“TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES” (Seasons 1 and 2)

Made by the creators of Terminator 3 and taking place after Terminator 2, “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” shows the Connors once again being tormented by Skynet agents from the future. They realize that the nightmarish future hasn’t been prevented even after Miles Dyson sacrificed his life and his life’s work by destroying the T-800 Model 101 Terminator in the second movie, so they continue on their efforts to prevent the founding of Skynet.

The cast is a little confusing, despite being a little too neat. There’s Cameron Phillips, a young woman with a hazy past that’s also linked to the future, Derek Reese, a Tech-Com soldier from the future (with a familiar name) whose past is connected to the Connors, and James Ellison, an FBI agent from the future assigned to capture the Connors until he has a bad experience with one of the machines himself.

Good science fiction presents an image of the future in order to comment on the present, so it’s interesting that the “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” is a story about a small group of people trying to stop the creation of a program that will bring about the end of all mankind, which starts with an alliance between the United States Military and the gigantic Cyberdyne Corporation…

Starring Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, and Richard T. Jones

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PROM NIGHT (2008) Horror/Thriller, R, 88 mins.

The original Prom Night is a bland and unoriginal slasher film, first released in 1980 and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, who was a horror superstar at that time after her starring role in John Carpenter’s wildly successful Halloween in 1978. The 2008 Prom Night is not a sequel or a remake, it’s not even really a cash-in on a successful old movie, it’s a cash-in on a hopeful public recognition of an old horror movie, along with the hopes that no one will remember how uninteresting the original already was.

It’s a bad sign that the new one is PG-13, because it’s a slasher movie and anytime you have a slasher movie that’s PG-13, it’s because the’yre hoping to attract the junior high school crowd, and that’s just never a good thing for a scary movie to do.

The story is about a girl named Donna who, along with her friends, is pursued by a sadistic killer on her prom night. That’s about it. Maybe just watch Halloween or Carrie again…

Starring a bunch of no-name actors
Director: Nelson McCormick
Screenplay: J.S. Cardone

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MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY (2008), Romantic Comedy, PG-13, 92 mins.

Amy Adams and Francis MacDormand star in this London comedy about a penniless nanny named Miss Pettigrew who accepts a position out of desperation as a social secretary for a young woman so different from her that it’s almost amazing that this was made into a movie and not a sitcom

McDormand delivers a charming and enchanting performance, and I’ve heard that after you watch the movie you will feel as bright and clean as a newly minted penny. A strong cast and intelligent script make this a sophisticated and heartfelt comedy, and it gives a fun look at the complicated social structure of 1930s London.

Starring: Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Lee Pace, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Payne, Mark Strong, Shirley Henderson
Director: Bharat Nalluri
Screenplay: David Magee and Simon Beaufoy, based on the novel by Winifred Watson

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STREET KINGS (2008), Crime Thriller, R, 109 mins.

Keanu Reeves stars as a veteran LAPD officer struggling to deal with the death of his wife, when he is implicated in the execution of a fellow officer. In order to prove his innocence, he has to go up against the entire police ideology that he has respected and followed for his entire career, bringing into question the loyalties of everyone around him.

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans
Director: David Ayer
Screenplay: James Ellroy and Kurt Wimmer and Jamie Moss

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THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES (2008), Drama/Thriller, R, 90 mins.

Based on the best-selling novel by Laura Kasischke, The Life Before Her Eyes is about a suburban wife and mother who begins the question the perfectness of her life on the 15th anniversary of the death of her best friend, who was killing in a high school shooting.

It’s an interesting analysis of how high school affects us later in life, particularly traumatic experiences. Diana, the lead character, remembers the increasing strains on the relationship between her and her best friend in the days leading up to the shooting, causing her to reexamine and doubt her marrriage and disrupt her seemingly perfect life.

The film cleverly intercuts between Diana’s unravelling married life and the approach of the fateful day in high school, and along the way a deeper mystery slowly begins to emerge.

Starring: Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood, Eva Amurri, Gabrielle Brennan, Brett Cullen
Director: Vadim Perelman
Screenplay: Emil Stern, based on the novel by Laura Kasischke

THE SCORPION KING 2: RISE OF A WARRIOR (2008), Action, PG-13, probably 90 mins or so.

It’s revealing that this is a sequel to a spin-off of a successful franchise (that was itself already heading downhill). The Scorpion King 2 is like the distant third cousin of a good movie, related not even in name to something that was any good. The story is about a young kid named Mathayus who witnesses his father’s death at the hands of some king in an ancient world, Afterwards, get this, his quest for vengeance turns him into the most feared warrior of the ancient world. I’ve been pissed off before, but I guess never enough to transform me into anything. Oh well. I’ll tell you this though, my anger from watching this movie instantly transformed my copy of it into the most fearsome flying disc on my street…

Starring: Randy Couture, Michael Copon, and Simon Quarterman, and a lot of other clearly struggling actors
Director: Russell Mulcah
Written by: Stephen Sommers and Jonathan Hales

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HANNAH MONTANA/MILEY CYRUS: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS (2008), Concert video, 90mins.

It’s revealing that Miley Cyrus needs a gimmick like 3D to get her concert video to sell. And that’s not all. The video is 74 minutes long, but the much-trumpeted 2-DISC EXTENDED EDITION includes a whopping extra 16 minutes. Wow. Surely an overwhelmingly grateful public will mob the video stores.

Miley Cyrus’s personal life is pretty popular amidst the Hollywood gossip columns, and if any of you have any interest whatsoever about her professional life (or if some of you aren’t sure if she actually has a professional life or not), this video is for you. The rest of you can just keep checking hollywire, we’ll give you the good stuff…
Starring Miley Cyrus and a bunch of struggling musicians/actors.
Director: Bruce Hendricks