Title: The Dead Directed by: Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford Starring: Rob Freeman, Prince David Oseia and David Dontoh Running time: 105 minutes, Rated R, Available on DVD In the near future, a virus is spreading throughout the world turning people into the walking dead. Lt. Brian Murphy (Freeman) survives a crash off the coast of Africa, and is determined to find his way home to his wife and daughter. He soon crosses paths with Sergeant Daniel Dembele (Osei) whose own village has been ravaged by zombies, but Daniel is certain his young son has survived. Together they trek across the African plains, taking down the reanimated dead until…

Title: Killing Bono Directed by: Nick Hamm Starring: Ben Barnes, Robert Sheehan, Krysten Ritter and Pete Postlethwaite Running time: 113 minutes, Rated R, Available on Blu-ray Loosely based on the book “Killing Bono: I Was Bono’s Doppelganger” by Neil McCormick is the story of Neil and Ivan McCormick, two brothers who spend their early adult life trying to make their dream of having a rock band a reality, while constantly living in the shadow of their schoolmates own successful band called U2. Whether or not the story is entirely true, you really feel for these character’s constant disappointment, and sometimes wonder how or why they keep going after this seemingly…

Title: I Don’t Know How She Does It Reviewed by: JM Willis Directed by: Douglas McGrath Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear Running time: 89 minutes , Rated PG-13, Available on DVD Kate Reddy, a financial executive juggles her career and responsibilities as a wife and mother of two, as rivals, friends and family comment in awe to an unseen/unheard interviewer.  Kate breaks the fourth wall as she explains “how she does it.” I  stumbled upon the Uma Thurman box office bomb Motherhood a few weeks ago while channel surfing at my parents’ house, and found the storyline in comparison eerily similar. Mom has to juggle being…

Title: Thin Ice Director: Jill Sprecher (‘Thirteen Conversations About One Thing,’ ‘Clockwatchers’) Starring: Greg Kinnear, Bill Crudup and Alan Arkin Con artists are usually portrayed as being ruthless and conniving in films, and aren’t often featured as the main protagonist with whom audiences can relate to. But Mickey Prohaska, the conman in director-co-writer Jill Sprecher’s new crime drama-comedy, ‘Thin Ice,’ is surprisingly both endearing and deceitful. Greg Kinnear was well-cast as the scheming, sympathetic small-town Wisconsin insurance agent, who will do anything to get what he wants, while genuinely caring for those who have positively impacted his life. ‘Thin Ice’ follows Mickey as he’s looking for a way to jump-start…

Title: Kill List Director: Ben Wheatley Starring: Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Harry Simpson, Michael Smiley, Emma Fryer There has to be a storytelling flaw here. Kill List had a decent amount of intense sequences but you kind of get the feeling that you should be more into this while watching the 95 minutes unravel. And unravel is the proper term for this British flick. What starts out as an awkward, yet train wreck interesting, dinner party between two couples; quickly morphs into a hitman chronicle that flows into a battle with the occult. How and why is never truly addressed at either transition point, yet the curiosity levels remain high….

Title: Big Miracle Director: Ken Kwapis Starring: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Ted Danson, John Pingayak, Tim Blake Nelson, Kristen Bell, Ahmaogak Sweeney, Vinessa Shaw Well, check your heart at the door but feel free to bring in your selfish urges. Big Miracle uses the back-drop of a heartwarming true tale and blasts you with greedy human nature for the majority of the 107 minutes. And you know what, that’s a pretty admirable approach for the genre. Now eventually the warm-fuzzy stuff eventually does find its way into this adaptation of the 1988 news story that captured the world’s attention. Yet instead of going all Free Willy and/or Dolphin Tale on…

Title: Big Miracle Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Director: Ken Kwapis Screenwriter: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler, from Thomas Rose’s book “Free the Whales” Cast: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Kristen Bell, Dermot Mulroney, Tim Blake Nelson, Vinessa Shaw, Ted Danson Screened at: Sony Lincoln Square, NYC, 1/30/12 Opens: February 3, 2012 Politics makes strange bedfellows. Who would have thought that so many individuals with different cultures and conflicting ideologies could unify in the remote northern regions of Alaska, all working toward the same goals albeit for different reasons? Ken Kwapis does a great job in recreating what must have been covered in one way or another by the National Geographic Channel, employing…

Title: The Woman in Black Director: James Watkins (‘Eden’s Lake’) Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Liz White (‘Wild Bill’), Alisha Khazanova (‘Heart’s Boomerang’) and Ciaran Hinds (‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2′) Creating an effective horror movie that features an in-depth plot-line and detailed character backgrounds, frightening physical and emotional scares and visually stunning sets can be a monumental challenge for many directors, as they may not have the time and/or resources to include all of these important elements. ‘The Woman in Black,’ the new horror-thriller starring Daniel Radcliffe in his first film after finishing the ‘Harry Potter’ series, unfortunately fails to embody these important aspects. While the film does feature…

Title: Compliance Director: Craig Zobel Cast: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger, James McCaffrey, Matt Servitto and Ashlie Atkinson Not many movies out there solely exist to examine human nature in its most diabolical and haunting form. Most movies want to deliver a good story with interesting characters, but a movie like “Compliance” comes once in a decade. I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie like “Compliance” that had me squirming in my seat while I wanted so badly to yell at the screen. Yes, “Compliance” is a horror movie only it’s not interested in giving audiences gore, blood or even thrills, it…

Title: “After Fall, Winter” Director: Eric Schaeffer Starring: Eric Schaeffer, Lizzie Brochere, Marie Luneau, Christian Mulot, Sylvie Loeillet, Niseema Theilland Writer-director-actor Eric Schaeffer has made a career out of more or less channeling his offscreen insecurities, foibles and sexual appetites into what could loosely be categorized as slices of desperate-plea entertainment. His filmography behind the camera — which includes ”If Lucy Fell,” “Wirey Spindell” and 1997′s critically lambasted “Fall,” to which his latest film is a quasi-sequel — is littered with movies in which he plays articulate, misunderstood, down-on-their-luck guys (often cabbies or writers, sometimes both) who bag chicks consistently out of their league and then get wound up about the impending implosion of…