Overview: A group of high-school teenagers are put on the front lines when their country is invaded by hostile forces in this remake of John Milius' 1984 war adventure. Second unit director Dan Bradley (The Bourne Ultimatum, Spider-Man 3) makes his directorial debut with this MGM film, scripted by Red Eye's Carl Ellsworth. Josh Hutcherson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Isabel Lucas, Connor Cruise, and Edwin Hodge topline the cast.

Overview: Brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) matches wits with the nefarious Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris) after uncovering a diabolical plot to destabilize the entire Western world in this sequel from director Guy Ritchie. A criminal mastermind without a conscience, Professor Moriarty is Holmes' worst nightmare -- a man who uses his incredible intellect for unspeakably evil purposes.

Verdict: After seeing the original Sherlock Holmes, I said, "That movie was great! Even if they don't make a sequel, it wouldn't both me." Today, I find myself saying the same thing about A Game of Shadows. The personalities of Holmes and Watson again worked well together, and the overall story was well-crafted and entertaining.

Also, the plot worked on a much broader scale than the original, so you don't feel like it's just a re-hash of the original. The new canon characters that are introduced or expanded upon brought more life to the movie and created a much closer version of the original Doyle works.

Overview: A discredited journalist (Daniel Craig) and a mysterious computer hacker discover that even the wealthiest families have skeletons in their closets while working to solve the mystery of a 40-year-old murder in this David Fincher-directed remake of the 2009 Swedish thriller of the same name.

Verdict: Brilliant and engrossing adaptation of the book. For those of you familiar with the Swedish films, this is not a remake of the 2009 movie. Mostly filmed in Sweden, it feels like a foreign film. I found it beautifully directed, filmed, acted, written, and scored.

Rooney Mara is pitch perfect as Lisbeth Salander, as is Daniel Craig's Blomkvist. For a two-hour and forty-eight minute film, it sure went fast. Highly recommend, but not for kids. This film is even more graphic in some ways than the original film. For an American film, that's saying something.

Overview: The Kremlin has been bombed, and the blame has fallen on the IMF. As a result, the president initiates Ghost Protocol, and accuses Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team of placing the bomb in an attempt to incite a global nuclear war.

Verdict: What makes Tom Cruise run — run harder and run faster, leaping from one building and dangling off another, the world’s tallest — as he does to exhausting, unnerving effect in “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” his latest exercise in extreme performance.

The fourth in the franchise, this “Mission” has a solid cast, including a notable new co-star in Jeremy Renner; a new director, Brad Bird; and a story that’s as nonsensical as any in the series. Mostly, though, it has Mr. Cruise hurtling through the movie as if his life depended on it, which, to judge by the hard line of his jaw, his punishingly fit body and the will etched into his every movement, may be what’s at stake.

It’s fitting that Mr. Bird, the director of the Pixar movies “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille,” has taken over the reins of the franchise for his live-action directing debut. The “Mission: Impossible” movies belong to that outlandish, sometimes cartoonish class of action adventures in which lesser, Bond-like heroes walk or race from fiery explosions in between locking and loading, kissing and killing, and killing some more.

Ethan, after being broken out of a Moscow prison, where he had been idling among hordes of bull-necked Ivans and Igors, sets off on another mission with an old teammate, the tech whiz Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), and the obligatory pretty lady, Agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton). The mission goes bust and boom, as does a debriefing with Ethan’s boss (Tom Wilkinson, uncredited), whose murder finds Ethan and his team blackballed (if still sleuthing) and keeping company with an intelligence analyst, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner).

Renner, who played the main bomb specialist in “The Hurt Locker,” eases effortlessly into the blockbuster register, where star charisma and presence like Mr. Cruise’s matter more than emotionally selling a scene. Renner has to do some actual acting because of the role (surprise: there’s more to Brandt than a suit), and his low-key performance is a dividend in a movie in which almost all human interactions take exaggerated form, with more throttling than talking, or so it seems. Renner isn’t an obvious action type — he’s good-looking rather than roguish or boyishly pretty — but as soon as he rolls up his sleeves and picks up a gun, it’s obvious that he’s qualified for the job.

