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.

Hit - Starring Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver

The year is 2700 and the humans have left earth but have forgotten to turn off a robot named WALL*E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class). WALL*E spends every day collecting knick-knacks and doing what he was made for. With the help of space robot EVE, he will soon discover what he was meant for.

Wall*E is a cute digital animated film for the summer that has children around the world calling his name. It is important for screenwriters to remember that this is a children’s film as the theme of the story is way too complex for children to grasp. The main thing that little ones will take away from this film is a love story between Wall*E and Eve. They will also take away the fact that it is important for Wall*E to ensure the safe transfer of a particular Earth particle, to a nearby space ship (where the humans live).

Most children will not be able to pick up on the post-apocalyptic themes, the idea of being “green,” (not in the Kermit sense), and the fact that when robots do everything for humans and humans do not have to do anything for themselves (they don’t even have to walk); the effect is that they become morbidly obese.

Children will like the visual stimulation that this movie provides but will find themselves ready to leave the film 20 minutes before the credits roll. While this movie is cute, it could have been more interesting as a short film.

Speaking of short film, Disney / Pixar placed a short film before the feature which turned out to be a highlight of the theatre experience. The short film is called Presto and it is about the shenanigans that happen with Presto (a clever magician) forgets to feed his magic show co-star Alec (his rabbit). This film was brilliantly pieced together into a five minute short which was delightful. I believe it is the best short film to come out of Pixar.

Animation

Rated G

Running Time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Hit - Starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson

Maxwell Smart has recently been promoted to an agent for CONTROL and now has to battle the forces of KAOS with the more-competent, and beautiful Agent 99.

This movie is a clean comedy that keeps you laughing throughout the entire film. Get Smart offers laughs that you do not see in the previews, and it also provides many comedic reveals that you didn’t see coming. It has been a long time since I have seen a film that provides clean humor. Not only is the movie clean in terms of humor, it is also clean in terms of timing, and story. The story of the film was very basic and I am glad that everything was able to wrap up in under two hours. This movie made me leave the theatre smiling (which doesn’t always happen).

Bottom Line: If you are looking to beat the heat this summer, check out this “smart” comedy.

Comedy

Rated PG-13 for some rude humor, action violence and language.

Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes.

Hit - Starring Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Mariah Carey, Rob Schneider

A counter-terrorist agent fakes his death so he can become a New York City hair stylist.

It has been a long time since I have been able to say that I have enjoyed an Adam Sandler film. This movie delivers the laughs (and some are uncomfortable at the least). The first two acts of the film keep the audience engaged but the same cannot be said for the third act, which falls short.

Bottom Line: Zohan cuts great hair.

Comedy

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language and nudity.

Running Time: 1 hour 53 minutes.

Hit - Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrance Howard

When industrialist Tony Stark is captured by terrorists and forced to build a destructive weapon - he uses his time to secretly build an armored suit instead. He later decides to enhance the armored suit and use it to fight against evil.

I went into this film with a bad attitude about the entire thing but I was surprised that it was quite enjoyable. Iron Man himself - Tony Stark- is an unlikely superhero. This film shows the creation of the character and his beginning adventures. While superhero films are not my cup of tea, I found this film to be charming in its presentation. It had a clear cut script and offered plenty of action.

I would like to say that although I enjoyed this film, I hope that a sequel is not in the works.

Bottom Line: Entertaining

Action

Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive content.

Running Time: 2 hours 6 minutes.

A Cheesy Hit - Starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Dax Shepard, Greg Kinnear, Steve Martin

Kate (Fey) is a single business woman who realizes she cannot get pregnant and therefore hires a surrogate to deliver her baby. The surrogate turns out to be the polar opposite of what Kate had expected.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are quite a comedy act in this baby filled film. The character that Amy Poehler plays is quite memorable, and provides for many laughs but the overall film is very cheesy. There comes a part in the film where I realized that the writing of the film could have been cheesier and I wanted to share that with you.

Spoiler alert - if you have not seen the film and do not want to know the following information then do not read the following…

At one point there is a paternity test in the film to determine if the child that Poehler is carrying is hers or Tina Fey’s character. The results favor the Poehler character but I thought it would be even more grand (and more cheesy) if it turned out that she was having twins and one of them was hers and the other was Fey’s character. I think it would have been more interesting rather than having Fey’s character become miraculously pregnant at the end of the film (which was completely un-realistic).

