Top 10 DVD Movie Rentals

Resource： http://top-10-list.org/top-10-dvd-rentals/
Top 10 DVD Movie Rental list for this week in Canada and the United States. The popularity is based on all data available and sometimes is estimated based on statistical and historical data.

1 .Disney's A Christmas Carol

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn, Cary Elwes, Fionnula Flanagan
Genre: Drama, Animation, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Rating: PG
Running Time:1 hr. 36 min.
Description:
An animated retelling of Charles Dickens classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.

2 .Shrek Forever After (Shrek 4)

Director:Mike Mitchell
Starring:Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Jon Hamm
Genre:Action & Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
Rating: PG
Running Time:1 hr. 33 min.
Description:
The further adventures of the giant green ogre, Shrek, living in the land of Far, Far Away.

3 .Toy Story 3

Director: Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
Starring:Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Ned Beatty, John Ratzenberger
Genre: Animation, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
Rating: G
Running Time:1 hr. 43 min.
Description:
"Toy Story 3" brings to life more adventures from Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of Andy’s toys as they go on the road and out of Andy’s room.

4 .Inception

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring:Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page, Dileep Rao, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy
Genre: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Running Time:2 hr. 28 min.
Description:
In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a single idea within one’s mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset.

5 .The Last Airbender

Director:M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Dev Patel, Jessica Jade Andres, Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi
Genre: Action & Adventure, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Rating: PG
Running Time:1 hr. 43 min.
Description:
Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, the live-action feature film is set in a world where human civilization is divided into four nations: Water, Earth, Air and Fire.

6 .Sex and the City 2

Director: Michael Patrick King
Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Chris Noth, John Corbett, David Eigenberg
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rating: R
Running Time:2 hr.
Description:
The fun, the fashion, the friendship: "Sex and the City 2" brings it all back and more as Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) take another bite out of The Big Apple-and beyond-carrying on with their busy lives and loves in a sequel that truly sparkles. What happens after you say "I do:? Life is everything the ladies ever wished it to be, but it wouldn't be "Sex and the City" if life didn't hold a few more surprises... this time in the form of a glamorous, sun-drenched adventure that whisks the women away from New York to one of the most luxurious, exotic and vivid places on earth, where the party never ends and there's something mysterious around every corner. It's an escape that comes exactly at the right moment for the four friends, who are finding themselves in-and fighting against-the traditional roles of marriage, motherhood and more. After all, sometimes you just have to get away with the girls.

7 .The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Director: Melissa Rosenberg
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dakota Fanning, Peter Facinelli
Genre: Drama, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Running Time:2 hr. 4 min.
Description:
As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob – knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

8 .Grown Ups

Director: Fred Wolf
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Salma Hayek Pinault, Salma Hayek
Genre:Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Running Time:1 hr. 42 min
Description:
Thirty years after their high school graduation, five good friends reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend.

9 .Despicable Me

Director: Chris Renaud
Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove
Genre:Animation, Kids & Family, Comedy
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hr. 35 min.
Description:
In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon (Yes, the moon!) in Universal’s new 3-D CGI feature, Despicable Me. Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad.The world’s greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.

10 .Salt

Director: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski, August Diehl, Daniel Pearce, Andre Braugher
Genre:Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hr. 31 min.
Description:
As a CIA officer, Evelyn Salt (Jolie) swore an oath to duty, honor and country. Her loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Salt goes on the run, using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative to elude capture. Salt’s efforts to prove her innocence only serve to cast doubt on her motives, as the hunt to uncover the truth behind her identity continues and the question remains: "Who Is Salt?"-(C) Sony

DVD to iTunes | Rip DVD to iTunes | DVD to iTunes Mac | Convert DVD to iTunes

Top 10 Feel Good Christmas Movies

What a magical time of year it is; lame presents, pressure to decorate, long drives to relatives, indigestion from over-eating, credit card bills…

Here are the top 10 best Christmas movies for making you feel good about it all.

10. A Muppet Christmas Carol

Gimpy frog legs are a delicacy in Europe.

If you’re one of many literature buffs who read Charles Dickens and thought the only thing missing was singing animal puppets, than this film is for you. Not only is this the last great Muppet Movie, it’s also a surprisingly faithful film adaptation. Gonzo the Great narrates as Charles Dickens and Michael “Always Great” Caine stars as Ebenezer Scrooge, while a cast of the usual chatty animals and vegetables comprise the citizens of oldtime London. The Henson Company combined the musical silliness of the Muppets with the style of its darker projects like Labyrinth to capture the gothic spirit of Dickens’s novel.

