The Screening Room

Brace yourself is right. Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen's latest entry in guerilla filmmaking, arrives in theaters July 10. As I have written about before (in this story), Baron Cohen came here a year ago and filmed scenes at an office park in Carrollton. He lured in the unsuspecting by having his production team recruit audience members for a new TV talk show on family values. What ensued was pretty wild. You can read more about it on Sunday, when I offer my latest on Bruno's escapades (and how he offended a whole bunch of local people). I just got back from Baron Cohen's native London, where he is wildly popular. Mention his name at a pub and they start telling their favorite stories from Da Ali G Show, especially the one where he duped soccer star David Beckham and his wife, ex-Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. As Mike Bell, the colorful owner of Portobello Gold in Notting Hill, London's best pub-hotel, told me, he thinks Baron Cohen is "brilliant." My own favorites were his Da Ali G Show interviews with former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Bruno is apparently so wild that in England, it got an 18 rating, meaning that no one under 18 can get in to see it. Period. You can read about that in this story.

Photo: The one and only Sacha Baron Cohen

Johnny Depp returns to the big screen today as larger-then-life gangster, John Dillinger. Rounding out the cast: Academy Award winning actress Marion Cotillard and Christian Bale.

Read the review and get showtimes for Public Enemies.

Also hitting theaters today is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3D and plain old fashioned 2D. The animated gang is back with the voices of Denis Leary, Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Simon Pegg, Queen Latifah.

Read the review and get showtimes for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. | Get 3D showtimes.

Shia and the Autobots are back for another go against the Deceptacons. Are you going to see the Michael Bay's Big Summer Movie tonight? If you are, you are not alone.

(Read Media Critic Tom Maurstad's review.)

MovieTickets.com reports that it has already broken into their list of the Top-25 Pre-sellers of All-Time, with 600 sold out performances nationwide including 274 midnight showings. It gained its spot by bumping its predecessor (2007's Transformers) off the list.

Update: MovieTickets.com is reporting over 1,000 sellouts as of 5 p.m., including 600 midnight showings

But never fear. Midnight is for wimps What about a 3 a.m.? Two Cinemark theaters -- Cinemark Megaplex 17 and Tinseltown Plano -- will be showing Revenge of the Fallen for 24 hours straight. In Dallas, it will be in the IMAX theater; in Plano, it will be in the XD auditorium.

Or if you're really in the mood for a dose of "firsties," be part of the first audience at Garland's newest IMAX theater at AMC Firewheel 18.

The Proposal

Year One

Food, Inc.

Enlighten Up!

Sleep Dealer

The Merry Gentleman

Am I the only one who couldn't stop crying after seeing Up? I know that the point of this exquisite Pixar film was not to make me weep but to show how life must move on after death (and disappointment). But I found it so sad! While Disney has a grand tradition of killing off a beloved figure in the film, usually, with the exception of Bambi's mother, it happens before you get TOO attached. Here Carl spends a lifetime with his beloved Ellie. And I don't know, maybe it's because I just had a wonderful visit with my parents who have been married 66 years and can't conceive of being without each other, but this was a scenario I struggled with emotionally. Which is not to say that struggle is a bad thing, but still -- any thoughts?

The Taking of Pelham 123

Away We Go

Imagine That

O'Horten

Outrage

Little Ashes

Up

Drag Me to Hell

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Lemon Tree

Treeless Mountain

Community activist Jason Roberts is doing some cool things at the storied Texas Theatre, and Saturday night promises to be one of the coolest. At 7 p.m. Saturday, he and the Oak Cliff Foundation are showing the legendary movie Bonnie and Clyde at the Jefferson Boulevard theater, where, of course, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested in 1963. The Oak Cliff Foundation has renovated the Texas Theatre and is trying to do more. They have shown the movies Oswald's Ghost and JFK, and the Dallas Summer Musicals would eventually love to use it as one of its venues. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker hailed from West Dallas and undoubtedly spent plenty of time in Oak Cliff, maybe even at the Texas Theatre, which opened in 1931. Saturday marks the 75th anniversary of the ambush that killed the lawbreaking pair, whose exploits are chronicled in the 1967 movie, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. (Please click below to read on.)

Photo: Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Terminator Salvation

Dance Flick

Summer Hours

Every Little Step

The Girlfriend Experience

The Brothers Bloom

The 13th Annual International Jewish Film Festival of Dallas is coming to a close, and for aficionados of alternative cinema, it has been a venture worth celebrating. Its best offerings were Lemon Tree, which chronicles the struggles in the Middle East as well as any film I've seen; The Debt, a Holocaust thriller that may soon morph into an American version starring Tom Wilkinson and Helen Mirren; and A Touch Away, a terrific serial produced by Israeli television that may soon land on HBO in its own Americanized version, in the same way an Israeli television success story became the HBO hit In Treatment. The crowd loved Beau Jest, a light comedy that could have been called Surely You Jest but which managed to generate a whole bunch of belly laughs. (The other films veered toward the very heavy; Beau Jest was like the whipped cream on top of dessert.) And now the festival closes with Letters for Jenny. (Please click below to read on!)

Photo: A scene from Letters for Jenny

If you're planning on seeing Valentino: The Last Emperor, you might want to plan on going this weekend. Director Matt Tymauer will be on hand for question-and-answer sessions following all of the Saturday showings and for the 2:10 and 4:45 p.m. shows on Sunday.

Read an interview by former DMN fashion writer David Ninh with the director: Behind the scenes on Matt Tyrnauer's documentary, 'Valentino: The Last Emperor'

It's ... 9:26 on Thursday night. You die-hard fans should be back from the 7 pm show! Alright, fans and newbies: What did you think of the new Star Trek? Did J.J. Abrams serve the franchise well? What did you love what did you hate?

