Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother… Written by J.Zelman

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A doctor and his wife go to Paris for a medical conference. While showering, his wife disappears. His lack of language, and the odd way she disappeared makes it nearly impossible for him to find any official help in his search as he enters the punk/drug culture to find out what has happened to her. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}

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Josey Wales makes his way west after the Civil War, determined to live a useful and helpful life. He joins up with a group of settlers who need the protection that a man as tough and experienced as he is can provide. Unfortunately, the past has a way of catching up with you, and Josey is a wanted man. Written by Murray Chapman {muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au}

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I’ve heard people refer to “The Notebook” as cheesy, as a ‘chick flick’ (a label very few of my colleagues can stand because of its negative connotation), as predictable and sappy. So “The Notebook” doesn’t exactly take a brain surgeon to guess how the story is going to play out. And it does unapologetically play on your emotions, practically begging you to squeeze out a few tears. But here’s why I enjoyed “The Notebook”: it’s a movie you can relax and let flow over you. It’s also one of the few films out there that tells a complete story. There’s a well-defined beginning, middle, and end.

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Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.

A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television. After a run in with a limousine, he ends up a guest of a woman (Eve) and her husband Ben, an influential but sickly businessman. Now called Chauncey Gardner, Chance becomes friend and confidante to Ben, and an unlikely political insider. Written by Scott Renshaw {as.idc@forsythe.stanford.edu}

Unfortunately the San Diego press wasn’t offered the opportunity to view the film in the IMAX format, but I can say the 3-D digital version screened for the media in my area (and on which I’m basing my review) was beyond gorgeous. 3-D’s never been one of my personal favorite formats, but Robert Zemeckis’ spectacular achievements have turned me into a real believer in the beauty of performance capture and 3-D.

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Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school, so he’s very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences, including that she’s rich, he’s poor, and she’s a city girl, he’s a country boy, the two become fast friends. Together, they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants and rule as king and queen. This friendship helps Jess cope with the tragedy that makes him realize what Leslie taught him. Written by Popdivaprincess3000

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oseph Gordon-Levitt gives the best performance of his career and Jeff Daniels is equally outstanding in writer/director Scott Frank’s The Lookout, an immensely entertaining and mesmerizing story about a guy with brain damage who becomes involved in a bank robbery. Frank’s rookie directorial effort (he wrote the screenplays for Out of Sight, Get Shorty, and The Interpreter) is an amazingly genuine and absorbing film that pulls you in from the get-go and doesn’t let up until the ending credits scroll by.

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