9. Die Hard

Happy Holidays from the McClane family.

What better captures the feel good holiday spirit than a charming story about an absentee father who flies to L.A. for the holidays and reunites with his family?

What about one where he kills a bunch of terrorists, walks on glass, and jumps off an exploding building. With its witty banter and strong message about keeping the family together, and a bullet riddled happy ending, Die Hard meets all the qualifications of an uplifting Christmas film.

Still not convinced? Well, then, why is his wife named Holly?

8. A Child’s Christmas In Wales

I see a white Christmas … and graaaaave danger …

This film, adapted from the Dylan Thomas poem, will make you ache for the cosy olden times when children played with tin soldiers instead of X-Box 360. Starring the late great Denholm Elliot (Marcus Brody in the two good Indiana Jones films), even the ADD iPod generation will be consumed with the beauty and wonder of crackling fires and plum pudding.

7. A Miracle On 34th Street

The movie is much more genuine than this hug, I promise.

This slightly dated tale of a department store Santa who claims to be the real thing may seem light and fluffy by today’s standards, but considering it was made in a time when mental disorders were still treated with shock therapy, historical context can add quite a tense layer of hardcore drama.

But the scene were Santa gets bubble gum stuck in his beard should relieve some tension.

6. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Academy Award nominee Chevy Chase.

Naughty innuendoes and cartoon slapstick to not a Christmas movie make … unless it’s Chevy Chase and the film is Christmas Vacation, the third and best installment in the National Lampoon’s Vacation series.

From the silly cartoon opening credit sequence to rogue squirrels, feral dogs, and a Christmas Eve kidnapping, this zany farce combines all the elements of a mad-cap comedy with a surpassingly warm and cozy holiday spirit.

Or that could be the burning green gas coming from the sewer …

5. The Bishop’s Wife

“Hands off.”

Starring Cary Grant as an angel named Dudley who uses unorthodox methods to teach religious zealots the true meaning of life, this Holiday classic often slips pass the radar of modern movie watchers.

When a local Bishop prays for guidance, hoping the Lord will lead him give him the funds and focus to complete construction on a cathedral, an angel arrives and hits on his wife. This leads the Bishop into a spiral of jealousy that leads him back to his family.

They remade this film in 1996 starring Whitney Houston. It didn’t make this list.

4. White Christmas

Danny Kaye is finally outed by his coworkers.

This Irvine Berlin musical was the first to be filmed in the classic Vista Vision and was the top grossing movie of 1954 … which means it brought in about nineteen dollars. It’s also the film that’s responsible for convincing the world that Rosemary Clooney was attractive.

With its eye-battering Technicolor, toe-tapping musical numbers, and unabashed romance, White Christmas stands as a holiday classic, though it actually steals its name from the song made famous twelve years earlier in the less popular film Holiday Inn.

3. Gremlins

Still not as creepy as your Uncle Albert dressed as Santa.

Once upon a time, Chris Columbus wrote good screenplays, and one of them was Gremlins, a charming throwback to 1950s creature features and silly sci-fi.

For Christmas, Billy receives a rare pet: an ancient Asian creature known as a Mogwai (but goes by the name of Gizmo). When Gizmo gets wet he asexually spawns a devil army that quickly marches through the snow-filled streets of Billy’s sleepy, old-timey suburb.

It’s up to Gizmo, Billy, and the adorable but career-less Phoebe Cates to stop the gang of gremlins from sabotaging the Christmas spirit.

2. A Christmas Story

“Please tell me that’s a candy cane.”

You’ll shoot your eye out, but not after watching this hilarious movie.

Possibly the most nostalgic movie ever made, A Christmas Story was written and narrated by Jean Shepherd, a famous essay writer for Playboy magazine. His slightly naughty and satirical edge permeates this family film, making famous the “leg lamp” and “evil Santa” sequences. Highly quotable and highly memorable, this movie is popular enough to merit a 24 hour repeat marathon on cable every year at Christmas.

1. It’s A Wonderful Life

This is called a Catholic Tackle.

Most love it, some hate it, but no one can debate its place in the annals of film history and its overwhelming message of love, giving, and America’s ability to fall into complete economic chaos in a single day.

