The orphan and former surfer Chris Emerson and his sister Nicole Emerson move to Luna Bay expecting to initiate a new life without housing expenses with their Aunt Jillian, but she charges rent to the siblings for a wrecked house, and Chris seeks a job working as board shaper to raise money for the unforeseeable expenses. While in town, he meets his acquaintance and also former surfer Shane Powers that invites Chris for a surf parting at night. Then the siblings unsuccessfully seek out the board shaper and vampire hunter Edgar Frog in his trailer trying to find a job and Chris leaves a message for him. They go to Shane’s party and Nicole stays with Shane and drinks booze offered by him. Later she becomes a half-vampire and Edgar advises that she drank vampire’s blood and can only be saved if the head-vampire is killed. Chris and Edgar search the hiding place of Shane and his tribe to save Nicole. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A day trader (Embry) and his fiancée (Robertson) get caught up in high stakes gambling.

Robert Luketic took a break from romantic comedies (the genre where he’s been most comfortable) to direct 21, an entertaining, while not completely comprehensible, dramatic movie adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book, Bringing Down the House. Loosely based on the true story of a group of MIT students who made a killing counting cards at Vegas casinos, 21 makes playing blackjack look not only exciting, but profitable. Despite a few gaping plot holes, the card action and engaging cast make this film fun for even those of us who’ve had only losing experiences at blackjack tables. (more…)

The same audience that gobbled up the R rated sex comedy, “Wedding Crashers,” should help make “The 40 Year Old Virgin” into a box office hit. And that’s fine by me. This is one of the best comedies of the decade and I applaud Universal for having the guts to let “The 40 Year Old Virgin” be an R rated movie without putting any restrictions on writer/director Judd Apatow or writer/actor Steve Carell that would have diluted the humor.

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In this update of Disney’s masterpiece film mixture of animation and music, new interpretations of great works of music are presented. It begins with an abstract battle of light and darkness set to the music of Beethoveen’s Fifth Symphony. Then we see the adventures of a Humpback Whale calf and his pod set to “The Pines of Rome.” Next is the humourous story of several lives in 1930’s New York City, scored with “Rhapsody in Blue.” Following is a musical telling of the fairy tale, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” set to Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Then a goofy Flamingo causes havoc in his flock with his yo-yo to the tune of the finale of “Carnival of the Animals.” This is followed by the classic sequence from the original film, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” starring Mickey Mouse and followed by “Pomp and Circumstance” starring Donald Duck as a harried assistant to Noah on his Ark. Finally, we see the awesome tale of the life, death and renewal of a forest in a sequence featuring the composition, “The Firebird.” Written by Kenneth Chisholm {kchishol@home.com}

Hysteria grips California in the wake of the bombing of Pearl harbour as an assorted group of defenders attempt to make the coast defensible against an imagined Japanese invasion in this big budget, big cast comedy. Members of a Japanese submarine crew scout out the madness. Written by Keith Loh {loh@sfu.ca}

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The defence and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case of murder soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors’ prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other. Based on the play, all of the action takes place on the stage of the jury room. Written by pjk {PETESID@VNET.IBM.COM}

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The sleazy book dealer Corso (Depp) is hired by the obscure obsessive Balkan to find the only other two copies of his rare book in existence. The book is called ‘The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows’, and Balkan wants to authenticate his copy of this 17th century occult work, said to have been written by the devil. And thus begins an almost ‘Angel heart’ish (remember that one with Rourke and De Niro) escapade, filled with physical and supernatural catalysts and obstacles Written by Filmtwob {webmaster@filmfreak.co.za}

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David Huxley is an American politician living in Hungary whom gets blackmailed by an unknown party after being videotaped having sex with his fiancée Tish and a local supermodel. Desperate to find the extortionists, David goes into the sordid Red Light district of Eastern Europe, only to end up kidnapped, leaving Tish to try to come up with a $5 million ransom on her own. Written by Anonymous

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Durell Washington and LeeJohn Jackson are best friends and bumbling petty criminals. When Durell learns that his ex-girlfriend plans to move to another state with their son Durell Jr.–unless they can get her $17,000 to pay off a debt– and so Durell and LeeJohn ultimately comes up with a desperate scheme to rob their neighborhood church. But when the duo fumbles their way through the break-in, they discover someone has beaten them to the punch. In order to get their hands on the money, Durell and LeeJohn are forced to spend the night in the presence of the Lord and his followers–and end up getting a lot more than they bargained for. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}