Total Number of Movies in Joel’s Collection: 1,338 Page Number: 17 / 27
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Pacific Rim

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Burn Gorman, Rinko Kikuchi, Max Martini, Robert Maillet, Robert Kazinsky, Larry Joe Campbell, Brad William Henke, Clifton Collins, Jr., Diego Klattenhoff, Santiago Segura
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, TV Movie
Studio: Warner Bros.
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Release: Jul 2013
Summary: When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity's resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes - a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) - who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind's last hope against the mounting apocalypse.
 

Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times

Director: Andrew Rossi
Starring: David Carr, Brian Stelter, Bruce Headlam, Richard Perez-Pena
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Participant Media
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.8 (2,196 votes)
Release: Sep 2011
Summary: With the Internet surpassing print as our main news source, and newspapers going bankrupt, ... Page One chronicles the media industry’s transformation and assesses the high stakes for democracy ... The film deftly makes a beeline for the eye of the storm or, depending on how you look at it, the inner sanctum of the media, gaining unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom for a year. At the media desk, a dialectical play-within-a-play transpires as writers like salty David Carr track print journalism’s metamorphosis even as their own paper struggles to stay vital and solvent, publishing material from WikiLeaks and encouraging writers to connect more directly with their audience. Meanwhile, rigorous journalism—including vibrant cross-cubicle debate and collaboration, tenacious jockeying for on-record quotes, and skillful page-one pitching—is alive and well.
 

Pain And Gain

Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Rebel Wilson, Dwayne Johnson, Ken Jeong, Ed Harris, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Rob Corddry, Vivi Pineda, Emily Rutherfurd, Christopher Jestin Langstaff, Gustavo Quiroz Jr., Corinne Ferrer, Zack Moore, Kory Getman, Bar Paly, Michael Rispoli, Keili Lefkovitz, Peter Stormare
Genre: Action
Studio: Paramount Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Apr 2013
Summary: Based on the true story of Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) a Miami bodybuilder who wants to live the American dream. He would like to have the money that other people have. So he enlists the help of fellow bodybuilder Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) and ex-convict, Christian bodybuilder Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson). Their kidnapping and extortion scheme goes terribly wrong since they have muscles for brains and they're left to haphazardly try to hold onto the elusive American dream.
 

Pan's Labyrinth

Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdú, Sergi López, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil, Álex Angulo, Roger Casamajor, Manolo Solo, César Vea, Ivan Massagué, Gonzalo Uriarte, Eusebio Lázaro, Francisco Vidal, Juanjo Cucalón, Lina Mira, Mario Zorrilla, Sebastián Haro, Mila Espiga, Pepa Pedroche, Lalá Gatóo, Ana Sáez, Chani Martín, Milo Taboada, Fernando Albizu, Pedro G. Marzo, José Luis Torrijo, Íñigo Garcés, Fernando Tielve, Federico Luppi, Chicho Campillo, Pablo Adán
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Science Fiction, War, Foreign
Studio: Warner Bros.
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 8.3 (284,033 votes)
Release: Oct 2006
Summary: Living with her tyrannical stepfather in a new home with her pregnant mother, 10-year-old Ofelia feels alone until she explores a decaying labyrinth guarded by a mysterious faun, who claims to know her destiny. If she wishes to return to her real father, Ofelia must complete three terrifying tasks .
 

Pandorum

Director: Christian Alvart
Starring: Ben Foster, Dennis Quaid, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue, Cung Le, Eddie Rouse, Norman Reedus, André Hennicke, Friederike Kempter, Niels-Bruno Schmidt, Asia Luna Mohmand, Delphine Chuillot, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Julian Rappe, Domenico D'Ambrosio, Jon Foster, Jeff Burrell, Neelesha BaVora, Yangzom Brauen, Marco Albrecht, Dawid Szatarski, Nico Marquardt, Don Jeanes, David P. Johnson
Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller, Science Fiction
Studio: Constantin Film Produktion
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6
Release: Sep 2009
Summary: Two crew members are stranded on a spacecraft and quickly - and horrifically - realize they are not alone. Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It's pitch black, they are disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly of the ship. They can't remember anything: Who are they? What is their mission? With Lt. Payton staying behind to guide him via radio transmitter, Cpl. Bower ventures deep into the ship and begins to uncover a terrifying reality. Slowly the spacecraft's shocking, deadly secrets are revealed...and the astronauts find their own survival is more important than they could ever have imagined.
 

Panic Room

Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Jared Leto
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Studio: Columbia Pictures Corporation
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.8 (132,168 votes)
Release: Mar 2002
Summary: An effective exercise in "confined cinema," "Panic Room" is a finely crafted thriller that ultimately transcends the thinness of its premise. David Koepp's screenplay is basically "Wait Until Dark" on steroids, so director David Fincher ("Seven", "The Game") compensates with elaborate CGI-assisted camera moves, jazzing up his visuals while a relocated New York divorcée (Jodie Foster) and her daughter (Kristen Stewart) fight for their lives against a trio of tenacious burglars (Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam) in their new Manhattan townhouse. They're safe in a customized, impenetrable "panic room," but the burglars want what's in the room's safe, so mother and daughter (and Koepp and Fincher) must find clever ways to turn the tables and persevere. Suspense and intelligence are admirably maintained, with Foster (who replaced the then-injured Nicole Kidman) riffing on her "Silence of the Lambs" resourcefulness. It's not as viscerally satisfying as Fincher's previous thrillers, but "Panic Room" definitely holds your attention. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

ParaNorman

Director: Sam Fell, Chris Butler
Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Studio: Universal Studios
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 7.0 (38,363 votes)
Release: Nov 2012
Summary: In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock is a boy who can speak to the dead, but no one besides his eccentric new friend, Neil, believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's estranged eccentric uncle tells him of an important annual ritual he must take up to protect the town from a curse cast by a witch it condemned centuries ago. Eventually, Norman decides to cooperate, but things don't go according to plan. Now, a magic storm of the witch threatens Blithe Hollow as the accursed dead rise. Together with unexpected new companions, Norman struggles to save his town, only to discover the horrific truth of the curse. With that insight, Norman must resolve the crisis for good as only he can.
 

