Hit - Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman

The city of Gotham continues to be the playground for crime and criminals as Batman and James Gordon continue to fight against evil. Newly appointed District Attorney, Harvey Dent is also on their side, attempting to take down the horrible bank robber named The Joker. The closer they get to the Joker, the more he begins to make them unravel.

The Dark Knight is one of the best films of the year. I know that marking this film as the best of the year may be a little hasty because most of the best films of the year come out around the holidays, but I can honestly say that it is the best film that I have seen this year, so far.

This has every element that one is looking for in a great film. It has an amazing cast, a fantastic story, direction, cinematography, and art direction are the best I have ever seen in a Batman film. This film is the best of the series and includes fabulous performances.

I can’t say much more praise about this film because I want you to see it yourself. I will say this in terms of negative criticism… the movie is long, and Christian Bale’s “Batman voice,” gets annoying towards the end. Otherwise, it is a work of art.

Bottom Line: See it for yourself.

Action

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace.

Running Time: 2 hours 32 minutes.

Hit - Starring Brendan Fraiser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem

Professor Trevor Anderson is on a mission to discover what happened to his missing brother. In the process of unveiling the events of his dissappearance, he ends up on an amazing journey to the center of the Earth.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is your typical family action / adventure. It has great elements of peril, excitement, and moments of fright. Since I am at a loss for words at the moment, I will leave it at that.

Bottom Line: Journey to the Center of the Earth with your family.

Action / Adventure

Rated PG for intense adventure action and some scary moments.

Running Time: 1 hour 32 minutes.

Miss - Starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgard, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Dominic Cooper

Sophie is about to get married to the man of her dreams, everything is perfect, except she wants her father to walk her down the aisle. The only problem is, she doesn’t know who her father is. To find out more, Sophie reads her mothers diary and discovers that there are three possible fathers. Therefore, Sophie invites all three gentlemen to the wedding. Imagine her mother’s suprise when she finds out.

As a lover of musicals, I find it interesting that this movie had so many opportunities to succeed and yet it still failed to provide the most essential film element - a story. Well, technically there is a story, but it is so drab that it doesn’t carry the audience through the entire film. The advertisements for the film make people believe that the main character of the film is Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried) but in actuality, the main character of the movie is Sophie’s mother Donna (played by Meryl Streep).

Another area where the movie fails to deliver is in casting. Pierce Brosnan cannot sing to save his life. Every time he would open his mouth to sing, the entire audience would bust up laughing. This is not what the filmmakers were going for as the tone of the film is not burlesque. Now that I think about it… maybe the tone is burlesque… nah! Meryl Streep can sing but friends have expressed to me that they felt she was not a very good singer. Either way, she got the job done.

This movie had so many great elements. There was excellent choreography, songs, art direction, costuming, and general filming location. It is unfortunate that the story is so bland and they failed to realize that someone like Michael Crawford would have been a better fit for the Pierce Brosnan character.

Bottom Line: Mamma…mia.

Musical

Rated PG-13 for some sex-related comments.

Running Time: 1 hour 48 minutes.

Top 5 Animated Films: Film synopsis courtesy of IMDB.com

5. Snow White (1937)

A young princess finds herself on the run from her wicked stepmother and finds refuge in a small cottage out in the forest with seven pint-sized men who immediately decide to adopt and protect her with their lives.

4. Aladdin (1992)

When a street urchin discovers a magic lamp, he unwittingly unleashes a wild and wacky genie who grants him three wishes.

3. The Little Mermaid (1989)

Dreaming of life on the land as a human being, a young mermaid princess makes a bargain with a sea witch in order to win the heart of a prince (whom she is love with).

2. Fantasia (1940)

A collection of animated interpretations of great works of Western classical music.

1. Beauty and the Beast (1991)

In order to break the spell placed upon him and his servants, a beast (an enchanted prince on the inside) must learn to earn the love of a village girl or risk remaining in his animal state forever.