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Guillermo del Toro, director of PAN’S LABYRINTH, brings his boundless visual imagination to another screen edition of the HELLBOY saga. Filled with fanciful creatures and whimsical silliness, del Toro nicely balances between humor and action in this fun superhero adventure. While not as fresh as the original, HELLBOY II holds its own in a summer filled with wonderful superheroic antics.

Ages ago the magical creatures of the world made a truce with humans, setting aside their indestructible golden army. They would stay in the woods while humans ruled the cities. However, as the cities spread and humans became consumed with greed, the magical creatures were pushed into the shadows. Now Prince Nuada (Luke Goss, BLADE II) wants the magical world to rule again, so he seeks the three pieces of the crown that controls the mechanical golden army made up of 70 times 70 warriors. With his robbery of the second piece of the crown and the murder of dozens of humans, the U.S. government calls in their paranormal task force of Hellboy (Ron Perlman, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN), Liz Sherman (Selma Blair, CRUEL INTENTIONS) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones, PAN’S LABYRINTH).

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Based on the bestselling illustrated book series from Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, Mark Water’s screen adaptation is a highlight reel of some of the best parts from the five-book adventure. Like the HARRY POTTER series, the screen adaptation pares down the material to fit the length of a feature film, some fans will not like this fact, but others unfamiliar with the books will just get caught up in the breakneck speed of the wonderment.

Jared Grace (Freddie Highmore, FINDING NEVERLAND) is a troublesome child to his recently separated mother Helen (Mary-Louise Parker, TV’s WEEDS). Along with his straight-laced twin brother Simon (also Highmore) and fencing-loving sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger, IN AMERICA), they move to the abandoned house of their institutionalized relative Aunt Lucinda (Joan Plowright, 1996’s 101 DALMATIANS). Jared quickly comes to suspect something strange in the house, eventually finding a dumbwaiter that leads to a hidden room where he finds his great uncle Arthur Spiderwick’s field guide to the fantastical world. Spiderwick (David Strathairn, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK) mysteriously disappeared 80 years prior and set the tiny brownie Thimbletack (Martin Short, INNNER SPACE) up as the book’s protector. Turns out, the forest is filled with goblins lead by the sinister ogre Mulgarath (Nick Nolte, HULK), who wants nothing more than to possess the knowledge inside the guide.

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This anthology film is a love letter to Paris and to love itself. Twenty short films were commissioned for the feature-length project set in the 20 arrondissements of Paris. Only two of those films did not make the final cut. Directors such as Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING), Joel and Ethan Coen (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN), Walter Salles (CENTRAL STATION), Sylvain Chomet (THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE, Alfonso Cuaron (CHILDREN OF MEN), Wes Craven (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), Tom Tykwer (GO) and Alexander Payne (ABOUT SCHMIDT) all helmed sections. Stars such as Steve Buscemi, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Gena Rowlands and Gerard Depardieu (who also directs) provide the film with their acting talents. Altogether it works as a joyous experience.

Director and star Bruno Podalydes begins the film with a hate story to Paris parking, which ends in a lonely man having a pretty passerby (Florence Muller) fall for him. Gurinder Chadha (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM) brings us a tale of a young white man (Cyril Descours) who meets a young Muslim woman (Leila Bekhti) at the park, but what will her grandfather think when he follows her to their mosque? From Gus Van Sant, there is a tale of a print shop customer (Gaspard Ulliel, HANNIBAL RISING) who is smitten instantly with the young worker (Elias McConnell, ELEPHANT), but there is a hidden obstacle to the customer’s bold declaration of his affections. In a typical Coen Brother unsentimental fashion, their “love story” finds an American tourist (Buscemi, FARGO) trapped in the middle of a lovers’ spat between a pretty young girl and her hotheaded boyfriend.

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This short is featured on the Animation Show Vol. 3 DVD.

Gaëlle Denis’ trippy animation/visual effects film creates a wonderful surreal style animating and manipulating human actors. A young Japanese woman moves to a new city where she doesn’t speak the language. Intimidated by her new home, she seeks out common bonds with people who share her love of diving, but ultimately jumps into a unexpected dream-like experience that opens her eyes to a whole new world.