I went in to this movie hoping to be wowed, but prepared to be disappointed. I mean, there was just so much that could go wrong. For where there is potential for greatness, there is such potential for suckage. There wasn't much middle ground. And yet?

Greatness.

Everything, from the sound to the lighting to the sheer scope of the sets, just blew me away. Abrams and the cast nailed the right balance: funny but not campy, dramatic but not taking itself too seriously, either.

While I'll admit to being a big Trek fan from TNG and beyond, I've never seen more than a few minutes of an episode from the original series. (And as for the movies? I have two words for you: Ear. Worm.) But I never felt lost or let out of the inside joke. I mean, c'mon: Trek fan or no, it's nearly impossible to have no cultural reference for the show or films.

Oh, yeah, and there are some other movies out this week, too.

• Star Trek (A) | IMAX
• Next Day Air (C-)
• Tyson (A)
• Valentino: The Last Emperor (A-)
• Skills Like This (B-)
• The Limits of Control (C-)

Muscle-bound Hugh Jackman swarthed into theaters last week, raking in a cool $85 million for the fourth flick in the X-Men comic book series. And starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, the ridiculously attractive cast of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboots the franchise.

And TV has embraced its dorkier side from Chuck and The Big Bang Theory to Heroes and Lost.

As CNN.com tells it:

If the world of entertainment is any indication, the geeks shall inherit the Earth. Programs like CBS' The Big Bang Theory" are indicative of the coolness of geeks and nerds in pop culture.

The nerd herd is everywhere these days it seems: in books, on television and at the movies. ... In the 25 years since Revenge of the Nerds debuted at movie theaters, geek chic has grabbed hold and catapulted the brilliant, yet often socially inept, into the realm of -- dare it be said -- the hip and the cool.

And from the Associated Press:

It took just a few seconds of footage - a single trailer, dropped from the heavens with great fanfare - for the hue and cry to rise on Trekmovie.com, the top fan site for J.J. Abrams' new "Star Trek" movie. By the hundreds they weighed in, a contentious cacophony that would have jammed even Lt. Uhura's comms system.

Admittedly, this trend isn't as new as recent stories would have you believe. Heroes and Lost have both been going strong for some time. The big screen has embraced its nerd cred during the past few summer. I'm looking at you, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and 300. But the interesting thing is it's still happening. It hasn't fizzled out yet, and (if Mr. Abrams has anything to say about it) it won't be any time soon.

There's also the question of why. Why now, why so popular, why why why? Ultimately, it comes down to the dollar. If one comic book or graphic novel film does well, the studio throws even more money at the next one. So did all the '90s honor students score the high-paying jobs that lead to lots of disposable income? Or has the mainstream audience finally learned that "speculative fiction" actually just means "really cool story?"

Did you see Wolverine at midnight? Then it's your turn to be the critic. Let the clamoring masses know what they can expect. Should we be running to the theaters, or saving our pennies and time for Star Trek next week?

• X-Men Origins: Wolverine (C-)
• Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (B-)
• Battle of Terra (D+)
• Lymelife (B+)
• Is Anybody There? (B)

Jason Roberts is doing some cool things at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff. I wrote about Jason last September; you can read all about him and his efforts to revitalize the aging theater right here. This Friday night, the theater will show the 1923 silent classic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with a live orchestra led by KERA's Paul Slaven. It's the version of the film that catapulted Lon Chaney to stardom for his role as Quasimodo. The show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $8 for adults and $4 for children under 12 and are available at the door or online at this Web site. Those who arrive on bicycle get a $2 discount. The theater's address is 231 W. Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff. For those who don't know, the Texas Theatre was where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested after allegedly killing both President Kennedy and Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit.

Photo: Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff

OK, so it won't win any Oscars, and it often feels like the Jewish version of Rhoda, but Beau Jest, the latest entry in the 13th Annual Jewish Film Festival of Dallas, is the token entry in the Comic Relief category. It's a feel-good yarn about a young Jewish woman who's nervous about having her parents meet her Gentile boyfriend, whose name is -- and I'm not making this up -- Chris Kringle. So, she hires an unemployed actor (who also happens to be a goy) to masquerade as a Jewish doctor and have dinner with her and her parents. You can only imagine the kind of oy gevalt shenanigans that ensue from there. Robyn Cohen is quite fetching as Sarah Goldman, the young woman whose stories have more holes in them than a baker's dozen of bagels.

Photo: A scene from Beau Jest

For those of us in the newspaper business, two new movies have taken on special resonance. I went to Studio Movie Grill last night to see State of Play and was frankly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Sure, it's a Hollywood movie but a decent thriller and although some of its references to print journalism are ludicrous (who does the editing at that paper?), much of it rang true. Russell Crowe plays a reporter dedicated to the best of print journalism, a guy who's sniffing out not just a big story but a HUGE story and realizing he needs time, most of all, to give it justice. One of his newsroom colleagues is a blogger who thrice daily feeds the on-line beast, even if the information is not quite ready for prime time. And Helen Mirren plays the editor trying to satisfy a new owner who likes celebrity gossip most of all. Friday marks the release of The Soloist, which apparently deals, in part, with layoffs and buyouts at the Los Angeles Times, whose columnist, Steve Lopez, discovered the schizophrenic homeless guy who plays a mean cello -- the guy at the heart of the story (played by Jamie Foxx). Check out this blog post about The Soloist.

Photo: Russell Crowe in State of Play.

