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“Before we start, I want you to know something...I'm not a rat.”

I could get into *a lot* of trouble if anybody found out I was talking to you. After all, there is absolutely, positively nothing worse than a rat, a point that is made crystal clear in Black Mass. But I'm putting my neck on the line here because I figured you'd want to know this fact-based crime drama marks the welcome return of Johnny Depp, who has spent the better part of the past decade in the Magic Kingdom loony wilderness.

What a great time it was to be a teen in the late 1970’s. No, I’m not referring to disco music. It was a great time to go to the movies. It was the culmination of the perfect date, and Hollywood was riding the beginning of a trend that remains alive and healthy today. I’m talking, of course, about the slasher film. You could argue that Hitchcock started the ball rolling in 1961 with Psycho, but it would be decades before that film would find its true audience and plethora of imitators. Although The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween came before Friday The 13^th, can it be argued that any horror film franchise is as widely known?

by Dustin P. Anderson

This is a documentary on the growing concern for the rising number of African-American children being born into unwed households. The film’s title 72% is a statistic of how many African-American single mothers are currently living in America. The documentary asks scholars and television personalities for their take on the growing crisis among the community. I feel I must make this quick addendum: as a white male I can only take this movie for how I saw it and how it made me feel. I am aware that I am not necessarily the target audience intended for this documentary, but it was a good watch besides.

I remember seeing a trailer for this movie a few months back and feeling underwhelmed. It was one of those experiences where you see a trailer and feel like through that contact alone that you can determine the entire course of the movie. Fortunately, I have no trouble admitting when I am wrong, and that was the case for Clouds of Sils Maria. I didn’t have any clue what I was in for, and though slow pace of the film and the ever-changing landscape did get a bit tedious at times, the film possessed a story that I can only describe as life imitating art. Ironic, given that the film covers the story of a renowned actress being asked to return to a play that made her famous but this time in an older role, another once upon a time playing the younger one.

Soccer mom comedy, there’s a new one for me. I must say, not what I expected. I haven’t spent a lot of time devoted to the life and times of a soccer mom, but after Heather McDonald’s “I don’t mean to brag,” it is clearly more interesting than it seems. In this hour special she lays it all out for you, from breastfeeding (or more accurately non-breastfeeding) to her less-than-romantic sex life with her husband (to husbands everywhere, the expiration date of condoms is not a legitimate come-on). When it starts out, you may be thrown by the less-than-funny skit intro, but I assure you, there are a few things worth seeing.

So you have a horror fan on your shopping list this year. You're not sure if they like classic or slasher. Do they appreciate the wonderful films of the past, or do they like to go for the jugular? You know there's a ton of horror titles out there, but which ones are any good? You also want this gift to be something special. The guy at the store doesn't know Frankenstein from Jason. You ask for his help, and he looks at you like something out of The Walking Dead. Shopping for a horror title scares you more than a walk at Camp Crystal Lake with a bullseye tattooed on your face. Don't lose your head over this one. Anchor Bay and Shout Factory's Scream Factory have that perfect special gift. It's The Halloween Collection. You get the classic John Carpenter film and all of the slash-fest sequels as well. It's 10 films in one high-definition splatter festival. And it won't cost you an arm and a leg... well maybe a foot.

Here we have a film that knows all the rules and stereotypes of horror films, but instead of twisting things around and turning the genre on its side, we get a convoluted mess that actually had some real potential.  The film is stacked with some solid B-list actors who actually put in performances that remind the viewer why at one point these actors had relatively successful careers.  Brian Austin Green (90210), Mena Suvari (American Pie  and American Beauty), Zack Ward (A Christmas Story and Postal),  and Joanne Kelly (Warehouse 13) are some of the actors that fill this cast, all with solid resumes such that you’d expect at any point they could make the leap to the A-list.

The main thing I look for in a movie is “not the same old thing”. So many movies are retreads into comfortable viewing. If we've seen it a million times, we must like it, right? Why fix it if it isn't broke? Unfortunately, most movies are the same old thing because of laziness and apathy. Hollywood doesn't really welcome new ideas. Are You Here is not “the same old thing”. Some people might not like something new, but I do. I like to be challenged by characters that grow right before your eyes and become people you never expected they'd be. Are You Here is basically a romantic comedy, which makes it even more unusual for it to have such challenging characters.