Despite being June, Super 8 might be the best movie of the summer.  As much a family drama about loss and friendship as it is a sci-fi adventure, it’s one all ages can thoroughly enjoy.  Set in 1979 Ohio, the film follows 13-year old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) as he tries to get past his mother’s recent death in a factory accident.  While Joel deals by making a homemade zombie movie with his adorable rag-tag bunch of friends, Joel’s father Jackson (Kyle Chandler) copes by throwing himself into his work as a deputy sheriff.  All of that would have made for a great two-hour movie on its own, but after the kids- and eventually the whole town- get caught in a government conspiracy involving an alien, things take a turn. 

There have been a lot of comparisons in the media of Super 8 to ‘80s classics like Stand By Me and The Goonies. Considering the strong friendship between the gang and their coming-of-age, as well as the adventure they experience, the comparisons aren’t unfounded.  There’s also many endearing, albeit a little hokey, comic moments.  This all makes it feel like the kind of summer movie you would’ve watched in theaters in 1985. It’s also a reason a lot of people will like it- especially, if today’s theater-goers are tired of prequels, sequels, and Superhero movies.  Also, it’s not a mistake Steven Spielberg produced this throwback. The film often recalls his hit E.T. as well.  READ MORE

Smashing good fun, brilliant CGI and hilariously funny, Kenneth Branagh manages to make Thor one of the best super hero films ever. Branagh, known best for his Shakespearean hits like Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing and Henry V, brings to bear all of his considerable talents to create a believable story and wonderful characters.  Branagh creates an Asgard that is stunningly beautiful, glorious and majestic without ever crossing the line to excess. It just somehow works.

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Fast Five is out and it knocks the hell out of its predecessors. Packed with heart stopping action, laugh out loud humor and muscles, (cars and heroes) Fast Five blasts into the theater with a massive nitrous oxide burn. Paul Walker (Brian O’Connor) and Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto) are back and with a vengeance. READ MORE

In a tiny suburban community lies a dark secret: Gru, a master of evil, plots to steal the very moon from the sky. Set against him is the most powerful force in the universe… love.Three tiny orphans, Margo, Edith and Agnes see the dastardly Gru as the perfect papa and set out to win him over. That is Despicable Me, the latest release in the fight for summer box office dominance.

The plot is simple: Gru’s career as evil genius extraordinaire is in a slump and a young Vector, a rather slimy and nasty sort of villain, has pulled off the heist of the century. Vector has stolen one of the great pyramids of Egypt and the world is abuzz. Gru’s master of research, an old fossil of a man called Dr. Nefario, despairs of Gru’s loss of face and forces the evil genius to finally fulfill his destiny and pull off the greatest coup of his career, stealing the moon.

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From Godzilla in 1956 to Beowulf in 2007, dragons and their rowdy reptilian cousins have had plenty of time to wear out their welcome in cinemas worldwide. And with their most recent exploits, which include saving an oppressed people in Eragon and waging Armageddon in Reign of Fire, one would think these behemoth fire-breathers would be out of the biz, replaced by some other splendiferous mythical creature. Think again.

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