Bryan Singer’s love of the 1978 Richard Donner Superman film is evident from the very beginning of Superman Returns, a movie which signals the rebirth of yet another comic book superhero film franchise. From the opening scroll of credits to the set design and the film’s borrowed John Williams score, Superman Returns captures the tone of Donner’s work while re-introducing a beloved – and missed – character to movie audiences.

(more…)

Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo get down and dirty in the whodunit, “In the Cut.” Showing off more than their acting skills, Ryan and Ruffalo attempt to generate a lot of heat for director Jane Campion in this big screen adaptation of Susanna Moore’s novel.

After a promising start, “In the Cut” quickly deteriorates into a jumbled mess of naked limbs and muddled plot. Bland rather than bold and predictable rather than suspenseful, “In the Cut” lacks the emotional thrust needed to carry off what could have been a super-charged erotic thriller.

(more…)

When an accident obliterates the British royal family and most of its branches, a desperate geneological search discovers the next king: Ralph, a sleazy American lounge singer. Can Ralph measure up to the job, even with the help of loyal aristocrat Willingham? Written by Reid Gagle

Retired FBI agent Will Graham (William L. Petersen) returns to action to hunt down a serial killer by using his ability to get inside the psychopath’s mind. However, it was this ability that drove him into retirement in the first place. The process of tracking and capturing the infamous Hannibal Lecter (Brian Cox) took a tremendous psychic toll on Graham, causing him to spent time in a mental hospital. With another madman on the loose, Graham has no choice but to return to duty, though he knows that it might cost him his family and his sanity.

To get the old mind-set back, Graham visits Hannibal Lecter in his high-security jail cell. However, the manipulative Lecter plays both sides and warns the new killer that Graham is on his trail, telling him to destroy Graham’s family to protect himself. In order to save his own family, Graham must risk everything to once again enter into the mind of the criminally insane.

With MANHUNTER, Mann raises the bar for serial killer films, imbuing his killer with an almost sympathetic quality while keeping him extremely menacing and clearly dangerous. Based on the Thomas Harris novel RED DRAGON, which serves as the prequel to THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, MANHUNTER is a masterpiece of gripping storytelling and psychological horror.

Roy Munson was raised to be the best bowler in the world (trained early on by his father). But a fellow bowler, Ernie McCracken and a misunderstanding with some rough punks, leaves poor Roy with the loss of his bowling hand! Not to let this get him down, he gets a prosthetic hand and becomes a traveling sales man. But it’s really all down hill for him from that night on until … One day he meets Ishmael who’s a Quaker that sneaks away from the farm to bowl (his fellow Quakers would disown him if they knew)! Roy convinces Ishmael to let him be his trainer and he’ll make him the best bowler the world has ever seen. Reluctantly Ismael agrees to go on the road and shortly afterward actually finds that life outside the farm is quite fun. Soon their paths cross that of Ernie McCracken who is still top ranking bowler. While Roy’s career and life have landed in the toilet bowl, Ernie is still drawing huge crowds and all the babes! They both square off for the ultimate bowling championship … to see which one truly IS the champion. Written by Jane Byron Dean {McGinty@aol.com}

(more…)

Two hundred years after Mary Shelley’s novel the brilliant but mad Doctor (Thomas Kretschmann) has sustained his creature and himself over two centuries through genetic experimentation. In present-day America Detective O’Connor (Parker Posey) is investigating a series of horrific murders which leads her to the doctor and his creature. What she uncovers reveals the strange evolution the doctor and his creation undergo over the course of two centuries and the divergent paths creator and monster take in pursuing good or evil. Written by dumpster_cakes

(more…)

The workaholic head of the compliance section of a New York bank flies to Monaco to investigate unusual deposits from an offshore bank and meets a down-on-his-luck international film star who has become embroiled in criminal activities. Written by Anonymous

When fiftysomething Suzette loses her job as a bartender she decides to make a road trip to visit her old friend Vinnie who she hasn’t seen since their days as groupies back in the day. On the way she meets Harry, a nervous writer who says he is going home to confront his father, then shows her his gun. Once they reach their destination Suzette finds that Vinnie is now Lavinia, a conservative housewife who is reluctant to reexperience the flower power of her youth, and Harry finds confrontation with himself rather than with his father. Written by Peter Brandt Nielsen

(more…)

Ex-detective Dave Robicheaux has made a new life for himself and his wife Annie running a bait shop in the outskirts of New Orleans. When they save a little girl, the sole survivor of a plane crash, their lives become forever changed. They take the orphan child into their home and prepare to raise her. However, a visit from DEA agent Dautrieve brings out the detective instincts in Robicheaux and he begins to ask about the rest of the passengers. This brings trouble to Robicheaux and he turns to drug lord Bubba Rocque, a childhood friend. But the friendship becomes estranged when an assault on the Robicheaux home leaves one victim…Annie. Written by P. Wong {pwong@nt.net}

(more…)

Oz is a Montréal dentist, paying off debts so he can divorce his wife: the dislike is mutual. When she learns their new neighbor is hit man Jimmy the Tulip, with a price on his head, she sends Oz to Chicago to earn a finder’s fee telling Mob boss Yanni where to find Jimmy. To get his wife off his back, Oz goes, his assistant Jill urging him to get laid while there. One of Yanni’s men awaits Oz at the hotel; Oz’s now in too deep to avoid telling Yanni what he knows. Meanwhile, Oz’s wife rats on Oz to Jimmy, hoping Jimmy will kill Oz and she can cash in on life insurance. Oz meets Jimmy’s wife (Yanni’s captive), flips for her, and the double-crosses mount. Even Jill isn’t whom she seems. Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}

(more…)