Parker

Director: Taylor Hackford
Starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Clifton Collins Jr.
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Studio: Incentive Filmed
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6
Release: Jan 2013
Summary: Parker is a thief who has an unusual code. He doesn't steal from the poor and hurt innocent people. He is asked to join 4 other guys one of whom is related to a known mobster. They pull off the job flawlessly and Parker wants to part ways with them. But because he refused to join them for another job they try to kill him. They dispose of his body but someone finds him and he is still alive and takes him to the hospital. After recovering he sets out to get back at the ones who tried to kill him, another one of his codes. He learns where they are and poses as a wealthy Texan looking to buy a house. So he hires a Realtor, Leslie Rogers to show him around. He is actually trying to find out where they're holed up. And when he finds it, he sets out on his plan to get them. But when they learn he is alive, they contact the mobster to take care of him. So he sends a killer to take care of him.
 

Parkland

Director: Peter Landesman
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Colin Hanks, Zac Efron, Billy Bob Thornton, Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Tom Welling, Ron Livingston, Jackie Earle Haley, James Badge Dale, Mark Duplass, Austin Nichols, Rory Cochrane, Gil Bellows, Matt Barr, Kat Steffens
Genre: Drama, History
Studio: American Film Company, The
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.1 (3,014 votes)
Release: Oct 2013
Summary: Recounting the chaotic events that occurred in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, Parkland weaves together the perspectives of a handful of ordinary individuals suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances: the young doctors and nurses at Parkland Hospital; Dallas' chief of the Secret Service; an unwitting cameraman who captured what became the most watched and examined film in history; the FBI agents who nearly had the gunman within their grasp; the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald, left to deal with his shattered family; and JFK's security team, witnesses to both the president's death and Vice President Lyndon Johnson's rise to power over a nation whose innocence was forever altered.
 

The Past

Director: Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Babak Karimi, Ali Mosaffa, Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin, Sabrina Ouazani, Valeria Cavalli, Aleksandra Klebanska, Jean-Michel Simonet, Pierre Guerder, Anne-Marion de Cayeux
Genre: Drama
Studio: Memento Films Production
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 8.1 (11,926 votes)
Release: Dec 2013
Summary: Coming back to accomplish the divorce procedure, Ahmad an Iranian man, arrives in Paris after four years to meet his ex-wife and her daughters from her previous marriage. He notices his ex is in a relationship with an Arab named Samir who also has a son and a wife in a coma. The relationship of the older daughter and her mother is in deterioration because the daughter thinks her mother is the cause of Samir's wife comatose state. The affairs get more complicated when the older daughter discloses something heinous she has done.
 

Paul

Director: Greg Mottola
Starring: Simon Pegg, Seth Rogan
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Studio: Universal Studios
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.0 (119,260 votes)
Release: Aug 2011
Summary: Two sci-fi geeks take a pilgrimage to America's UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever. For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. When he discovers he's been taken prisoner, the space-traveling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town - a rented RV containing Earthlings Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost). Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship. And as two nerds struggle to help, one little green man might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes.
 

Payback

Director: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, David Paymer, Bill Duke
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Paramount
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.0 (80,421 votes)
Release: Jul 1999
Summary: There were reasons writer-director Brian Helgeland's cut of "Payback" was dismissed by distributors Paramount and Warner Bros., then heavily re-shot and re-tooled by Mel Gibson's production company, Icon Entertainment. Those reasons are explained in detail by Gibson, Helgeland, and others in the special features of "Payback: The Director's Cut (Special Collector's Edition)". Among them: Helgeland's version was too dark. America wasn't ready in 1999 to see Gibson play an unapologetic, 1970s-style antihero who might not get exactly what he wants. Audiences didn't have the patience to wait for answers to their story questions. A dog dies. (A big no-no.) All of these comments make sound, practical sense. But here's the bottom line: Helgeland's cut, perhaps even a bit more disciplined and taut (according to "Payback"’s editor, Kevin Stitt) than it was in 1999, is a serious movie with an organic tone and logic that makes the film look the way it was meant to look: as a neo-noir film for adults. The theatrical release of "Payback", by contrast, was and is silly and vulgar, self-sabotaging, pointlessly vicious, and perversely jaunty. It is very much like--deliberately like--the "Lethal Weapon" series. The Director’s Cut makes clear that’s not at all what Helgeland had in mind. Kudos to Gibson and Icon for giving Helgeland a chance to restore his film and get it out on this DVD. But a look at both versions (this disc does not include the theatrical cut) back-to-back can certainly make one's head spin. Icon’s revisions in the original release show little faith in a contemporary audience’s ability to discern much about a story or mood or character from spare but telling details. That film relies on crass swatches of voiceover narration, cute inserts, added scenes, and hipster tunes on the soundtrack. All of that was designed to tell an audience how to feel rather than encourage a cinematic experience encountered with an open heart and mind. Worst of all is a specious third act nakedly built around an obligatory Gibson-gets-tortured sequence, leading the film to a lazy, comforting conclusion. The Director’s Cut eschews all of that. Gibson’s character, Porter (based on the central character in the novel "The Hunter," written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark), is a man returning from the brink of death with nothing but his identity and the memory of something (an almost-nominal amount of money) taken from him. His iron determination, his capacity for brutality and inducing fear, and his survival instinct make him anything but warm and cuddly. It's his few ties to the past--especially an interrupted relationship with a call girl (Maria Bello)--that humanize him. One doesn't have to like Porter; one just accepts him and follows his journey in an honest, unmitigated fashion. That’s exactly what Helgeland does, and his cleaner, leaner, smarter cut is instantly rewarding for its uncompromising, undistracted toughness. Special features include a documentary about the film’s history, and a wonderful interview with Westlake. "--Tom Keogh"
 

Peanuts Deluxe Collection

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Michael Ealy, Barry Pepper
Genre: Animation
Studio: Warner Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: G
Rating: 7.5 (153,099 votes)
Release: May 2009
Summary: Culled from the 2008 Remastered Deluxe Editions of the Peanuts library, each of the individual discs comes with bonus material, as follows:

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - includes It's Magic, Charlie Brown and the featurette "We Need a Blockbuster, Charlie Brown!"

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - includes The Mayflower Voyagers and the featurette "Popcorn & Jellybeans: Making a Thanksgiving Classic."