Overview: George Clooney goes behind the camera for the fourth time to direct The Ides of March, an adaptation of Beau Willimon's play Farragut North. The movie stars Ryan Gosling as Stephen Meyers, an idealistic deputy campaign manager for Governor Mike Morris (Clooney), who is in a major political battle in Ohio that could be the key to winning the Democratic presidential nomination. When the opposing candidate's campaign manager (Paul Giamatti) offers Stephen a job on his staff, Stephen neglects to inform his boss (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Just as that omission is revealed, Stephen uncovers a dirty personal secret that could sink Morris' political career.

Verdict: “The Ides of March” attempts to be more than just a procedural political drama, and while moments of greatness exist within the film, a procedural political drama is essentially what it is. The film contains Shakespearean elements of ambition, loyalty, betrayal, sex and revenge — all which can often go hand-in-hand with the drama of politics. Although the film recycles many familiar plot devices found in other politically driven films, “The Ides of March” utilizes them well, thanks mainly to the strong cast.

The setting for the film is during a heavily contested Ohio presidential primary, a crucial election that will likely determine who will run for president under the banner of the Democratic Party. Ryan Gosling stars as Stephen Myers, a 30-year-old campaign press secretary and an idealist who fervently believes in his candidate.

As the election draws closer, Myers finds himself navigating backroom politics, the manipulation of veteran political strategists and potential scandal. These factors not only threaten his own personal belief system, but jeopardize his candidate’s chances of a presidential election. Myers is the lead character in the film and story focuses on his journey. The choices he makes and the actions he executes dictate the course of events that occur in the film.

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Paul Zara, an experienced and cynical campaign manager who values loyalty above all else (particularly the loyalty of those on his staff). Paul Giamatti is Tom Duffy, the rival campaign manager who hopes to lure Myers (Gosling) over to his team. Molly Stearns, a young intern played well by Evan Rachel Wood is also aggressively pursuing Myers, but her pursuit is more seductive in nature.

Overview: Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer takes the helm for this remake of the popular 1984 musical romance about a big-city teen who moves to a town that has outlawed dancing. Uprooted from Boston and reluctantly transplanted to the small Bible Belt town of Bomont, Ren MacCormack (Kenny Wormald) finds himself in a repressed community still reeling from a devastating loss. Shortly before he arrived in Bomont, five local teens perished in a tragic car accident following a local dance.

Verdict: With Craig Brewer's updated version of 80's classic 'Footloose', we are treated to yet another episode in the continuous adventures of 'remakes we never really wanted'. While this new version does try to update the formula to fit in this era, its story and message feels extremely outdated and is handled far too seriously. What is lacking most is a feeling of genuine fun leaving only a handful of pretty people showing some mildly impressive moves.

The story of "Footloose" pretty much follows the original, with only a few alterations. Rebellious teen Ren McCormack (newcomer Kenny Wormald), exchanges his Boston city life with the quaint and tranquil surroundings of old fashioned Bomont, Tennessee. After a tragic car accident, killing several teens who came back from a dance party, local Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) has made sure that the city council abolished all forms of public dancing and controversial music. What follows is your typical teen movement, against an uptight community, whilst winning over the Reverend's out-of-control teenage daughter.

The basic premise of the movie is not different from its predecessor, but some changes have been made to update the feature. Most notable is the level of drama - a lot of time is spent showing the viewer how deeply the community is hurt by the tragic car accident. Also, the addition of a different, more dramatic backstory of Ren (in this version, he lost his mother to cancer), shows that Brewer is trying something different.

Overview: The 'Paranormal Activity' franchise continues with this third outing from Paramount Pictures. Oren Peli and Jason Blum return to produce the highly secretive feature, with Catfish's directing duo of Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman taking on the helming duties.

