A madcap portrayal of William Lightbody’s stay at the health farm run by cereal king Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. William’s wife, Eleanor, has persuaded him to go to Kellogg to have his system cleaned of impurities. Kellogg is very unconventional, and almost barbaric in his treatments. Written by Rob Hartill

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Finally, the hype surrounding one of this summer’s big releases is justified. Transformers delivers the thrills we’ve been waiting for all year long and love him or hate him, director Michael Bay pulls off something films with bigger budgets and more stars (Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Shrek 3, Spider-Man 3) couldn’t accomplish. Transformers is the over-the-top slam-bam action dramedy that almost single-handedly redeems the 2007 summer blockbuster season.

Butch and Sundance are the two leaders of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Butch is all ideas, Sundance is all action and skill. The west is becoming civilized and when Butch and Sundance rob a train once too often, a special posse begins trailing them no matter where they run. Over rock, through towns, across rivers, the group is always just behind them. When they finally escape through sheer luck, Butch has another idea, “Let’s go to Bolivia”. Based on the exploits of the historical characters. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}

The year is 1899, and Christian, a young English writer, has come to Paris to follow the Bohemian revolution taking hold of the city’s drug and prostitute infested underworld. And nowhere is the thrill of the underworld more alive than at the Moulin Rouge, a night club where the rich and poor men alike come to be entertained by the dancers, but things take a wicked turn for Christian as he starts a deadly love affair with the star courtesan of the club, Satine. But her affections are also coveted by the club’s patron: the Duke. A dangerous love triangle ensues as Satine and Christian attempt to fight all odds to stay together but a force that not even love can conquer is taking its toll on Satine… Written by O.G.

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My Rant:

For my local media screening of “The Village,” an edict was issued from on high (meaning the studio, not our local PR firm) stating online and radio journalists were not allowed to see any of the advanced screenings of M. Night Shyamalan’s newest film until Thursday, July 29th (just half a dozen hours before it actually invaded theaters). Other media people were allowed to see it – TV, print, and so on – days earlier, but not online or radio critics. So what I’m wondering is, what makes a talking head on TV less likely to give away something from the plot than someone who works online or on the radio? What keeps local newspaper reporters from spoiling the story when an online or radio person can’t be trusted to keep the twists a secret? The answer: nothing. Nothing stops those smiling faces on TV from inadvertently blurting out a plot twist. They’ve done it before and you can bet they’ll do it again. Nothing stops a newspaper reporter from putting a line or two they shouldn’t into a review. I’ve read things that made me cringe where journalists have forgotten a plot point wasn’t known by the audience before the last 15 minutes of the movie. It happens all the time.

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I’m sure there are comic book fans out there who will cringe while reading this review. For that, I apologize now and suggest that you read no further. If you’ve read my reviews of “The Hulk” or “X2” then you’re probably aware of the fact that I don’t read comic books. Nothing personal, they’ve just never drawn my interest. In fact, my knowledge of comic books is so limited that I didn’t know – prior to reading all the production notes – that “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” was even based on a comic. So if you’re looking for a review that compares the two media, I’m going to gently suggest looking elsewhere. Go now before it’s too late. Gentle enough?

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