When family deaths, the Great Depression, and World War II rudely interrupt his travel plans, George Baily is forced to stay in his quaint hometown of Bedford Falls. When a money mix-up pushes his family business to the brink of foreclosure, it takes an act of God to turn things around. He sends a bumbling angel-in-training to alter the fabric of space and time, just to teach George a life lesson. The result is a commanding performance from Jimmy Stewart (who had just himself returned from fighting in World War II) and the greatest sing-along ending ever committed to celluloid.

And it all happens on Christmas Eve.

DVD to iTunes | Rip DVD to iTunes | Convert DVD to iTunes | Copy DVD to iTunes

Christmas Movies

There are no better movies for the soul and memory lane than wonderful Christmas movies. Just a few classics are listed below, but don't just settle for a movie. Make it an event. Included are fun family centered ideas to help you and your family get the most from your home theater this winter season.

• It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern. Frank Capra's masterwork deserves its status as a feel-good communal event, but it is also one of the most fascinating films in the American cinema, a multilayered work of Dickensian density.

• A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film based on the short stories and semi-fictional anecdotes of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd, including material from his books In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories. It was directed by Bob Clark. The film has since become a holiday classic and is known to be shown numerous times on television during the Christmas season, usually in a 24-hour sadathon.

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a children's story by Dr. Seuss written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It was published as a book by Random House in 1957, and at approximately the same time in an issue of Redbook. The book criticizes the commercialization of Christmas and satirizes those who profit from exploiting the holiday.

• Christmas Vacation

This Christmas movie might not be high on a toddler's list of Christmas favorites, but for families with older children it is a very funny movie. For those familiar with the Vacation movie franchise you will enjoy revisiting Clarke and his family as they slog their way through Christmas vacation.


Besides enjoy these Christmas classics once again at this Christmas, you can also choose to:
1) Backup these Christmas DVDs for easy collection or sharing;
2) Rip these Christmas DVDs to portable devices like iPod, PSP, iPhone, etc for much more convenient to enjoy the warm of the movies with DVD Ripper.

Christmas Movies 2010

The King’s Speech (limited release)
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce
Director: Tom Hooper

British historical drama starring Colin Firth as King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as his speech therapist, who helped him overcome a debilitating stammer. Guy Pearce plays the King’s abdicating brother, Timothy Spall is Winston Churchill. Directing is Tom Hooper, the former British TV director who made his film debut last year with The Damned United. This is one of the best trailers of the year, packing more emotion, charm and wit into 2:24 than most movies do in two hours. The movie itself has been getting great early reviews.

- Friday 3rd December -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rip Christmas DVD with DVD Ripper
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Warrior’s Way
Starring: Jang Dong-gun, Geoffrey Rush, Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston, Tony Cox
Director: Sngmoo Lee

Before we get cowboys and aliens next year, we get cowboys and ninjas. The Warrior’s Way is a visually stunning martial arts western starring Korean actor Jang Dong-gun as an Asian warrior assassin hiding in a small town in the American Badlands. There he befriends the town drunk (Rush) and a circus knife thrower (Bosworth), both of whom have powerful secrets. This is an odd and financially risky movie – a $40 million genre-mixing American movie that looks foreign. It also finished shooting back in Feb 2008 and such a delay is rarely a good sign. Maybe they just weren’t sure how to market it.

Black Swan
Starring: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey
Director: Darren Aronofsky

Psychological thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as rival ballet dancers in a New York production of Swan Lake. The production requires a ballerina to play both the innocent White Swan and the sensual Black Swan. Portman’s character is suited for the former, her rival for the latter and as they compete, she finds a dark side of herself. Considered one of the best films of the year by critics.

- Friday 10th December -

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Create Christmas DVD with DVD Creator
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Starring: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Will Poulter, Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson (voice)
Director: Michael Apted

The movie Disney didn’t want. They gave up on the series after the worrying financial performace of the second movie, but Fox came in as distributor late in the day. The story sees Edmund (Keynes) and Lucy (Henley), staying at their cousin’s house, when they are drawn into a painting of an old ship. There they join the new King of Narnia, King Caspian, on a nautical quest. The movie looks like solid family entertainment. But why doesn’t Aslan’s roar sound anything like Liam Neeson?

