In this episode Mike and Veer explore the world of political films. Using their 3-2-1 format they look at their 3 favorite political comedies, 2 favorite political dramas, and 1 film that challenged the governmental status quo.

Give us a listen and we promise to vote for you in the next election.

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Hot Tub Time Machine has not only a crazy name, but also a crazy premise and crazy antics. Is that enough crazy for you? If not, you can check out the film and see the crazy hair, crazy fashions, crazy energy, and crazy comedic components. Hot Tub Time Machine brings the crazy and it's hilariously rendered for our enjoyment.

It was announced recently that 24 would wrap up at the end of the current season, and then shortly after that it was announced that a film is in the works.  In the works only so far as they have a script just about set and are pitching ideas. 

How will the twenty-four hour realtime format translate to the screen?  According to Jack Bauer himself, the plan is to show all twenty-four hours in a two hour film, which will free them up creatively, as they won't have the hindrance of presenting events in realtime.   

If all goes according to plan, the film should hit theaters in early 2011. 

Up until now Greengrass has been firmly planted in the real world of cinema, but he is now in talks to make the leap to the world of sci-fi/fanatsy.  20th Century Fox is working towards a remake of Fantastic Voyage, the story of a scientist suffering from an unknown illness, only to have his colleagues miniaturized and injected into his body.  The previous incarnation was made in 1966, so it only seems appropriate to Fox that it get a modern day, big budget treatment. 

The Green Zone director is only in talks at the moment, but Fox is looking to strike while the iron is hot. 

Two criminals are engaged in a drug deal with a Hispanic kingpin. They verify the cocaine's potency, and even agree to a hike in the price. They nonchalantly hand him the payment. He opens the briefcase to discover dozens of Tampons. Perplexed, the boss exclaims, "What's this?" One of the hoods, still smiling, replies, "It's for the bullet holes, man." Then they gun him and his bodyguards down.

If you're someone who gravitates towards musical films or musical theater, then you're probably not me. That of course doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good musical when I see it.

Since 300, the stoic actor, who voices a character named Stoick, hasn't made many good career decision (though I quite enjoyed RocknRolla) since his breakout role as King Leonidas. The key to his success here was: a) being heard and not seen and b) playing the supporting role in the film. Oh, and being the animated equivalent of Leonidas.

Thanks to the success of The Hurt Locker, I had a lot of anticipation for the newest Iraq War film, Green Zone. The pedigree of Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass didn't hurt either, not to mention a four-star review from Roger Ebert. What I got was a much more preachy action film than I'm used to, and I'm still not sure how I totally feel about it. Just go with me here.

Heading to the theatre, I felt I needed a Jason Bourne fix, the dude is simply a bad ass and after viewing the trailer for Green Zone, I had thought I finally found something to hold me over, but did I really see a military version of the Bourne films?

Mission Impossible is set for a fourth installment, with 47 year old Tom Cruise filling in as Ethan Hunt once more.  J.J. Abrams, who directed the third MI film, has provided the makers of the fourth a plot, but will not return to direct. 

Mission Impossible III grossed 397.8 million dollars worldwide, which implies that the franchise may still have legs. 

The filmmakers are aiming for a Memorial Day 2011 release.

A year ago Will Ferrell intimated that an Anchorman sequel was inevitable.  Since then, it has become a scheduling nightmare, as all of the major players, such as Paul Rudd and Steve Carell, have moved on to larger, more illustrious careers since 2004.   From an interview with Ferrell, however, it doesn't sound like it's completely out of the question.   

In a quick follow up to Mike's earlier post, the offer has been made to the actor who will be Cap in the Capt. America film and The Avengers. Who is it you ask?? Well my condolences to those who wanted Jim from The Office, sorry it's just not to be. The other report about Ryan Phillipe....Ehhhhhhh sorry. No the title role is offered to none other than Johnny Storm himself, Chris Evans (says The Hollywood Reporter). Yayyyyyyyyyyy. No? Ok I'm not too sure either. I don't hate the pick, lets just get that out there. Evans doesn't scream Cap to me. He barely survived as a member of The Fantastic Four. A movie, FYI, that I hated...both of them.

