In an admission that will come as a considerable disappointment to a former coworker (who, for the record, is decidedly not Goth), my initial memories of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” were somewhat fuzzy. My first viewing of producer Tim Burton and director Henry Selick’s stop-motion animated film, not too long after its original home video release, was marred with, umm, distractions. So I hadn’t the concrete impressions one might have with a more focused viewing — just an impression of the hand-crafted feel, and a lingering sense of disappointment in relation to the movie’s songs, from Danny Elfman. A re-visiting of the somewhat seminal work — which scored a visual effects…

“Thor,” an almost $450 million worldwide box office hit earlier this year, introduced audiences to one of the players in Marvel Studios’ grand, forthcoming ”Avengers” saga. And that’s part of the problem, honestly. However admirably ambitious the creation of a unified superhero universe spanning multiple movies, certain entries, like this one, play like little more than origin story pattycake – wan set-up for something of later, actual consequence. On the verge of ascending to the throne of Asgard, headstrong Norse God Thor (Chris Hemsworth) flips out over some nasty ice giant interlopers who are vanquished in fairly short order, and decides to seek revenge, against the counsel of his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins),…

Too many romantic comedies witlessly hone in on the differences between men and women to create a heightened-stakes backdrop in which every interaction with the opposite sex is imbued with some sort of grand, gender-statement significance, which is of course then supposed to be neatly resolved and tidily put away by the time a paired-off happy ending rolls around. Co-written by Annie Mumolo and “Saturday Night Live”‘s Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids” instead focuses a considerable amount of its energy on female friendships, yes, but also the things women want in relationships — love, security, availability — that are the same as men. The result is the best female-fronted Hollywood comedy in years, and a…

Over a decade ago, Bryan Singer’s adaptation of the “X-Men” comic book franchise gave the modern superhero genre a kick in the pants, seeding action thrills with deeper ethical conflicts, and laying the groundwork for both the grander commercial success (think “Spider-Man”) and some of the more artistic-minded noodling of a wide variety of genre followers (see also: Ang Lee’s “Hulk”). A prequel to the original trilogy, director Matthew Vaughn’s ”X-Men: First Class” is a slick piece of pop entertainment marked by smarter than average characterizations and some solid performances, and it confirms that mainstream Hollywood studio films can indeed – with some effort, and the oversight of a savvy producer – still…

Back when he was busy being a figment of Russell Crowe’s imagination in “A Beautiful Mind,” no one likely would have much expected Paul Bettany to be an ass-kicking action hero. Of course, folks would have said the same thing about Liam Neeson too, and look how that turned out. While wrestlers-turned-actors like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and other muscle-bound he-men in the vein of Jason Momoa still fit the mold for a certain breed of action flick, there are other movies that don’t require the correlative “Men’s Fitness” magazine cover, per se, and in the slick streamlined “Priest” — a sort of vampiric re-telling of the classic Western “The…

I remember first watching “Children of the Corn” as a kid when it came out back in the early 80′s, and it scared the hell out of me! Some very grisly scenes and a chilling soundtrack make this horror classic a must see. The film loosely based on a Stephen King short story will be available on DVD October 6th, 2009. Here’s some details from the studio. BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Beware He Who Walks Behind The Rows! Based on the short story from Stephen King and to celebrate the silver anniversary of the 1984 motion picture, the 2009 remake of Children of the Corn will be released on DVD…

Check out the official DVD artwork for the frightening prequel to the $55 million worldwide box office hit The Messengers. “Messengers 2: The Scarecrow” directed by Martin Barnewitz from a screenplay by Todd Farmer and starring Norman Reedus (American Gangster, The Boondock Saints) and Richard Riehle (Office Space, Glory, The Fugitive) debuts on DVD July 21st. Synopsis: The prequel to the box office hit The Messengers goes back to the farm to finally learn the story of John Rollins — the simple North Dakota farmer, struggling to save his farm and hold his family together. When he places a mysterious scarecrow in his field his luck changes for the better…but…

Title: The Unborn, Release Date: July 7th, 2009 Starring: Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Meagan Good, Cam Gigandet, James Remar, Atticus Shaffer, Jane Alexander, and Idris Elba OVERVIEW: From the co-writer of The Dark Knight and the producers who brought you The Texas Chainsaw Massacre comes a terrifying glimpse into the life of the undead in this chilling thriller that will haunt your soul. Writer and director David Goyer (The Dark Knight, Blade: Trinity) gives a terrifying glimpse into the life of the undead in The Unborn, a supernatural thriller that follows a young woman pulled into a world of nightmares when a demonic spirit haunts her and threatens everyone she…

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. (March 9, 2009) – Gil Bellows (TV’s “Ally McBeal”), Golden Globe nominee Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club), Golden Globe and Emmy-nominee Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet, Death Becomes Her) and Maxim Roy (A Woman Hunted) star in the sci-fi thriller Infected, debuting on DVD May 19 from Genius Products and RHI Entertainment. Ben (Bellows) and Lisa (Roy), disgruntled reporters for The Boston Daily, are looking for stories to match their ambitions. They find the story of a lifetime when the mayor is assassinated-not by a crazed gun nut, but by a terrified man desperate to stop an alien invasion of “infectious” proportions. Starting in the highest echelon of…

DC Animation have announced details for their upcoming animated feature “Green Lantern: First Flight”, the latest in their line of animated full-length features. “Green Lantern: First Flight” will be available as a special edition 2-disc version on both DVD and Blu-Ray Hi-Def for $29.98 (SRP) and $34.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single-disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP). The DVD version comes with over three hours of extra content, including two featurettes, a digital copy download, and a widescreen (1.78:1) version. It also comes with two episodes of the animated “Justice League” series, hand-picked by animation legend Bruce Timm. The Blu-ray version will include the same special features as the DVD….