A crew of African American pilots during WWII in the Tuskegee Training program are called into action while they continue to experience bias and discrimination in the segragated military of the 1940's. When you consider how difficult it was to make this movie - only coming to life with the strong financial backing and relentless commitment of George Lucas - a certain amount of bias is very much still with us. The Tuskegee airman proved that with access and opportunity they could fight as well and often better than their white colleagues. This is an easy movie to watch with intense air combat, good script and great performances by Terrance Howard and Cuba Goodings Jr.

J. Edgar Hoover was one of the most hated and feared men in America and the face of federal law enforcement for 50 + years. While he was an innovator as he constructed the FBI, it was his personal life that brought him his greatest challenges. How ironic it was that the man who kept secrets on everyone had the most spectacular secrets in his own life. Leonardo DeCaprio is compelling as Hoover and pours a lot of character insight into this very intense biopic. Naomi Watts is very believable as his long time assistant who continuously covers his tracks. It's not a feel good movie by any means - but as a piece of American history - it's valuable.

A southern town's unspoken but understood code of rules in 1963 are challenged by three women who form an unlikely partnership. This movie has generated a lot of buzz both good and bad - we felt the pressure of not liking something that we really did enjoy on many levels. In the end this is not a documentary about the Civil Rights movement but one women's story of what she experienced in Jackson MS in the sixties. Viola Davis and Octovia Spencer are compelling and convincing as black domestics giving life and dignity to difficult roles. We don'ts see Skeeter's (Emma Stone) part as a 'white savior' or the film bringing back the black mammy stereotype. It's a great story set in difficult history.

After losing his job, a middle aged man reinvents himself by going back to college. Tom Hanks wrote, directed and starred in this film which works on a lot of levels. Larry Crowne could be your friend, next door neighbor - anyone you know who's been downsized with a mortgage under water. What's particularly enjoyable is the diverse cast that crosses racial, ethnic and generational lines with ease - you never feel like there's a sermon about to be preached. Cedric the Entertainer is engaging and believeable as Larry's next door neighbor and the chemistry between Hanks and Julia Roberts really works well. This film is a lot of fun.

A businessman's life changes when he inherits six penguins and turns his apartment into a winter wonderland. While we appreciate the talents of Jim Carrey (and have watched a lot of his films), this just feels forced from beginning to end. It's as if someone sat down with him and said, 'Jim, you need a family movie,' but clearly he's outside of his element. Even Angela Lansbury's role can't save what is a very poorly written script that makes the whole movie painful to watch. The only way it works at all is to take young children who haven't watched very many movies - but even they sigh in boredom sometimes. It's dull, formulaic and forced - just never gets going.

Two very different African American familes come together for a wedding weekend at Martha's Vineyard with lots of relational complications. Part of the reason we disagree with the majority of criticism of this film was the predisposition of reviewers. Where do you put this? It's not 'ghetto' - it's not black and it's not even Tyler Perry without Madea. Instead there is a well written script with some really good acting and a great story. And the global, racial and ethnic layers are really interesting - when some characters would - for example - break into French dialog. Word of mouth for this film is going to score some big points and keep people coming. Very impressive on many fronts!

A domesticated macaw moves through the adventure of his life as he meets the bird of his dreams in Rio de Janeiro. Animated films can be hit and miss but this one hits in a whole lot of places. Great script, amazing music, characters that are genuine and really funny plus some spectacular scenes of Rio's famous global party - Carnival. It's a really fun ride and even more fun if you can take a 4-5 year old with you. We used to think that Pixar had the monoply on really smart animation - apparently not. Plenty of real laughs for everbody! Great film!

It is one of the most spectacularly beautiful documentaries ever produced - incredible photography of sweeping vistas in Arfica's still vast game preserve (Kenya). The story of two cat families - narrated by Samuel L. Jackson - gets a bit awkward and obtrusive at times but is still compelling in the often dramatic moments of survival in the perilous and often brutal natural world. The shots of cat family life are warm and sometimes really funny and watching the focused athleticism of female lions and chetahs in full hunting mode is well worth the time spent watching. African Cats is a highly entertaining experience - a real must see.

A soldier wakes up in another man's body and soon discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a commuter train in the city of Chicago. Even though the plot keeps revisiting the same eight minutes in a mystery that is almost a hyper version of "Ground Hog Day," there is enough here that keeps you completely engaged. Jake Gyllenhaal is completely believeable as Captain Colter Stevens who discovers that he's been killed in a mission in Afghanistan and has an emotional moment on the phone with his father. And Vera Farmiga is compelling in her role as Carol Goodwin who is in control of the mission. It's a smart, well written film with a mind bender of an ending.

It's generally accepted that we use only 10-20% of the brain power we were designed to have - so when Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) gets the opportunity to use a drug (NZT) designed to brings things up to 100% - he believes his life will begin to transition from failure to success. And he's right but the side effects and relational intrigue of this substance bring him into a world of internal and external danger. Leslie Dixon has written a great script adpated from a novel by Alan Glynn and the special effects of Eddie's enhanced brain power experience bring this story home. This film is a frenetically paced thrill ride from start to finish well directed by Neil Burger.

He does business from the back of a big Lincoln and has spent most of his career representing the reprehensible but then Michey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) gets an unusual case - defending an LA playboy in rape/murder case. Here's where this well written script gets interesting - Haller finds himself on the horns of a moral dillema - guilty or not guilty according to the criminal justice system as practiced with racial profiling in the U.S. or innocent as recognized by the true merits of the case. Well played by Matthew McConaughey who is well supported by William H. Macy and Marisa Tomei. This plot has a lot of well executed twists under the superb direction of Brad Furman.