• State of Play (B)
• 17 Again (B)
• Crank: High Voltage
• American Violet (B+)
• Gigantic (C-)
• Spinning Into Butter (C+)
• Paris 36 (C)
• Tokyo! (B)

Just want to give a big shout out of thanks to those girls from Lake Highlands who stayed after the screening to give me their impressions of Hannah Montana: The Movie, which we then featured in a quote board with the review.

Rebecca Grunewald, Sydney Lacey, Amanda and Mackenzie Fugate, Katherine McCoy, Sydney Schnurrenberger, Danielle Sullivan -- you really helped me "get it"! And here's one thing I didn't have room for in the review: Danielle's amazing story of running into Miley Cyrus in Franklin, Tennessee. Franklin is not only where Miley was born, it was where she filmed the movie.

Evidently, just as in the movie, when Miley is treated like a regular girl and not like superstar Hannah Montana when she goes back to Tennessee, no one rushed up to Miley for autographs or snapped her picture there, not even Danielle, who is a very big fan.

Danielle and her mom, Lori Sullivan, ran into Miley with her mom in a store where Miley was trying on outfits, while the boy playing Travis was sitting outside waiting for them with that expression boys have when they are waiting for girls to finish trying on clothes. In Danielle's own words (which she wrote down for me after the screening):

"As I was visiting Franklin, Tennessee I saw Miley and "Travis" from the movie!! So I was super excited to see the movie."

So, we know what our Lake Highlands team thought of the film. What do you think?

• Hannah Montana: The Movie (B)
• Observe and Report (F)
• The Black Balloon (B+)
• Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (B+)
• Everlasting Moments (B+)
• Good (C)
• Dragonball Evolution

• Fast and Furious (D)
• Adventureland (B)
• The Great Buck Howard (B-)
• Alien Trespass (C+)
• The Edge of Love (D)
• 12 (A-)
• Sin Nombre (A-)
• Beauty in Trouble (B+)

Did you and your kids see Monsters vs. Aliens this weekend? Did the female empowerment theme register? Or was it enough that it was funny with terrific 3D special effects? Talk parent to parent about it on the Dallas Moms blog.

It looks like a promising weekend for new movies. Romance! Action! Comedy! Drama! Or as I like to call it: I good time to enjoy a movie away from the kids. Don't worry, little ones. You'll get your chance next week with Monsters vs. Aliens.

• Duplicity (A-)
• I Love You, Man (B-)
• Knowing (D)
• Sunshine Cleaning (B)

Edge of Love, which we were expecting to open this week, was pushed back to April 3.

• The Last House on the Left (B)
• Race to Witch Mountain (B-)
• Miss March (D)
• Crossing Over (D)
• Phoebe in Wonderland (B+)
• The Secrets (B)

So no big surprise here, but Watchmen scored big at the box office this weekend, bringing in $55.7 million. It's no $700 million that Zack Snyder's 300 scored, but still. Definitely respectable.

What is shocking, at least to me, is how fast the mighty Jonas Bros. have fallen. Opening weekend, they couldn't edge out Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail, which was in its second week. Okay, no big deal. Perry's got a huge following. But week 2? Nick and Co. are #9?

Hannah Montana's 3D concert film raked in $31 million on its opening weekend and ran for 15 weeks. Jonas? Opened with $12 million. How long can they hold out?

• Watchmen (C+)
• Gomorrah (B)
• Familiar Strangers (C)

Now we know the Jonas Brothers are getting a lot of love lately, but this item from Common Sense Media really caught our attention. Not only have they given the Jonas Brothers a 2008 Common Sense Media "Onnie" Award for serving as "strong positive role models for kids and teens," they're working on a 25 Things We love About the Jonas Brothers list. (They've got five reasons posted, they're looking for 20 more).

So, what say you Jonas fans, big and small? Can you tell us 25 things you love about the Jonas Brothers before the Common Sense list is complete?

• Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience (C)
• Two Lovers (C+)
• Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
• Echelon Conspiracy

• Wendy and Lucy (A)
• Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail
• The Class (B+)
• The Betrayal (B+)
• Fired Up (C-)

OK, this is not exactly Oscar chatter, since the film in question isn't nominated for anything. But something has been bothering me since I saw the Holocaust movie, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, whose DVD release is March 10. I saw it in West Texas soon after it opened. The theater was packed. But when we got to the ending -- which I won't give away for those who have yet to see it -- the crowd reacted with such shock and horror that ... it left me cold, as though nothing having to do with concentration camps had bothered anyone up to that point. I'm not saying the crowd reaction was anti-Semitic, but have we as a culture grown so accustomed (jaded?) to stories of the Holocaust that the evil business of concentration camps no longer provokes a strong reaction? (Please click below to read on.)

Looks like Jared Padalecki wins the Battle of the Supernatural Stars. His horror-film remake, Friday the 13th, opened with $42.2 million, setting a record for the horror genre, topping the $39.1 million debut for 2004's The Grudge.

Poor Jensen Ackles turn in My Bloody Valentine 3-D raked in $21.2 million in its opening weekend and has only doubled that during its month-long run so far.

So what did you see this weekend?

• Confessions of a Shopaholic (C-)
• The International (C)
• Friday the 13th (D)
• Under the Sea 3-D (A-)

• Coraline 3-D (A-) | 2-D showtimes
• He's Just Not That Into You (B-)
• The Pink Panther 2 (C-)
• Push (D+)

• Taken (B+)
• New in Town (C-)
• The Uninvited (B+)

Mea Culpa. The Univited DID in fact screen in advance for critics. Just not far enough in advance to get a review in the GuideDaily section. You can read the review now at the link above.

