The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (DVD)

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007). This documentary takes a look at the world of competitive video gaming and the geeks who occupy it. The main players in this film are Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. Mitchell set a record score in Donkey Kong in 1982, and Wiebe later topped it, but the story is not so simple. Even though there's no money involved, there is intense competition to achieve and maintain the top score. This film explores some of the mind games the players use to try to gain or sustain supremacy. It will probably not be interesting to anyone who wasn't ever "into" video games. Grade: B-

Shoot 'Em Up (DVD)

Shoot 'Em Up (2007) starring Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Bellucci. A mysterious loner named Mr. Smith (Owen) delivers a woman's baby during an intense shoot-out. For reasons which are too complicated to explain, or even believe, the bad guy (Giamatti) wants the baby dead. The body count is high in this tongue-in-cheek thriller, and Mr. Smith miraculously makes it almost all the way through with nary a nick. Some of the action scenes are spectacular, some are just preposterous, but it's a thrill-ride of a movie with some laughs thrown in. Grade: B

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (DVD)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. In the fifth movie in the series, Harry returns to Hogwarts to find that his warnings about the return of Voldemort have been ignored, and are being disputed by the Ministry of Magic. He takes it into his own hands to form a group of students, dubbed Dumbledore's Army, to teach them about defense against the dark arts. Condensing a rather long and richly detailed book into a two-hour movie means you have to leave a lot out, and I felt that lack as I was watching this movie. But they've done a good job. The only real quarrel I have with it is that the scenes that take place inside the Ministry of Magic are rather dark and hard to follow on a TV screen. The special effects are very well done. Grade: B+

Sunshine (DVD)

Sunshine (2007) starring Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh. It's 50 years in the future, and the sun is dying out. A group of astronauts is sent on a last-ditch effort to re-ignite the sun with something called a "stellar bomb." But they get sidetracked when they detect the distress signal of the space ship that went before them on a similar, failed mission. They decide to divert their mission to check out the other ship. Big mistake. At the very least, I hope when I view a movie that it will entertain me. This one did not, for most of its running time I was just bored. The special effects might have been more impressive in a movie theater, but on the home screen they just didn't shine. Then, about a half hour before the end, the movie takes an unnecessary and totally unbelievable turn into space-monster territory. I found it deplorable. Grade: D

The Kingdom (DVD)

The Kingdom (2007) starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner. When a suicide bombing kills American civilians in Saudi Arabia, a small squad of FBI agents is sent in to try and find the culprits. The agents do what they can to investigate, battling Arab sensibilities and Saudi bureaucracy. But soon the movie's focus shifts, and it is the FBI team that comes under renewed attack. From that point on it's pretty much non-stop action for half an hour, until you come to the brief coda about the futility of war. My main criticism would be that parts of the movie are so chaotic that it gets hard to follow. It might play differently in a theater, but on the small screen there seems to be too much crammed into the frame at times. Grade: B

Futurama: Bender's Big Score (The Movie) (DVD)

Futurama: Bender's Big Score (The Movie) (2007). The canceled animated TV series about doings 1,000 years in the future returns in movie form, and it's as amusing as ever. Bender the robot is infected by a computer virus which causes him to do the bidding of acquisitive aliens who use time travel to steal all of the Earth's treasures. It's all done with trademark "Futurama" humor and will amuse you if you liked (or ever saw) the show. The DVD also includes an abundance of extras, which will be of interest to nerds like me who are fans of the show. Grade: A

The Bourne Ultimatum (DVD)

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Paddy Considine. Essentially a two-hour chase scene as Jason Bourne (Damon) continues his quest to find out what caused his amnesia. While Bourne pursues his past, a CIA black ops unit pursues him, believing him to be a threat and willing to kill him if necessary. Among the revelations during this chase is that Bourne's real name in David Webb, and he was born in Nixa, MO. The soundtrack is insistent, the camera-work is kinetic, the cast is terrific, and it all comes together in a satisfying conclusion to the Bourne trilogy. Grade: B+

Ratatouille (DVD)

Ratatouille (2007) starring a bunch of (animated) rats, along with more human-looking characters. Remy the rat, the protagonist of the show, is voiced by Patton Oswalt. Although he is just a rat, he is gifted with a sensitive nose, and he longs to cook. Remy finds his opportunity in a scullery boy named Linguini, who wants to be a cook but has no talent for it. The two team up, and with the rat (literally) pulling the strings, they become a celebrated chef. The animation by Pixar is superb, as usual. There are some worthwhile extras included on the disc. Kids will no doubt be entertained. But as for me, I just couldn't help remembering that the characters doing the cooking were rats. Grade: B-

Waitress (DVD)

Waitress (2006) starring Keri Russell, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly, Nathan Fillion, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith. Russell plays Jenna, a waitress who also makes fabulous pies. She lives a dreary existence with her husband, Earl (Sisto), whom she dreams of escaping and spends most of the movie plotting to leave. But along the way, he gets her drunk and gets her pregnant. "Waitress" is a frank and funny look at the fears brought on by impending motherhood for this beautiful young woman imprisoned in an abusive marriage. The film that this one most reminds me of, in scale and tone, is "Mystic Pizza." It's a bittersweet movie when you know that it was written and directed by co-star Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered shortly before the film's selection for the Sundance Film Festival. Grade: B+

Eastern Promises (DVD)

Eastern Promises (2007) starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts. Directed by David Cronenberg. A London midwife (Watts) gets involved with a Russian gangster (Mortensen) when she delivers a baby whose mother was a prostitute. She gets further involved when she brings the mother's diary to her Russian uncle to be translated. There is some pretty graphic violence in this movie, which might repel some viewers. But the plot and characters are fascinating, as well as the extras on the DVD which go into some of the thinking behind the film. Grade: A-

Stardust (DVD)

Stardust (2007) starring Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, Peter O'Toole, Rupert Everett, Mark Strong, Ricky Gervais. A young man named Tristan (Cox) journeys to a magical land on the other side of The Wall to win the heart of his true love. But his "true love" (Miller) is a bit of a drip, and one is tempted to think that someone else will turn out to be his real true love. This is a fairy tale with all the requisite elements, and it definitely has its moments, but it is so cluttered with subplots that the main thrust of the film seems at times to get lost. Grade: B-