The Tourist
Starring: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany, Rufus Sewell, Timothy Dalton, Haley Webb
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Two of the three biggest stars in the world (Will Smith not present) team up for the story of an American tourist (Depp) visiting Italy to mend a broken heart, who’s used by a sophisticated English woman (Jolie) to flush out her former lover and distract the authorities on her trail. Expect way more double-crossing than is in the trailer. Tom Cruise was originally going to play the lead role but was replaced by Sam Worthington. Worthington then left and was replaced by Johnny Depp. – That’s right, Depp is getting Worthington’s hand-me-downs, how did that happen?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy Christmas DVD to share with friends with DVD Copy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Love You, Phillip Morris
Starring: Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Comedy-drama based on the real life events of con artist, impostor, and multiple prison escapee Steven Jay Russell played by Jim Carrey. While incarcerated, Russell falls in love with his fellow inmate, Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). After Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes four times in order to be reunited. This movie has been knocking about looking for distribution for ages. Initially, nobody in the US wanted it until the explicit gay sexual content was toned down. That happened, then there were legal problems, the distributor had a change of heart etc. It’s already been released in the UK, where most critics found it to be offbeat, funny and daring in a good way, with a strong performance by Carrey. My question is, who is saying “sleep ever” at 1:28 in the trailer, cause it sure isn’t Ewan MacGregor.

- Friday 17th December -
How Do You Know
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson
Director: James L. Brooks

A romantic comedy centred on a former athlete (Witherspoon) who’s feeling a bit past her prime at 27 and finds herself in the middle of a love triangle, between a corporate guy in crisis (Rudd) and her current, baseball-playing beau (Wilson). ‘Ol Jack Nicholson in the mix too, in real life she’d surely choose him. James L. Brooks (The Simpsons, As Good as it Gets) is a great romantic-comedy director, so expect this to be a mature, well-observed piece of entertainment.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Download Christmas Movies from Youtube with Youtube Downloader
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christmas Movies 2010 – Guide 3

Little Fockers
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Harvey Keitel
Director: Paul Weitz

The method star of Mean Streets, Raging Bull and Taxi Driver continues his upward trend with Meet The Parents 3. De Niro returns to the role of retired-CIA man Jack, who becomes highly suspicious of his son-in-law’s ability to raise the twin grandkids. Meanwhile the son-in-law begins to go through a mid-life crisis, as there’s another baby on the way. This is the first movie in the series that’s not directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers), instead it’s Paul Weitz (About A Boy, American Dreamz). This is a franchise that desperately wants to keep going for the money, but has run out of things to do.

True Grit
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Hailee Steinfeld, Barry Pepper
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen

Stubborn 14 year old Mattie Ross undertakes a quest to avenge her father’s death at the hands of a drifter. Ross persuades an alcoholic marshal named Rooster Cogburn to join her in tracking him down. They are joined by a Texas Ranger, who wants the drifter for his own purposes. The Coen Brothers direct this remake of the ’69 movie (based on the ’68 novel) that won John Wayne an Oscar. Jeff Bridges takes on the gruff Wayne role. Outside of Tron Legacy, we’re looking forward to this movie more than anything else. Jeff Bridges owns Christmas.

- Saturday 25th December -
Gulliver’s Travels
Starring: Jack Black, Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Catherine Tate
Director: Rob Letterman

Travel writer Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) takes an assignment in Bermuda, but ends up on the island of Liliput, where he towers over its tiny citizens. The movie’s from the director of Shark Tale and Monsters vs Aliens, and has been converted to 3D in post-production. From the trailer it looks like they’ve taken rich source material and turned it into horrible commercial muck. Should have been retitled ‘Jack Black Is Big’.

To be continued...

P.S. Learn how to free download YouTube Video to iPod/iPhone/iPad on Windows and Mac.