A Charlie Brown Christmas - includes It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown and the featurette "A Christmas Miracle: The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown - includes two additional Peanuts features -- It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown and You're In Love, Charlie Brown; and the new featurette "Unlucky in Love: An Unrequited Love Story"

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown - includes It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown; and the featurette "In Full Bloom: Peanuts at Easter"

You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown - includes He's a Bully, Charlie Brown and the featurette "Polls Don't Lie: The Making of You're Not Elected Charlie Brown."
 

Pearl Jam Twenty

Director: Cameron Crowe
Starring: Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament
Genre: Documentary, Music
Studio: Tremolo Productions
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 7.9 (4,312 votes)
Release: Oct 2011
Summary: Pearl Jam Twenty (also known as PJ20 for short) is 2011 American rockumentary directed by Cameron Crowe about the band Pearl Jam. Preliminary footage was being shot as of June 2010. Crowe completed filming in April 2011, after using 12,000 hours of footage of the band for the documentary. The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and also had an accompanying book and soundtrack. The documentary charts a skewed history of the band, from the demise of Mother Love Bone, their battle against Ticketmaster and the tragedy of the Roskilde Festival in 2000.
 

The People vs. George Lucas

Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
Starring: Mark A. Altman, John Barger, Ahmed Best
Genre: Documentary, Comedy
Studio: Exhibit A Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 6.8 (1,884 votes)
Release: Mar 2012
Summary: The People vs. George Lucas is a 2010 documentary/comedy film which uses a courtroom debate approach to explore the issues of filmmaking and fanaticism around two of the industry's most famous franchises, Star Wars, and its creator, George Lucas. The movie combines filmmaker and celebrity interviews with fan films which were submitted via the film's site.
 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Director: Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd, Nina Dobrev, Mae Whitman, Melanie Lynskey, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh, Zane Holtz, Johnny Simmons, Nicholas Braun, Reece Thompson, Julia Garner, Erin Wilhelmi, Tom Savini, Emily Marie Callaway, Tom Kruszewski, Brian Balzerini, Patrick de Ledebur, Joan Cusack
Genre: Coming-of-age film, Drama, Romance Film
Studio: Summit Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Release: Sep 2012
Summary: A coming-of-age story based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, which follows 15-year-old freshman Charlie, an endearing and naive outsider who is taken under the wings of two seniors. A moving tale of love, loss, fear and hope - and the unforgettable friends that help us through life.
 

Persepolis

Director: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
Starring: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Gena Rowlands, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian
Genre: Animation
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.9 (47,534 votes)
Release: Jun 2008
Summary: A fascinating and wholly unexpected take on Iran’s Islamic revolution beginning in the 1970s, "Persepolis" is an enthralling, animated feature about a spirited young woman who spends her life trying to deal with the consequences of her nation’s history. Based on an autobiographical comic book by Marjane Satrapi, the story concerns Marji (voiced as a teenager and woman by Chiara Mastroianni), whose natural fire and precociousness are slowly dampened by the rise of religious extremists. Marji grieves over the imprisonment and execution of a beloved uncle, then begrudgingly adapts to ever-tightening rules about dress, social mores, education for women, and expectations about marriage and divorce. Along the way, her grandmother (Danielle Darrieux) and mother (Catherine Deneuve) help keep Marji grounded during her rebellious teens and encourage her to find life beyond Iran’s borders, a decision that proves both a blessing and curse. An unique window onto a crucial chapter of 20th century history, "Persepolis" is graphically engaging with its black-and-white, bold lines and feeling of repressed energy, fit to burst. The emotional content is so strong that after awhile, one almost forgets the film is a cartoon. Satrapi co-wrote the screenplay and co-directed the film along with animator Vincent Paronnaud. "--Tom Keogh"
 

Peter Pan

Director: Hamilton Luske
Starring: Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried, Bill Thompson, Heather Angel, Paul Collins, Tommy Luske, Candy Candido, Tom Conway
Genre: Animation, Science Fiction, Music, Family, Adventure, Fantasy
Studio: Disney Studios
My Rating:
Rated: G
Rating: 8
Release: Feb 1953
Summary: Leaving the safety of their nursery behind, Wendy, Michael and John follow Peter Pan to a magical world where childhood lasts forever. But while in Neverland, the kids must face Captain Hook and foil his attempts to get rid of Peter for good.
 

Philomena (screener)

Director: Stephen Frears
Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Michelle Fairley, Mare Winningham, Anna Maxwell Martin, Charlie Murph, Simone Lahbib, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Charles Edwards, Sean Mahon, Amy McAllister, Cathy Belton, Kate Fleetwood, Peter Hermann
Genre: Drama
Studio: BBC Films
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.8 (13,783 votes)
Release: Nov 2013
Summary: When former journalist Martin Sixsmith is dismissed from the Labour Party in disgrace, he is at a loss as to what do. That changes when a young Irish woman approaches him about a story of her mother, Philomena, who had her son taken away when she was a teenage inmate of a Catholic convent. Martin arranges a magazine assignment about her search for him that eventually leads to America. Along the way, Martin and Philomena discover as much about each other as about her son's fate. Furthermore, both find their basic beliefs challenged.
 

Pictures of Superheroes

Director: Don Swaynos
Starring: Kerri Lendo, Shannon McCormick, John Merriman, Byron Brown, Chris Doubek
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Jollyville Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 6.5 (48 votes)
Release: Oct 2012
Summary: Marie (Kerri Lendo) is hired as a maid by businessman Eric (Shannon McCormick) who also asks her to pretend to be his wife to seduce his clients. While cleaning Eric’s home, Marie becomes close to Joe (John Merriman), an aspiring superhero artist who also lives in Eric’s house, although unbeknownst to Eric.
 

Pineapple Express

Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez, Amber Heard, Adam Crosby, Dana Lee, Brian Scannell, Kevin Corrigan, Craig Robinson, Ed Begley Jr., Nora Dunn, Joe Lo Truglio, Arthur Napiontek, Cleo King, Bill Hader, James Remar
Genre: Action, Comedy
Studio: Columbia Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.0 (150,564 votes)
Release: Aug 2008
Summary: A stoner and his dealer are forced to go on the run from the police after the pothead witnesses a cop commit a murder.
 

