Corpse Bride **1/2
Cast (voices): Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Jane Horrocks, Michael Gough, Richard E. Grant
Directors: Tim Burton, Mike Johnson
Running Length: 1:18
MPAA Classification: PG

Victor Van Dort (depp) is arranged to be married to Victoria Everglott (Watson), a woman he has never met. Her family is upper class, but broke. His family have recently come into money through the fish business. This marriage will save Victoria's family and keep them solvent. Fortunately, when Victor and Victoria meet, it is love at first sight. Unfortunately, the wedding rehearsal goes poorly, with Victor forgetting his lines. While practicing his vows later in the forest, he accidentally places the ring on the skeletal finger of Emily (Carter), the Corpse Bride. She brings him to the underworld to meet her parents and friends. Meanwhile, in Victor's absence, Victoria's parents plot to marry her off to Barkis Bittern (Grant).

"Corpse Bride" looks amazing. Stop-motion animation comes seamlessly to life and makes the characters alive. Tim Burton's "regulars" voice all the characters and all do a good job. The main problem, for me, was that the movie felt too long, even at only 78 minutes. While the animation is neat to see at first, it loses something after a while and ceases to be a novelty. "Corpse Bride" is definately for fans of Tim Burton or this kind of animation. Others may be less satisfied with it.

Flightplan ***
Cast: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Kate Beahan, Erika Christensen, Marlene Lawston
Director: Robert Schwentke
Running Length: 1:28
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Kyle Pratt (Foster) is heading from Berlin to New York on a red eye flight with her daughter. She, along with her daughter Julia (Lawston), are taking her husband's dead body with her on a large plane that she helped to design. She falls asleep, and when she wakes up, over the Atlantic Ocean, she discovers her daughter is missing. A calm look around the plane quickly decends into mania as Julia is no where to be found. With the help of Carson (Saarsgaard), an air marshall, she begins a more thorough search only to find that no one remembers her with a little girl. In fact, Julia may just be in Kyle's imagination.

Jodie Foster carries this movie. It is hers all the way, and she is a good part of what makes it work. Unfortunately, what will make or break the movie for most viewers is their acceptance of the explanation behind Julia's disappearance. I find that it is a stretch, but still works. Peter Saarsgaard, Sean Bean, and Kate Beahan all give good supporting performances that are all key to the developments of the story. "Flightplan" is an extertaining suspense movie that is worth seeing.

Cry_Wolf ***
Cast: Julian Morris, Lindy Booth, Jared Padaleki, Jon Bon Jovi
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Running Length: 1:30
MPAA Classification: PG-13

At a prep school in the country, a group of kids play a game called Wolf. One of the group is chosen as the wolf and the rest must figure out who it is. After the nearby murder of a girl, Owen (Morris) suggests changing the game. They will send the school an e-mail crediting the murder to a serial killer called the Wolf. They say that he has killed before in other towns, and is now stalking them. It seems like a harmless joke that will scare some of the other kids, but soon members of their group begin to disappear under mysterious circumstances. Now, Owen and Dodger (Booth) try to figure out what is going on before they are the next victims.

"Cry_Wolf" exceeded my expectations. There is very little blood, as befitting a PG-13 movie, but that dies not detract from the film's eerieness. In fact, the film relies more on plot twists than blood to entertain. Wheather the key twist is believeable is for the viewer to decide, but I found that it worked for me and made this a enjoyable thriller.

Just Like Heaven **1/2
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Donal Logue, Dina Waters, Jon Heder
Director: Mark Waters
Running Length: 1:35
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Elizabeth Martinson (Witherspoon) puts in long days as a doctor. She does this all the time and by all accounts has no life outside of her job. One night, after being sent home after an expecially long shift, her car meets an oncoming truck head on.

David Abbott (Ruffalo) is a quiet, sad man who moves into Elizabeth's afartment that is being leased on a month-to-month basis. More often than not he has a beer in his hand, and is nursing some personal pain. One thing he did not bargain for with the apartment is the sudden appearance of Elizabeth's spirit. It shows up demanding to know why he is there.

Soon it becomes apparent to David that Elizabeth is a ghost. Elizabeth is, at first, reluctant to acknowledge it, but eventually comes around. Then the two set off to find out what happened to her and why David is the only one that can see her.

This movie is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality. Witherspoon and Ruffalo, veterans of the romantic comedy, do the best with what they are given, and come off as quite likeable. The story, on the other hand, does not always work. The biggest problem here is the happy ending that is unbelieveable. The nitpicker in me also has to complain about the "ghost rules". Elizabeth's character freely walks through or sits on furnature as the story demands. There is no logic to it, and while this is only a romantic comedy, at least it should stay true to its own rules.