And color me shocked, but wow - a B+? I had a hard time keeping The Uninvited and The Unborn straight in my head. But it looks like maybe the Uninvited might be worth my time:

Some of us over the age of 30 remember when horror filmmakers made movies that didn't feature people getting their faces cut off by elaborate mechanical torture devices, or weird little girls who kill you by crawling out of your cellphone.

The Uninvited won't make anyone forget The Shining, but it's a nice throwback to the days when scary movies featured pretty good actors, a plot that held together and a couple of creepy-looking ghost kids.

So if you're all caught up on your Oscar-nominee watching, you might enjoy one of these new releases this week. (Or if you're not caught up, maybe Waltz with Bashir is all you're waiting for.)

• Inkheart (B)
• Outlander (B-)
• Waltz With Bashir (A-)
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (C)

The Underword prequel was not screened for critics, which is seldom a good sign for a film. Sometimes the strength of the director's reputation (see: Tyler Perry) can carry a film without a review; other times, we are oddly surprised with how good a film is and just why on Earth did Paramount not want to screen Aeon Flux.

So really, Underworld could go either a way. As a fan, I'm interested in another film. But as a fan, all I can think is "Didn't we see all of this in Michael's flashbacks? And where IS Scott Speedman? I know it's a prequel, but c'mon!"

But I digress. Also speaking as a fangirl, I am all about Outlander. It's science fiction! With Vikings! And Jesus, I mean, Jim Caviezel! And fangirl favorites Sophia Myles (Doctor Who, Moonlight), Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army) and John Hurt (of the "John Hurt Moment" in Aliens). Considering that it's Starman meets Beowulf, there was/is a LOT of room for badness. I was full prepared for disappointment. We'll see if Cary Darling's review holds up.

• My Bloody Valentine 3D (B)
  Non-3D showtimes
• Notorious (B+)
• Defiance (B)
• Che (B)
• Last Chance Harvey (B-)
• Paul Blart: Mall Cop (C-)
• Chandni Chowk to China (B)
• Hotel for Dogs (D)

Slow week at the multiplex, but better than usual. Typically, the first week of January is a barren wasteland of "You Best Go See Something That Came Out Last Week." Of course, January itself is typically a barren wasteland "No, Really. Go Catch Up on the Movies That Might Win an Award. Because None of These Will." It's where movie go to die. And with that happy thought:

• Revolutionary Road (C-)

Even in this tough economy, it looks like moviegoers found the time and the coin to head out to the theaters this holiday weekend:

Audiences wanted to see pretty much everything over the holiday weekend. Revenues had plunged the previous two weekends, but Hollywood ended the year on a high note as the top 12 movies took in $182.5 million, up 8 percent from the same weekend in 2007.

(Read the rest of the story here.)

There were a lot of big hitters this weekend: The family-friendly Marley and Me; a fanboy's dream with The Spirit; the romantic and fantastical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Did you go? What did you see? What did you think? C'mon, you know you want to talk about it.

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (B+)
• Marley and Me (B+)
• Bedtime Stories (D+)
• The Reader (A)
• Valkyrie (B-)
• Gran Torino (B-)
• The Spirit (C-)

OK, so I'm watching the David Letterman show on Monday night, when the guest is Dustin Hoffman, who's appearing in the new movie Last Chance Harvey. He tells a great story about the time he played a woman for the movie Tootsie (best comedy ever), for which he won the Oscar as Best Actor. He was dressed up in drag and found himself on an elevator near the Russian Tea Room in New York City. Legendary actor Jose Ferrer happened to be on the same elevator. Mr. Hoffman, who decided to remain in character, started a conversation with Mr. Ferrer, leading up to an obscene remark, which was of course bleeped from the Letterman show. But before then, he, or rather she, kept telling Mr. Ferrer how she had learned to act while doing shows in Dallas. Don't you love these local connections?

Photo: Dustin Hoffman

In my business, we're always looking for the local connection. So, it was quite a kick to come across it twice in recent days (see entry above as well). I got a chance to see the fabulous new movie The Wrestler, in which Mickey Rourke plays a broken-down professional wrestler. For my money, Mr. Rourke deserves to win an Oscar for Best Actor. It's an incredible performance. At one point, the wrestler is working in a butcher shop, which bores him to tears. A guy comes in to buy some meat. The wrestler pretends he's a quarterback and asks the customer to go out for a pass. He hurls the wrapped-up meat, which makes a perfect landing in the guy's shopping cart. "How 'bout them Cowboys!" the wrestler shouts. See, I told you there was a local connection.

Photo: Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

• The Tale of Despereaux (B)
• Seven Pounds (C)
• Yes Man (B)
• A Secret (A-)

When I hadn't heard anything about this film until a few days before it opened, I figured it would flop. But this? This is a little impressive:

From the Chicago Tribune:

A philosophical question: If a film bombs at the box office, but almost no one is there to see it, is it still a bomb?
The answer is "yes" if that movie is Delgo, a stiffly animated fantasy in the storytelling tradition of Lord of the Rings. The film secured a special place in cinema history this week as the least-attended film ever to open on more than 2,000 screens.
Only two people -- including this reporter -- attended the 1:50 p.m. showing of Delgo on Tuesday at AMC Loews 600 North Michigan 9 in Chicago. The other patron snored through half the film, obscuring the vocal talents of Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Chris Kattan and the late Anne Bancroft.
The film took in $511,920 in 2,160 theaters in its opening weekend, according to Media by Numbers. That translated to an average of two patrons per showing, according to Yahoo! movie writer Jonathan Crow.
Thus, Delgo entered the Hollywood lexicon as shorthand for "animated stinker," joining the ranks of Ishtar and Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space as movie punch lines.
The flop heard 'round the multiplex can partly be blamed on limited advertising, B-list actors and characters reminiscent of the original Sea-Monkeys advertisements. Stilted animation doesn't help.
"It just completely got lost in the holiday shuffle," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

• Doubt (B+)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (D)
• Frost/Nixon (B)
• Nothing Like the Holidays (C-)
• How About You (C+)
• Dark Streets (D+)
• Delgo (D)

• Cadillac Records (C+)
• Punisher: War Zone (D)
• Nobel Son (C-)
• Repo! The Genetic Opera (D)

From the "No 'Milk' for Cinemark" Facebook group:

The CEO of Cinemark, Alan Stock, donated $9999 to the Yes on 8 Campaign, but now expects to profit from showing Milk in his theaters.

