Film

Kenny Rogers was a much better gambler.Greed and need fuel our hero's intoxication with Las Vegas. And director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) sets up a house of cards in the film adaptation of Ben Mezrich's best-selling book, Bringing Down the House, which follows the true-life adventure of several MIT braniacs - led by math whiz Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess, Across the Universe) - as they rake in millions by outsmarting casinos.
 
Smarmy but brilliant MIT math professor, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) first recognizes Ben's aptitude for gaming when Ben gives an inspired answer to a challenging question during a class. Ben has been accepted to Harvard Medical School but needs to come up with cash for the $300,000 education. The powerful Professor Rosa lures Ben into a supposedly legal card-counting scheme with a group of gifted young math scholars. The result is a fortune made at the Vegas blackjack tables. At various intervals over a two-year period, they escape a drab, wintry-looking Boston to live like high-stakes rock stars in Sin City. Ben's original goal is to make just enough money to pay for Harvard and then stop. As fate would have it, greed and his own ego get the best of him. But, for a guy in the grip of temptation, Ben's understated character seems kind of flat.

Personally, I think the uniforms are definitely working."Once, not long ago," says the text at the start of Eran Kolirin's The Band's Visit, "a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this. It was not that important."
 
The dry introduction sets the tone for Kolirin's bittersweet, thoughtful film: Sure, it wasn't that important - unless it happened to you. In subdued, gentle scenes, through careful performances and wonderful casting, against unusual skylines, Kolirin weaves a gently observant story about the things beyond physical borders and boundaries that set people apart or bring them together.
The blue-uniformed band that arrives in Israel is Egypt's Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, led by Tewfiq (Sasson Gabai), a serious, order-loving man who's feeling the pressure of possible budget cuts that would lead to the dissolution of his orchestra. When no one meets the band at the airport, Tewfiq is certain they can manage on their own and thereby help prove their worth. But juggling Hebrew, Arabic and English while asking for directions proves more than just awkward.

Chick power busting loose in DoomsdayDoomsday is overkill road-kill at its finest.
A bastard offspring of classics and cult favorites like Road Warrior, Dawn of the Dead, The Warriors, 28 Days Later, Escape from New York, and Gladiator, Doomsday is the brainchild of Neil Marshall the director of Dog Soldiers and the Descent.
From the beginning, this film is laugh-riot-gangbusters. No shortage of guns blazing, bayonets thrusting, tanks zooming, blood spurting, guts spewing, chopped-off limbs flying, virus-infected zombies puking, heads rolling and stuff exploding. And that's just the first five minutes. Eventually you get the "why-things-got-so-bad" prelude: A deadly virus (codename "Reaper") infected the populace of Glasgow and a huge quarantine wall was built, sealing off the populace regardless of infection-all are doomed to remain and die.

Smells like a bit of ultra violence. I have warned people not to see this movie. Funny Games is one of the
most disturbing films ever made, destined to stay with you for days if
not weeks. My pleas of "avoid at all costs" have inadvertently sparked
curiosity and interest in the film, which is good because people should
see this movie. And that's director Michael Haneke’s intention with
this shot-by-shot remake of his provocative and frightening German film
of the same name. His original intention was to expose the mind-numbing
violence that permeates our mainstream films, in doing so he makes us
completely aware of what we're watching and feeling. Rather than
desensitizing-it’s OVER-sensitizing. The result is a relentless mental
overload that will stick with you. Just try to shake off the creepiness…

They rip on the gaza strip. Bend's own Nathan Gray created a unique way of promoting peace in the
Middle East. He and co-producers Sean Scerritt and Sudip Peterson,
drawing on what they describe as "dynamic acts of peace and unity,"
have created SOUR 4 Peace in the Middle East, a film that crosses
borders with nine top Israeli and Jordanian skate boarders. In a recent
conversation with Scerritt, he said the theme that sparked the idea
behind the film is "doing what you love with people you're not supposed
to like."

Where is siegfried when you need him. From the director responsible for Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow comes a movie without "day" in the title.
I didn't care for Independence Day and Day After Tomorrow is one of the worst movies ever made. As if that's not enough, Emmerich's list of credits also includes Stargate - the first movie I ever walked out of. Perhaps not surprisingly, 10,000 BC is a worthy successor to all those half-efforts.
I'm no historian, but I'm pretty sure that tribal cave-like men hunting mastodons didn't co-mingle with the Egyptians building the pyramids, as this movie wants us to believe.
They speak in English, but their phony "accents" are anywhere from Bulgarian to German to British to Pathetic. Unbelievably, it's narrated by Omar Sharif, who I thought might have even been faking an accent.

No Life Til Leather The title of the new heist thriller, The Bank Job, doesn't begin to describe the twists and turns this film takes, as it delves into 1970s British society. What initially appears to be another buddy-burglary story, much like the Ocean franchise, Snatch, or The Italian Job, instead unravels into a Serpico-style exposé. Only because we know from the outset that the film is based on true events is the audience able to believe an otherwise nearly implausible story.
The 1971 Baker Street bank robbery was under a government gag order for 30 years; no arrests were made, nor was any money ever recovered. After thieves tunneled into a bank vault in London's Baker Street, they looted safe deposit boxes of cash, jewelry, and incriminating evidence. Though the robbery made headlines, the story disappeared almost immediately, because of a "D" notice, which gagged the press.

Is that the new i-Phone?I really wanted to like this movie. It just wouldn't let me. I spent almost the entire second half aching for it to be over.
The
opening montage was nice. The old-school credits in the beginning,
reminiscent of '40s-style movies, were refreshing. The colors and
photography were close to captivating. There's nothing wrong with the
acting.
Then there's the story. Somewhere hidden in this mess is
a cool concept. Steeped in ambiguity, I just can't figure out where the
legendary director stashed it.

A taste of the wonderment that is the Mountainfilm fest.This is your chance to vicariously scale the globe. Mountain bike
through an old growth forest, ascend Colorado's Black Canyon, or go fly
fishing in Baja, all from the comfort of your Tower Theater seat.
Bend-based nonprofit reSource hosts the touring film festival,
Mountainfilm on Tour, as a fundraiser for the organization. With an
emphasis on sustainable living, the event is also intended to encourage
Central Oregonians to make everyday choices that reduce our impact on
the environment. Play lists include 7-8 short films per night. Here's
are some particularly eyebrow-raising films from the weekend schedule.

He doesn’t seem to mind those critics.The funniest thing about this documentary is Johnny Carson's plaid leisure suit in the film's opening scene. Aside from that, the film is a sobering lesson on the ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine and Jimmy Carter's three-decades-long involvement in the conflict.

From the honest, jovial, straight-forward way he handles things, cutting to tiny bits and pieces defining glimpses of Carter's real persona to details you'd never know about him-he swims daily, reads from the Bible to his wife every night (in English and Spanish) his favorite poet is Dylan Thomas, he believes in science and evolution along with his devout Christianity-he's like the Mother Teresa of politics.