I'm eager to hear what you all think. I'm a huge Cap fan and the last thing I want is another Wolverine to put me to sleep. Fan boys...and girls sound off!!!

Finally, after all of these years, we get to see what Star Wars might have been like, if it starred George Clooney, took place on Earth, and was fueled by loads and loads of LSD. Of course, the LSD thing could be true about the original Star Wars. From a production standpoint, that is.

Award season is at a close, but that doesn't mean we're finished talking about it.  This week Jonathan and Mike discuss the Spirit, Razzy, and Oscar awards, and what is in store for some of the winners and nominees.   

Give us a listen and Jonathan will personally bring you a copy of All About Steve. 


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James Cameron is working to bring his film Titanic back to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the titular boat's fateful trip.  The film will not only be back in theaters, but it will also be 3D, with a giant capital "D", standing for "Disaster".  

"Blessed me?.....You want to know what God did to me? He threw an 18-wheeler at me! Bounced me into nowhere for five years!.....God's been a real sport to me."

Nobody writes crazy like Stephen King. Nobody acts crazy like Christopher Walken. And nobody can direct craziness like David Cronenberg (Scanners, A History Of Violence, Eastern Promises). When you bring those three together you get a great movie. That movie is The Dead Zone. It's one of the best cheesy sci fi/horror movies to come out of the 1980's. It has a 1970's vibe but with a very 1980's look to it(bad hair, low budget, lots of overacting). The movie is a showcase for two of the best over the top actors in Hollywood, Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen. And, is also one of Cronenberg's better movies. One of his most mainstream and accessible early movies.

Mel Gibson has had an idea for a viking film for a while now.  It's only now coming to fruition and the actor/director believes it will mark the end of his directing career. 

Gibson has stated that he's going for the same level of realism that he showed in Passion of The Christ and Apocalypto, where the primary languages were Aramaic and Mayan, repsectively.  The script is being reviewed by all involved, as we speak, in order to ensure the level of realism that Gibson seeks.

At this time Leonardo DiCaprio, seen recently in Shutter Island, is attached to the project.  All other details are heavily guarded by Viking Axe-Men.

At SXSW Ed Norton announced that there are no plans for a Hulk sequel in the near future.  The implication was that the focus, right now, for Marvel is to get as many of the individual characters that comprise the Avengers into action, and then look at sequels.  On deck are Captain America and Thor, with an Iron Man sequel hitting theaters this summer. 

Speaking of Captain America, the news hit last week that Hugo Weaving would don the visage of the Red Skull, but still no word on who would be the Cap himself.  This week's names being bandied about:  Ryan Phillipe and Channing Tatum.  The First Avenger: Captain America, is slated for a July 2011 release. 

Originally Posted By A. Monnie Aleahmad

So I finally bit the bullet and watched The Twilight Saga: New Moon. I have to say, it was a decent enough film. A bit over dramatic, but still better than the first. It’s a simple romance story of an obsessed teenage girl abandoned by her lover and trying to cope with an all too mundane real world. Once you have a taste of the extraordinary, how can you go back to the lame real world?

Originally Posted By Dave Bartik

The Fourth Kind is a tale of two movies eliciting two wildly different reactions – all of it completely relying on what you believe. Or who you believe. The underlying skepticism that determines one’s joy or misery does not come from a trust in the supernatural and their nocturnal dealings – the main plot of the film – but whether or not to trust Milla Jovovich.

The film that everyone, and I mean everyone, has been clamoring for has been announced.  On December 16th, 2011 Alvin and his vocally gifted brothers will return for a third installment, in 3D.  While the films haven't garnered any real critical acclaim, they have been fairly profitable, so a third film was inevitable.  At this time no details about story have been released.