If 1,000 of us commit to see Milk at a competitor's theater instead of Cinemark, at an average cost of $10 per ticket, that's $10,000 of lost revenue.

Boycotts work. A boycott of a Sacramento theatre company resulted not only in the resignation of a Yes on 8 contributor, but a public apology and donation to Human Rights Campaign! We can do this again.

More information available at "The No Milk for Cinemark" site.

No new movies this Friday. All the new flicks hit the screen today. Here's what's on the marquee:

• Australia (B-)
• Four Christmases (C)
• Transporter 3 (D)
• Milk (A)
• Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom

Okay, for those who saw Bolt this weekend -- is it just me, or is Bolt the Buzz Lightyear story redux? Remember how Buzz in Toy Story thought he was the real-life action hero as portrayed on television, until he finally learns that he's just a toy? And now we have Bolt, who thinks he's a real-life action dog, until he finds out he's just a dog? What do you think? Is it just the monosyllabic name beginning with a B that's throwing me off?

Hellooooo, Twilight fans! Are you going to see it this weekend? Did you already see it at the early screening? Are you just OMG dying to talk about it? SO ARE WE. So join us at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon at DallasNews.com/livechat to talk about just how well the film translated to screen.

Remember: 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, at DallasNews.com/livechat.

We've talked a lot (and I mean a LOT) about Twilight on this blog lately. To you non-teen-vampire fans: Thanks for sticking around. And you'll be pleased to know there are some strong candidates for you time and money this weekend. Not many choices, but good ones all the same from a French twist on the dysfunctional family holiday film (with bonus Catherine Deneuve!) and a Jean Claude Van-Damme film you don't have to be ashamed to enjoy:

• Twilight (C+)
• Bolt (B)
• Slumdog Millionaire (A-)
• A Christmas Tale (B+)
• JCVD (B)

FYI - Next week's new flicks hit theaters on Wednesday, not Friday.

More stats from Fandango:

The Top Ten Advance Ticket-Sellers on Fandango.com

As of 2 p.m. today: Hundreds of tonight's midnight showtimes are already sold out. Theater owners are adding additional showtimes - some as late as 2:45 a.m. on Friday morning - to meet the demand for tickets.

1. "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" (2005)
2. "The Dark Knight" (2008)
3. "Twilight" (2008)
4. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005)
5. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007)

• Quantum of Solace (C)

• Let the Right One In (B+)

• Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer (B+)

• I've Loved You So Long (B)

• Morning Light (C+)

• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (C)

• Soul Men (B+)

• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (A)

• Role Models (C-)

• Synecdoche, New York (B-)

• House (D)

• Midnight Movie

• Zack and Miri Make a Porno (B-)

• Trouble the Water (A-)

• RockNRolla (B)

• Happy-Go-Lucky (B+)

• August Evening (B)

• The Haunting of Molly Hartley

• High School Musical 3: Senior Year (B+)

• Pride and Glory (D+)

• Saw V (not screened)

• Changeling (C)

• Passengers (not screened)

• Filth and Wisdom (B)

• Ashes of Time Redux (B)

High School Musical 3: Senior Year doesn't even open until midnight tonight, but word is already buzzing about the talent that can keep the franchise going now that stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Corbin Bleu have officially "graduated."

Keep an eye on the high school "juniors" introduced in the film, Matt Prokop, 18, and Justin Martin and Jemma McKenzie-Brown, both 14, especially as the Wall Street Journal reports that the Disney Channel has ordered a fourth movie ( the decision has not been made whether it will be released on T.V. or in theaters).

So, what do you think? Tell us if you would see a High School Musical 4 with these teens as the new leads?

I'm also wondering if they're holding out the possibility of Ashley Tisdale's Sharpay returning. The drama teacher does say that Sharpay may be coming back to help her in the drama department...Good idea -- or not?

Check our our review and more HSM 3 coverage here. And don't forget to stick around for some funny outtakes during the credits.

Staff Writer Michael Granberry talks with actor Dennis Quaid about his latest film, The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, which reflects on the racism of the 1950s and 1960s in Dallas and elsewhere.

Have you seen The Express? Do you think Dallas was fairly portrayed in the film?

• The Express (A-)

• Body of Lies (C+)

• Girl Cut in Two (B+)

• Loins of Punjab Presents (B+)

• City of Ember (B+)

• Billy: The Early Years (C)

• Quarantine (B-)

SMU journalism student Christy Vutam got the chance to chat one-on-one with actor Simon Pegg, star of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which opened this past Friday. Check out the video at SMU's Daily Mustang.

• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (B+)

• Blindness (D)

• Religulous (B-)

• Appaloosa (C+)

• Beverly Hills Chihuahua (C+)

• An American Carol (F)

• How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (C+)

• Flash of Genius (C+)

• Battle in Seattle (C-)

• Allah Made Me Funny (D)

Reuters reports:

Film director Spike Lee has set off a storm in Italy with a movie about black American soldiers fighting alongside Italian partisans in World War Two.