Bottom Line: Funny and cheesy but flat.

Comedy

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language and a drug reference.

Running Time: 1 hour 39 minutes

Hit - Starring Adam Carolla, Oswaldo Castillo, Heather Juergensen

Jerry Ferro’s (Carolla) 40th birthday has caused him to reevaluate his life goals. Once a promising boxer, Jerry returns to the ring to see if he still has a chance at making a name for himself. While persuing newfound life goals, he ends up falling in love.

The reviews for this movie came in before I was able to see it, and they were all correct. Ebert and Roper called it one of the “Three to See,” and it was worth paying to see it in theatres.

Luckily I was able to see this film at a local theatre, and it was a good thing that I saw it when I did, because one week later it was no longer available for that theatre. My husband and I ended up going because we heard on the Adam Carolla morning show that he was going to be appearing at the theatre to answer questions about the film and to introduce the last showing. I was surprised when there was not a sold out crowd for both showings but it was nice to talk with Adam in a smaller setting.

His dedication for the film is amazing as he put up the money to be able to have the film come to theatres for a limited engagement.

This film is one of the better films that I have seen this year because of the amount of heart put into the film. You can tell this is a labor of love from the beginning to the end. I feel we don’t see enough films like this these days.

To keep this review short I will only talk about my favorite scene which is the one where Jerry is wearing headphones while jumping rope. We can sometimes hear the music he is listening to, but then it cuts to how others perceive him when they cannot hear the music. This contrast made for one of the funniest scenes I have seen in a long time. Nice work!

Bottom Line: If it is playing in a theatre near you, you should go see it. Otherwise, put it on your list of movies to see on DVD. I will absolutely be purchasing this film when it comes out.

Comedy

Rated R for brief language. (Which is rather surprising because it didn’t seem like an R rated film)

Running Time: 1 hour 28 minutes

Hit - Starring Amy Adams, Frances McDormand, Lee Pace

Guinevere Pettigrew, a London nanny, finds herself in desperate need of job, ASAP. An attempt to gain new employment sends her unknowingly into the glamorous world and busy social schedule of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse.

Although there is a war going on, Delysia (Adams) has more important things to worry about… like how to keep her three love interests from finding out about each other. This premise conjures up quite a delightful tale of what choice is the best choice when it comes to love. Adams is once again spectacular in a role that was simply made for her. She is dimwitted and yet sharp at the same time; which creates a well rounded lead character for the film. Miss Pettigrew is just along for the ride and takes her role as a social secretary quite seriously (even though she thought the position was for a nanny). Francis McDormand creates wonderful depth to a bland, yet quick character.

The dialogue, writing, and wardrobe of this movie is simply fabulous. The story itself is cute and simple, and the men in the movie will give you a sweet tooth - they may even persuade you to watch “Pushing Daisies” on ABC.

Bottom Line: Miss Pettigrew certainly lives for a day!

Comedy

Rated PG-13 for some partial nudity and innuendo.

Running Time: 1 hour 32 minutes.

Hit - Starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana

Anne and Mary Boleyn are driven by their family’s blind ambition to compete for the love of King Henry VIII.

I have always enjoyed movies and books that are historical fiction. This story is particularly intriguing because many people have forgotten the role that Mary Boleyn has played in history. Although this story is not specific to facts in particular areas, it still encourages you to independently look back at the ties between the Boleyn girls and King Henry.

This movie had a very nice look to it in terms of lighting, costumes and make-up. Although, I feel that the women could have been more pale since I don’t think of them as particularly dark skin. The characters in general seemed a little more glamorous than I would normally think of them (and compared to their caricatures).

The actors in this film were well cast, although, I do feel that Natalie Portman could have toned down her portrayal of Anne Boleyn - she seemed to be stretching slightly in some scenes.

One thing that really bugged me about this film is the necklace that Anne Boleyn wears. I realize that in portraits of Anne we see her with the necklace that includes the letter B, but it reminds me too much of the necklace that America Ferrera wears as Betty in Ugly Betty.

Bottom Line: If you enjoy historical fiction, you will enjoy the Boleyn Girls.

Drama

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, sexual content and some violent images.

Running Time: 1 hour 55 minutes