January 1
--Resident Evil: Extinction: (3 STARS) The third and final installment
of the $100 million Resident Evil trilogy, based on the wildly popular
video game series. This futuristic thriller picks up where the last
film left off. Alice (Milla Jovovich), now in hiding in the Nevada
desert, once again joins forces with Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and
L.J. (Mike Epps), along with new survivors Claire (Ali Larter), K-Mart
(Spencer Locke ) and Nurse Betty (Ashanti) to try to eliminate the
deadly T-Virus that threatens to make every human being undead ... and
to seek justice. Since being captured by the Umbrella Corporation,
Alice has been subjected to biogenic experimentation and becomes
genetically altered, with super-human strengths, senses and dexterity.
The group of survivors have taken to the road ... traversing the empty
desert highways in an armored convoy. What they seek is more of their
kind -- the living, the uninfected. What they find is the other
constant presence in the desert: the Undead -- and they'll need dozens
of guns, thousands of bullets and a pair of flamethrowers to protect
themselves. Hidden beneath an abandoned Nevada radio tower are the
sleek offices and research facilities of the Umbrella Corporation.
With access to Umbrella's constant real-time satellite surveillance,
Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen) can keep constant tabs on the convoy ... but
he's searching for the one person who not only is the key to a cure,
but everything Umbrella's experiments have been leading up to ...
Alice. Mutating by the minute, and under constant threat of betrayal
by her own Umbrella-engineered DNA, Alice has been shadowing the
convoy, standing by to protect them, hoping to somehow usher them to
safety. The convoy decides to head north to Alaska -- their last, best
hope for refuge from the Undead -- but first they will have to make a
pit-stop in Las Vegas to refuel......and stay out of Umbrella's
sightlines if they ever hope to reach it. Not only is Umbrella looking
for Alice, but she is also looking for them ... and she won't stop
until they're shut down forever. Vitals: Director: Russell Mulcahy.
Stars: Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Mike Epps, Ali Larter, Spencer
Locke, Iain Glen, Ashanti, Christopher Egan.
--War: (2 STARS) After his partner is brutally murdered by the
infamous assassin Rogue (Jet Li), FBI agent Jack Crawford (Jason
Statham) vows to find the elusive killer and personally avenge his
partner's death. But Rogue proves untraceable until three years later
when he resurfaces to ignite a bloody turf war between Chinese mob
leader Chang (John Lone) and Japanese Yakuza boss Shiro (Ryo
Ishibashi). Eager to capture Rogue once and for all, Crawford leads
his team of crime specialists headlong into the conflict. But
Crawford's thirst for vengeance jeopardizes his professional judgment,
and as the violence escalates, Crawford finally comes face to face
with his enemy to discover that nothing about Rogue or his plan is
quite what it seems. Vitals: Director: Philip G. Atwell. Stars: Jet
Li, Jason Statham, John Lone, Ryo Ishibashi.
--September Dawn: (2 STARS) Based on the true story of the Mountain
Meadows Massacre -- the brutal murder of 120 men, women and children
on September 11, 1857 as their wagon train passed through Utah on its
way to California. The question of whether the attack was carried out
by local Paiute Indians or by a renegade sect of the Mormon Church
remains unresolved to this day. This film explores what might have
happened. When the California-bound group of Arkansas emigrants
arrives near Cedar City to stop before completing the last leg of
their journey, Mormon Bishop and General Jacob Samuelson (Jon Voight)
allows the settlers to rest in the nearby Mountain Meadows for two
weeks, but secretly instructs his sons Jonathan (Trent Ford) to keep a
close watch. Jonathan soon falls in love with an angelic member of the
wagon train, the minister's daughter Emily (Tamara Hope), and is
horrified when he discovers that his father thinks the settlers are
enemies of the church and is planning on attacking them. While
Jonathan makes plans to escape with Emily, his father sets in motion a
chain of events, fueled by revenge and fanaticism, and under the
guidance of Brigham Young (Terence Stamp), that culminates in a
violent and tragic ambush. Vitals: Director: Christopher Cain. Stars:
Jon Voight, Trent Ford, Tamara Hope, Jon Gries, Taylor Handley, Lolita
Davidovich, Dean Cain, Terence Stamp.
--Shoot 'Em Up: (3 STARS) Clive Owen stars as Mr. Smith, the angriest,
most hardboiled man in the world, who finds himself entrusted to
protect the most innocent thing of all -- a newborn child. When Smith
delivers the baby in the middle of a gunfight, he soon discovers that
the infant is the target of a shadowy force that has sent a team of
mysterious and endless assailants, led by Hertz (Paul Giamatti), to
erase all traces of the child. Amid a hail of bullets and facing every
conceivable permutation of gunfight, Smith teams up with a prostitute
named DQ (Monica Bellucci) to solve the mystery of why the baby's life
is being threatened -- before this makeshift family all ends up on the
wrong side of a bullet. Vitals: Director: Michael Davis. Stars: Clive
Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Bellucci, Stephen McHattie, Greg Bryk.
January 8
--310 to Yuma: (2 STARS) In Arizona in the late 1800's, infamous
outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his vicious gang of thieves and
murderers have plagued the Southern Railroad. When Wade is captured,
Civil War veteran Dan Evans (Christian Bale), struggling to survive on
his drought-plagued ranch, volunteers to deliver him alive to the
"3:10 to Yuma," a train that will take the killer to trial. On the
trail, Evans and Wade, each from very different worlds, begin to earn
each other's respect. But with Wade's outfit on their trail -- and
dangers at every turn -- the mission soon becomes a violent,
impossible journey toward each man's destiny. Remake of the 1957
Western staring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. Vitals: Director: James
Mangold. Stars: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Gretchen
Mol, Dallas Roberts, Ben Foster, Vinessa Shaw.