Verdict: This latest entry is a prequel set in 1988, depicting the girls' (here played by Jessica Tyler Brown and Csengery) initial childhood encounters with the entity that stalks them throughout the series. The two share a two-level home with their mother Julie (Lauren Bittner) and her boyfriend Dennis (Chris Smith). Kristi's imaginary friend, Toby, quickly turns out to be not-so-imaginary, and not very friendly either. After accidentally capturing footage of something unusual, Dennis, a wedding photographer/videographer, decides to set up a couple of video cameras in the house.

Naturally, what follows is a lot of footage of things going bump in the night, lights playing tricks on everyone, and furniture finding its own feng shui before the goings finally amp up and become truly malevolent. It's the same sort of thing we saw in the first two, but PA3 tops its predecessors, especially last year's risible sequel, by being more inventive without coming across as a slick, soulless retread. Minimalism has always been one of the series' strengths, and an apparent budget boost allows for judicious use of digital effects to allow this entry more of an edge without going overboard.

Overview: Rising stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton command the screen as two estranged brothers facing the fight of a lifetime in Lionsgate's 'WARRIOR,' a moving, inspirational action drama from acclaimed director Gavin O'Connor.

Verdict: Going into this movie I wondered if it was going to be like those Jean-Claude Van Damme movies of old; where the fighting was in slo-mo, the facial expressions once the glove hit distorted, disfigured, goofy looking, and where the good guy would win - battered and bruised, but win as planned, none the less.

Well, I have to say that most all that didn't happen, and that as much as I am not a fan (of watching) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), I was transfixed to this movie from moment number one! This film HAS to be watched, but not only by fans of MMA but by those searching for a gritty family movie that features head to head confrontations, forces of human nature that can barely be constrained, and a soaring, soul stirring, and unforgettable heart wrenching underbelly of conscious that I have seen on film in the past 20 years.

Haunted by a tragic past, ex-Marine Tommy Conlon (Hardy, in a role that was built for him and one that is SO powerfully acted within that you leave believing if you met the guy he would be no different to this character) returns home for the first time in fourteen years to enlist the help of his father (Nick Nolte) to train for SPARTA, the biggest winner-takes-all event in mixed martial arts history.

A former wrestling prodigy, Tommy blazes a path toward the championship while his brother, Brendan (Edgerton, an actor that, at first, you have trouble believing could still fight within MMA at the highest levels - due to age and the fact he has been away from the sport for many years and softened bodily), an ex-fighter-turned teacher, returns to the ring in a desperate bid to save his family from financial ruin.

But when Brendan's unlikely, underdog rise sets him on a collision course with the unstoppable Tommy, and with his wife (Jennifer Morrison, in a role that belittles her beauty, purposefully), against the whole thing, the two brothers must finally confront each other - and the forces that pulled them apart.

Along the way we get some darkly comedic sentiments (like when Nick Nolte, as Tommy's dad says it's hard to find a woman today, and his son replies, "Yeah, it must be so hard to find a good woman who can take a punch!"); or when Brendan asks his coach to put him into SPARTA, and he replies, "You've got more chance of starting a boy band!"), a few cruel spoken word moments (like the casino scene at 4am - a very heartbreaking scene), a lot of brutal MMA filmed scenes, but for the most part we encounter the emotional turmoil of a family on the brink of both collapse and stunning success. Indeed, Nolte as the raspy, down but not out dad is perfect for the role. Coming up to a thousand days sober, he watches Tommy drink and drink, never tempted, like he always once was.

I won't given the end of the movie away, but suffice to say that a) one winner of a certain SF fight wouldn't have won in real life, and b) the end is absolutely unforgettable. It simply has to be witnessed to be truly inspired by is truly going to live with you - through tear-stained eyes - for many years to come.