The unique look of this short is what resonates with the viewer. Denis combines live-action with pixelization with 2D and 3D animation. The oft-kilter world that these combined techniques creates is both inviting and strange, capturing nicely the feel of moving to a new, big city. The characters waddle along on skinny legs through a muted color cityscape. The lead female pops off the screen in her red and pink clothing. She’s truly a fish out of water in this new environment. Denis shows her skills at designing a world that perfectly mirrors the mood of her characters. In addition, the film pokes fun at London life, especially the rain. Take notice to the words that the young woman learns. Featured in the film, if one is familiar with the unique vocal style of Joanna Newsom, you’ll get a bit of the film’s vibe.

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The man in the Fedora hat is back. While the next installment in this franchise could be titled “Indiana Jones and the Search for Lightning in a Bottle,” which is what the series has been trying to capture since RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the first new installment in 19 years nicely bridges the gap in time, in both the real and fictional worlds, placing the action in the 1950s and crossing ancient and modern myths. The aging hero can still take a punch, but he comes off wiser. For all he’s been through, he should have all the wisdom in the world already, but I’ll get to that later.

Director Steven Spielberg, working from a screenplay by JURASSIC PARK scribe David Koepp, gets the story cooking right from the start. Indiana (Harrison Ford) and his partner Mac McHale (Ray Winstone, THE DEPARTED) have been kidnapped by Russians, lead by Soviet super-agent Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett, I’M NOT THERE), with her stark black Louise Brooks hairstyle and mysterious psychic abilities. She’s looking for the contents of a box in a government warehouse and needs Dr. Jones to find it. This incident kicks off an adventure that will lead our dashing hero to Peru in search of a highly magnetized (well, highly magnetized when the plot needs it to be) crystal skull, which could be the key to learning all the knowledge in the universe and beyond. So of course this would be of interest to the evil Commies, who want to get inside our brains and control our every thought. Along for the ride is greaser Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf, TRANSFORMERS), who informs Indy that his old friend Prof. Oxley (John Hurt, THE ELEPHANT MAN), who has dedicated his life to studying the legend of the crystal skull and it’s connection to El Dorado, is in danger. And lets not forget Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy’s girl from the original film; she’s back too.

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Darker than the original NARNIA adventure, this new tale brings the original young foursome back to Narnia, a land that is now unrecognizable from the world they once ruled. Writer/director Andrew Adamson, along with fellow writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, stay faithful to C.S. Lewis’ original text, giving fans a faithful screen adaptation just like THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. With more battles, the epic scale is heightened, but this doesn’t mean there are not any new internal battles for the original characters, which are the most intriguing parts of the second installment in the series.

Centuries after the Pevensie siblings left Narnia to return to England, the magic realm has been taken over by the Telmarines, who have forced the Narnians to live in secret in the woods. Prince Caspian the X (Ben Barnes, STARDUST) is the rightful heir to the throne, but his scheming uncle Miraz (Sergio Castellitto, ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES) has his eyes on ruling the kingdom. Caspian flees for his life into the forest, where a scuffle with Miraz’s men results in dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage, THE STATION AGENT) being taken prisoner and Caspian taken in by dwarf Nikabrik (Warwick Davis, WILLOW) and talking badger Trufflehunter (Ken Scott, CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR). During the fight, Caspian uses an ancient horn, which summons former kings and queens Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) back to Narnia.

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Following two years after Walt Disney’s first Latin American feature, SALUDOS AMIGOS, this film is longer, more daring, less propagandistic, but ultimately less bearable than its predecessor. Upon the failure of this film, a planned Latin American trilogy was scrapped, saving the world from CUBAN CARNIVAL. Unlike AMIGOS, THE THREE CABALLEROS has a more flowing structure, reminiscent of the final sequence of the first film. It’s definitely the trippiest Disney production and makes one wonder what’s in that cigar that Jose Carioca is always smoking.