It's an old question - do we control our destiny or is life written out in the realm of fate? That's the dilemma faced by rising political star David Norris (Matt Damon) as he meets a gifted dancer who becomes the love of his life. "The Adjustment Bureau" a shadowy group of men determined to keep Norris's fate on the right track - stand in the way of these two lovers. The film is uneven at times but is saved at the end by some really well executed special effects that keep the audience guessing to the end. Well acted by Damon and Emily Blunt - it's a filim that's well worth the time. Written and directed by George Nolfi - co written by Phillip Dick and based upon a short story he wrote. What do we control in life? This story comes to terms with that question.

We shy away from most action movies because they tend to be predictable, formulaic - dependant on CGI (computer generated images). This film is a refreshing change based on a true story about an out of control train that put tens of thousands in great danger. Tony Scott does great job in creating vivid, intense action sequences and the script - by Mark Bomback - creates characters drawn skillfully within the frame of race, class, age and gender. This story grabs your attention and holds it through a trim, thread bare one hour and thirty five minutes of heart pounding, white knuckled, edge of your seat experience. Photography and special effects are absolutely excellent.

This is a movie we really like because there are so many good things happening within it. Anytime a cast of Hollwood's best actors come together to tell a story about the impact of bias and oppression, that's a good thing. But when a successful play is adapted to a movie, sometimes things can get lost in translation - and that's what happened here. Perry's attempt to blend dialog with poetry is at times - difficult to understand - and the conversations between characters seem to drag because of that. On the plus side, great performances by Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Janet Jackson, Kerry Washington and others. There are a lot of thought provoking moments that make this film worth seeing.

It's one thing to admire and celebrate the accomplishments of arguably the greatest race horse who ever lived - it's another to understand the story of how close "Big Red" came to never getting on the track at all. Penny Chenery Tweedy (played very well by Diane Lane) has a dillema. Her mother dies leaving an aging, ailing father and a Virginia horse farm going to seed. What unfolds is an inspiring ride by an amazing horse and a courageous woman who triumphantly confronts the southern "old boy network," risking everything on a horse she believed in. Great script, superb editing especially of race footage - it's a film that empowers belief.

This is a fascinating and often frenetically paced look at the beginnings of techno history that changed the world. Who knew that in the autumn of 2003, two guys from Harvard would conceive and executive a plan (because they could), that started on college campuses and went world wide in just 7 years making Mark Zuckerberg - played brilliantly by Jesse Eisenberg - the youngest billionaire in world history. Despite one scene with computer programmers and whiskey shots plus pretty girls - a bit of a stretch, this film is essential in understanding social media's centerpiece - Facebook - and its relational and business dynamics. Great movie!!

A very different and unique film that traces in great detail the lives of four babies from diverse locations. There is no narration and at times the pacing feels glacial but what makes this experience different and entertaining is how engaged and present the viewer needs to be. You have to figure this film out and once you do, it's a lot of fun. A definite must see - we just wish that the most remote and primitive location was somewhere other than a village in Africa. In every other way - a remarkable acheivement.

It's eye candy, lots of fun in a VERY different version of the classic Lewis Caroll story. The dialog is quirky and the visuals are mind bending - certainly what you'd expect from the combination of Johnny Depp (The Mad Hatter) and director Tim Burton on the same team. Kids and parents will stay interested and engaged for sure - we just wish that in playing with and changing the tone and structure of the story - more diversity within characters would have been
the result.

It's not everyone's movie for sure. Violent, stark, post-apocalyptic and grim, there are lot of depressing landscapes filling it's just under two hour run time. Yet there is something compelling about a man on a mission to rebuild civilization with a bible in his backpack and most importantly fixed in his mind and heart. Denzel Washington gives a convincing enough performance to carry us through a movie with some surprising twists toward the end.

Sometimes we've been accused of seeing race where it isn't - but not this time. Despite what we all know, the huge budget and amazing special effects - there is a racial theme here that is both serious and thought provoking. As an "avatar," a human mind in an alien body, ex-marine Jake is between two worlds and finds a significant part of his humanity is affirmed and strengthened in the world of "others." It's imaginative, visually stunning and socially conscious all in one amazing experience.

South Africa - 1995. Newly elected president Nelson Mandela faces a country torn apart by years of bitter racial strife during apartheid. How does he establish his leadership style and bring the nation together? Through the universal language of sports - in the most unlikely of partnerships - he and the captain of the country's rugby team come together to provide focus and unity. This is a genuinely inspiring story - with Morgan Freeman VERY credible as Mandela and Matt Damon engaging and believable as the rugby team's captain. Another MUST SEE!

This is just a whole lot of fun! Disney went through immense political and historical pressure as the film was put through a ringer of analysis - but the result is spectacular. This is the old style hand drawn, 2D animation process thought to be done with the success of Pixar and Dreamworks. How wrong we can be! The film works because it's a great story with a superb music score by Randy Newman and yes - at long last - it's about a black princess! The color and imagery are as good as it gets. Must see!!!

While this story won't please everybody - 'rich white family adopts poor, underprivileged African American kid,' it doesn't come off preachy or insensitive and there are plenty of good points to talk about in "Black and White ." Sandra Bullock really got into this character and while Tim McGraw won't win an oscar - he does a good job. We definitely say go see it! The best stories are almost always the true ones - great script and great acting - and Michael Oher's current status as a real star for the Baltimore Ravens doesn't hurt either!

This is - without a doubt - two hours that will make a deep and profound impression on anyone who appreciates the artistry, heart and talent of Michael Jackson. It was refresing to see the essential MJ here minus the ever present tabloid filter that tended to emphasize what was (and is) strange about all creative people. The music, dancing, coreography and special effects are over the top even as rehearsals. This is a MUST SEE.