Pinocchio

Director: Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton S. Luske
Starring: Zbigniew Koczanowicz, Janusz Pomaski, Aleksander Fogiel, Stanisław Milski, Kazimierz Brusikiewicz, Cliff Edwards, Dickie Jones, Don Brodie, Christian Rub, Evelyn Venable, Frankie Darro, Mel Blanc, Walter Catlett
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Science Fiction, Family
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: G
Rating: 7.6 (46,507 votes)
Release: Feb 1940
Summary: Lonely toymaker Geppetto has his wishes answered when the Blue Fairy arrives to bring his wooden puppet Pinocchio to life. Before becoming a real boy, however, Pinocchio must prove he's worthy as he sets off on an adventure with his whistling sidekick and conscience, Jiminy Cricket. From Stromboli's circus to Pleasure Island, Pinocchio is tested by many temptations, but slowly learns how to navigate right from wrong. With a few mishaps along the way, Geppetto's "little woodenhead" finally gets it right, proving that when you wish upon a star dreams really can come true!
 

Piranha

Director: Alejandre Aja
Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O'Connell, Richard Dreyfuss
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Studio: Sony
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 5.7 (52,505 votes)
Release: Jan 2011
Summary: Lake Victoria's annual Spring party by 50,000 young revelers is about to turn into a feeding frenzy with prehistoric hunger-pains. With knee-trembler's above the waves and tremors below, released from their dormant sleep, thousands upon thousands of flesh-eating nippers are released into the lake with whetted appetites and razor-sharp teeth. With a motley crew of strangers thrown together to defend these shores, it is now up to them to prevent the largest eat-out in human, and piranha, history.
 

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Chow Yun-Fat, Geoffrey Rush, Jonathan Pryce, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander, Stellan Skarsgård, Kevin McNally, Jack Davenport, Mackenzie Crook, Lee Arenberg, Martin Klebba, Greg Ellis, Naomie Harris, Keith Richards
Genre: Adventure, Action, Comedy
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.0 (281,361 votes)
Release: May 2007
Summary: Captain Barbossa, long believed to be dead, has come back to life and is headed to the edge of the Earth with brave Will Turner and feisty Elizabeth Swann. And what of Jack Sparrow? Nothing is as it seems.
 

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Lee Arenberg, Jonathan Pryce, Jack Davenport, Mackenzie Crook, Damian O'Hare, Giles New, Angus Barnett, David Bailie, Michael Berry Jr., Isaac C. Singleton Jr., Zoe Saldana, Luke de Woolfson, Lucinda Dryzek, Kevin McNally
Genre: Adventure, Action, Comedy
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 8.0 (468,874 votes)
Release: Jul 2003
Summary: Jack Sparrow, a freewheeling 17th-century pirate who roams the Caribbean Sea butts heads with a rival pirate bent on pillaging the village of Port Royal. When the governor's daughter is kidnapped, Sparrow decides to help the girl's love save her. But their seafaring mission is hardly simple.
 

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Jack Davenport, Bill Nighy, Stellan Skarsgård, Tom Hollander, Jonathan Pryce, Naomie Harris, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Lee Arenberg, Mackenzie Crook, David Bailie, Alex Norton, Lauren Maher, Vanessa Branch, Luke de Woolfson
Genre: Adventure, Action, Comedy
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.3 (311,546 votes)
Release: Jul 2006
Summary: The high-seas adventures of happy-go-lucky troublemaker Captain Jack Sparrow, young Will Turner and headstrong beauty Elizabeth Swann continues as Sparrow works his way out of a blood debt with the ghostly Davey Jones, he also attempts to avoid eternal damnation.
 

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penélope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Gemma Ward, Richard Griffiths, Stephen Graham, Kevin McNally, Óscar Jaenada, Roger Allam, Keith Richards, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Claflin
Genre: Adventure, Action, Comedy
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.6 (204,336 votes)
Release: May 2011
Summary: Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past, and he's not sure if it's love -- or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard, Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.
 

Pitch Perfect

Director: Jason Moore
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Skylar Astin, Ben Platt, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp
Genre: Comedy, Music, Romance
Studio: Brownstone Productions (III)
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.4 (13,666 votes)
Release: Oct 2012
Summary: The Barden Bellas are a collegiate, all-girls a cappella singing group thriving on female pop songs and their perfect looks. After a disastrous failing at last year's finals, they are forced to regroup. Among the new recruits is freshman Beca, an independent, aspiring DJ with no interest in the college life. But after she meets Jesse, from the rival all-male a cappella group, Beca has a new outlook and takes it upon herself to help the Bellas find their new look and sound and get back into the competition.
 

The Pixar Story

Director: Leslie Iwerks
Starring: Stacy Keach, John Lasseter, Brad Bird
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Disney/Pixar
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 8
Release: Aug 2007
Summary: A look at the first years of Pixar Animation Studios - from the success of "Toy Story" and Pixar's promotion of talented people, to the building of its East Bay campus, the company's relationship with Disney, and its remarkable initial string of eight hits. The contributions of John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs are profiled. The decline of two-dimensional animation is chronicled as three-dimensional animation rises. Hard work and creativity seem to share the screen in equal proportions.
 

A Place at the Table

Director: Kristi Jacobson, Lori Silverbush
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Tom Colicchio, Mariana Chilton, Ken Cook, Barbie Izquierdo, James McGovern, Marion Nestle, Raj Patel, Janet Poppendieck
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Participant Media
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 6.4 (468 votes)
Release: Mar 2013
Summary: A documentary that investigates incidents of hunger experienced by millions of Americans, and proposed solutions to the problem.
 

The Place Beyond the Pines

Director: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne, Eva Mendes, Bruce Greenwood, Ray Liotta, Dane DeHaan, Ben Mendelsohn
Genre: Crime, Drama
Studio: Focus Features
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.6 (35,661 votes)
Release: Mar 2013
Summary: A mysterious and mythical motorcycle racer, Luke, (Ryan Gosling) drives out of a traveling carnival globe of death and whizzes through the backstreets of Schenectady, New York, desperately trying to connect with a former lover, Romina, (Eva Mendes) who recently and secretly gave birth to the stunt rider's son. In an attempt to provide for his new family, Luke quits the carnival life and commits a series of bank robberies aided by his superior riding ability. The stakes rise as Luke is put on a collision course with an ambitious police officer, Avery Cross, (Bradley Cooper) looking to quickly move up the ranks in a police department riddled with corruption. The sweeping drama unfolds over fifteen years as the sins of the past haunt the present days lives of two high school boys wrestling with the legacy they've inherited. The only refuge is found in the place beyond the pines.
 