When I think of Wonderland, I think of a place where the laws of physics cease to exist and strange creatures flit about. It's a place of, for lack of a better word, wonder. Realistically, wonder and a childlike sense of bemusement go hand in hand. Unfortunately, Tim Burton only does despair filled darkness, so what should be a place you look at quizzically, turns into a nightmarish landscape that you wince at. Now, you can't fault a director for bringing their vision to the screen, but there is a certain protocol when approaching a beloved classic, such as Alice in Wonderland. Much of the curiosity comes from the crazy scenery and odd creatures. Instead we get bleakness and viciousness.

Tim Burton's latest adventure, Alice In Wonderland, is nothing short of Mr. Burton's wild imagination in full bloom. The movie (which is available in 3D, Imax 3D, and classic viewing) is probably one of Mr. Burton's most visually mesmerizing films. The movie starts when Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is proposed to by a comically portrayed Lord in front of a party. She ends up returning to Wonderland (as an adult) while her possible fiance awaits her answer.

Brooklyn's Finest is the latest from director Antoine Fuqua. A gritty and violent crime drama set in one of the most notorious neighborhoods of New York City. The story follows three very different police officers as they deal with life as cops and life as people.

Now in theory, the premise of the film is sound, almost intriguing if not original. The film takes a unique prospective on the in sight from 3 Police Officers of the NYPD, whom are a part of the 65th District, which is hailed as the toughest area of NYC. The events of the film are on how 3 different officers handle their lives within and outside of their job.

Time for another Michael Moore documentary. Time for more public domain filmstrips, more depressing stories of the working class, and more beating of the dead horse known as Flint, Michigan. In the past this formula has worked, and worked well enough to garner Moore fame at the forefront of documentarians (at least of the commercial documentarians). However, with Capitalism: A Love Story, even hitting all of his major arcs, the foolproof equation doesn’t add up.

This week we fall down the rabbit hole, for what feels like an eternity (it's a long one this week), and discuss overdone Depp, competent CGI craftsmanship, and the wonder that is Wasikowska.

Give us a listen and we'll bake you a cake that is guaranteed to make you taller.

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The 25th annual Independent Spirit Awards weren't surprising in the least, but they give movies that don't have much of a chance in the Oscar race to get the accolades they deserve. Here are this year's winners:

The Deer Hunter was released in 1978 to much acclaim, winning 5 Oscars--Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Cimino), Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken), Best Film Editing, and Best Sound--and being nominated for 4 additional Academy Awards. It is consistently included on lists of the greatest movies ever. It is notable for being one of the first Vietnam War movies after the Vietnam War ended. It is also notable for being the last film in which John Cazale (aka, Fredo from The Godfather 1 and 2) acted; he was suffering from end-stage bone cancer during the filming, and died shortly after the movie wrapped.

This month we will be featuring the films of Christopher Walken.  Now, you're asking yourself, how do you pick what movies to watch when the actor has over a hundred acting credits?  We tried to pick films that had Walken in the forefront, as the leading man, being Walken. 

Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood Schwartz is looking to bring his castaways to the big screen soon.  Details are sketchy, but the film has been greenlit by Warner Brothers and Schwartz has his lead actor in mind: Michael Cera.  Another name that has been bandied about is Beyonce, who would likely play the role of Ginger if she were on board.  Nothing is set in stone at the moment, but it seems the project now has some forward momentum.   

When I was a junior in high school I worked for a video store. Little did I know I was in training to do the glorious job of criticizing films for Devil’s Advocates. We were allowed free rentals and use of the preview copy rack. These were the screener studios sent us so that we would buy copies and rent out their movie. One day I find a weird titles movie called Clerks. It was vulgar, funny, and in black and white. Two slacker clerks and their adventures when one wasn’t even supposed to be there that day. That began my love of Kevin Smith films. Naturally I wanted to see Cop Out, or as it was originally titled Couple of Dicks. That being said onto the movie.

One of my favorite movies when I was younger was Arthur starring Dudley Moore. Arthur was a boozing playboy, who takes absolutely nothing serious. He then meets a working class woman, (played by Liza Minelli) and falls in love. His family threatens to cut him off if he marries her, and in the end love conquers all.