That is not to say that "Just Like Heaven" is awful. There are plenty of scenes to make you chuckle, and there is a chemestry between the leads. But, at its best, this is just an average romantic comedy.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose **1/2
Cast: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Carpenter, Colm Feore, Mary Beth Hurt, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Director: Scott Derrickson
Running Length: 1:53
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Father Moore (Wilkinson) is going on trial for the murder of Emily Rose (Carpenter). He has been charged with "negligent homicide", and the Roman Catholic Church has hired Erin Bruner (Linney) to represent him. The Church would prefer a plea bargain, but Father Moore does not feel he has done anything wrong. He just wants Emily's story to be told, and he is willing to take the stand to make that happen.

"Emily Rose" is a courtroom drama first and foremost. The scenes of Emily and her exorcism are all told through flashback as the trial progresses. In addition to the flashbacks showing Emily's story, we also get a helping of Bruner's dealings with strange things that go bump in the night. As father Moore tells her, there forces about that do not want Emily's story to be told.

All that being said, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" could have been a better movie. The acting is top notch. Wilkinson, Linney, and Scott are all bringing their A game, but something in the screenplay just does not work. Maybe it is the disjointedness that comes with flashbacks. Maybe it is the supernatural events surrounding Linney's character. It most assuredly is the PG-13 rating that this movie has. Once again, what should be an R rated film has been tamed down to attract the younger audience. And so, we get an exorcism that just missed being truly scary.

This is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. It just falls short in enough areas that I have to recommend waiting for DVD. And if you need an exorcism fix right now, go rent "The Exorcist". It is far superior and still creepy today.

The Constant Gardner ***1/2
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Gerard McSorley, Hubert Koundé
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Running Length: 2:09
MPAA Classification: R

Justin Quale (Fiennes) is a mild-mannered British diplomat in the African country of Kenya. His wife Tessa (Weisz), is an activist that is pushing peoples buttons. When she turns up dead from an apparent accident, Justin suspects a cover-up. And there are many questions surrounding Tessa's life that he has. Was she having an affair with her sidekick Arnold Bluhm (Koundé)? What was her obsession with a new TB drug? And why are his superiors (Huston, Nighy) telling him to let it go? Justin is determined though, and soon finds himself involved in a mystery that will change his life.

"The Constant Gardener" is a slow moving but highly engaging film. The story is interesting and timely, and provides an insight in to modern day Africa and its politics. Both Fiennes and Weisz are more than capable in the lead roles, and make the Quales real human beings. The biggest drawback of the film is the hand-held camera shots that are very distracting from the story. They almost make you feel more detatched from the story. That is a shame in a movie that wants you to feel Justin's pain and confusion over the death of his wife. Fortunately, that is one small aspect of an otherwise excellent movie.

Four Brothers ***
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Josh Charles, Fionnula Flanagan
Director: John Singleton
Running Length: 1:49
MPAA Classification: R

Evelyn Mercer (Flanagan) was a foster mom all her life, taking in many kids. In all her life there were only four kids that she could not find homes for: Bobby (Wahlberg), Angel (Gibson), Jeremiah (Benjamin), and Jack (Hedlund). They were still bad seeds, but not nearly as bad as they would have been without Evelyn. They considered her to be their mother, and each other to be brothers.

Evelyn's murder at a convenience store in her neighborhood brings the four brothers back home. They attend the funeral and soon decide that since Evelyn did so much for them, perhaps they should do some informal investigating into her murder. It doesn't take long for them to sense there was more to it than Evelyn being caught in a simple robbery, and the brothers begin to rattle some cages that may be better left unrattled.

One of the strongest points of "Four Brothers" is the relationship between the brothers. The comraderie is very beliveable, and is what holds the film together. "Four Brothers" is very much a revenge film set in the mean streets of Detroit, and as such is successful. This movie engaged me more than I anticipated, and I was pleasantly surprised with it. For those seeking a good urban revenge movie, look no further than "Four Brothers".

The Skeleton Key ***
Cast: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard
Director: Iain Softley
Running Length: 1:44
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Caroline Ellis (Hudson) is in New Orleans for school. For money, she takes a job as a live-in caregiver for stroke victim Ben Devereaux (Hurt). Dealing with Ben is no problem, but dealing with his old fashioned wife is quite a task. Violet Devereaux (Rowlands) does not like having Caroline in her house, but realizes its necessity. The Devereaux house is far enough out of the way that the three of them are essentially cut off from the real world. The only visitor is Violet's lawyer, Luke (Sarsgaard). And when Caroline begins to see things in the attic, Luke is her confidant.

