applying the necessary amount of masking tape to his clothing. This is a hilarious sight, but our first encounter with next-door-neighbor Charlie [Timothy Hutton] that we find out the disease’s wrath (amongst a slew of other situations in this film) may have more crippling effects than it seems.

Who’s It For?: Fans of films that systematically bash the American dream to

Sugar

Directed by: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Cast: Algenis Perez Soto, Andre Holland, Ellary Porterfield, Rayniel Rufino
Running Time: 2 hrs
Rating: R
Release Date: May 1, 2009 (limited)

Plot: This is the story of a young Dominican whose lifelong dream to play in the Major Leagues lands him on a seemingly smooth path to realizing his destiny. There proves to be more than perfecting the knuckle-curve in landing a spot on a Big League roster as an array of pitfalls routinely bludgeons his attempts to achieve the greatness he so aspires to realize. A coming-of-age story that dabbles in the temptations young people come across upon their difficult paths to greatness.

Who’s It For?: Baseball fans young and old. This is a slick reminder that the third world not only wields a superior slew of

Battle for Terra

Directed by: Aristomenis Tsirbas
Cast: (voices) Evan Rachel Wood, Luke Wilson, Brian Cox, David Cross
Running Time: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: PG
Release Date: May 1, 2009

Plot: Following the destruction of Earth and other human-colonized planets, the remaining humans search space for a new place to settle. When the humans attack Terra, a peaceful alien planet, a young Terrian (Wood) and a human pilot (Wilson) try to end the war.

Who’s It For? If you appreciate a good score and enjoy contemplating the future of the human race, check this one out. Surprisingly this film isn’t for the the little ones, there’s just too much violence for a standard kid flick.

Expectations: Since this is a full-length version of the 2003 award-wining, seven-minute short film by the same director, I’m expecting good things

The Soloist

Directed by: Joe Wright
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx, Catherine Keener
Running Time: 1 hr. 50 mins.
Rating: PG-13

Plot: It’s an unlikely duo as a Los Angeles Times columnist (Downey Jr.) goes looking for a story and connects deeply to his subject, a Julliard trained musician (Foxx), who is homeless.

Who’s It For? The younger crowd who is now addicted to Downey thanks to Iron Man, might not be ready for this one. It’s a slower pace, with side notes about the homeless problem in L.A. and the death of newspapers.

Expectations: I had one concern … this movie was supposed to come out last year in December. It was Oscar bait. So what happened? Otherwise, on paper, this movie should work well.

SCORECARD (0-10)

Actors:
Robert Downey Jr. as Steve Lopez: What a relief. Downey

Crank: High Voltage

Directed by: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Cast: Jaosn Statham, Amy Smart, Ling Bai, Dwight Yokam, David Carridane, Corey Haim
Running Time: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: R

Plot: Someone has stolen Chev Chelios’ (Statham) heart, in this continuation of the Crank series. So he needs to find it, right? Right.

Who’s it For? Mindless action speed demons. This movie is fast and furious with no sign of Paul Walker. There’s plenty of others with bad acting abilities though, so the man’s not missed.

Expectations: The first one didn’t hit me like it should have. I was annoyed. Maybe it was the SCS (shaky camera syndrome) where you couldn’t avoid getting vomitous. Or perhaps it was the sex scene in front of the school bus that rubbed me the wrong way.

SCORECARD (0-10)

Actors:
Jason Statham as Chev

State of Play

Directed by: Kevin Macdonald
Cast: Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren
Running Time: 2 hrs 10 mins
Rating: PG-13

Plot: The mysterious death of a capital hill research assistant unfolds into political scandal after congressman Stephen Collins (Affleck) admits he was having an affair with her. Meanwhile seasoned Washington Globe reporter Cal McAffrey (Crowe), Collins’ old college roommate, can’t seem decide whether his strained friendship with the troubled congressman is worth not cashing in on his exclusive access to the central source in the biggest story of the year. But the more McAffrey, along with his spitfire assistant Della Frye (McAdams), investigates the death of the assistant, the closer he’s led to PointCorp, one of the nations largest private arms dealers, which is about to sign a multi-billion-dollar government contract

17 Again

Directed by: Burr Steers
Cast: Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Matthew Perry
Time: 1 hr 30 min
Rating: PG 13

Plot: Mike O’Donnell (Adult, Perry) yearns to relive his senior year in order to undo past mistakes. When a janitorial “spirit guide” hears O’Donnell bemoaning his lost youth, he arranges for O’Donnell to fall off a bridge into a magical whirlpool that transforms O’Donnell into a teenager (Efron). Yes, it’s inches from purple cows in tutus, but just go with it, people.

Who’s It For? Hard one…on the surface it’s dressed up for teenaged girls, but there is a surprisingly poignant undercurrent of “What if?” for unhappy adults. Zac Efron is there for the tweeny-boppers, but under all the eye-candy and fluff, the movie has some heart to it.

Expectations: Low-de-low-low. I expected

Observe and Report

Directed by: Jody Hill
Cast: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta
Running Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: R

Plot: A bipolar mall cop (Rogen) strives to become a police officer while also pursuing a flasher and a thief.

Who’s It For? The appeal of Seth Rogen has always been coed. But this particular film might be his biggest challenge to all of his devoted followers.

Expectations: Early buzz from SXSW said this was a “dark version of Paul Blart: Mall Cop.” Now what the h-e-double hockey-sticks could that mean?

SCORECARD (0-10)

Actors:

Seth Rogen as Ronnie Barnhardt: That big kid in high school with the buzzcut and mental issues that kind of scared us? He grew up to be a security officer at the local mall. But Rogen pulls off this semi-sympathetic without letting go completely

Hannah Montana: The Movie

Directed by: Peter Chelsom
Cast: Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Vanessa Williams, Lucas Till
Time: 1 hr 38 min
Rating: PG

Plot: The Hannah Montana persona has started to take over Miley Stewart’s life (Miley Cyrus), so her father (Billy Ray Cyrus) tricks her into returning to her roots in Tennessee. Via montages and silly slow-mo, Miley learns what’s truly important: people like you better when you’re blond.

Who’s It For? The three gazillion unquestioning, rabid devotees of Hannah Montana.

Expectations: I didn’t expect it to feel like an army brain-washing experiment where they trap you in a chair and peel your eyelids back and force you to watch hours of surreal crap until you’re turned into a mindless soldier for Disney—and I was dead wrong.

SCORECARD (0-10)

Actors:
Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart: I’m

Fast and Furious

Directed by: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Deisel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster
Time: 1 hr 30 min
Rating: PG 13

Plot: FBI agent Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) and noble rogue Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) join forces in the fourth installment in this automotive porn series to bring down the head of a drug cartel.

Who’s It For? Fans of mindless action flicks! Woooo!

Expectations: I was hoping for brainless, silly action and Vin Diesel is usually pretty good about that. I should warn everyone that I’m basing this review entirely on how much I enjoyed the movie and my innate ability to switch off my brain—if you, on the other hand, cannot turn your brain off, you probably shouldn’t even read this review. Right now my demographic consists of slaves to action flicks and