In an unprecedented move the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has banned Nicolas Chartier, the producer of The Hurt Locker, from attending the ceremony on Sunday.  This is a lucky turn for the film itself as there was talk of it being removed from consideration.

This reprieve was no doubt brought on by the pleas sent out by Chartier in the form of an apology letter.  In it he sites "naivete" and "ignorance of the rules" as playing a part in his actions.    

Iowa is full of random craziness. Slipknot, meth heads, guys named Ezekiel all live in Iowa. In The Crazies, that insanity is taken to a new level.

Sort of. It all seems so familiar. Wait a minute. It's a slick looking horror movie in 2010. Yup. It's a remake. Of a George Romero movie that nobody saw.

The town of Ogden Marsh is a typical farming town. It's the kind of place where everyone knows each other and they actually listen to the local police.

To gear up to watch The Crazies, I watched George A. Romero's 1973 version a few days beforehand. While more modernized for our time, you can still see and feel homage to the 70's style that made Romero known for.

While Romero serves as executive producer, Breck Eisner (Michael Eisner's son) takes the helm as director on this one. Eisner does well setting up the premise in a fast pace, but tails off at times to give us more of a b-movie tone.

I really only have one question (which isn't true, because I have many. Too many to list here). Why does Roland Emmerich want the world to end so badly? Independence Day, aliens blow us up good. The Day After Tomorrow, global warming sends us into another ice age. And now, in 2012, the earth as we know it starts disappearing out from underneath us. If destruction and body count are what Emmerich is going for, he is truly succeeding. Now, let's say, for arguments sake, that Emmerich actually wants to make good films. Well, that's another story.

What a magical movie this is. Hardly a surprise, considering the pedigree of the people involved (the director of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation.), but it's a rare things when a literary masterpiece the likes of this is adapted in such a way that nothing is dumbed down or cut through corners. Going above and beyond its source material, Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are is as fantastically entertaining as it is moody and emotionally draining, the results of the director's unrelenting vision of a boy dealing with his inner demons in the company of some bigger ones.

In Green Lantern news, writer extraordinaire and new Chief Creative Officer for DC Comics Geoff Johns visited the set and confirmed in a Twitter post that Mark Strong will indeed be playing Sinestro.  Strong was last seen as the adversary of Sherlock Holmes in the recent incarnation.

If you've ever been inside of any kind of martial arts school or a lot of gyms, then this movie is for you. Something about that community of guys that tends to bring out the worst in some people. Maybe, it's the testosterone, male insecurities or lots of sweat. In real life that can be annoying to be around. It gets old fast. In The Foot Fist Way it's exactly that type of tough guy meat head mentality that makes this movie one of the best dark comedies I've ever seen.

I must confess, up until I watched Amarcord, I had never seen a Federico Fellini movie.I had no expectations at all going into Amarcord. That actually helped my experience because I was very pleasantly surprised with this movie. I always thought of Fellini movies as being like a lot of older foreign films. Boring and in black and white. Thankfully, that is definitely not the case with this movie. It's a living photograph of a place and time that a lot of people in this part of the world know nothing about.

Fighting the Greek gods is all the rage right now, so Universal is moving forward with it's War of The Gods.  The film, much like Clash of The Titans, focuses in on one of Zeus' children rebelling against daddy on a large scale.  Theseus, played by Henry Cavill, will enlist the help of Freida Pinto's Phaedra to battle the tyranny of the gods.  The film is slated to release in 2011. 

Director Kevin Smith and writer Mitch Albom have teamed up on the screenplay for Hit Somebody, which is adapted from a song by Warren Zevon.  The story centers around a player whose talents lie mainly in his ability to enforce and take out opposing players.  Smith, a huge hockey fan, paired with Albom, a sports journalist as well as a bestselling author, are treating this film like a labor of love.

The film is slated for a 2011 release.     