Platoon

Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 8.2 (184,301 votes)
Release: Dec 1986
Summary: "Platoon" put writer-turned-director Oliver Stone on the Hollywood map; it is still his most acclaimed and effective film, probably because it is based on Stone's firsthand experience as an American soldier in Vietnam. Chris (Charlie Sheen) is an infantryman whose loyalty is tested by two superior officers: Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe), a former hippie humanist who really cares about his men (this was a few years before he played Jesus in Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ"), and Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), a moody, macho soldier who may have gone over to the dark side. The personalities of the two sergeants correspond to their combat drugs of choice--pot for Elias and booze for Barnes. Stone has become known for his sledgehammer visual style, but in this film it seems perfectly appropriate. His violent and disorienting images have a terrifying immediacy, a you-are-there quality that gives you a sense of how things may have felt to an infantryman in the jungles of Vietnam. "Platoon" won Oscars for best picture and director. "--Jim Emerson"
 

Pleasantville

Director: Gary Ross
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Studio: New Line Cinema
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.5 (74,737 votes)
Release: Oct 1998
Summary: Fantastical writer Gary Ross ("Big", "Dave") makes an auspicious directorial debut with this inspired and oddly touching comedy about two '90s kids (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) thrust into the black-and-white TV world of "Pleasantville", a "Leave It to Beaver"-style sitcom complete with picket fences, corner malt shop, and warm chocolate chip cookies. When a somewhat unusual remote control (provided by repairman Don Knotts) transports them from the jaded real world to G-rated TV land, Maguire and Witherspoon are forced to play along as Bud and Mary Sue, the obedient children of George and Betty Parker (William H. Macy and Joan Allen). Maguire, an obsessive "Pleasantville" devotee, understands the need for not toppling the natural balance of things; Witherspoon, on the other hand, starts shaking the town up, most notably when she takes basketball stud Skip (Paul Walker) up to Lover's Lane for some modern-day fun and games. Soon enough, Pleasantville's teens are discovering sex along with--gasp!--rock & roll, free thinking, and soul-changing Technicolor. Filled with delightful and shrewd details about sitcom life (no toilets, no double beds, only two streets in the town), "Pleasantville" is a joy to watch, not only for its comedy but for the groundbreaking visual effects and astonishing production design as the town gradually transforms from crisp black and white to glorious color. Ross does tip his hand a bit about halfway through the film, obscuring the movie's basic message of the unpredictability of life with overloaded and obvious symbolism, as the black-and-white denizens of the town gang up on the "coloreds" and impose rules of conduct to keep their strait-laced town laced up. Still, the characterizations from the phenomenal cast--especially repressed housewife Allen and soda-shop owner Jeff Daniels, doing some of their best work ever--will keep you emotionally invested in the film's outcome, and waiting to see Pleasantville in all its final Technicolor glory. "--Mark Englehart"
 

Pocahontas

Director: Eric Goldberg, Mike Gabriel
Starring: Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson, David Ogden Stiers, John Kassir, Russell Means, Christian Bale, Judy Kuhn, Linda Hunt, Danny Mann, Billy Connolly, Joe Baker, Frank Welker, Michelle St. John, James Apaumut Fall, Gordon Tootoosis, Jim Cummings
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Drama, History, Music, Romance, Family
Studio: Walt Disney Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: G
Rating: 6
Release: Jun 1995
Summary: History comes gloriously to life in Disney's epic animated tale about love and adventure in the New World. Pocahontas is a Native American woman whose father has arranged for her to marry her village's best warrior. But a vision tells her change is coming, and soon she comes face to face with it in the form of Capt. John Smith.
 

The Police: Every Breath You Take

Director: Derek Burbidge, Lol Creme
Starring: Police, Sting
Genre: Music, Concerts
Studio: Interscope Records
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 5.9 (47 votes)
Release: Mar 2003
Summary: All the evidence that Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland deserved their 2003 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is right here in this two-hour (including bonus features) DVD package. Unfortunately, not a lot of that evidence is visual; the Police's videos--at least the 10 directed by Derek Burbige--seem thrown together and uninspired, consisting mostly of the trio half-heartedly lip-syncing or merely horsing around (the four later ones by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme are a considerable improvement). We do get to see Sting at his most punk (a '78 live version of "Can't Stand Losing You") and most iconic (the "Every Breath You Take" video), and the 48-minute "Ghost in the Machine"-era documentary is interesting. But it wasn't MTV that got the Police into the Hall; it was superb musicianship and wonderful songs. And here in their digitally remastered glory, they all sound great. "--Sam Graham"
 

The Police: Ghost in the Machine LIVE at Gateshead

Starring: Sting (vocal, bass), Andy Summers (guitar, vocal), Stewart Copeland (drums)
Genre: Music, Concerts
Studio: FX Network
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 8.2 (17,352 votes)
Release: Jul 1982
Summary: Recorded on the "Ghost in Machine" tour of 1982, this performance by the Police is a recording most diehard fans will want to own.

The cinematography leaves a lot to be desired -- particularly if you are a fan of Stewart or Andy as most of the focus is entirely on Sting, and Stewart is generally only shot from a camera behind his drumkit--no front views at all.

Still, Sting is in a fairly manic mode during this show and some performances definitely kick it up, including "Demolition Man" and "One World (Not Three)."

Message In A Bottle
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Walking On The Moon
Spirits In The Material World
Hungry For You
When The World Is Running Down...
The Bed's Too Big Without You
De do do do, De da da da
Demolition Man
Shadows In The Rain
Driven To Tears
Bring On The Night
One World (Not Three)
Invisible Sun (With Bono of U2)
Roxanne
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Can't Stand Losing You
Regatta de Blanc
Be My Girl
Can't Stand Losing You
So Lonely
 

The Police: Greatest Video Hits

Director: Derek Burbidge, Godley & Creme
Starring: Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland, Henry Padovani
Genre: Music, Rock
Studio: Immortal
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Release: Mar 2007
Summary: 1 Roxanne
2 Can't Stand Losing You
3 Message In A Bottle
4 Walking On The Moon
5 So Lonely
6 Don't Stand So Close To Me
7 De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
8 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
9 Invisible Sun
10 Spirits In The Material World
11 Every Breath You Take
12 Wrapped Around Your Finger
13 Synchronicity II
14 Don't Stand So Close To Me '86
15 King Of Pain (live)
16 Tea In The Sahara
 

The Poughkeepsie Tapes

Director: John Erick Dowdle
Starring: Amy Lyndon, Iris Bahr, Stacy Chbosky, Ben Messmer, Samantha Robson, Ivar Brogger, Lou George, Michael Lawson, Ron Harper, Kim Kenny, Scott Beehner, Adarsha Benjamin, Kelli Bielema, Linda Bisesti, Lisa Black
Genre: Horror, Thriller
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Apr 2007
Summary: When hundreds of videotapes showing torture, murder and dismemberment are found in an abandoned house, they reveal a serial killer's decade-long reign of terror and become the most disturbing collection of evidence homicide detectives have ever seen.
 

