First Look: "Captain America: The First Avenger"

Leave it up to Entertainment Weekly to score the exclusive first stills of the eagerly-awaited Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Pine in the title role. Co-starring Samuel L. Jackson reprising his role as Nick Fury and a slew of other actors including Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci and Hugo Weaving stepping into the role of The Red Skull, this big screen adaptation of the cult classic comic series follows military reject Steve Rogers when he turns into the heroic Captain America after volunteering for a top secret research project. Captain America blazes into theaters July 22, 2011.

First Look: "I Love You Phillip Morris"

We first heard about I Love You Phillip Morris over a year ago when folks were drooling over Jim Carrey's performance, even saying it might earn him an Oscar nomination. From the looks of this trailer, it looks like he's a sure bet for a razzie award. Carrey plays Steven Russell, a man happily married to his wife Debbie (played by Leslie Mann) until he has a revelation later in life that he is gay. So he begins gallivanting through town fulfilling all his fantasies, some of which are against the law. He winds up in jail and falls for his fellow prison mate Phillip Morris (played by Ewan McGregor). Steven makes it his mission to free Phillip Morris at whatever cost it takes. I Love You Phillip Morris is in theaters December 3.

DVD Review: "Paranormal Activity"

"I feel it. I feel it breathing on me."

With the sequel poised to stampede box office competition this opening weekend, the original Paranormal Activity continues to haunt audiences as one of the creepiest homemade movies of all time.

When Katie and Micah (real-life couple Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat) moved into a nice suburban home they didn't realize that a ghostly presence would be bunking with them. They weren't quite convinced that it was in fact a ghost but they knew that something that was going bump in the night was not invited. So over the course of several weeks in the fall of 2006, Micah decides to film what happened when the lights went out when they sleep. What they found would scare the bejesus out of them.

Possession, mysterious footprints, and objects moving without being touched are just a few of the things they found on tape. Other things we had to witness were unnecessary blown-out arguments between the couple and almost an hour of footage where nothing scary really happened. The real show happens during the last twenty minutes or so. So try to stay awake for that if you haven't seen this yet. Though it's slow in the beginning, the ending will leave you terrified and foaming at the mouth for a sequel.

Reel Talk rating: B

DVD Review: "Please Give"

"You're a good person."

Usually when we have to witness a loved one slowly deteriorate on their last precious moments on earth, we try to celebrate his/her life to the fullest. But in writer/director Nicole Holofcener's indie dramedy Please Give, grandma Andra's impending death brings a riff between a neighboring married couple who's anticipating how they'll redecorate her apartment when she goes, and a further divide between her two opposite granddaughters--one of whom cannot stand being around her.

Oscar nominee Catherine Keener (Capote) plays Kate, an antique store owner and proud mom and wife to Alex (played by Oliver Platt). Always generous, Kate can't walk by a homeless man without giving him the last $20 in her pocket. But she has an attack of the conscious when she realizes that she may be profiting from the death of others when she re-sells items of the deceased at her store. This realization for Kate forces her to rethink her purpose in life.

Though Kate's tried to play nice with her neighbor Andra and her two granddaughters Rebecca and Mary [played by Rebecca Hall and Amanda Peet (in a shockingly better than decent performance)], she's usually met with aloofness and/or disdain. But an unusual dinner party gathering brings each character closer together, and some not for the best. Relationships are formed and circumstances force them to see themselves, and each other, for who they really are.

Funny at times, Please Give is a surprisingly heartwarming coming-of-age film for six adults all passing through different stages of heir life. Peet gives a shockingly better than decent performance as the selfish granddaughter silently suffering from her own demons Mary and Rebecca Hall shines as the granddaughter who couldn't stop giving for her beloved grandmother until life forced her to see a brighter picture. Together with Catherine Keener's wonderful performance, Hall brings heart to an otherwise dry film.

Reel Talk rating: A-

First Look: "The Rite"

Looks like Sir Anthony Hopkins is recoiling back to the genre that made him a bonafide star: unequivocal horror. After last year's Wolfman remake, the veteran actor returns in The Rite portraying an American priest who goes to Italy to study at an exorcism school. What he learns is the true face of evil.

The trailer seems cliched, but can work as a wintry Saturday night popcorn flick. What do you think? The Rite hits theaters January 28, 2011.

DVD Review: "Kick-Ass"

"Tool up, honey bunny. It's time to get bad guys."

If you're one of the many nerdy high school boys plagued with unpopularity and pimples, you'11 adore the underdog story of Kick-Ass. But if you're one of the rest of us, you probably won't.

Kick-Ass follows the story of high school student Dave Lizewski (played by Aaron Johnson) who's unsatisfied with his distinct power to be invisible to girls everywhere. After noticing a void of real-life superheroes in the world, he creates his own superhero he names Kick-Ass that will not only put the spotlight on him, but will provide him with the confidence he needs to face off against his bullies at school and elsewhere. Little does he know that his brilliant scheme will have other underdog superheroes (in their own right, as well) coming out of the woodwork to take him down. Those come in the form of Hit-Girl (played by Chloe Moretz), her sidekick dad Big Daddy (played by, wait for it, Nicholas Cage), and Red Mist (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who all suffer from the same disease as Dave--unsatisfied-itis brought on by a severe allergy to complacency. Dave sinks deep into the world of superherodom and manages to escape the sorrows of his real identity by becoming not only a superhero to others but also to himself in the midst of battling a his very own nemesis and a crew of gangsters.

Though the plot is silly and overblown in some spots, Kick-Ass is fun for the comic book junkies and high schoolers out there. But Cage disappoints (yet again) in a role that is foolish and beneath him.

Reel Talk rating: C-

DVD Review: "Get Him To The Greek"

"Your brain is full of lollipops, rainbows, and cheese."

