Valentine's Day

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: February 12, 2010

DVD Release Date: May 18, 2010

Plot 411: An interwoven story about people who live in L.A. on Valentine's Day.

Review: This movie tries to pull off a heartfelt statement about love in L.A. ala Love Actually and a massive ensemble cast. However, I don't think it has quite enough heart to follow in those footsteps. The various plot lines are as moving. They don't tug quite so hard at your heartstrings. It's as if we're just following these people around for a day in the life or something just as moronic. The movie opens up with Reed (Ashton Kutcher) proposing to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba). Most of his friends, including BFF Julia (Jennifer Garner) and Alphonso (George Lopez), are surprised when they find out she says yes. The multiple storyline unfolds here with kid love, teen love and even senior love. The all-star cast is great, but they don't seem able to pull off a really solid American representative of Love Actually. Also in this film are Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Emma Roberts, Hector Elizondo, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Shirley MacLaine, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift. Phew, by the time you say all their names the flick is over. My bet is that they signed up for this project hoping to get paid for not doing much. It probably worked.

Watch It: If you want to catch a glimpse of stars young and old.

Skip It: And watch the British version, which is better hands down. Who said Brits were cold and stuffy?

Predators

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: July 7, 2010

DVD Release Date: TBD

Plot 411: A group of killers are dropped into a foreign jungle and come face to face with even bigger killers.

Review: The movie opens as a man (Adrien Brody) awakens to find he is falling through the air and unable to open up his parachute. What a way to kick off this film! We soon learn he is not the only person to live through the experience when he meets up with seven other people. They are all fierce soldiers in their own way, some who are traditionally trained, like Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), and others who are just bad asses, like death row inmate Stans (Walton Goggins). There's also a female operative (Alice Braga), a doctor (Topher Grace) and some other trained killers. As the group tries to figure out where they are and what is going on, they are attacked by foreign creatures. They learn that the tables are switched and the hunters are not the hunted. I thought this was a really good way to reboot the Predator franchise. It's a new imagining of an old favorite. I found some of the action hard to follow though because of all the shaky cam jerkiness. Also, the plot and dialogue wasn't all that great. My biggest critique is that despite being named Predators, it takes a long time for a predator to show up on screen. How is this possible? The special effects aren't mindblowingly good either. Also in this movie is Laurence Fishburne and Danny Trejo.

Watch It: If you're a fan of sci-fi action flicks.

Skip It: If you're expecting this new film to make incredible use of technology.