All is not what it seems, and Violet may be up to no good. Caroline begins to try to figure out what is going on, especially after she senses that Ben is asking for help. The clues are all there, and an astute viewer may figure out the mystery before the big reveal at the end.

Kate Hudson is branching out into the suspense genre, and does a credible job as the city girl who wants to get to the bottom of this back woods mystery. Rowlands brings an air of mystery to Violet, and is down right nasty when need be. "The Skeleton Key" is a solid suspense movie that does indeed hold up after all is explained. I recommend "The Skeleton Key" to all who like a good mystery.

Red Eye ***
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox
Director: Wes Craven
Running Length: 1:25
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Lisa Reisert (McAdams) is heading home to Miami to see her dad (Cox). Of course, her leaving for home puts the hotel she works at in a bind. She apparently is the one that kept everything moving smoothly. When her fill-in calls her looking for some help, Lisa is able to diffuse the crisis over the phone. Thank God for cell phones. Then, while waiting for her delayed flight, she meets Jackson Rippner (Murphy). They have a few drinks in the lounge, and then find themselves sitting next to each other on the plane.

They have hit it off and things are going well for Lisa. Then she finds out that Jackson is not what he seems, and his ulterior motives are going to make this an awful flight for her. It seems that he has a task for her to perform, or her dad will pay the price. Now, trapped on a plane with her dad's life in danger, Lisa must figure a way out of this crisis that could have far reaching consequences.

"Red Eye" is a fast moving, edge of your seat thriller. Director Wes Craven keeps ratcheting up the tension until the very end. Murphy is perfect as the crazed Rippner, especially when all out craziness is required. McAdams is believeable as the woman who is used to being in control of everything. "Red Eye" is a good, fast-paced and entertaining thriller.

The Brothers Grimm **
Cast: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Jonathan Pryce, Lena Headey, Peter Stormare, Monica Bellucci
Director: Terry Gilliam
Running Length: 1:58
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Will (Damon) and Jake (Ledger) are the fabled Brothers Grimm. Although, in this story, they are con-men, travelling the countryside exorcising demons from various villages. Of course, they are behind the "hauntings", and when they make things right again, they collect the money and move on.

Napoleon's minion in Germany, Delatombe (Pryce), discovers what they are doing, and decides to have some fun with them. He sends them to a village that appears to be haunted for real to solve their problems. It seems that the 500-year old mirror queen (Bellucci) is casting a spell upon the area in an attempt to regain some youthful looks. Now, the Brothers Grimm, with the aid of a local huntswoman (Headey) must save the day.

"The Brothers Grimm" could have been so much better, but a talented director and cast are not enough to lift this movie off the ground. The effects and look of the film are good, but the film itself is not very engaging, and when you don't care about the heros, you have a serious problem. Add to the fact that this movie has been sitting around for a few years, and is part of a movie dump by Miramax before new management takes over, and you have a probable box office flop on your hands. This movie will find an audience with some, but probably not many. Wait for the DVD.

The 40 Year Old Virgin ****
Cast: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann, Jane Lynch
Director: Judd Apatow
Running Length: 1:55
MPAA Classification: R

Andy Sitzer (Carell) is a geeky inventory stocker at an electronics store. He is shy and avoids women. He is a closet virgin, but when he describes a woman's breasts as feeling like "bags of sand", his co-workers David (Rudd), Jay (Malco), and Cal (Rogen) figure out Andy's problem. They take it upon themselves to hokk Andy up.

There are two candidates: Trish (Keener) and Beth (Banks). Andy likes Trish, but is nervous every time he is around her. Beth is a freaky gal who is definately not a virgin. And then there are all the girls that Andy comes in contact with as he speed dates, hits the bars, and does other things set up by his friends.

"Virgin" is a hilarious movie. It is easily the funniest movie of the year. It is also unabashedly R-rated, which is a relief in these days of taming a movie to get a PG-13 rating. Carell is perfect as Andy, bringing dorkiness and likeability to him. We feel his pain even as we are laughing at his misadventures. Keener is great as Andy's love interest. The two have chemestry, and you want to see them together. Rudd, Malco, and Rogan provide countless laughs as three buddies who just want to get their friend laid. Judd Apatow keeps things moving quickly as director and co-writer. He knows what is funny without being cruel, having created the excellent television shows "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared".

The bottom line is that this movie will make you laugh out loud. It is funny, sweet, and an unexpected treasure. I cannot recommend this movie highly enough.