This is a movie for fans of Green Lantern… for better or worse. It's loaded with Green Lantern Corps mythos. It's loaded with the many characters of the world. To clarify I'm not the greatly Green Lantern fan, but my knowledge of the world has been informed by the DC Direct animated films GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT and GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD KNIGHTS. In context, my suspension of disbelief seems to be higher than many who have been trashing the film, because I knew what to expect and knew how it could have gone far worse.

In this origin story, we learn that the immortal guardians of the universe have sectioned off the universe and assigned a protector of each sector. These protectors make up the Green Lantern Corps, which wield green rings that channel the power of will. Now an ancient evil named Parallax (Clancy Brown, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION), who is powered by the yellow energy of fear, has been set free. The Green Lantern Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison, STAR WARS prequels) once defeated the creature, but it has only gotten stronger and mortally wounds the legendary warrior. Abin Sur heads to the closest planet, Earth, to let his ring choose a worthy successor. That turns out to be cocky test pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Renyolds, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE).

TOY STORY's story is not over. Pixar has decided to extend the franchise in a series of shorts, this one being the first. Woody and the gang are preparing for some R&R as their new owner Bonnie is headed off on a Hawaiian family vacation over the winter break. Stowed away in the little girl's backpack are Ken and Barbie, who are extremely disappointed when they discover they're at Bonnie's house and not a luau on the beach. So in order to rescue the couple's first vacation together, the rest of the toys team up to bring paradise to a preschooler's bedroom.

Director Gary Rydstrom, who received an Oscar nod for his hilarious Pixar short LIFTED, brings his great timing to this film as well. While his other short relied on pitch perfect physical comedy, he brings the same sensibility to this talkier piece. Even though the script for this short has a lot more dialogue, the jokes are many sight gags. He knows exactly how to lay the joke out to maximize the laugh. Even when a joke is expected, he knows how to give it a twist in order to elicit a chuckle.

None of the Pixar shorts based on their features have been as good as their classics like GERI'S GAME or PRESTO, but this is the best of them. In addition to being funny, it also has a nicely contained story, instead just being a series of gags like MIKE'S NEW CAR or JACK-JACK ATTACK. But then the others were not based on TOY STORY nor did they have Pixar's sweet, innocent and retro take on Mattel's toy icons Barbie and Ken. What a sweet couple. Will they ever kiss?

It was a surprise when Brendan Gleeson was announced as a Golden Globe nominee for his role as a corrupt, drug using, foul mouthed cop. Once you've seen it you'll know why. He owns the role. The best statement said about his character is he's either really stupid or really smart.

Gleeson plays Gerry Boyle, a north Ireland police officer who is investigating a recent murder when FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle, HOTEL RWANDA) comes to town on a mission to stop an international drug ring. When Everett shows the local officers pictures of the suspects, Boyle wonders to the African-American agent how they could be drug dealers when their white. Everyone knows all drug dealers are black or Mexican. Boyle's defense for his racism is that he is Irish and it is part of his culture.

Based on the Roald Dahl’s book, director Henry Selick made this project his follow-up to the successful NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Bookended by a live-action opening and closing, this stop-motion feature is generally an episodic adventure following a classic tale of a young boy dreaming beyond his circumstances.

After the death of his parents, James Trotter (Paul Terry) becomes a virtual slave to his ghoulish aunts Spiker (Joanna Lumley, TV’s ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS) and Sponge (Miriam Margolyes, BABE). One day he meets a wandering old man (Pete Postlewaite, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER), who gives him magic worms that he claims will help him attain his dream of getting from England to New York City. Spilling the worms on the ground, James sets off a series of events that grows a giant peach on a barren tree where human-sized bugs come to live.

Before this film I had never heard of Joyce McKinney and her bizarre headline grabbing life. It's a fitting statement of her bizarre story, one that grabs attention and fizzles out as the next sensational tale takes hold of the headlines of magazines and newspapers at the check-out line. It's got it all -- a former beauty queen, a Mormon missionary, violence and kinky sex.

Joyce McKinney was in search of that special guy her whole life. After living in L.A. for a stretch, she moved to Utah where she meet Kirk Anderson. For Joyce it was love at first sight. The problem for Kirk was that he was a Mormon and was expected to marry a nice Mormon girl. Not a former Miss Wyoming. Kirk up and left on his required mission without telling Joyce where he was going. She hired a private investigator to hunt him down, believing he had been kidnapped and brainwashed by a cult.

