Knowing

The movie begins with a time capsule being buried at a new elementary school and a strange girl's contribution to the capsule is a sheet of random numbers. When the time capsule is dug up 50 years later and each child is given a letter the son of scientist John Koestler (Nicholas Cage) receives the numbers. He realizes the numbers represent every major disaster that has happened in the past 5o years and that there are more numbers indicating things happening in the near future. A strange movie that was not horrible, but not one of Cage's best.

Rachel Getting Married

As Rachel (Rosemary DeWitt) is preparing for her wedding her sister Kym (Anne Hathaway) has to leave rehab to join the festivities, and in doing so brings with her some darkness and drama. As the events unfold you realize there is some past family trauma that has caused Kym's downward spiral that still has to be dealt with. A different role for Hathaway but one I thought she did a great job on. A dark and disturbing movie.

Nights in Rodanthe

Richard Gere and Diane Lane star in this drama based on the best selling book by Nicholas Sparks. Suffering from a painful end to her marriage Adrienne agrees to head to the coast and run her friend's bed and breakfast for a weekend. When she gets there she is only to take of one guest, a doctor running from some painful issues of his own. After an unbelievably powerful weekend their two lives will never be the same. Like most of Spark's works this is another tear-jerker but Lane and Gere are always a pleasure to watch.

The Secret Life of Bees

Based on the best-selling novel this is the story of a young girl who after the death of her mother runs away from home and finds solace at the home of three African American sisters. During the time of the Civil Rights movement this movie touches on the some fragile new found freedoms as well as the young girls struggle to find a place in life. Dakota Fanning does another great performance and Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Sophie Okonedo & Alicia Keys are also superb.

The Bucket List

Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman team up as 2 men who meet while in the hospital seriously sick and form an unlikely friendship. When they start making a "bucket list" which is a list of everything they want to do before they die, their friendship takes a different turn when they decide to take off and do the things on the list. These 2 great actors make the movie funny and sad and overall really enjoyable to watch.

P.S. I Love You

Hillary Swank plays Holly a happily married woman who is devastated by the very early death of her Irish husband Gerry (Gerard Butler). When notes and gifts start arriving from him she is first angry until she realizes this is his way of helping her move on with her life. I am not a huge Swank fan, but I really enjoyed this movie. I thought the chemistry of the main characters was great and overall she did a great job in this role.

I Am Legend

Will Smith plays Robert Neville a scientist who is trying to figure out a way to reverse a horrible man-made virus that either killed off most of humanity or turned them into vampire-like creatures. As the last human survivor he is determined to find a cure before time runs out. Not really my type of movie, so not one I will watch again.

The Brave One

After a brutal beating leaves Neil Jordan (Jodie Foster) fighting for her life and her fiance dead she struggles to get the courage to face life again. Finally she gets frustrated with being afraid and buys herself a gun. When she stumbles across another violent crime she realizes she can be the victim once again, or this time she can fight back. I didn't really think I was going to like this movie, but I actually did. I like the combination of Foster and Terrance Howard.

Shoot 'Em Up

Clive Owen plays "Smith" a guy who happens along just in time to rescue a baby the "bad" guys are trying to assassinate. If you like nothing but violence then this is a movie for you. The action sequences are so far fetched that none of them are realistic, but if that doesn't bother you then you might like the movie. I thought it was too over the top so didn't really enjoy it.

Martian Child

When widower David Gordan (John Cusack) decides to adopt a strange but lovable child he didn't realize how tough it was going to be dealing with the boys' belief that he is from another planet. I love John Cusack but the movie was definitely slow and not one of the better ones I have seen.

Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End

In this 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movie Jack Sparrow is rescued once again by his faithful followers. They then begin a harrowing journey where they have to unite with other pirates to battle the powerful Davy Jones and the East India Trading Company. This movie was very long and a bit confusing, but with all your favorite characters returning it is still fun to watch. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) always makes the movie.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Lord Voldemort is back in this 5th Harry Potter movie and with him are his faithful followers The Death Eaters. To battle this group of evil, Dumbledore brings back his own "anti-Voldemort gang" the Order of the Phoenix. Not wanting the students of Hogwarts to be taken unaware Harry begins to train his own group of followers to prepare them for the unavoidable battles sure to come. Of course anytime you take a book and turn it into a movie you are going to lose some content, but I really enjoy the Harry Potter movies and this one is no exception.

We Are Marshall

Based on the true life events of Marshall University in West Virginia when in 1970 almost all of the University's football team and coaching staff were tragically killed in a plane crash. This movie is about the new coach whose goal was to breath life back into the community, college, and football program. A sad, but pretty good movie. I thought Matthew Fox stole the show!

The Ultimate Gift

After spoiled Jason Stevens' (Drew Fuller) very wealthy grandfather (James Garner) dies he leaves him with a series of "gifts" or tasks that he must complete in order to receive his true inheritance (the "ultimate gift"). Jason starts a journey that teaches him about money vs. happiness, and makes him take a closer look at how he has been living his life. I really enjoyed all the actors in this film and Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine does another great performance. I highly recommend watching this, but if you are anything like me you will need a box of tissues. This is a wonderful movie.

Bridge to Terebithia

This is the story about a boy who does not fit in at school and so has trouble making friends. A new "odd" girl moves to town and even though he at first doesn't like her because she beats him at a foot race, they start forming a friendship. He soon realizes that she has an amazing imagination and together they form their own private make believe world filled with all sorts of mystical beings. This is a cute book based movie.

Premonition

Sandra Bullock plays a grieving widow who one day her husband is dead and then the next day she wakes up and he is alive. This begins a cycle she is determined to break. I thought this movie was ok. Not one of Bullock's best, but it was fairly entertaining.

Catch & Release

In this movie Jennifer Garner plays Grey Wheeler, a woman whose fiance dies unexpectedly right before the wedding. With the help of her fiance's friends and the mother of his child she didn't know about, she tries to figure out how to move on with her life. This movie did not do well at the box office, but I really enjoyed it. I thought the cast was great and it was worth watching.