Whether or not you are a fan of the 1986 “Manhunter” (also based on Thomas Harris’ “Red Dragon“), you’ve got to admit that seeing Sir Anthony Hopkins crawl into Hannibal Lecter’s skin one more time makes for gripping entertainment.

“Manhunter” was a different film - different cast, different script, different. Period. End of statement. For the benefit of this review, let’s allow “Red Dragon” to pass or fail on its own merits. There are countless books that have been made into multiple films by different filmmakers and hundreds of movies that are simply remakes of earlier versions. What’s the point of debating whether or not Brett Ratner’s “Red Dragon” needed to be made in the first place? It’s done already; let’s get past it.

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3 backpackers are in Amsterdam where they get locked out of their youth hostel. They are invited into a man’s house where he tells them of a hostel somewhere in eastern Europe where the women are all incredibly hot and have a taste for American men. When they get there, everything is too good to be true - the hostel is “to die for” Written by CROESKE

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“Serenity” is a wild, white-knuckle roller coaster ride set in the future where the heroes are deeply conflicted, people do whatever they have to – even if it’s illegal - just to survive, and if you want to cuss at someone, you do it in a foreign language so there’s no need to cover the ears of small children.

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When detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is called to a crime scene of a victim of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), he finds a lead to the place where he is hidden. Once there, he realizes that Jigsaw trapped his son Daniel Matthews (Erik Knudsen) with three women and four men in a shelter, and they are inhaling a lethal nerve gas. If they do not use an antidote within two hours, they will die. Eric follows with increasing desperation the death of each member of the group in monitors, while trying to convince Jigsaw to release his son. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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In Ruggsville, Texas, the police under the command of Sheriff John Quincy Wydell attack the house of the sadistic serial killers Firefly family (a.k.a. The Devil’s Reject) and they arrest mother Firefly, but Otis B. Driftwood and Baby Firefly escape from the siege. Tiny is wandering nearby the house and also escapes. Otis and Baby call their patriarch, the mad clown Captain Spaulding and they schedule to reunite at an isolated motel in the desert. When Otis and Baby arrive, they kidnap two families of singers, using sadism and violence against the harmless persons. Meanwhile, Sheriff Wydell promises to capture and kill the runaways, seeking revenge for the death of his brother, the Deputy George Wydell. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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1950’s Los Angeles is the seedy backdrop for this intricate noir-ish tale of police corruption and Hollywood sleaze. Three very different cops are all after the truth, each in their own style: Ed Exley, the golden boy of the police force, willing to do almost anything to get ahead, except sell out; Bud White, ready to break the rules to seek justice, but barely able to keep his raging violence under control; and Jack Vincennes, always looking for celebrity and a quick buck until his conscience drives him to join Exley and White down the one-way path to find the truth behind the dark world of L.A. crime. Written by Greg Bole {bole@life.bio.sunysb.edu}

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Dead Man is the story of a young man’s journey, both physically and spiritually, into very unfamiliar terrain. William Blake travels to the extreme western frontiers of America sometime in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Lost and badly wounded, he encounters a very odd, outcast Native American, named “Nobody,” who believes Blake is actually the dead English poet of the same name. The story, with Nobody’s help, leads William Blake through situations that are in turn comical and violent. Contrary to his nature, circumstances transform Blake into a hunted outlaw, a killer, and a man whose physical existence is slowly slipping away. Thrown into a world that is cruel and chaotic, his eyes are opened to the fragility that defines the realm of the living. It is as though he passes through the surface of a mirror, and emerges into a previously-unknown world that exists on the other side. Written by Anonymous

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Roper, a hostage negotiator catches a murderous bank robber after a blown heist. The bank robber escapes and immediately goes after the man who put him behind bars. The ending is played out with Roper and his partner McCall attempting to rescue Roper’s kidnapped girlfriend. A major element in the plot is the relationship between Roper and his girlfriend. Written by P.Wong {pwong@nt.net}

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I’d been eagerly anticipating “Sin City” for months and you know how that normally winds up. When your expectations are so high, chances are very slim the final product will live up to its promise. But “Sin City” blew me away, easily surpassing anything I’d hoped for from the film. Wildly provocative and featuring one of the sexiest casts collected together in a feature film, Robert Rodriguez and “Sin City” creator/co-director Frank Miller have made a movie that feels retro yet is so fresh and new, it’s tough to actually take in everything in just one sitting.

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Any less of a charismatic leading actor and this film would have been dead within the first 15 minutes. However Hollywood’s current bad boy, Colin Farrell, uses that animal magnetism of his to full advantage as a man pinned down in a phone booth by an unseen sniper. Watching a man trapped in a phone booth for 90 minutes could get old extremely fast, but Farrell sinks his teeth into this character, compelling the audience to join him in that crowded space for the hour and a half it takes for the film to unfold.

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