MOVIE NEWS AND REVIEWS

The latest Hollywood Movies, Film Festivals, Cleveland, OH Theater Showtimes & More

New seasons of hit shows "Dexter" and "House," hard-hitting cop drama "Street Kings" and a surprising documentary about the world's first TV network are among this week's new DVD releases.

"Dexter," season two

A vigilante serial killer starts to doubt himself as this chilling cable show continues. Persistent police and FBI investigations start to close in on the "Bay Harbor Butcher," played by Michael C. Hall ("Six Feet Under"). Attending Narcotics Anonymous sessions doesn't exactly help him maintain his cover. But the crafty killer isn't done yet, sending a 32-page manifesto to the local newspaper to keep the police occupied. Hall is up for an Emmy, and the show won a Saturn award for best syndicated/cable TV series from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films USA. Four discs, 12 episodes, 636 minutes. DVD extras: a Hall interview; two second-season episodes from the show "Brotherhood," two second-season episodes from the show "The Tudors," and two first-season episodes from the show "Californication." From Showtime Entertainment. In stores Tuesday, Aug. 19. Season three begins Sept. 28.

Continue reading "'Dexter' gets a killer season two DVD debut, plus reviews of a new season of `House' and the movies `Street Kings' and `Camp Rock': DVD Extra" »

Two films about the democratic process arrive Tuesday, Aug. 19, on DVD. "Recount" looks at the seesaw 36-day struggle in Florida for the White House after the 2000 election. The HBO docudrama, an exciting political thriller, stars Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson, Laura Dern and Denis Leary. "Please Vote For Me" is a fascinating 2007 documentary about a political experiment in a Chinese school. Nine-year-olds resort to extreme tactics to win an election for the coveted position of class monitor. Also new on DVD are "Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day," a madcap romantic comedy starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams; and the first season of "Terminator: The Sarah Connors Chronicles," a high powered spinoff of the "Terminator" action flicks.

Continue reading "DVDs: Political thriller 'Recount' takes you back to the 2000 election" »

Rainn Wilson rocks.

As Dwight on "The Office." As the wisecracking convenience store worker in "Juno." And as Robert "Fish" Fishman, the bitter hair-metal-drummer-turned-rockin'-role-model in the new comedy "The Rocker," which opens nationwide Wednesday.

SPECIAL AUDIO: RAINN ON FAME & CLEVELAND

Continue reading "Rainn Wilson pounds and preens for laughs as 'The Rocker'" »

Henry Poole, the title character in "Henry Poole is Here," wants to be left alone to guzzle vodka and eat doughnuts in his gloomy Los Angeles home. Then a neighbor spies Jesus on his garage wall.

"Henry Poole is Here" is a quiet movie that confidently moves from humorous to serious, caustic to sweet while exploring faith-based themes. Luke Wilson -- the dark-haired Wilson brother from "Legally Blonde" -- gives an intense performance as Henry, a man so damaged that even the grocery store checkout girl feels sorry for him.

Continue reading "Luke Wilson gives intense performance in 'Henry Poole is Here'" »

Stay until the very end of "Fly Me to the Moon," or you'll miss Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin informing us that in real life, no houseflies were aboard his flight to the moon. OK, good to know, Buzz.

Aldrin's little speech is the sole surprising moment in the 3-D animated movie "Fly Me to the Moon." Its simplistic and predictable storyline makes it perfect for very young moviegoers, but anyone over the age of 10 will be bored silly.

Cutesy maggots don't help the cause.

The movie lets us peek into a sort of housefly city near the Kennedy Space Center. Young Nat (voice of Trevor Gagnon), his head full of his grandfather's tales of adventure, talks best friends IQ (Philip Daniel Bolden) and Scooter (David Gore) into stowing aboard a moon-bound spaceship with him.

Continue reading "Animated 3-D flick 'Fly Me to the Moon' looks good, lacks story" »

The biggest movie of the fall is no more. In a shocking move, Warner Bros. is pushing the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" from this November to next summer (July 17, 2009 to be precise).

The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop.

At the heart of much of Woody Allen's work is the desperate desire to decipher the indecipherable: relationships.

Humans are such irrational, sex-driven creatures, that when lust leads to love and fills us with all of its spirited joys, soaring highs and devastating lows, we inevitably crash like bumper cars into unforgiving walls. Often the same walls. Along the way, at least, we occasionally glimpse a greater sense of ourselves. But why, and what does it all mean?

Allen has been asking those questions, usually punctuated by laughs, since the late '60s. In "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," the focus of his pen and lens is not the confounding confluence of two or three hearts, but four.

Continue reading "'Vicky Cristina Barcelona,' Woody Allen's Spanish love-quadrangle" »

Wine lovers will get a kick out of "Bottle Shock." Although it's not the most artfully constructed film, it has a good tale to tell about the California vs. France wine wars.

Based on a true story, "Bottle Shock" revisits 1976, the year a Brit living in Paris saved American vineyards from perennial kiddy-table status at the great international feast.

Continue reading "'Bottle Shock': the great wine taste-off" »

The "Star Wars" universe is reduced to an empty parade of creatures, spaceships and war machines in the disappointing animated adventure "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." It's George Lucas' latest milking of his galactic golden bovine. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" fills in the blanks between the second and third prequel movies that dealt with Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker's transformation into evil Darth Vader.

In "Clone Wars," Anakin Skywalker (voice of Northeast Ohio native Matt Lanter) is still a Jedi serving alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor). The Jedis and the clone army struggle to maintain order against Count Dooku's forces.

Continue reading "'Star Wars: Clone Wars' -- The Force is weak with this one" »

In "Up the Yangtze," When 16-year-old Yu Shui leaves her poor farming family to work on a river cruise line, she is tutored in tourist techniques.

"Be careful when talking to Americans. Too modest or even a little bit humble, they might think you're a bit fake," the cruise veterans warn her. Yu Shui, who is assigned a more Westernized name, Cindy, is cautioned not to discuss "any relevant, serious political issues," and not to call anyone "old, pale or fat."

Continue reading "'Yangtze': Big river, big impact" »