Predator

Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: 20th Century Fox
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.8 (185,352 votes)
Release: Aug 2004
Summary: "Rambo" meets "Alien" in this terrific science-fiction thriller from 1987, directed by John McTiernan just a year before "Die Hard" made him Hollywood's most sought-after director of action-packed blockbusters. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite squad of U.S. Army commandos to a remote region of South American jungle, where they've been assigned to search for South American officials who've been kidnapped by terrorists. Instead they find a bunch of skinned corpses hanging from the trees and realize that they're now facing a mysterious and much deadlier threat. As the squad is picked off one by one, Arnold finds himself pitted against a hideous alien creature that's heavily armed and wearing a spacesuit enabling the creature to render itself invisible. The title says it all in describing the relentless, escalating action that follows, maintained by McTiernan with an abundance of visual flair. The film's special effects are still impressive, and stunning locations in the Mexican jungles create a combined atmosphere of verdant beauty and imminent danger. The plot doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but the movie's so exciting and tightly paced that its weaknesses seem irrelevant. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Predator 2

Director: Stephen Hopkins
Starring: Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Kevin Peter Hall, Rubén Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.3 (31 votes)
Release: Feb 2003
Summary: "Predator" wreaked havoc in the jungle and struck box-office gold, so Hollywood logic dictated that "Predator 2" should raise hell in the big, bad city. Los Angeles, to be specific, and this near-future L.A. (circa 1997) is an ultra-violent playground for the invisibility-cloaked alien that hunted Arnold Schwarzenegger in the previous film. Scant explanation is given for the creature's return, and because Ah-nuld was busy making "Total Recall", Danny Glover was awkwardly installed as the maverick cop (is there any other kind?) who defies a government goon (Gary Busey) to curtail the alien's inner-city killing spree. But why bother, when the victims are scummy Colombian drug lords? Don't look for intelligent answers; director Stephen Hopkins favors wall-to-wall action over sensible plotting, allowing Stan Winston's more prominently featured Predator to join the ranks of iconic movie monsters. And anticipating "Alien vs. Predator" in comic books and in theaters, there's a familiar-looking skull in the Predator's trophy case! "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Predators

Director: Nimród Antal
Starring: Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: 20th Century Fox
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.4 (116,119 votes)
Release: Oct 2010
Summary: Executive producer Robert Rodriguez ("Grindhouse", "Spy Kids") is the driving force behind this energetic reboot of the popular "Predator" films, which pits the dreadlocked alien hunters against a rogues' gallery of human antiheroes, led by a bulked-up Adrien Brody. The Oscar winner acquits himself nicely in the role of a gritty mercenary who finds himself stranded on a jungle planet with a host of criminals and professional killers (among them such scene-stealers as Walton Goggins and Danny Trejo), as well as a seemingly innocent doctor, well played by Topher Grace. They've been deposited there to serve as living targets for a horde of Predators--whose looks, designed by Gregory Nicotero and Howard Berger, are impressively varied and sleek--that use the planet as their private hunting grounds. Laurence Fishburne is also on hand as a soldier who has managed to survive for years in the jungle; he, Brody, and Grace do much to make the pulpy dialogue by Alex Litvak and Michael Finch (adapting a premise penned by Rodriguez in the mid-'90s) palatable. Likewise, Hungarian director Nimrod Antal ("Vacancy") lends a great deal of atmosphere and Rodriguez-style momentum to the picture--perhaps more than necessary, since the end result is, like the 1987 original with Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fun B-movie and nothing more, designed entirely to give moviegoers a slick, unchallenging roller-coaster ride. Having said that, it's a vast improvement over the 1990 sequel and the dreadful tie-ins with the "Alien" franchise, and should provide movie monster aficionados with an afternoon's worth of thrills. "--Paul Gaita"
 

The Prestige

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 8.4 (443,772 votes)
Release: Oct 2011
 

Priest

Director: Scott Stewart
Starring: Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Horror
Studio: Sony
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 5.7 (66,705 votes)
Release: Aug 2011
Summary: What's harder to kill than a vampire? The thriving vampire movie genre, which reappears here in the form of "Priest", an entertaining mash-up of sci-fi, horror, and various Westerns adapted from a graphic novel by Min-Woo Hyung and starring Paul Bettany ("The Da Vinci Code", "Creation", "Iron Man", etc.) in the title role. In Hyung's world (as depicted by screenwriter Cory Goodman and director Scott Charles Stewart), the future is a dystopian nightmare still reeling from centuries of conflict between humans and vast armies of slimy, humanoid vampires; having been saved (or so we're told) by fierce and noble warrior priests, people now live in a great, grim city that makes the Los Angeles depicted in "Bladerunner" look like a vacation resort, while the remaining vampires have been consigned to "reservations" in the desert. A few hardy souls subsist out in the barren wilderness as well, and the fun starts when a gang of vamps attacks one family, abducting pretty young Lucy (Lily Collins, Phil's daughter) and killing her parents. The girl's sharpshooting boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) seeks out Bettany's retired Priest, who's only too willing to defy the dire warnings of the arrogant clergymen who control the cities, jump on his supercycle, and head out to do battle with a foe that, far from being defeated, has been regrouping and now plans to--gasp!--lay waste to all mankind. A couple of twists involving central characters are eventually revealed, but the best parts are the action sequences in the vampires' enormous "hive," aboard (and on top of) a speeding train, and elsewhere as the Priest and a few of his cross-bearing (on their foreheads, that is) comrades, including action veteran Maggie Q, try to stop the head vampire dude (basically a fanged version of Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name) and his ravenous minions. Considering the range of 21st-century vampire flicks, from the arty Swedish import "Let the Right One In" to the romantic "Twilight" series, there's plenty of room for a popcorn chewer like "Priest". "--Sam Graham"
 