Like AMIGOS, CABALLEROS starts off like an anthology film, but soon morphs into a more free-flowing musical experience. A framework of Donald Duck receiving presents from his friends in Latin America introduces the first two segments. “The Cold-Blooded Penguin” follows the penguin Pablo, who dreams of relocating to warm climates. Next, “The Flying Gauchito” involves a little Argentinean boy who enters a horse race with the winged donkey he discovers. For the third segment, “Bahia,” Donald meets up with wisecracking parrot Jose, shimmies the samba with live-action dancers and salivates over the beautiful women. In “Las Posadas,” the lively rooster Panchito Pistoles tells of the Mexican Christmas traditions, leading to Donald try his hand at the piñata. This is followed by “Mexico” where Panchito takes Donald and Jose on a flying serape through the gorgeous beaches of Mexico where Donald can’t control chasing a bevy of live-action beauties. But in “You Belong to My Heart,” Donald focuses his affections of the popular Mexican singer Dora Luz. The film concludes with “Donald’s Surreal Reverie,” which sends Donald on a “love is a drug” infused tour, filled with lush colors, flowers and pretty live-action woman.

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Now in retrospect the film is being re-titled INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, a testament to the popularity to the iconic globetrotting archeologist and the massive franchise that has been built around him. It’s hard to think back and remember Harrison Ford as less than a superstar, but it was this film that put him at that status. Director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas combined their talents to create one of the great heroes in a film that is thrilling non-stop action. The duos love of the Saturday matinee idols of their youth is translated to the screen with wit and charm.

From our introduction to Dr. Jones, cloaked in shadow, as he uses his whip to disarm a traitor, the iconic image of the Fedora-wearing adventurer is seared into our memories. The film wastes no time thrusting us into the action as Indiana ventures into a jungle cave to recover an ancient golden idol. He is quickly established as the cream of the crop in his field, but one who is susceptible to being cheated, as we see when his success is dampened by the thieving Dr. Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman, HOT FUZZ), a Frenchman trying to play both sides. Back at his teaching job, Jones is given the opportunity of a lifetime — head to Egypt and stop the Nazis from uncovering the Ark of the Covenant, the powerful golden casket holding the Ten Commandments. To find the Ark, Indiana must recover his old mentor’s medallion, which is now possessed by his former flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen, KING OF THE HILL). This sets Indiana racing across the globe, fighting Arab assassins and the Nazi SS in an effort to save the world.

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Director Julie Taymor’s ode to the 1960s finds interesting and vibrant ways to use The Beatles music catalog to touch on many of the key events of the turbulent era in American history. Since moving from stage productions such as the original Broadway LION KING musical, Taymor has distinguished her film work, TITUS and FRIDA, with visual flare. That same flare is key to the magic that pops up throughout this unique musical.

Jude (Jim Sturgess, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL) is a blue-collar worker from England who travels to the U.S. to find the father he has never met. Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood, THIRTEEN) is an 18-year-old rich girl, who’s curious about the changing world after her boyfriend is sent to Vietnam. Jude meets Lucy’s brother Max (Joe Anderson, 2007’s CONTROL) right before the rich kid decides to drop out of college and move to Greenwich Village where they move in with sultry singer Sadie (Dana Fuchs). Meanwhile lonely lesbian Prudence (T.V. Carpio, SHE HATE ME) leaves her Midwest cheerleader life and African-American guitarist JoJo (Martin Luther) exits his poor black neighborhood after a tragedy to head to NYC. These characters come together to let it be a revolution #9.

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Sometimes I’ll watch a film because it represents a trend. The success of the SCARY MOVIE franchise has given us a litany of spoof flicks. The movies spoof such recent films that their shelf life is very limited. This piece of garbage had expired before it was even finished. The screenplay and the excrement that was produced from it will stink up the library of 20th Century Fox for a great deal longer than the poor audience’s memory of it.

Edward (Kal Penn), Peter (Adam Campbell), Lucy (Jayma Mays) and Susan (Faune Chambers, WHITE CHICKS) are orphans brought together for nefarious reasons by candy company owner Willy (Crispin Glover). The foursome escapes from Willy through a wardrobe, arriving in a Narnia-like world where they must defeat the White Bitch (Jennifer Coolidge). Over the course of EPIC MOVIE no big film released in the past 12 months is left untouched, such as SUPERMAN RETURNS, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, HARRY POTTER, X-MEN, etc.

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