Surviving members of the resistance to the Nazi occupation of Italy have taken issue with Miracle at St. Anna ahead of the film's Italian release on Friday, distributing protest flyers and accusing Lee of distorting history.

Lee has said he wanted to set the record straight about the role played by black U.S. soldiers in the war. The film is based on a novel by James McBride and focuses on the all-black 92nd Buffalo Division which helped liberate Italy in 1944-45.

At the heart of the dispute is the film's depiction of an infamous 1944 massacre in the Tuscan town of Sant'Anna di Stazzema, where Nazi troops rounded up and killed 560 civilians.

Read the rest of the story

Miracle at St. Anna opened in Dallas on Sept. 26.

• Eagle Eye (D)

• Miracle at St. Anna (C)

• Nights in Rodanthe (C)

• Choke (C)

• The Lucky Ones (C)

• The Duchess (B)

• Fireproof

• Another Gay Sequel:
Gays Gone Wild (C-)

• Ghost Town (B+)
• Lakeview Terrace (B)
• My Best Friend's Girl
• Igor (B)
• The Duchess (B)
• Towelhead (A)
• Chris and Don: A Love Story (B-)
• OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (C)
• Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (A-)

Our story in today's GuideLive talks about a friendship cemented and celebrated at the movies.

What about you -- what has movie-going meant to you and your friends?

And while we're at it, what's your favorite movie about friendship? (Anyone suggesting Ben will be shunned, permanently.)

– Michael Merschel

War movies are tough. But when they're good, they bring home the sacrifice on the ground like nothing else.

Beaufort, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2008 Academy Awards, won four Israeli film awards for its unflinching portrayal of a 22-year-old Israeli outpost commander and his troops, who fight hard to occupy a fortress inside the Lebanon border, only to be told afterwards to destroy and leave the place.

This Dallas premiere continues the International Jewish Film Festival of Dallas Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Angelika Plano. Tickets $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 214-739-2737.

• Burn After Reading (B)

• The Women (B-)

• The Family That Preys

• Righteous Kill (D)

• Sixty Six (A-)

• Surfer, Dude (D)

• I Served the King of England (B)

• Up the Yangtze (B)

• Proud American (D+)

She's Jewish, he's Muslim and their baby will be what? Check it out when the 12th Annual Jewish Film Festival of Dallas continues with the Dallas premiere of Bad Faith, a 2006 French comedy with its own unique Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? moments tonight at 7 p.m. at the Studio Movie Grill Dallas.

The couple is easy on the eyes, too. Cécile De France, who won the best actress Étoile d'Or prize co-stars with Roshdy Zem, who also wrote and directed the movie. Tickets are available online, at the Aaron Family JCC, by phone at 214-739-2737 or at the theater one hour before showtime.

The 12th Annual International Jewish Film Festival continues with Secrets tonight at 8 p.m. at the Angelika in Plano. And boy, does this film live up to its title. It begins quietly as the story of a very serious, very observant young Jewish woman who wants a little more time to study at a religious school before marrying the rabbinical student selected by her father.

Then as she learns secrets about a rebellious roommate and a poor and emotionally needy woman near her school, she discovers secrets in herself that make her question who she is, what she wants and what she had previously thought of as right and wrong.

This one is for adults only, with some nudity and gay themes. If anyone sees it, I'd love to know what you think. It was nominated for eight Israeli film awards. $10 in advance at 214-739-2731 or www.jccdallas.org, $12 at the door.

• The Edge of Heaven (B+)

• Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (A)

• America the Beautiful (B)

• Bangkok Dangerous (not screened)

Maybe its just me, but it seems like a bad sign -- or at least par for the course -- that the three biggest end-of-summer flicks weren't screened in advance for critics. Why, it's almost as if the studios wanted Babylon A.D., College and Disaster Movie. to slip under the radar! That said, just wait and see if all three of those don't find a spot in the box office top 10 by Monday morning. Did you catch any of these films? Am I right or wrong?

• The Traitor (C)
• Babylon A.D.
• In Search of a Midnight Kiss (B+)
• Transsiberian (B)
• A Man Named Pearl (B)
• Hamlet 2 (C)
• College
• Disaster Movie

Exit Speed, an action movie filmed primarely in Coppell and Carrollton, will have its red carpet debut Tuesday night at the Studio Movie Grill on Centrail Expressway and Royal Lane. Walking the carpet will be cast members of the film including Lea Thompson, plus Bob Hudgins of the Texas Film Commission and Janis Burkland of the Dallas Film Commission. The film was produced by Sally Helppie, a Dallas lawyer who is president of Sabbatical Pictures.

Such an embarrassment of Jewish film riches. Just two nights before the 12th Annual International Jewish Film Festival opens with the affecting Sixty Six, a story inspired by a real-life bar mitzvah, 3 Stars Cinema is presenting a different kind of story, Praying with Lior. It's an award-winning documentary about a boy with Down syndrome and his journey to study for his bar mitzvah.

It's a one-night only showing Thursday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Angelika Film Center. Tickets are $9 and are available here.

If you were planning on heading out to the Angelika for a movie tonight, don't. The theater is closed to the public as it hosts the premiere of Drive and Deliver, a documentary about professional truck drivers. That film screens at 6 p.m., though I'm not sure how to get tickets. Maybe you can find out here.

• Death Race (B+)
• The Rocker (D+)
• Elegy (B)
• Frozen River (A-)
• The House Bunny (B-)
• The Longshots (C+)
• I.O.U.S.A. (B)

Finding it hard to resist belting out "The Winner Takes It All" or dancing to "Dancing Queen" with Meryl Streep at Mamma Mia!? Resistance is futile and actually detrimental at a new sing-along version of the hit movie opening Aug. 29 at AMC NorthPark and Cinemark Legacy in Plano.