John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd made the blues playing duo famous, but it's the widow of Belushi that will make them infamous. Judy Belushi-Pisano is working on a script to adapt The Blues Brothers into a television series along with Anne Beatts, a writer from Saturday Night Live. The series would focus on the titular brothers working their way down the Mississippi towards New Orleans. The actors: Kieron Lafferty and Wayne Catania, the actors that currently play them on stage in a travelling Blues Brothers show.

Did we learn nothing from Blues Brother 2000?

Riding the coattails (albeit a few years later) of The Departed, Martin Scorsese once again unleashes questionable Boston accents and Leonardo DiCaprio on the unsuspecting public in Shutter Island. Shutter is a noir-styled tour through a sheltered mental asylum which harbors more than just unbalanced criminals. The head doctor (Kingsley) speaks in tangled euphemisms and the inmates warn visitors of its inescapability as DiCaprio (Teddy Daniels) searches for a missing patient. As soon as Daniels steps off the ferry onto the haunting island, dreamy visions of his deceased wife cloud his thoughts and caution him to not go prying too far into the past.

In Martin Scorsese's new flick, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule arrive at Shutter Island, Massachusetts to investigate the disappearance of a patient at Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Seems pretty straightforward, doesn't it? Then you don't know Scorsese. Adapted very faithfully from the novel by Boston crime aficionado Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone), Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams, is one part neo-noir, one part psychodrama, with an extra helping of suspense. It's also chock-full of fantastic actors working very hard to up the creepiness factor in any way they can. All in all, I was very happy with Shutter Island and while it contains a flaw or two, it sustains the tension throughout the picture and keeps you guessing until the very end.

Rattling through my head is William Shatner's voice saying "What's in the box?! Come on! What's in the box?!" Well, I'll tell you what's in store for you if you go see The Box..... bad acting and terrible execution of a storyline that showed tiny flares of life (mainly at the end) but overall fizzles.

Tarantino has long discussed the possiblity of a third volume of Kill Bill. Only recently have potential character reprisals been discussed. Daryl Hannah has expressed an interest in returning to the franchise, while Tarantino states it's not out of the realm of possibility. Having only blinded Hannah's character Elle Driver, there is the potential for her to still exist in the Kill Billiverse. As for a confirmation, it's yet to be seen.

Written by Jason Blackburn

Going into the movie theater with my kids I was very curious on how this movie was going to play out. I have a solid interest in Greek and Roman mythology for starters and then I also was aware that the filmed was helmed by Director Chris Columbus who was responsible for the first two Harry Potter films and also based on popular books.

Sometimes gimmick movies pay off. In the case of Valentine's Day, it paid off 52.1 million times opening day weekend. That's a number surely to drop off dramatically going into week two. I should not need to mention what gimmick here is being a movie called Valentine's Day that was released on valentine's day weekend. Oops just did. The obvious target audience here is the romantic types to take their significant others to watch this film. Being that be the case is why Spencer and I are reviewing this film since my wife and his girlfriend desired to see this.

In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, James Cameron, the creator behind Titanic, and the recent juggernaut Avatar, expressed his desire to see his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow win Best Director for her film The Hurt Locker, rather than himself. He did add one caveat, that for the sake of "Team Avatar" it would be nice to win Best Picture.

When you come across a film that has not one; but two Oscar award winners for best actor in the likes of Benicio Del Toro and Sir Anthony Hopkins how can one pass up the opportunity to watch it? One would expect powerful acting performances, an exchange of blistering dialogue and characters that would leave an impression that others would strive to achieve in a film of this nature. In 2010's remake of the 1941 classic The Wolfman staring these two great actors, we get none of that. What we do get is a movie that is weak in it's plotline, a little disappointing in the acting performances and relies too much on imagery to tell the story.

I went into The Wolfman with mixed expectations. On the one hand, I like werewolf stories, love Hugo Weaving and Anthony Hopkins, and am quite alright with looking at Emily Blunt; on the other, I have a strong dislike of Benicio del Toro, and director Joe Johnston is an iffy proposition in my book. That being said...I loved it.

