Hulk and his Planet.

Get ready for action-packed adventure as your favorite green giant smashes onto DVD. Based on the Marvel story arch, Planet Hulk follows our hero after his exile from Earth. Betrayed by his fellow superheroes for fear of his power, Hulk hurtles through space and in a fit of rage (IRONY!) destroys his own ship crash-landing on a planet torn by war.

Thrown into an arena he doesn’t understand and alongside companions he doesn’t trust, Hulk is up to his usual smashing and bashing, with a political twist. Is the king a tyrant? Is Hulk the savior of millions? If you can put up with an hour and a half of roars and green blood you’ll find out!

If you were expecting to see the Hulk struggling to come to terms with his inner demons, look elsewhere. If you are hungry for hand-to-hand combat in an intergalactic Roman Coliseum, for you…HULK SMASH!

That is not to say the movie is bad. It is not. Gather a few buddies, and maybe that one girl who likes comics and you’ll have a good time. The animation is sharp, and the action is spot on. This movie follows the comic book faithfully but fails to convey the same urgency and dynamic characterization of the Hulk.

Watching Bruce Banner’s alter ego develop from an angry child into a great king is supposed to be the focus of the story. He even gets a girlfriend, and some real friends. He learns that he isn’t the only one to spend his life being mistreated. (That can be a bit of a wake up call.)

You don’t get any of that from this film.

You do get some awesome cameos from Thor, the god of thunder, and his alien sword brother, Beta Ray Bill. And you do get to see Hulk wield a sword. Which is like…cool.

Overall, Marvel fans won’t be too upset with this film. And everyone else won’t miss the plot elements they didn’t know to look for.

Give it a look.
P.S. This movie is a popcorn combo.

Extract: Pure Comedy

Dear Viewer,

They say you should write what you know. Record the stories in the everyday as if they were extraordinary and they will become so. The master of this is writer-director Mike Judge, best known for Office Space, King of the Hill, and Bevis and Butt-Head Do America.

His latest piece, Extract, is about growing up. Not the transition from childhood to adulthood, but the much more difficult shift towards recognizing and accepting things as they are.

Your big house might be too big.

Your lovely wife might not be so lovely.

Your best friend might be an idiot.

And that job, the one that you complain about everyday, the one that keeps you up late and out early, the one that gave you all those grays, just might be the most interesting part of your day.

None of the acting in this film is phenomenal, but it is believable. Jason Bateman’s incredulous stare and hunched shoulders bring life to the humdrum existence of Joel Reynolds. Add to that the natural sex appeal of Mila Kunis, the familiar beauty of Kristen Wiig, and the blank stares of Dustin Milligan and you’ve got yourself a story!

The plot is as shallow as the characters. In fact you might forget their names half-way through. And don’t expect to be saved by humor (are the people in your life all that funny?).

When you break it down, this movie really isn’t all that great…but once you start it you will keep watching. Crossing your fingers and hoping things work out for Joel. That maybe this story will show you the secret to accepting life’s hardest truth, how to come out alive.

P.S. this movie is a Popcorn Combo

G-Force, GO! (Seriously...)

If you're in the mood for an action-packed, espionage featuring small rodents, G-Force is the movie to see!

Perfect for families this movie has a little bit of something for everyone.This Disney flick received a very warm welcome July 09, the latest in a series of somewhat experimental 3-D films, G-Force often feels like a theme park ride. With extended chase scenes and large explosions, viewers are sure to be entertained even if the 88 minutes of one-liners fall flat.

The movie follows the story of the leader of the team, Darwin (voiced by Sam Rockwell), as he struggles to prove the validity of using animals as FBI agents. Darwin is accompanied by a Hispanic guinea pig, Juarez (Penelope Cruz) and a painfully Black rodent, Blaster (Tracy Morgan). After having their funding pulled by the FBI, the team crawls their way to the top, facing every danger known to rodent kind, from pet stores to stray cats. There is little depth to the characters, as most of the screen-time is taken dumbing down an already simple plot for pint-sized audiences. But remember there will be explosions! (And a couple of chase scenes that are sure to tweak your interest)

There is of course, a neat Disney bow on the ending, with the mission's success and closure for each character.

I found G-Force vaguely reminiscent of Small Soldiers (1998) and The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1986). The CGI was pretty cool, the micro-technology was surprisingly believable, but the movie lacked the substance and heart of a true classic.

So, expect a few laughs, a guffaw or two, but don't get your hopes up.

And remember...

"We are the Commando Elite. Everything else is just a toy!" (Chip Hazard, Small Soldiers)

You'll need wite-out to fix Whiteout...

Dear Friend,

After sleeping off the afternoon and a quickly fixed dinner of leftovers, P decided it was time for a movie night. It's been a week at least since we've seen something new. It's one of our more normal past times.

But due to my current streak of intolerable moodiness, P was left to pick the flick. This week's entertainment: Whiteout.


They should have named that movie "EVERYONE OUT"!

The usually classy Kate Beckinsale steps behind the badge of the cliche jaded cop. Toning down her vampiric flare, British accent, and acting talent, Beckinsale left us all in the cold as she stumbled around the Antarctic wilderness searching for a killer.

The whiplash-inducing plot begins with the discovery of a body...in Antarctica. US Marshall Carrie Stetko (Beckinsale) due to an overdeveloped sense of duty, runs willy-nilly trying to solve the mystery-which of course delays her impending retirement. Despite years of training and experience, Stetko throws herself into a string of ill-advised activities. After the frostbite and 20ft fall, even the most adventurous viewer will begin to question the character's practicality.

Adding to the lack of believability, a recycled score, and poor scripting make this movie almost unwatchable. (I'm pretty sure all that kept P watching was the hope of further nudity-look out for the shower scene within the first ten minutes....)

However, the untouched purity of the white desert is also a good reason to keep watching. The sharp style of cinematography captures the simple beauty of the snowy plains and crisp edges of mountains. At the same time justifying the repeated warning that "nature did not want anyone to survive Antarctica".

If you are inclined to enjoy slow-moving, poorly-scripted murder mysteries, by all means watch Whiteout. You'll be in for an enjoyable night.

For the rest of you, trust that this film will bring you on an exciting journey......at least as long as the previews last. Perhaps you'd prefer to check into the director's other work. Dominic Sena is better known for his work filming Janet Jackson. At least if this isn't your style it will be over before the popcorn gets cold. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvMpBlyKlfo)

-S