Which of 2010′s Christmas movies are you looking forward to most? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Christmas Movies 2010 – Guide 2

Tron Legacy
Starring: Joseph Kosinski
Director: Garrett Hedlund, Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, Olivia Wilde, Beau Garrett, Michael Sheen

The ’82 Tron was ahead of its time. Now is that time. Sam Flynn (Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 20 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant (Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous. So the movie, of course, looks spectacular. The weak link may be the villain, a ‘youthified’ cgi version of Jeff Bridges – so far it doesn’t look terribly convincing. Maybe that idea’s ahead of its time. Regardless, see it in IMAX, see it in 3D.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Download Christmas Movies from Youtube with Youtube Downloader
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yogi Bear
Starring: Dan Aykroyd (voice), Justin Timberlake (voice), Anna Faris, Tom Cavanagh
Director: Eric Brevig

Thanks to the success of Garfield and Alvin and the Chipmunks, we get this. A live action/cgi Yogi Bear movie. If you’re unfamiliar, Yogi is a non-man-eating bear operating as a thief in Jellystone Park, stealing people’s meals and causing massive property damage. He is assisted by a juvenile bear called Boo-Boo. Park Ranger Smith finds himself having to devote a large part of his working day to stopping the pair when he could have spent that time concentrating on conservation or putting out forest fires. Dan Ackroyd voices Yogi and, in a piece of casting I can’t quite process, Justin Timberlake is Boo Boo.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy Christmas DVD to share with friends with DVD Copy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Fighter
Starring: Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams
Director: David O. Russell

Wahlberg is reunited once again with the director of Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees, but this time he’s getting ultra-serious for this true story of a boxer in the 80s and the bad-influence brother who helps train him. The movie is being lined up as an Oscar contender and it’s about time Bale got some recognition. (P.S. Bale’s hair was deliberately shaved back to look balding for the role. I know I got worried for Batman when I first saw it.)

- Wednesday 22nd December -

To be continued...

Christmas Movies 2010 – Guide 1

Let’s have a look at the movies on wide release over Christmas 2010. As festive seasons go, it’s shocking to find there’s nothing coming out that’s Christmas themed. Previous years have had at least one flick that did great business despite being pants. Did Santa die or something?

Anyway, here are the biggest and best movies of Christmas 2010.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter
Director: David Yates

Alfonso Cuarón wanted back in, Guillermo del Toro expressed interest, but David Yates got to stay on and direct the final two instalments in the Harry Potter series. Part One is described as a road movie, with Hogwarts hardly seen, for the first time. Having an extra hour and a half to adapt one novel means it should be closer to J.K.Rowling’s version than ever before, but it could also mean it plays a little slower, especially as the three leads are on their own for much of the time. The movie will break box office records this weekend, it’s already grossed $25m just in advance ticket sales. Expect this to be packing them in until Christmas Day.

- Wednesday 24th November -

Burlesque
Starring: Christina Aguilera, Cher, Cam Gigandet. Alan Cumming, Kristen Bell
Director: Steven Antin

Christina Aguilera plays a small-town girl with a big voice who heads out to LA and happens across The Burlesque Lounge, a majestic but ailing theater that is home to an inspired musical revue. Cher (who hasn’t aged a day since 1985) plays the club’s proprietor and headliner. Kristen Bell is Aguilera’s rival. Expect a camp spectacular. The trailer makes it look like a big ego trip for Aguilera – the moment where she sings for the first time is hilariously ridiculous.

Faster
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Maggie Grace, Moon Bloodgood
Director: George Tillman Jr.

An ex-con (Johnson) is out to avenge his brother’s death after they were double-crossed during a heist 10 years ago. Meanwhile there’s a veteran cop (Thornton) on his trail. Dwayne Johnson has much untapped potential and urgently needed to get away from Disney family movies. The plot here doesn’t inspire, but it’s great to see The Rock back doing action.

Love And Other Drugs
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, Josh Gad
Director: Edward Zwick

Edward Zwick, lifelong director of wartime epics (The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall etc) is doing this. Why?? Plastic face Gyllenhaal plays a hotshot in the world of pharmaceutical sales who meets his match in a free spirited woman (Hathaway). Despite initially hating each other, they soon discover that love is the ultimate drug. Judging from the trailer this is ‘romantic movie 101′, even down to the slobby best friend who’s meant to be ‘the funny one’ – Is this all Notting Hill’s fault? P.S. Gyllenhaal’s theory at the beginning makes absolutely no sense.

Tangled
Starring: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman
Directors: Nathan Greno, Byron Howard

Disney’s 50th animated feature is based loosely on the German fairy tale Rapunzel. A long-haired Princess has spent her entire life locked up in a tower, but when she encounters a passing bandit she takes the opportunity to venture into the outside world for the first time. The directors made Bolt, one of Disney’s funniest movies of recent times. Tangled is described in the press notes as a ‘musical’, but they’re keeping the songs well hidden. Looks pretty amusing as far as I can tell.

To be continued...