If you were hired to chaperone your favorite rock star from his London pad to his comeback concert in Los Angeles, you'd be stoked, right? Well, so was Aaron Green (played by Jonah Hill) in this year's hugely successful comedy Get Him To The Greek. That is, until he finds out that his idol Aldous Snow (played by the British comedian Russell Brand) is a totally uncontrollable lunatic douchebag.

When Aaron, an intern at Pinnacle Records comes up with a plan to stage a comeback concert featuring his favorite band Infant Sorrow in order to revive the sinking record label, his boss Sergio (played by Sean "Diddy" Combs) jumps on the idea and orders him to get the unruly frontman from London to the Greek Theater in Los Angeles in three days. Little did Aaron know that those were going to be the three wildest nights of his life. He leaves his girlfriend, a med student on the eve of her big break, Daphne (played by Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss) in LA while he and Aldous embark on a three-day raunchy escapade trolloping bars in every zip code on their route, waking up in hotel rooms with women they couldn't remember or buckled over toilets suffering nasty hangovers or drug trips--all more than the usual 9-5 Aaron is used to.

The only amusing thing is Aaron's reaction to the whole thing as he's forced to endure it all, but the movie goes from crazy to asinine when Brand's character Aldous goes through a melodramatic mid-career breakdown. It's unfunny and awkward at the same time. Combs is over-the-top and ridiculous, as is Brand. Although with Brand's character, you kind of expect it. With Combs, you don't know whether that's his usual arrogant outlandish behavior, or how he thinks the character really is. Either way, it--and the movie--is annoying.

Ree Talking rating: D

DVD Review: "A Nightmare on Elm Street"

"You can't hurt me. This is my world. And you can't ever leave."

Though Academy Award nominee Jackie Earle Haley (Shutter Island, Little Children) seemed like the perfect actor to play the gruesome psychopath Freddy Krueger, even he couldn't revive an empty script for the 2010 remake of the classic A Nightmare on Elm Street.

But is that what horror flicks--especially remakes--are about these days? They seem to be more about the thrills and chills than anything else. True, you may jump a few times on cue with the haunting music, but there's nothing really scary in this movie. The plot becomes more loopy and drawn out the second half of the movie where we actually find out the reason for Freddy's madness. But after all the buildup swirling around the method to his craziness, audiences--especially die hard Krueger fans--may be disappointed by it. It's cliched, boring, and anticlimactic. Once you find out everything, you might like him a lot better when you just thought of his as crazy for no reason.

Check it out if you're looking for a spooky Halloween flick, but skip it otherwise.

Reel Talk rating: D+

Monster Movie Madness

As we begin to scrounge up snicker bars and jolly ranchers for the trick or treaters this year, moviegoers have already begun to show a disinterest in Halloween as the box office numbers for both the American remake of the Swedish thriller Let Me In and Renée Zellweger's horror flick Case 39 clock in at a dismal $5 million in their opening weekends. And it's only the beginning of the month.

The trailer for Wes Craven's My Soul To Take, in theaters October 8, has hit the airwaves and billboards with little excitement from cinema lovers. This would mark one of the few movies from the frightmaster that audiences didn't readily embrace. Craven has always been the go-to director to bring in Halloween the right way at the box office. Will he continue his streak?

Also in theaters October 8 is a movie that's gotten little to no buzz I Spit On Your Grave, the terrifying revenge flick about a woman (played by Sarah Butler) who's tortured and left for dead and later retaliates in a gruesome, horrifying way. Small name actors and, importantly, no publicity may mark the death of this film in the same horrible way the villains in the movie do. Check out the trailer below:

What will probably tip the box office is the sequel to last year's sleeper hit Paranormal Activity 2 out October 22, the frightening ode to The Blair Witch Project school of moviemaking. But will audiences head back for round two?

And of course Jigsaw is back for more fun and games in a franchise that has become synonymous with Halloween for the past several years, Saw 3D. With their beloved villain supposedly dead, will moviegoers care about the victims he left behind, even if it is in 3D? Only the box office will tell.

What movie will you see?

"The Social Network"

"I don't think you're an a$%hole; you're just trying very hard to be."

What happens when the most unpopular kid on campus rises from obscurity to become one of the most famous names across campuses worldwide? Campus life stops being about GPAs and test scores and becomes a battlefield of the brains, drawing bloodthirsty competitors and unlikely friends and foes. At least, it does in The Social Network.

The Social Network follows the humble beginnings of the social networking phenomenon Facebook while also seamlessly juxtaposing the story of its co-founder Mark Zuckerberg's ironic success as a socially awkward computer geek to becoming one of the most recognizable names in the world. But, as in many success stories, and as the tag line for the movie reads, "You don't make 500 million friends without making some enemies." Zuckerberg's story was no exception. While jumpstarting Facebook with his only friend and college roommate Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg became so enthralled by his new computer project and the potential of its limitless success that he ended up further alienating himself from his peers and becoming an unreachable yet vulnerable target for wannabe business sharks and those--including his friends--who saw him as a threat. All the while, Facebook was connecting millions of people across the globe.

Jesse Eisenberg remarkably steps into the shoes of Zuckerberg, portraying him as the socially indifferent yet ingenious social plate of his time while also creating the perfect irony brilliantly written by Aaron Sorkin. Andrew Garfield, who plays Saverin, is truly engaging as a business-minded tragic hero. Audiences will love to hate pop star Justin Timberlake, who plays the smooth-talking Napster playboy turned Facebook co-founder Sean Parker. With hyper witty dialogue and clever performances, The Social Network, just like its subject, is the pop culture phenomenon of the new generation. Think of it as the geek's answer to Clueless. But instead of phrases like "as if," it's "Facebook me."

Reel Talk rating: A