In Federico Fellini's 1960 classic, the viewer gets a good sense for Fellini's position on particular groups of people, through the portrayal of his characters. The papparazzi are painted in a rather unflattering light, as are religious zealots and American actors. Meanwhile the protagonist, who sports a halo over his head, is an opportunistic philanderer named Marcello.

Many would say that the best stories are true stories. Therefore, some of the greatest films have been autobiographical in nature. 8 1/2 is one of these films, and is the brainchild of this month's Director Spotlight, Federico Fellini. It follows an Italian film director who must deal with his various romantic entanglements while trying to decide on his next picture. Fellini himself was having director's block before he developed this script; the title is because he had already directed six full-length films and three shorter ones (1/2 each), adding up to 7 1/2 before this one. It was clear from the get-go that this is a passion project unlike any of his others, and I dare anyone not to become thoroughly engrossed.

Next up for the Inglourious Basterds creator is a spaghetti western that actually takes place in that approximate time period. Since many Tarantino acolytes classify most of his films as "spaghetti westerns in alternate settings", this isn't that surprising. Details are sparse, but Tarantino did say he'd like the film to be set during slavery times.

Martin Scorsese, while in Berlin for the premiere of Shutter Island, intimated that he and Robert DeNiro are talking about revisiting their gangster roots. When asked Scorsese stated that the film will be more introspective than previous gangster films he had done. The focus will lie with what it means to be an aging mobster. This year marks the fifteen year anniversary since the two had worked together on Casino.

I happened to be tooling around on the net one day when I unexpectedly came across the trailer for Black Dynamite. I was immediately captivated when I realized that somebody actually was trying to take a stab at recreating a good old 1970’s blaxploitation film. I began drooling as the trailer continued to roll and by the end of it I was slack jawed – before I went into hysterical laughter. In that moment, I made up my mind that I was going to see this movie.

Chris Rock's Good Hair is a documentary that looks at what "good hair" means to African-Americans in our part of the world. It's an incredibly funny and thought provoking movie. The movie brings up a lot of discussion on what hair means to different people. Although it never judges anyone directly it does poke fun at a few people and companies that take hair and themselves too seriously. Always funny. Never judging.

Here at the Devil's Advocates, I've been busy polling my fellow film critics to determine the very best of 2009. Many of them responded (one reviewer who shall remain nameless refrained out of protest over The Blind Side's Oscar recognition), and I've compiled a list of the top choices for each of the eight major categories. By the end of the month, we will have voted again and decided on the winners of the first annual Lucifer Awards, or the Lucies for short. Here are the nominees:

The clamor for more Na'vi exploits has been heard and answered. James Cameron, the film's writer, director and producer, will be authoring a novelized prequel to the film. It's expected that the book will cover Jake Sully's background, as well as his brother's, and the human's early involvement on Pandora. If successful this could open the floodgates for more stories in various formats.

Vin Diesel will return as Riddick in another installment in the series. Diesel will not only get top billing, but will be sporting a producer's credit as well. Director David Twohy will be helming the film. All other details are being kept close to the vest at the moment.

Like most of you, the film A Single Man passed me by on its initial release and only crept onto my radar due to Colin Firth’s Oscar-nominated performance. I should have stuck with my gut.

In Episode one we explored the post-apocalyptic landscape of The Road, so it only seems appropriate that we revisit it in our Book of Eli discussion, here in Episode ten.

Listen as Mike and Veer discuss gas masks, the Bible, and the newest, lush vacation spot, Alcatraz.

Seeing the previews for Couples Retreat and seeing the big name actors like Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, and Jason Bateman, it looked like comedy gold from first glance. In Olympic terms, I give it a bronze medal, close to silver however. While flaws were evident, the film did amuse.

