October 2nd
Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer (20th Century Fox)
Believe it or not, Ripley, the sequel to 2005’s Fantastic Four is actually better than it’s predecessor. Now, do I recommend it? Hell, no. My complaint about the Fantastic Four franchise is that it all just seems so second rate. The set design is as generic and cheesy as the old Batman television series. The dialogue is awful. The actors (Ioan Gruffud, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis) are C-list at best. And, because Spiderman has set the special-effects bar so high for superhero films, these don’t even manage second rate. These effects look third rate. It’s amusing and ironic that, in this movie, the Silver Surfer is an extra-terrestrial life- sucking force that can kill a planet in eight days. He sucked the life out of me in an hour and a half. GRADE: C

October 9th
Reign Over Me (Sony Pictures)
Adam Sandler takes a rare dramatic turn as Charlie Fineman, a New Yorker whose wife and kids were killed in a 9/11 plane crash. Don Cheadle is Charlie’s former college buddy who tries to help him work through his grief. While this movie was right on the verge of a recommendation, something about it gnawed at me like a chigger in the armpit. It’s as if writer/director Mike Binder (The Upside of Anger, The Mind Of A Married Man) tried to use the events of 9/11 as a surprise ending to the film. Very early in the movie, Cheadle’s character Alan says “Charlie’s family was killed in a plane crash.” Another character later says that “Charlie’s whole life changed on September 12th, 2001.” Binder is intentionally coy and it doesn’t seem genuine. I visit New York frequently. I know New Yorkers. Not one of them would say Charlie’s family was killed in a plane crash. They would say they were killed on 9/11. None would ever say Charlie’s life changed on September 12th, 2001. Let’s be honest here, folks. Does anyone in the United States remember September 12th? Doubt it. GRADE: C+

October 9th
Surf’s Up (Sony Pictures)
In case you have failed to notice, penguins are the new gay! Penguin characters are popping up in just about every movie (the brilliant March Of The Penguins, the epic, yet horrendous Happy Feet)! Penguins have bombarded multi-media. I’m fully anticipating a new BRAVO series called Penguin Eye for the Straight Guy. I have long complained that the animated film genre has become predictable and just downright lame. So, kudos to Surf’s Up directors Ash Brannon and Chris Buck and screenwriters Lisa Addario and Christian Darren for bringing us something fresh! Surf’s Up plays like a documentary about surfing penguins. The dialogue is natural and just rolls off the tongue (I guess penguins have tongues!). The “camera” work is a brilliant blend of stationary and hand-helds (even though the entire movie is drawn). My only complaint is that the subject matter is penguins. I know they’re cute. But I’m tired of them. In fact, I’m ready for some hungry sea lions to take a few of them out. I appreciate the new approach to the animation. I would have appreciated, on a greater level, newer subject matter. GRADE: B-

October 16th
The Reaping (Warner Brothers)
Hilary Swank stars as Katherine Winter, a former missionary who specializes in debunking religious phenomena. She’s called down to Haven, Louisiana because the rivers are bloody, it’s raining bullfrogs and the townsfolk have boils on their faces. Yep, is appears that Haven is suffering from the Biblical plagues! But why? Well, apparently, the people of Haven are sacrificing children in the name of the Devil and God is waging war against them. Look. Movies about Biblical prophecy NEVER work. Did you see Demi Moore knocked up in The Seventh Sign? What the hell was that? It’s my theory that the warnings of Biblical plagues are so inherently scary that it’s hard for filmmakers to compete with our ideas of just how frightening they’re going to be. In this movie, the plagues befall Haven so quickly, we don’t have time to process them or fear them. We just get the Reader’s Digest version of the ten plagues. Ooh! I’m trembling! GRADE: C

October 16th
Transformers (Paramount)
Michael Bay has made a career out of directing loud, explosive and over-the-top action films. I had no doubts going in that Transformers was going to be just as obnoxious and as silly as Armageddon, Bad Boys, and Pearl Harbor. And it was! It’s task enough that we have to buy into these races of aliens known as the Autobots and the Decepticons. As Nell Carter would say (may she rest in peace), “Gimme A Break!” But to give the robots voices and make them say things like, “I can smell you, Boy?” It’s ridiculous and, at times, so slapstick the robots don’t even seem scary and they’re supposed to. After all, they’ve come to destroy Earth not work for Comedy Central. The special effects are solid and the way in which that first chopper morphs into a Decepticon is cool and unexpected. And young Shia LaBeouf gives the movie a heart and pulse. It’s just not enough to transform the movie from bad to good. GRADE: C

October 23rd
Mr. Brooks (MGM)
I would try to summarize the plot of this movie but I would need this entire issue of News 4U. There is truly not enough paper product in the world on which to spell out the major plot points of this film then try to make sense of them. Suffice it to say that Kevin Costner stars as Mr. Brooks, a well-known Portland, Oregon philanthropist who moonlights as a serial killer. Demi Moore (gag!), Dane Cook (help me, Lord Jesus) and Danielle Panabaker (her career is over before it started) costar in this movie that begins with this statement etched on the screen, “The hunger has returned to Mr. Brooks’ brain. It never really left.” Well, after watching the film I noticed a hunger in my brain. And it never really left. I want to shoot these people. GRADE: D