It's part of a limited national release for this cleverly plotted cornucopia of ABBA songs, boisterously performed on a lush Greek island and which despite the scoffing remarks of some (mostly males, ahem!), has already scored more than $320 million worldwide.

Cool thing is, with the words on the screen, you don't have even brush up on the lyrics (as if you didn't know them all). Well, that takes care of our plans for Labor Day weekend...

And if you will be away for Labor Day weekend, look here to find out your closest sing-along location.

I.O.U.S.A., a documentary that inspects the financial troubles facing the country, officially opens on Friday, but a special presentation of the film will be shown Thursday. After the screening, a panel discussion featuring Warren Buffett and other financial leaders will be shown via satellite. All screenings will be held at 7 p.m.; for a list of participating theaters, go to www.fathomevents.com.

• Vicky Cristina Barcelona (B+)
• Fly Me to the Moon (B-)
• Tropic Thunder (B) (opened Wednesday)
• Mirrors
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (C+)
• Henry Poole is Here (B)

Support? System Down, a documentary exploring the short comings of the country's child-support system, will screen Thursday night at the Angelika Film Center in Plano (7205 Bishop Road). Following the film, audience members are encouraged to stay and discuss the topic further. Tickets are $8; for more information on the film, go to www.supportthemovie.com.

Somehow, amid all of the blockbusters, several compelling docs have managed to creep onto screens. One of them (Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World) unfortunately leaves screens Thursday, but two more deserve our attention.
The first is American Teen, which opened last week at the Dallas and Plano Angelikas. It's one of those docs for people who don't think they like docs. The film follows five teenagers in Warsaw, Indiana, and it has such a narrative structure to it that if you didn't know going in that what you were witnessing was real, you would think you were just watching a feature film. I don't know if it's the best doc I've seen all year, but it's certainly the one I had the most fun watching. And if nothing else, it has a nice soundtrack.
The other documentary, hitting screens on Friday, is Man on Wire. Full disclosure: I haven't seen this one yet. But from everything I've read, it sounds like white-knuckle filmmaking at its best. The movie follows Philippe Petit, a French daredevil who attempted to walk a tight rope between the newly constructed World Trade Center Towers in Manhattan in 1974. Now, you can argue that hearing from Petit in the film lowers the potential splat factor a bit, but just looking at the movie poster makes my palms sweat.
The bottom line to all of this? If you are tired of your Hellboy IIs and Mummys, etc. there is other, more interesting stuff on screens during these dog days of summer.

Pineapple Express was by far the funniest thing I have watched all year!

Seth Rogan (Dale Denton) and James Franco (Saul Silver) are hysterical together and Danny R. McBride (Red) adds the icing on the cake.

I want so badly to talk about the best parts and lines but I don't want to give anything away. I will say that the movie is much more graphic than I expected. Body parts are lost and you will get a close up of the whole thing.

Go catch Pineapple Express and let me know what you thought of the movie.

Brendan Fraser has given us reason to believe that he can do both small films (The Quiet American, Gods and Monsters) and big blockbusters (The Mummy series, which sees its third installment open today).
But one thing that is indisputable is that the guy is a master at acting against the green screen. When he was in town promoting Journey to the Center of the Earth earlier this summer, he talked about that ability -- a skill that the more I think about it is probably more difficult than is given credit.
"I've been told that I have the unusual ability to be able to buy into the fact that there's something that's not there, believe that it is, and give a performance that feeds the CGI artists so that they can put in their electronic elements -- be it a creature or a mummy trying to rip my head off or a tiny bird or something like that," he said.
Eric Brevig, the director of Journey and a special effect ace in his own right, agrees.
"He's brilliant at being able to do stuff which other actors sometimes are not good at, which is in his imagination, he sees these things that are not there at the time they are being shot, and its his belief that you as an audience member see it on the screen and then you believe it. And I don't think you can teach that."
So think about that when you are out watching Fraser fight off some sure-to-be-CGI mummy this weekend.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (D)

American Teen (B+)

Swing Vote (B)

The Last Mistress (B)

Midnight Meat Train (not screened)

After getting over my fear of a let-down from the tastiness that is Hellboy, a great comic-booky film based on a comic book (if you follow me down that road), me and mine finally decided to gird our loins and walk into the theater to watch Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The movie wasn't that long, we figured, so we wouldn't rue the day that it might have taken to watch it. But it was important to watch, as we do invest an inordinate amount of time in watching the first one.

All I can say is, "My bad." Too many sights in that film for these sore eyes. Me and mine silently agreed to never speak of it again, mostly by avoiding eye contact for a bit of the ride home and then finding other things to talk about. Ah, well. Room was left for a third installment of the franchise ... and third time's the charm, or so they say.

Just wanted to get out there the day before it opens to say the X-Files movie may be the most unaccountable and hopeless movie release of the summer. Here's a show that ended five years ago, when its shelf-life was already running out. And now, five years later, here's comes the big-screen return.

I understand that X-Files has a devoted community of hardcore fans on the Internet, but in any sort of broad, pop-cult-buzz way that drives the requisite masses to make a successful movie opening, X-Files is completely off-the-radar. Today's young-movie-goers have a new generation of cool/sexy/spooky science-fiction-fantasy-conspiracy projects to obsess over. They've never heard of and/or don't care about the X-Files. And for the boomers/GenXrs who did watch X-Files? They've moved on. Nostalgia and taut, paranoia-and-suspense-driven drama don't really go together.

If Speed Racer's shocking freefall at the box office earlier this summer taught us anything, it's that consumer awareness and brandname relevance have a breathtaking brevity in today's overloaded/A.D.D-driven cultural marketplace. Nostalgia was a boomer thing. To today's audience of young media consumers, yesterday was an eternity ago.