Originally Posted by Spencer Diedrick

When attempting to categorize comedy, there are roughly three types that come to mind. One is the normal kind of comedy, full of ironic jokes and punch lines. Another is slapstick, overly dramatic falls to the ground and what-not. The third is black comedy, where the audience doesn't laugh so much as wince at the misfortune that befalls those in the film. Joel and Ethan Coen have become the masters of such a realm (primarily for Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and most recently, Burn After Reading). Their newest, A Serious Man, follows in this same vein, as a character undergoes an increasingly bizarre amount of changes to his mundane life. And yet, one gets the feeling that a good portion of their own background has been added to the mix, hammered home by the use of relatively unknown actors. Their most personal and refined story yet, A Serious Man is another of the Coen brothers' triumphs in filmmaking, this time in utilizing their black comedy talents in their native Minnesota soil for an original tale of intimate suburban misfortune unlike any other.

Mel Gibson is back! After a 7 year absence from the big screen, apart from cameo appearances, the man who made being the scary cop cool has returned to us, with Edge of Darkness. Also starring Danny Huston and Ray Winstone, Edge of Darkness is a remake/update of a 1985 British television mini-series by the same name; the original series’ director, Martin Campbell, also directs this new version. (I was not aware this was a film remake until the end credits; possibly a marketing fail?)

Chugyeoja (The Chaser) is a 2008 Korean suspense/ thriller film, about a shady ex- detective; Joong- Ho Eom (Yee- Seok Kim) turns pimp, trying to run a failing escort service, he comes to the conclusion that the "working girls" he employed are skipping out without paying him his cut of their services. Rapidly losing "employees" and not getting paid, Joong starts to believe that it's more than coincidence. Coming across a re-occurring cell number linked to the women who have gone missing, he sends out one of the last of his working girls Mi-Jin Kim ( Yeong -Hie Seo). Mi- Jin enters what seems to be the home of a single man Young - Min Jee (Jung- Woo Ha) and turns out he's more than just guy looking for an escort Girl. And in this roller coaster of a non- stop thriller, Joong has to find his missing working girls and and unravel the mystery of the disappearances.

I watched this film with my father, knowing that this would be in his wheelhouse, being that he is a foreign film fanatic. Upon finishing the film my father said, "Of all the Fellini films I've seen, this one had the least amount of symbolism." That could be entirely true, being that this is my first Fellini, but the film is certainly not without symbolism.

The Academy Award Nominations have been announced. The Best Picture category, the category that pretty much determines what will be nominated in most other categories, has swollen from five films to ten films this year. The idea was that films that might be on the cusp, like 2008's The Dark Knight, might stand a chance at the coveted award.

Originally posted by Rene Alvarado

I know where I want to go when the apocalypse hits. I want to go to Zombieland.

Zombieland is different from most movies in the genre. It has a great sense of humor to it and is one of the best comedies and movies of the year. It is a fun romp through a hell on Earth from start to finish. Zombieland is the latest movie in the recent zombie revival to hit the big screen.

I am awaiting confirmation, but it seems to me that Hollywood wants the world to end. Okay that may be a little harsh, but for more than a decade now the number of apololiptic or end of the world films has increased. From natural phenomina to biblical prophecy, we have over the years watched this world end, the aftermath and even the salvation of mankind. Sony now introduces their vision of the End of Days in the 2010 release of Legion.

Delivering a biblical ass whooping to the non-believers of the horror genre, Legion capitalizes on intense action and seriously scary scenarios. Legion defies what you would think of a film based on biblical angels as it doesn’t really delve into the mythology at all. I don’t know much about the roles of the different angels and it honestly wasn’t important in this particular story. The whole story is focused on moving the action along. There is no unnecessary depth or pointless tangents. There is just enough character development to give you a sense that these characters could be anybody. The film pits a diverse cast of characters fatefully thrust into an impossible situation out in the middle of nowhere. Combining an interesting mix of religious mythos and Zombie horror Legion becomes unlike anything I’ve previously experience. It doesn’t re-invent the wheel, but is more or less a new tire on and old-timey wooden frame: interesting to say the least. Overall, Legion is an entertaining adventure and a good excuse to put angels to war and deliver awesome action from the heavens. For making the purity of the paradise here-after as demented as H-E-double-tooth-picks, I give this crusade 3.5 pitchforks.