Overview: Death stalks a group of co-workers who avoid a grisly demise in a massive suspension bridge collapse after one of them experiences a terrifying premonition in the fifth installment of the popular Final Destination series. Series regular Tony Todd returns in this sequel starring David Koechner, Emma Bell, Nicholas D'Agosto, and Miles Fisher.

Verdict: Yeah, you know where this one is heading — it's a really bad bus trip for all the pretty ones on this deadly ride!

It is, however, a really bad bus trip for all the pretty ones who've been invited along for this deadly (metaphorically speaking) ride. I will say, the bus, and the bridge it must cross, does make for a pretty incredible wham-bam opening sequence.

In the not-so-grand tradition of "Final Destination," death is no laughing matter. Well, I take that back, it sometimes is, and "FD 5" is the funniest yet. But the real raison d'être for "FD" filmmakers, and there have been a few since it first drew blood in 2000, is to see just how many kills can be stacked up and how many body parts can be sliced and diced along the way.

This is the second time "FD" has come to us in 3-D and for that they couldn't have done better than bringing in Steven Quale to direct.

The opening also serves to introduce us to all the major players that Death has his eye on. Those bodies would be Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, P.J. Byrne, Arlen Escarpeta and Ellen Wroe, who all work at the same company. The film's grown-ups include David Koechner ("The Office") as the unlikable boss and Courtney B. Vance as the detective charged with investigating the deaths we all know are coming.

As always, Death is upper-case, a major player, even when he (I like to think of him as a he, though we don't really know, do we?) is just implied. Unless that guy in the dark coat named Bludworth (Tony Todd) who always shows up at the crime scene along with the ominous music is, nah, never mind.

Overview: The Escapist director Rupert Wyatt takes the helm for this Planet of the Apes prequel centering on genetically engineered chimp Caesar (Andy Serkis), who was created in a San Francisco lab by an ambitious father/son scientist team (John Lithgow and James Franco), and who uses his powerful intellect to lead an ape uprising against all of humankind.

Verdict: Since the only really good 'Planet of the Apes' movie was the 1968 original with Charlton Heston, I’ve always wondered why filmmakers can’t just leave well enough alone. The current foray is rationalized in those same production notes: “The film was impossible to make until the technology, invented for ‘Avatar’ and now advanced to a new dimension, caught up to the idea behind the movie.”

In other words, having a guy traipse around in a phony-looking monkey suit just doesn’t cut it anymore! What the world has been waiting for is Andy Serkis – Gollum in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy and Kong in 'King Kong' – traipsing around via performance capture technology. He plays Caesar, the supersmart chimpanzee whose education apparently does not include a single 'Planet of the Apes' movie.

Anyway, getting back on movie track, and (for my money) James Franco isn’t very convincing as a brooding scientist. He might have benefited from some performance capture technology, or at least better dialogue. This is the kind of movie where the characters are always saying things like, “What are you saying?” Plot points are continually reiterated. Obviously director Rupert Wyatt doesn’t think we in the audience are as smart as Caesar.

Overview: Based on the graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, Cowboys & Aliens starts in 1800s Arizona, where the local cowboys, headed by gunslinger Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), and the indigenous Apache tribe have been feuding fiercely for quite a while. Their skirmish is interrupted, however, by the appearance of a spaceship, commanded by an alien creature that's bent on enslaving the human race!

Verdict: In truth, 'Cowboys & Aliens' is more Western than sci-fi, but the cowboys are like Indians. I mean, Native Americans. I mean, people going about their business when all of a sudden a horde of plundering imperialist invaders descends on them. Now the boss-man capitalist, the outlaw, and even the Native American chief have a common enemy!

It starts with a start: Muscular, blue-eyed Daniel Craig wakes up in the desert with a wound in his side, a weird metallic bracelet locked on his wrist, and no ­memory—although, like Jason Bourne, he can effortlessly waste baddies. He’s haunted … but by what? Favreau is clever enough to withhold the pertinent plot details. With a narrative this hackneyed, not knowing is more fun than finding out.