Tony Stark is the complete playboy who also happens to be an engineering genius. While in Afghanistan demonstrating a new missile he’s captured and wounded. His captors want him to assemble a missile for them but instead he creates an armored suit and a means to prevent his death from the shrapnel left in his chest by the attack. He uses the armored suit to escape. Back in the U.S. he announces his company will cease making weapons and he begins work on an updated armored suit only to find that Obadiah Stane, his second in command at Stark industries has been selling Stark weapons to the insurgents. He uses his new suit to return to Afghanistan to destroy the arms and then to stop Stane from misusing his research. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}

Loaded with terrific performances, beautifully rendered CGI creatures, and directed with finesse by Mark Waters (Mean Girls), The Spiderwick Chronicles is a hugely entertaining fantasy film for the whole family (except maybe those under 5 who may be scared silly by Nick Nolte and/or the hideous ogre he plays). While some fantasy films overwhelm the actors with their extensive use of computer generated imagery - the CGI work can overpower the flesh and blood actors, no matter how powerful or engaging the performances - The Spiderwick Chronicles manages to work the CGI creatures seamlessly into the film. The special effects, which are as good as any we’ve seen, never eclipse the film’s human actors. Director Waters and screenwriters Karey Kirkpatrick, David Berenbaum, and John Sayles have created a movie that’s very much grounded in reality, as strange as that sounds, even though half of its inhabitants are mythical creatures.

The Story

Fairies, goblins, griffins, and assorted beasties do exist according to the world of The Spiderwick Chronicles. Twins Jared and Simon along with sister Mallory (a whiz with a sword) find out things that go bump in the night can actually do harm when they move into the creaky old house once occupied by their great-great uncle Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) and his daughter (Joan Plowright).

Arthur Spiderwick spent his adult life investigating and documenting the strange creatures most people have no idea exist. All of his research and hard work is contained in a journal he called Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. Jared, the twin who’s always in some kind of trouble, finds the book hidden away in an old trunk while chasing down a noise in the wall. The noise turns out to be a house brownie named Thimbletack (voiced by Martin Short). The honey-loving creature tells Jared to stay away from the book, but his words fall on deaf ears. Although there’s a warning attached to the book, Jared breaks open the sealed volume and dives in, reading the text throughout the night.

This book is so valuable that Arthur was abducted by creatures and kept in a state of suspended animation for decades in order to keep him away from evil goblins, led by the horrible Mulgarath (Nick Nolte), who want to possess its knowledge. If Mulgarath gets his hands on the book, he’ll be able to destroy all the fairies and other extraordinary critters.

The book itself is safe as long as it remains within the protective circle which surrounds the Spiderwick estate. But after Jared’s curiosity gets the best of him, Mulgarath quickly learns Arthur isn’t the only one with complete knowledge of his secret world. Unwittingly, Jared puts his entire family at risk and it’s up to the three Grace kids to outsmart an age-old ogre and restore order to the fairy universe.

The Cast

Freddie Highmore plays both twins and while it must have been a schizophrenic experience figuring out who to be and where to look during filming, the fact it’s the same actor in both roles is, thankfully, in no way distracting. Jared and Simon are the main characters and one or both are on the screen for the majority of the film, and if Highmore pulling double duty was either confusing or too gimmicky, Spiderwick Chronicles would have been just another poor film adaptation of a best-selling book series. But Highmore’s got the talent to make it work and he does so while pulling off a decent American accent.

Highmore’s main support onscreen comes in the form of Sarah Bolger who really brings the put-upon older sister part to life (Bolger has mastered the irritated glare). Strathairn, Plowright, Nolte, and Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker as the mom are all strong in supporting roles. Add in voice work by Martin Short as the honey-chugging angry little Thimbletack and Seth Rogen as Hogsqueal the bird-eating beastie and it’s impossible to find a weak link in the entire group.

The Bottom Line

Family issues such as dealing with divorce and sibling rivalry are just as important to the Spiderwick Chronicles story as the battle between the Grace kids and Mulgarath and his legion of goblins. There are plenty of action sequences to keep the story speeding along, but time’s also taken to develop the characters into real children facing real problems. While real kids don’t have to worry about an ogre breaking into their home or learn how to ride a griffin in order to rescue a long-lost family member, there’s a lot to relate to with the three Grace kids.

Tasked to condense The Spiderwick Chronicles book series into one film, screenwriters Kirkpatrick, Berenbaum, and Sayles were able to remain true to the spirit of Tony DiTerlizzi’s and Holly Black’s kid-friendly books. The movie version of The Spiderwick Chronicles is an engaging, adventurous tale filled with all sorts of intriguing and entertaining characters. It’s one film the entire family can take in together and that’s something you can’t often say. Even those that are supposedly family-friendly productions often play out over the heads of the younger audience or bore adults to tears. Fortunately, The Spiderwick Chronicles does neither.

Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide

When a private satellite encounters an unidentified source of heat in Antarctica and it is found to be a pyramid buried deep underground , a search team comprising of top-of-the-line archaeologists and engineers is sent to Antarctica to find out more . Once there , the team comes across signs which indicate that the place is inhabited by an unknown alien species . It is not long before the aliens begin to hunt the team members . At the same time , a trio of coming-of-age Predators have arrived to collect the skulls of the aliens as trophies , and the humans are caught between a deadly battle between the two warring species . Written by Soumitra

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The town of Big Whisky is full of normal people trying to lead quiet lives. Cowboys try to make a living. Sheriff ‘Little Bill’ tries to build a house and keep a heavy-handed order. The town whores just try to get by.Then a couple of cowboys cut up a whore. Unsatisfied with Bill’s justice, the prostitutes put a bounty on the cowboys. The bounty attracts a young gun billing himself as ‘The Schofield Kid’, and aging killer William Munny. Munny reformed for his young wife, and has been raising crops and two children in peace. But his wife is gone. Farm life is hard. And Munny is no good at it. So he calls his old partner Ned, saddles his ornery nag, and rides off to kill one more time, blurring the lines between heroism and villainy, man and myth. Written by Charlie Ness

Remember six months ago when that first shaky cam trailer for an untitled JJ Abrams production hit theaters in front of Transformers and then, shortly after, the internet? The buzz was deafening. That first quick teaser trailer opened with a bunch of people at a party and then ended with the Statue of Liberty’s head in the middle of a New York street. That teaser generated an immense amount of interest and a lot of head-scratching. No title, no director, just the release date… What the heck was this thing JJ Abrams created and why the secrecy surrounding even the movie’s title?

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In the Maya civilization, a peaceful tribe is brutally attacked by warriors seeking slaves and human beings for sacrifice for their gods. Jaguar Paw hides his pregnant wife and his son in a deep hole nearby their tribe and is captured while fighting with his people. An eclipse spares his life from the sacrifice and later he has to fight to survive and save his beloved family. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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While Andy is away at summer camp Woody has been toynapped by Al McWiggin, a greedy collector and proprietor of “Al’s Toy Barn”! In this all-out rescue mission, Buzz and his friends Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex and Hamm springs into action to rescue Woody from winding up as a museum piece. They must find a way to save him before he gets sold in Japan forever and they’ll never see him again! Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

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If the world’s not tired of Tom Cruise, then “War of the Worlds” should do spectacular business at the box office. Cruise’s recent attention-grabbing engagement to Katie Holmes and his desire to talk about Scientology at every possible opportunity have turned a few people off. But will that stop the majority of moviegoers from checking out his latest collaboration with Steven Spielberg? Probably not. And that’s a darn good thing as “War of the Worlds” is immensely entertaining.

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The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba. Written by Keith Loh {loh@sfu.ca}