I have to be honest. Director Richard Shepard probably lost me in the first 10 seconds of Dom Hemingway. I can't help believing that my opinion was shaded a bit as I watched Jude Law as the titular character rambling some nonsensical dialog while having himself "taken care of" by a fellow inmate in prison. It's an image that lives with you long after the scene is done. Surprisingly, I did start to settle in for what looked like a more promising ride than I had first believed. And for about 40 minutes it actually became an almost good film.

Dom Hemingway (Law) is a safecracker who has been in prison for 12 years. He was a loyal crook who didn't roll over on anyone else. Now that he's out, he expects to be rewarded for his loyalty. He also hopes to make it up to his now-adult daughter Evelyn (Clarke). It doesn't look like that's going to be easy. In fact, none of it is going to be easy. Getting new work is hard, because safes have gone electronic since he's been away, and an audition where he bests his privates against a job is handled with absurd cleverness that only backfires.

There is nothing wrong with your movie screen. Jonathan Glazer controls all that you see and hear. That tiny speck of light you see is just the beginning. The beginning of an experience you will not soon forget. The light appears distant...cold... foreboding. It's coming closer to us, or we are coming closer to it. The distant star grows while you are assaulted with some of the most bizarre sounds you have ever heard. It's somewhat uncomfortable. You squirm in your seat. The light grows; its alien forms finally settles into an unexpected familiar form. Still, it's all rather unsettling. Jonathan Glazer controls more than all you see and hear. For the next two hours he controls your sanity... your very humanity.

Your introduction to Under The Skin explains little. There are some general ideas you'll begin to assemble. You'll figure out rather quickly that Scarlett Johansson is an alien. The characters you'll encounter have no names. Many of them will not speak. After the first sensory experience the film fools you into believing you're back on solid ground. Scarlett Johansson drives about the streets of Scotland talking to strange men. She asks directions and inquires about any family or friends they might have. It doesn't take us long to understand that she's hunting, attempting to separate a single prey from the pack. Before she snares her first victim, we know exactly what she's doing, even if we never understand completely why.

Let me say something about myself. I have a saying. Atheists are stupid and agnostics are smart. The reason agnostics are smart is because they know they don't know. Faith is belief. The problem is that this is a cynical age. There are so many people who are atheists because they can cite facts about the universe and science. I always think it's absurd to hear an atheist talk, because they are so insulting to anyone who doesn't agree with them. So am I an agnostic? I would say I am not. I have faith, but I will say that it is not an easy or blind faith. I have examined all areas of the unknown which includes a wide variety of religions and various scientific investigations. My problem with atheists is that human knowledge is limited. It has grown tremendously, especially in the last century, but the more we learn, the more we open new unexamined areas of knowledge. I'm going to have to come back to that.

Heaven Is for Real is a sincere and enjoyable film of faith. It's about a family of four who live in a beautiful Nebraska farmland countryside. Todd (Greg Kinnear) and Sonja (Kelly Reilly) Burpo have two lovely young children. They live in a place that seems like heaven. Todd works as a pastor for the local church, a repair man, a volunteer fireman and whatever else he has to do to make ends meet. He is not making ends meet. His four-year-old son gets a ruptured appendix which has complications in emergency surgery. Everyone thinks Colton (Conor Corum) will die, and when the boy finally pulls through, everyone is overjoyed. Colton's life goes back to normal except for some things he starts remembering. He remembers seeing Jesus on a horse, angels, and a sister he never knew he had.

"Hi, little guys."

There was a time, decades ago when Walt Disney Studios was doing quality documentaries on a pretty regular schedule. Many of them appeared on the television show The Wonderful World Of Disney, and more than a few were released as feature films. And while that tradition has continued somewhat, it's been a while since I was truly impressed by a Disney documentary. That all changes with the release of Bears.

Just about any project that Christopher Nolan has any attachment to is going to get my attention.  And from the first glimpses of the film in the early teasers, Transcendence always felt like a film Nolan would seem right at home making.  Instead taking the helm for the first time as director is Wally Pfister.  Though this may be his first time in the director’s chair, Pfister is no stranger to working on pictures of large scale; after all, he’s been Nolan’s director of photography since Memento back in 2000.  So how does Pfister do with his first at bat?  Well, it could be a lot worse…

The film opens up in the not-too-distant future where technology has become a thing of the past.  Man is now forced to go on with their lives without the use of computers, and the relics of technology are nothing more than doorstops.  But what could have happened to make this world technology-free?  Well, to answer that the film jumps back five years, and that is where the story begins.