Primal

Director: Josh Reed
Starring: Zoe Tuckwell-Smith, Krew Boylan, Will Travel, Damien Freeleagus, Rebekah Foord, Lindsay Farris
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Foreign
Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 4.8 (3,534 votes)
Release: Jan 2011
Summary: Anja and five friends join anthroplogy student, Dace, on a journey to study a remote, ancient rock painting. Their excitement vanishes when Mel becomes delirious after skinny-dipping in the waterhole. Feverish, bleeding, confused, she physically and mentally regresses to a vicious predatory state. Mel has gone primal. Mel’s lover and friends realise they are the prey as she savagely hunts them down. Before they can escape another one of them starts to regress, posing a hideous choice; kill their friends or be killed by them. Their only hope of survival is through a cave, where Anja learns too late the meaning of the ancient rock art they came to study.
 

The Princess Bride

Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 8.1 (189,848 votes)
Release: Sep 2001
Summary: Screenwriter William Goldman's novel "The Princess Bride" earned its own loyal audience on the strength of its narrative voice and its gently satirical, hyperbolic spin on swashbuckled adventure that seemed almost purely literary. For all its derring-do and vivid over-the-top characters, the book's joy was dictated as much by the deadpan tone of its narrator and a winking acknowledgement of the clichés being sent up. Miraculously, director Rob Reiner and Goldman himself managed to visualize this romantic fable while keeping that external voice largely intact: using a storytelling framework, avuncular Grandpa (Peter Falk) gradually seduces his skeptical grandson (Fred Savage) into the absurd, irresistible melodrama of the title story. And what a story: a lowly stable boy, Westley (Cary Elwes), pledges his love to the beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright), only to be abducted and reportedly killed by pirates while Buttercup is betrothed to the evil Prince Humperdinck. Even as Buttercup herself is kidnapped by a giant, a scheming criminal mastermind, and a master Spanish swordsman, a mysterious masked pirate (could it be Westley?) follows in pursuit. As they sail toward the Cliffs of Insanity... The wild and woolly arcs of the story, the sudden twists of fate, and, above all, the cartoon-scaled characters all work because of Goldman's very funny script, Reiner's confident direction, and a terrific cast. Elwes and Wright, both sporting their best English accents, juggle romantic fervor and physical slapstick effortlessly, while supporting roles boast Mandy Patinkin (the swordsman Inigo Montoya), Wallace Shawn (the incredulous schemer Vizzini), and Christopher Guest (evil Count Rugen) with brief but funny cameos from Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, and Peter Cook. "--Sam Sutherland"
 

Prisoners

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Dylan Minnette, Zoe Borde, Wayne Duvall, David Dastmalchian, Len Cariou, Sandra Ellis Lafferty
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Studio: Alcon Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Sep 2013
Summary: How far would you go to protect your family? Keller Dover is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki arrests its driver, Alex Jones, but a lack of evidence forces his release. As the police pursue multiple leads and pressure mounts, knowing his child's life is at stake the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?
 

The Professional

Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello, Peter Appel
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 8.6 (409,467 votes)
Release: Feb 1998
Summary: Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element") made his American directorial debut with this stylized thriller about an Italian hit man (Jean Reno) who takes in an American girl (Natalie Portman) being pursued by a corrupt killer cop (Gary Oldman). Oldman is a little more unhinged than he should be, but there is something genuinely irresistible about the story line and the relationship between Reno and Portman. Rather than cave in to the cookie-cutter look and feel of American action pictures, Besson brings a bit of his glossy style from French hits "La Femme Nikita" and "Subway" to the production, and the results are refreshing even if the bullets and explosions are awfully familiar. "--Tom Keogh"
 

Project Nim

Director: James Marsh
Starring: Bob Angelini, Nim Chimpsky, Bern Cohen, Renne Falitz, Bob Ingersoll
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Red Box Films
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.3 (698 votes)
Release: Feb 2012
Summary: From the team behind Man on Wire comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Following Nim's extraordinary journey through human society, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human. What we learn about his true nature - and indeed our own - is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.
 

Prometheus

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Studio: Brandywine Productions
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.2 (269,511 votes)
Release: Jun 2012
Summary: A team of scientists journey through the universe on the spaceship "Prometheus" on a voyage to investigate Alien life forms. The team of scientists becomes stranded on an Alien world, and as they struggle to survive it becomes clear that the horrors they experience are not just a threat to themselves, but to all of mankind.
 

Promised Land

Director: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, Rosemarie DeWitt, Scoot McNairy
Genre: Drama
Studio: Universal Studios
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.5 (8,141 votes)
Release: Jan 2013
Summary: Corporate salesman Steve Butler (Damon) arrives in a rural town with his sales partner, Sue Thomason (McDormand). With the town having been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, the two outsiders see the local citizens as likely to accept their company's offer, for drilling rights to their properties, as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job for the duo becomes complicated by the objection of a respected schoolteacher (Holbrook) with support from a grassroots campaign led by another man (Krasinski) who counters Steve both personally and professionally.
 

The Proposal

Director: Anne Fletcher
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Studio: Touchstone Home Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.7 (123,231 votes)
Release: Jun 2009
Summary: Rom-com favorite Sandra Bullock and the affably charming Ryan Reynolds’s superb chemistry turn The Proposal from otherwise standard romantic-comedy fare to one that is entertaining and sure to garner laughs. Margaret (Sandra Bullock) is a workaholic, tyrannical book editor (reminiscent of The Devil Wears Prada) who suddenly finds her career in jeopardy as she faces deportation back to Canada. Her solution is to simply fake an engagement to her unsuspecting assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds), who in turn blackmails her for a promotion. However, when Margaret is forced to head to Alaska with Andrew to visit his family in an effort to make their story believable to the deportation officers, they soon realize that their plan may not be so simple after all. The supporting cast of Dad (Craig T. Nelson), Mom (Mary Steenburgen), and kooky Grandma (Betty White, still a scene-stealer at 87) is great casting that makes for many amusing scenes. Bottom line: witty Reynolds and Bullock are perfect sparring partners for each other and not half bad to look at either. --Lisanne Chastain
 

