Directed by: Harald Zwart Running Time: 140 Minutes Rated: PG For many critics, to hear the word remake is usually responded to with a groan of despair, clamors of Hollywood lacking originality and any backbone to push forward new content.  For better or worse, the practice continues (and will be pushed forward at least for the foreseeable future) in Hollywood as exemplified by The Karate Kid, a remake of the original 1984 feature film that became a cult classic.  Harald Zwart’s new interpretation of The Karate Kid, however, is an intriguing case study of a remake.  Although it does fall into... 

Director: Michael Bay Running Time: 150 Minutes Rated: PG-13 For: Michael Bay and Transformers fans Not for: Methodical action enthusiasts In 2007, Michael Bay took on the challenge of making the Transformers cartoon series into a live action reality and was a runaway success, guaranteeing that a sequel would be coming to a theater near everyone.  2009 has arrived and brings forth Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a sequel that trumps its predecessor in bringing bigger robots, a slightly longer running time, and more action.  If that’s all one needs to verify before going to see the film,... 

Director: Sam Mendes Running Time: 98 Minutes Rated: R For: Those that enjoy skit-by-skit, act-by-act progressive comedies, Audiences that want to watch something a bit more offbeat Not For: Slapstick romantic comedy enthusiasts, Impatient viewers Many people associate words with different locations.  For instance, the first image that appears in most minds when they hear Southern California is sunshine.  Another example is the wind with Chicago and so on.  Director Sam Mendes plays on this interesting idea of word association to a much deeper extreme, wrapped around a romantic comedy genre... 

This film will have a limited release on July 17th. Director: Marc Webb Running Time: 95 Minutes Rated: PG-13 For: Viewers looking for a film with a variety of creative approaches to a romantic comedy Not For: Those looking for simple, laugh-out-loud humor 500 Days of Summer “lies” to the audience (twice) in its first opening act.  The first states that the story about to be seen is not a happy, romantic tale.  On quite the other hand, the film still is fairly content and completely about the notion of love.  The second is that the film misleads the viewers to believe that the narrative... 

Director: Todd Phillips Running Time: 100 Minutes Rated: R For: Those looking for raunchy/simple humor Not for: Anyone looking for a unique or different approach to the Vegas/road trip genre “It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.” As much as it sounds like a line out of A Tale of Two Cities, this actually well refers to everyone’s fond memories of Las Vegas.  Nights of debauchery, public drunkenness, casinos, strip clubs, etc. are just a few of the typical stereotypes people associate with sin city.  Films have always used Vegas as a backdrop for many different activities... 

Director: McG Rated: PG-13 *Note: This film releases on May 21st For: Terminator and Sam Worthington fans; Those looking for a good post-apocalyptic action film Not for: Those seeking innovations and originality in the sci-fi genre The heavy bass and percussion anthem of Terminator is iconic, stemming from the imagination of James Cameron and his take on the conspiracy theory of machines versus humans.  The first two movies in the series were fantastic representations of gritty sci-fi mixed with some good action and drama along with revolutionary special effects.  The third, however, was a ho-hum... 

Director: Joe Wright Running Time: 117 Minutes Rated: PG-13 For: Drama and acting enthusiasts; Jamie Foxx/Robert Downing Jr. fans Not For: Those looking for the next Best Picture nominee The Soloist looks as though it has a great movie written all over it.  It has two wonderful stars as the headliners.  The plot focuses on the redemption of one man and how another tries to get past his madness to show off his gift.  The moral itself is sound as well, focusing on the poverty within Los Angeles and the beauty within.  Two warning signs appear, however.  First, Dreamworks decided to push back... 

Director: Jody Hill Rated: R Running Time: 86 Minutes For: Seth Rogen fans, Those wanting to a different mall cop film Not for: Moviegoers seeking a smart/unique/different comedy Seth Rogen joked on Saturday Night Live that Observe and Report should not be mistaken for Paul Blart: Mall Cop.  He definitely is not mistaken.  Observe and Report approaches its plot much differently with a hard R rating and a completely different type of humor so in that sense, Rogen has nothing to worry about and most likely, it will be a financial hit from the base of Apatow comedy fans.  Is the film one... 

The Oscars are coming very soon with a full list of heavy contenders and a pretty good year in terms of competitive films for 2008.  Only those that haven’t been keeping a keen eye will say otherwise.  It should definitely be a very interesting ceremony with Hugh Jackman as host and a slew of celebrities as the presenters.  Each category is listed below including the nominees with the major ones having some analysis of which film/actor/actress is expected to win compared to what my own opinion on who should take Oscar gold.  Many categories were not touched since there is not enough relevant... 

Director: Danny Boyle/Loveleen Tandan Running Time: 120 Minutes Rated: R Hollywood has had a fascination with foreign lands from harkening back to Chinese martial arts films to attempting to capture the intrigue of the Middle East.  However, there seems to be an on-and-off again relationship with India.  Few films have been willing to explore the land, culture, or film style (some examples including Bend it Like Beckham and Namesake) until now with Slumdog Millionaire.  It is not a perfectly polished film, being littered with little quirks that will turn some audiences off, but... 

So what’s next?  Although Hollywood is heavily relying on the two crutches of reboots and remakes, some industry personnel are coming up with their own 21st century ideas.  Are they worth pursuing though? The first one that has already begun is the move to digital film.  Most films, since near the beginning of the film industry, were and are still shot and shown on film stock.  However, since 2002′s ‘Attack of the Clones,’ there has been a big move, from those like George Lucas, to push forward digital.  With benefits like cheaper distribution and crisper quality, some... 

What exactly is a ‘reboot’?  It depends on who you ask.  For this article, a reboot is defined as a film/product revived/rebranded/reimagined from a prior film/product, usually for the sake of (re)-building a franchise.  It is also one of Hollywood’s newest buzzword that is being deemed a successful business model.  Some examples include The Incredible Hulk, The Pink Panther, and Get Smart. One common misunderstanding (or a possible counter-argument) to address is that the reboot is a new, 21st-century term, which it isn’t.  Hollywood is a fan of attempting to remold and...