The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
What makes Twilight so special? Everything else comes out on Tuesday, but Twilight always sets up camp on Saturday. Are they hoping that the pimply faced teeny boppers get their check from Pizza Hut on Friday then run right out the next day and pick up a copy? Ya'll ain't that tight. As it stands, the third flick in the angst-riddled vamp/wolfy story is by far the best, ratcheting up the drama and action to levels not before seen. It also shows the ability to poke a little fun at it's hunky stars, which is always welcome.
Fantasia/Fantasia 2000
The coolest thing about this edition of the restored animated classic is that it includes the awesome Oscar nominated short film, Destino. I wonder if this release has anything to do with the next flick on our list....
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
It looks better as a cartoon. Jon Turtletaub and Jerry Bruckheimer's fast paced tale of wizards and warriors might pay a momentary homage to the Sorcerere's Apprentice scene from Fantasia, but this one is all about Nicolas Cage. The mercurial actor stars as a powerful modern day mage in search of the heir to Merlin's legendary powers. Of course when he finds his successor, it's in the form of a geeky lab rat(Jay Baruchel) who has no desire to be the 'chosen one'. A fun flick that features some truly innovative magical effects.
Knight and Day
You know it's sad when two of America's biggest stars, Tom Cruse and Cameron Diaz, star in a film that will probably best be remembered for almost causing Paramount Studios to drop Tom Cruise from Mission: Impossible. It's really not that bad of a flick, just a forgettable one.
Vampires Suck
Somehow this crappy spoof of Twilight
and every other teen vampire flick managed to be #1 at the box office for a week. What the hell was everybody smokin'? I like the idea of ripping into that lame-o franchise as much as anybody, but I think Twilight does an effective job making fun of itself by accident and far more effectively than the jokers behind Meet the Spartans 
can. Waking Sleeping Beauty
Walt Disney was once the creame of the animation crop. The standard bearer by which all other animation studios were judged. It had hits like The Little Mermad, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and The Lion King all in a row. Nobody could compete with that. Then something happened, and the Mouse House fell into a rapid decline. Waking Sleeping Beauty goes in depth, talking to the men and women who were there during the studio's fall from grace, to try and find out exactly what caused it. A must see.
Going the Distance
It's so rare that that a romantic comedy comes along that treats the problems of any relationship with honesty and maturity, all while still maintaing a humorous edge. Going the Distance stars real life on/off again couple, Justin Long and Drew Barrymore, as a lovestruck pair dealing with the turmoils of a long distance relationship. I wished more people had gone to see this while it was in theaters, but poor marketing doomed it to generic rom-com status. It's so much better than that, and hopefully people will pick it up on DVD. A borderline buy for me.
Valhalla Rising
Nicholas Winding Refn follows up his critically acclaimed 2009 film, Bronson
(which catapulted Tom Hardy into star status), with this bloody Viking tale starring Mads Mikkelsen(Casino Royale
) as a Norse warrior who finds himself battling in the Christian Crusades.