The Proposition

Director: John Hillcoat
Starring: Richard Wilson (VII), Noah Taylor, Jeremy Madrona, Jae Mamuyac, Guy Pearce
Genre: Westerns
Studio: First Look Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 4.0 (57 votes)
Release: Sep 2006
Summary: A savage Western set in Australia's Outback, "The Proposition" is relentless in its intensity and bloody imagery. Set in the late 19th century, the film tells the brutal story of a gang of brothers that kills not out of desperation, but because they can. Arthur Burns (Danny Huston) is the mastermind who shares little in common (other than total disregard for human life) with his younger brother Charlie (Guy Pearce, "L.A. Confidential", "Memento"). When Charlie and their baby brother Mike (Richard Wilson) are captured, Charlie is offered a proposition to save their necks from the gallows. "Suppose, Mr. Burns, I was to give both you and your young brother Mikey, here, a pardon," offers Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone). "Suppose I said that I could give you the chance to expunge the guilt beneath which you so clearly labor.... Now, suppose you tell me what it is I want from you." Without blinking, Charlie says, "You want me to kill my brother." For most people, this would be an unthinkable proposition. For Charlie, the answer's obvious. He'll do whatever he has to spare his own life, even if that means trading his for Arthur's. "The Proposition" at times is a difficult film to watch. But thanks to a compelling story by rocker Nick Cave and a supporting cast (including Emily Watson as the Captain's gentle wife), the film is a classic in the making. "--Jae-Ha Kim"
 

Psycho

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Studio: Universal Studios
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 8.6 (245,153 votes)
Release: May 1998
Summary: For all the slasher pictures that have ripped off "Psycho" (and particularly its classic set piece, the "shower scene"), nothing has ever matched the impact of the real thing. More than just a first-rate shocker full of thrills and suspense, "Psycho" is also an engrossing character study in which director Alfred Hitchcock skillfully seduces you into identifying with the main characters--then pulls the rug (or the bathmat) out from under you. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates, the mama's boy proprietor of the Bates Motel; and so is Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, who makes an impulsive decision and becomes a fugitive from the law, hiding out at Norman's roadside inn for one fateful night. "--Jim Emerson"
 

Pulp Fiction

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Walt Disney Video
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 9.0 (750,661 votes)
Release: May 1998
Summary: With the knockout one-two punch of 1992's "Reservoir Dogs" and 1994's "Pulp Fiction" writer-director Quentin Tarantino stunned the filmmaking world, exploding into prominence as a cinematic heavyweight contender. But "Pulp Fiction" was more than just the follow-up to an impressive first feature, or the winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival, or a script stuffed with the sort of juicy bubblegum dialogue actors just love to chew, or the vehicle that reestablished John Travolta on the A-list, or the relatively low-budget ($8 million) independent showcase for an ultrahip mixture of established marquee names and rising stars from the indie scene (among them Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, Christopher Walken, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Julia Sweeney, Kathy Griffin, and Phil Lamar). It was more, even, than an unprecedented $100-million-plus hit for indie distributor Miramax. "Pulp Fiction" was a sensation. No, it was not the Second Coming (I actually think "Reservoir Dogs" is a more substantial film; and P.T. Anderson outdid Tarantino in 1997 by making his directorial debut with two even more mature and accomplished pictures, "Hard Eight" and "Boogie Nights"). But "Pulp Fiction" packs so much energy and invention into telling its nonchronologically interwoven short stories (all about temptation, corruption, and redemption amongst modern criminals, large and small) it leaves viewers both exhilarated and exhausted--hearts racing and knuckles white from the ride. (Oh, and the infectious, surf-guitar-based soundtrack is tastier than a Royale with Cheese.) "--Jim Emerson"
 

Pumping Iron

Director: George Butler, Dave McVeigh, Robert Fiore, Scott McVeigh
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mike Katz, Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbu, George Butler
Genre: Action, Adventure
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Release: Dec 1986
Summary: Arnold Schwarzenegger works the crowds, plots strategies for defeating multiple opponents, shares his parents' values with the press, and inspires legions of admirers with his resolute optimism about the future. And all of this long "before" he decided to run for governor of California, in 1977's hit documentary, "Pumping Iron". Larger than life, though not necessarily larger than his rivals for the Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia bodybuilding titles (especially a young Lou Ferrigno, hot on Arnold's competitive trail but much less interesting), Schwarzenegger still comes across, at age 28, as a consummate politician, smart, likable, and crafty about exploiting others' psychological weaknesses. The film still feels redundant (there's only so much beefcake the human eye will tolerate), but the emotional dramas--the unrewarded hard work, the unanswered hopes--are compelling. Complete with a revealing 2003 interview with Schwarzenegger and a reunion of the film's bodybuilders and director. "--Tom Keogh"
 

The Purge

Director: James DeMonaco
Starring: Lena Headey, Ethan Hawke, Max Burkholder, Adelaide Kane, Rhys Wakefield, Tony Oller, Edwin Hodge, Tom Yi, Arija Bareikis, Chris Mulkey, Tisha French, Dana Bunch, Peter Gvozdas, John Weselcouch, Alicia Vela-Bailey
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Studio: Platinum Dunes, Blumhouse Productions
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Jun 2013
Summary: Given the country's overcrowded prisons, the U.S. government begins to allow 12-hour periods of time in which all illegal activity is legal. During one of these free-for-alls, a family must protect themselves from a home invasion.
 

Puss in Boots

Director: Chris Miller
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris, Constance Marie, Guillermo del Toro, Mike Mitchell, Rich Dietl, Ryan Crego, Tom Wheeler, Conrad Vernon, Tom McGrath, Bob Joles, Latifa Ouaou, Robert Persichetti Jr., Chris Miller, Jessica Schulte, Nina Barry
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Studio: Dreamworks Animated
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 2
Release: Oct 2011
Summary: Puss in Boots must clear his name from all charges making him a wanted fugitive. While trying to steal magic beans from criminals Jack and Jill, the hero crosses paths with Kitty Softpaws, who leads Puss to his old friend, but now enemy, Humpty Dumpty. Memories of friendship and betrayal enlarges Puss' doubt, but he eventually agrees to help the egg get the magic beans. Together, the three tumble into more adventure than expected.