--Death Sentence: (2 STARS) Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon) is a mild-mannered
executive with a loving family and a perfect life, until one gruesome
night when his teenage son is senselessly murdered during a gas
station holdup. Transformed by grief and not satisfied with courtroom
justice, Nick takes the law into his own hands-and wages an all-out
war against a gang of vicious street thugs. Vitals: Director: James
Wan. Stars: Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Preston, Jordan
Garrett, Stuart Lafferty, Aisha Tyler, John Goodman.
--Sunshine: (3 STARS) In the year 2057, the sun is dying and mankind
with it . . . but even the coldest reaches of space burn with the heat
of humanity's will to survive. Earth's last hope rests with a
courageous crew of eight men and women on a mission to ignite the
fading star with a massive nuclear weapon. Deep into their voyage, far
out of radio contact with Earth, the lonely, restless crew hears a
distress beacon from the Icarus I, the ship which disappeared without
a trace on the same mission seven years earlier. But when an attempt
at rescue throws the Icarus II into jeopardy, the increasingly
desperate crew soon find themselves literally gripped in the shadow of
the Sun, fighting for their lives, their sanity, and the future of us
all. Vitals: Director: Danny Boyle. Stars: Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis,
Chris Evans, Troy Garity, Cillian Murphy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict
Wong, Michelle Yeoh.
--Dragon Wars: (2 STARS) The story begins with Ethan Kendrick, a TV
reporter. While investigating a disaster that occurred at the Seven
Palms Resort, he notices that the ground is turned up all around and
forklifts have been tumbled over. It looks like a hurricane has gone
by. Ethan notices the FBI investigator dusting off a specimen with a
brush. It looks like a giant dinosaur fossil or scale. He videotapes
it on his Handycam. Back at CGNN Headquarters in downtown, Ethan
examines the image of the scale. While he is looking at his computer
screen, he has a flashback to when he was a boy. At an antique shop
with his father, young Ethan meets a man named Jack. The old man tells
him a story about giant serpents called Imoogi, a story that most have
presumed to be merely a legend. Five hundred years ago in ancient
Korea, a baby girl was born with a gift called the Yuh Yi Joo. The Yuh
Yi Joo will completely form inside her by the time she turns twenty.
An Imoogi who possesses it can transform itself into a dragon. An old
monk and his disciple are the only two who believe this legend and try
to protect the Yuh Yi Joo bearing girl. Haram, the warrior who is
charged with protecting her falls in love with her. Instead of
sacrificing her to the Imoogi, the two lovers plunge to their deaths.
Jack tells young Ethan that he is the old monk re-incarnated and that
Ethan is the warrior. The old man tells Ethan he must find a girl
named Sarah, who bears the mark of a dragon on her shoulder. He is to
take her to the Grand Cave on her 20th birthday. Ethan searches for
this mysterious woman named Sarah. Meanwhile, the Evil Imoogi, named
Buraki has appeared in Los Angeles with its army of foot soldiers and
beasts. The FBI also connect the disaster and the scale to Sarah. They
are all looking for Sarah. Ethan must protect Sarah from the Imoogi
and save the city from total destruction, ultimately choosing between
love and destiny. Vitals: Director: Hyung-rae Shim. Stars: Jason Behr,
Amanda Brooks, Robert Forster, Aimee Garcia, Craig Robinson.
--Golden Door: (2 STARS) Trans-Atlantic love story starring Charlotte
Gainsbourg and Vincenzo Amato as immigrants who fall in love during a
voyage from the Old World to New York at the turn-of-the-20th century.
But neither of the newfound sweethearts is prepared for the tumultuous
events at Ellis Island, where their families are separated, stretching
the limits of their passion. Story is a testament to the American
dream and the people who risked everything for it. In Italian with
English subtitles. Vitals: Director: Emanuele Crialese. Stars:
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vincenzo Amato.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/
--Zodiac: The Director's Cut. It didn't make a killing at the box
office, but I enjoyed David Fincher's serial-killer drama. Per usual,
Robert Downey Jr. gives a standout performance. Check out the new two-
disc DVD set with Fincher's version, commentary, a making-of
documentary and other features.
--Eagle vs. Shark. Flight of the Conchords fans may want to check out
this goofy romantic comedy starring Jemaine Clement.
--The Riches: Season 1. Catch up with FX's original drama before the
second season starts. Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver star as con
artists pretending to be wealthy suburbanites.
--White Noise 2. I wouldn't think about seeing this, either ... until
I heard that it stars Nathan Fillion. And Katee Sackhoff! Suddenly, a
bad-sounding movie is shaping up to be a decent rental.
--The Tudors: Season 1. Showtime's period drama aims to seduce you.
(Nudity aside, I stopped watching after the second episode.)
--Klimt. John Malkovich plays the artist in this biopic.
--Smiley Face. In this comedy, Anna Faris stars as a girl who eats way
too many wacky cupcakes. What follows is a (shocking) unbelievably
crazy adventure.
--Cary Grant: 4-Disc Collector's Set. This latest collection includes
Operation Petticoat, That Touch of Mink, The Grass is Greener and
Indiscreet.
--I Am An Animal: Story of Ingrid Newkirk & PETA. This HBO documentary
delves into the animal-rights organization's past.
Also out: Joshua, Death Sentence, Happy Tree Complete Box Set, Two and
a Half Men: The Complete Second Season, MI-5: Volume 5, The Naked
Brothers Band: Season 1
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