X-Files opening will be like a Star Trek convention -- hardcore (and perhaps costumed) fans only. Weekend total, maybe $11 million..

If you had plans to catch either Gunnin' for that # 1 Spot or Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, better make like the wind. Both of them will play through Thursday before leaving local screens. Chris Vognar really liked Gunnin' (he said so himself in this review). Of course, he is a basketball nut of unnatural proportions. Meanwhile, Gonzo scored 86 percent positive reviews over at Rotten Tomatoes and is directed by no less than this year's Oscar winner for documentary filmmaking, Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side).
So if you are a fan of the doc, you may want to make it over to the Dallas Angelika (for Gunnin') or the Magnolia (for Gonzo) by Thursday night, lest you have to wait for the DVD.

Aside from the greatness that is The Dark Knight, I was distracted by a couple of things. Maggie Gyllenhaal is far better in the role of Rachel than Katie Holmes was. And, did you notice that a lot of the actors already have iconic characters in their pockets?

Christian Bale plays John Connor in the upcoming Terminator: Salvation; Gary Oldman played Bram Stoker's Dracula; Michael Jai White was Spawn; and Tommy Tiny Lister played "Debo" in the Friday series. (Guilty pleasure alert: He was also the wrestler "Zeus.") How's that for random?

(Spawn © 1997 New Line Cinema Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Spawn, its logo and symbol are registered trademarks of Todd McFarlane Productions. All Rights Reserved.)

The Dark Knight earned an estimated $155 million this weekend, breaking the 14-month old record of Spider-Man 3 by about $4 million. Putting Batman just over the top were likely all of those midnight screenings on Friday, as The Dark Knight earned $18 million on them alone, breaking the record for biggest midnight opening previously held by 2005's Revenge of the Sith. And that figure doesn't include the cash it earned from numerous 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. screenings.
So why all the fuss? My guess is that the Heath Ledger curiosity played an even larger role than we like to give it credit for. Once word came out that his performance actually lived up to the hype surrounding it, The Dark Knight became a movie that you HAD to see this weekend if you wanted to be part of any conversation on Monday.
Judging by these numbers, it sounds like you all will be able to share in the chit-chat.

The Dark Knight can already lay claim to one record: biggest midnight opening. In earning $18.4 million on its early Friday showings, the film surpassed 2005's Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith to take the crown.
Several theaters also showed the film at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Friday, so this one may have a chance to take down Spider-Man 3's all-time opening weekend of $151.1 million. It was thought that Dark Knight's 152-minute running time would hamper its cause, but if theaters are adding screenings at crazy hours, that can help make up for its fewer waking-hour showings.

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Jonathan Levine and Josh Peck, the director and star of The Wackness for a story that ran on Thursday. We spent most of the time talking about the role that music plays in the film, which is set in Manhattan in 1994, right at the end of hip-hop's glory days (IMHO).
But another part of getting the vibe right was the dialogue, which is a trickier task than just collecting a solid soundtrack.
"Initially I just started using 'dope,' 'word,' 'ill,' 'whack' -- I had like five root words that I worked off of," Peck said about his preparation for the film. "Sometimes I would trip up and say to [co-star] Method Man, 'What's good?' and Jon would say, 'Yo, we didn't say that.'"
Ultimately, I'm not as in love with the dialogue as I am the soundtrack. It's just as hard to listen to a white teenager say, "I'm mad depressed, yo!" in 2008 as it was in 1994. But the film still hits on some levels, especially when Peck's character, Luke, is pursuing the out-of-his-league Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby) and learning that she may not have his best interests in mind.
Regardless, you'll at least be bobbing your head and tapping your feet throughout. And that's not such a bad way to spend 90 minutes.

Tired of waiting in that line at the Dallas Angelika that can stretch all the way to Margarita Ranch? Starting today, you have another option. The Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano have partnered with online ticket seller Fandango to sell advanced tickets to Angelika shows. To purchase the tickets, go to fandango.com or call 1-800-Fandango. Then you can skip the lines by picking up your tickets from kiosks located inside the theaters.

The Dark Knight (A-)

Mamma Mia! (C)

The Wackness (B)

Space Chimps (C)

Alexandra (B+)

After months of counting down, The Dark Knight is upon us. Screenings start tonight at midnight, and you can get a sneak peek at Chris Vognar's review. So tell us what you think. Follow the links below or comment here on the blog:

Survey: Grade The Dark Knight

Survey: Who was the best Bruce Wayne/Batman?

Survey: Which Batman film was the best?

Survey: Is The Dark Knight overhyped?

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (C)

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D (B)

Gunnin' For That #1 Spot (B+)

War, Inc. (C+)

Bloodline (C-)

Meet Dave

3-D is having a moment. Yup, it's come a long way from the floppy cardboard and red-and-blue plastic you might remember from Jaws 3-D. With better technology -- and much cooler glasses -- 3-D is making a comeback.

I saw U2 3D earlier this year, and it was definitely worth it. Yeah, I would have enjoyed the movie either way, but I was definitely impressed by the technology. And while I didn't exactly feel like I was at the concert, there were moments I leaned to see around a head in front of me -- a head that wasn't actually in the theater.

What do you think about this resurgence? Will you chose Journey to the Center of the Earth's multi-dimensional version over the flat-screened variety? Does it add to the movie experience, or is it merely a gimmick to put more bodies in theater seats?

Midsummer movie report

Summer movie guide

Opening this week:

Hancock (B)

Brick Lane (B-)

Gonzo: The Life And Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (B)

The Animation Show 4 (B+)