So if you're one of nine superpowered aliens from a destroyed world hiding out on Earth when the creatures that wiped out your kind are in hot pursuit, what do you do? If you're John Smith in this film, you stop to develop a roll of film with your Earthling girlfriend. You really can't make this stuff up.

John Smith is played by the up-and-coming hunk Alex Pettyfer (BEASTLY). He is an alien hiding out on Earth with his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant, TV's JUSTIFIED), who poses as his father. The evil Mogadorians are hunting the nine superpowered aliens in numerical order. The numbering system is never explained. Number 3 has just been killed and John is Number 4.

What if you could take a pill and it unlocked the vast potential of your mind? That’s what this film purposes. The problem is that writers not on the drug have a hard time representing what a person with a four digit IQ is really like. I highly doubt that someone that smart would end up in a thriller, but that’s what the film is.

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper, THE HANGOVER) is a struggling writer who has a book deal, but can’t really deal with writing it. Pretty much at rock bottom, he has a run in with his former brother-in-law Vernon (Johnny Whitworth, EMPIRE RECORDS), who was also is former drug dealer. He’s now pushing NZT, the drug that unlocks your mind’s full potential. But as with any too good to be true venture, there are side effects. Eddie gets addicted to the drug and starts running out of his supply. In the process, he gets mixed up with gangster Gennady (Andrew Howard, TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN) and high-stakes investor Carl Van Loon (Robert DeNiro, RAGING BULL). It’s questionable who is shadier.

This dark comedy isn't the prettiest looking release, but Sony does bring it to Blu-ray in a quality MPEG-4 AVC 1080p transfer. Dimensionality is the biggest issue with the image often looking soft. This then lowers the depth of field. Colors are natural and balanced well. When more vibrant colors pop up in the palette they do indeed pop. Blacks might not be inky throughout, but they aren't too murky. Digital issues aren't problematic, but crush is its biggest issue. Of course night scenes in low lighting suffer the worst. Some noise and banding occur but nothing too awful. Most of the issues with the picture quality presumably stem back to the source, which was a low-budget indie shot on Super 35. The worst thing you could say about the image would be that it is inconsistent. Some darker scenes can be murky and feature pixelization, but daylight scenes can be crisp and deep.

Much like its picture, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack is the same – inconsistent. The ambience is subtle, but puts the viewer into the settings. Seaside scenes feature wind, ocean and bird sounds across the soundscape. The mix is well done, but nothing is dynamic. The gunfight at the end is sonically solid even if it's not as robust as others you might have heard in big budget shoot outs. That said directionality during the gunfight is handled precisely. Dialogue importantly with the Irish accents is clear, but a little low at times, but nothing too distracting.

Jason Eisener won Robert Rodriguez’s SXSW Grindhouse trailer contest for his fake trailer HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, which was featured in Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s GRINDHOUSE. Unlike that film and Rodriguez’s fake trailer turned feature film MACHETE, this film is simply an exploitation flick. The film has little purpose other than being violent and bloody.

Here, the Hobo is played by Rutger Hauer. It is a testament to his professionalism that he gives a real performance within this muck. He’s a homeless vet looking to save enough money to buy a lawnmower so he can make an honest living. He comes to Hope Town, which is like a cross between Detroit in ROBOCOP and some punk run town in MAD MAX. Why he thinks this is a good spot to beg is unknown? I would have picked the suburbs before panhandling in a place where the town’s welcome sign is spray painted over to read Scum Town.

THE HUNGER GAMES (2012) (***)

Based on Suzanne Collins' bestselling YA series, Gary Ross' screen adaptation has already become a mega hit. The film was supposed to be the next TWILIGHT and it has surpassed it at the box office already. But is it any good? In the categories of story and especially acting, it is certainly better than any of the TWILIGHT films. With its dystopian society and futuristic technology, it tells a compelling sci-fi yarn. But I still have a sneaky feeling that I've seen it before and done better.

Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence plays the heroine Katniss Everdeen, a scrappy teen who lives in a future America where the country is split up into 12 districts. Each year a boy and a girl from each district are selected to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised battle to the death. The solo winner is awarded food and wealth from the State for their home district. On selection day, Katniss's younger sister Primrose (Willow Shields) is chosen to represent District 12. Katniss instead volunteers to take her place.