The Merchant of Venice is a film based on the William Shakespeare comedy of the same name. I say comedy, but it is also pretty dramatic as well. Actually, the film adaptation plays much more like a drama with moments of comedic relief.

This week Veer and Mike reveal Leap Year to be an affront to the Women's Lib movement and discuss making good career decisions. 

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It's tough to be original in Hollywood these days. Sure, you can occasionally find a unique idea or two, but if it's too new, producers won't want to back it. Instead, they'd prefer tried and true ideas that have proven themselves capable of making money. Whip It, the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore and starring Ellen Page, does not cover any new ground in the area of coming-of-age tales, except maybe the concept of roller derby as a means of belonging. Instead, it embraces the classics and reminds its audience of the ability to imbue oneself with initiative and pride and to fulfill anything one desires.

Chris Rock's Good Hair is a documentary that looks at what "good hair" means to African-Americans in our part of the world. It's an incredibly funny and thought provoking movie. The movie brings up a lot of discussion on what hair means to different people. Although it never judges anyone directly it does poke fun at a few people and companies that take hair and themselves too seriously. Always funny. Never judging.

Well, the awards season is wrapping up, and the Golden Globes were first on the list. Ricky Gervais, the ceremony's first in 15 years, admitted that it is more of a party for the money-making freeloaders of Hollywood than an actual show. And in the end, the Hollwood Foreign Press Association showed their colors: they chose megahit Avatar as the best picture of the year and James Cameron as the best director. The same went for acting accolades: Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, and Robert Downey Jr. won for The Blind Side, Julie & Julia and Sherlock Holmes, respectively. The rest of the awards went to locks no matter how much of a crowd their film drew in: Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart, Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds, and Mo'Nique for Precious. The Screen Actors Guild Awards the following weekend repeated the winners' successes, much to my chagrin. Let's see if the Oscar nominations next week reflect any impact from the Globes and SAG Awards.

Every actor gets to a point where they want to do a vanity project simply for vanity's sake. Book of Eli is Denzel Washington's vanity project. Washington, the son of a Pentecostal preacher, plays the protagonist in the film who carries a shotgun and a sword, but his main weapon is his faith.

For those looking for a good ole fashioned Christian-themed blockbuster but thought The Chronicles of Narnia too childish or Fireproof too horrible, The Book of Eli may be a perfect fit. Never before has so much bloodshed and so many decapitations come together in the name of The Book (well, at least if you don’t count real life).

Al Pacino is an actors actor. To every part he brings that special something to make his role an instant classic. From a softly spoken line to the occasional hoo wah he gets the job done. Sometime it makes me wonder if he can make a bad movie. The Devil's Advocate had the makings of a potential disaster. Keanu Reeves crappy southern accent is enough to bring the ship down. However thanks to the genius of an Al Pacino that does not happen. Enough of my acting man crush lets talk about the movie.

In this episode Devil's Advocate Spencer Diedrick joins Mike to discuss the George Clooney/Jason Reitman project. We discuss the merits of webcam firings and the appeal of the Fantastic Silver Fox himself.

Listen to the episode and we promise to send George Clooney to fire you in person.

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Who doesn't like a little self-deprecating humor now and then? I did say "a little" right? The Invention of Lying was written by the film's star, Ricky Gervais, and there is a wide expanse of little pot shots at his weight, height, and other various features strewn all throughout the film. The interesting part is that these remarks are born out of the notion that nobody can tell a lie. My question is: sure people can't lie, but are they allowed to use a modicum of candor when speaking to or about people?

Young men will always in their innocence believe that they can make a difference; that they can make their own mark in this world. Youth in Revolt is a traditional coming of age film with a familiar twist; the nice guy trying not to finish last. Surprisingly funny at times, the film fails to maintain those moments for long periods of time.

Leap Year is typical post-Oscar craze fare. And the truly sad part is that Oscar sweetheart Amy Adams is in this uninspired selection. She will no doubt come out unscathed, because everyone is allowed at least one bomb. Right?