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...I didn't know that if a girl broke your heart, another girl, virtuous at least in spirit, could mend it on the same night.

Infamous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his vicious gang of thieves and murderers have plagued the Southern Railroad. When Wade is captured, Civil War veteran Dan Evans (Christian Bale) volunteers to deliver him alive to the "3:10 to Yuma," a train that will take the killer to trial but with Wade's outfit on their trail - and dangers at every turn - the mission soon becomes a violent, impossible journey toward each man's destiny.

Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) robs banks and trains and he will not hesitate to kill anyone who stands in his way of the money. By contrast, he is also an intelligent, charismatic, religious man who loves his mother. He is supremely confident in his ability to outwit and outshoot "the law," so it is no concern for him to get caught one day when he is separated from his gang. The concern belongs to the people who need to bring him to justice. The group of volunteers includes a desperate, but honorable man (Christian Bale) who is willing to take on the risk of getting Wade to the train in Yuma that will take him to jail.

I have frequently and even recently said that I do not like Russell Crowe, but he was very good in this role. It was impressive to see him pull off a character who can seem so innocent and trustworthy but is capable of horrible things if you cross him. He was not the star, however.

Ben Foster. I wish I could say that we will see more of this guy in roles like this, but unfortunately I don't see it. (I won't call this a fluke, because he definitely has talent, but I really believe this was the kind of role that comes along once in a lifetime.) He was the consumate outlaw. His fierce loyalty to Wade made him a very bad man, which translated into one of my favorite on-screen villains.

The DVD synopsis makes it sound like 3:10 to Yuma is edge-of-your-seat excitement. This was not the case, and most of the movie was pretty slow. It came to a boil at the end, which made up for a majority of the slow feeling, but please don't expect high energy when you watch it. The movie was long and it felt long, but Crowe and Foster were two great bad guys. Overall, I feel like this is a movie worth watching if you like Westerns and/or shoot-'em-up action flicks -- even though a movie about a pre-capture Ben Wade would have been much more entertaining.

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Dan: Change moves in spirals, not circles. For example, the sun goes up and then it goes down. But everytime that happens, what do you get? You get a new day. You get a new one. When you breathe, you inhale and you exhale, but every single time that you do that you're a little bit different than the one before. We're always changing. And it's important to know that there are some changes you can't control and that there are others you can.

Have the "time" of your life with Disney's fun-filled comedy Meet The Robinsons -- a thrilling adventure that takes you to a whole new world full of imagination and surprises. It's a "masterpiece," raves John Anderson of Newsday.

Join a brilliant young inventor named Lewis as he sets off on a time-traveling journey to find the family he never knew. In the fantastical world of 2037 hip-hoppin' frogs and dogs that wear glasses are as common as talking dinosaurs. In an amazing twist, Lewis discovers that the fate of the future rests in his hands, but he can't save it alone --- he'll need every bit of help he can get from the wonderfully wacky Robinson family, who help him learn to keep moving forward and never stop believing in himself.

When Lewis was just a baby he was left on the doorstep of an orphanage. He was well cared for there, but he was a special child and every couple that came to interview him for adoption was looking for a "normal" little boy. His rare talent for invention impressed no one. Rather than try to find a couple who would appreciate his gift, he decided to use it -- by inventing a machine that would help him find his real mom. In the most unlikely events that follow Lewis met the most amazing family and began to long for one of his own. Conflict arose and he found himself struggling between his loss of confidence and the need to use his gift to save the day...and the future.

When the previews came out, Meet The Robinsons was not a movie I planned to see. It looked like a movie for young children. I like a lot of kids' movies, but of a certain type. There are many that appeal to an older audience, and many that do not. I felt like there was nothing I would get from this one, so I wouldn't bother. But then I heard some surprisingly favorable reviews.

Meet The Robinsons is a fun story about a boy who has a chance to help other people if only he can believe in himself. The movie was well animated, funny and it had a great message without being preachy. This would be a good movie to show young kids because it talks about the importance of failure to success but does so in an unoffensive manner that won't bore you or them. I liked Meet The Robinsons and if I had kids this would be a movie I would keep on hand.

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Hannibal Lecter: Well, Clarice - have the lambs stopped screaming?

The Feast of Love: A Novel by Charles Baxter

Late one night, Charlie Baxter wakes with a start from a bad dream and decides to take a walk through his Ann Arbor neighborhood. After catching sight of two lovers entangled together on the fifty-yard line of the football field, he comes upon Bradley W. Smith, a friend and fellow insomniac, who convinces Charlie to listen to the first of many tales that will become a luminous narrative of love in its sublime, agonizing, and eternal complexity.

We meet Kathryn, Bradley's first wife, who leaves her husband for another woman, and Diana, Bradley's second wife, whose cold, secretive nature makes her more suitable as a mistress than as a spouse. We meet Chloe and Oscar, whose dreams for their future together are more traditional than their multiple body piercings and wild public displays of affection might suggest. We meet Esther and Harry Ginsberg, Bradley's neighbors, whose love for their lost son persists despite his hatred of them. And we follow Bradley, ex-husband, employer, and friend, on his journey toward conjugal happiness. The community of souls found in The Feast of Love is unforgettable -- as is the perfect symphony their harmonized voices create.

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December Boys

They share the same birth month, so the orphanage calls them December Boys. But these teens -- Maps, Spit, Spark and Misty -- have much more in common. With no hopes of ever joining a family, they form their own familial bonds. Then the unexpected news comes that a young couple may adopt one of them, and the long-time pals suddenly share something else: a rivalry to be the chosen one.

December Boys, a poignant memoir of friendship and family, marks Daniel Radcliffe's first major film role outside the Harry Potter series. He plays Maps, a big brother to the group as it stumbles and wavers its way toward manhood. Join the boys for their remarkable journey of the heart called growing up.

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Jarrod: I guess I've got to keep creating or I'll just die.

1. Sweeney Todd

2. Juno

3. No Country for Old Men

4. The Golden Compass

5. Lars and the Real Girl

(Honorable Mention: 300, Death at a Funeral, Transformers)

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The Kid: So, as just a guy who gave another guy a sandwich, you have any philosophical tips or anything, for a guy on a kind of road trip? Don Johnston: You asking me? The Kid: Yeah. Don Johnston: Well, the past is gone, I know that. The future isn't here yet, whatever it's going to be. So, all there is, is this. The present. That's it.

Don't miss writer-director Adrienne Shelly's sweet, sassy comedy about the power of friendship, motherhood and second chances, starring the radiant Keri Russell who serves up "a hilarious and heartfelt performance" (Rolling Stone).

Jenna (Russell), a small-town waitress with big dreams, has an uncanny gift for baking out-of-this-world pies. Her secret ambition is to win a $25,000 contest, so she can leave her obnoxious husband, open her own pie shop and transform her life. A chance meeting with a handsome newcomer to town just might supply the right ingredients to help Jenna find true happiness.

Jenna (Keri Russell) would like nothing more than to pack her few belongings and move away. She has never been truly appreciated -- especially by her controlling husband -- despite her talent. Jenna makes pie. And there is an upcoming pie contest with a grand prize that would allow her to finance her escape.

Reading and thinking about the synopsis of this movie would probably lead you, as it did me, towards an expectation of a sad movie. But if you watch it, you will find a more uplifting and empowering story about a woman who is finally ready to do things that make her happy.

The movie had its rough spots just about any time Jeremy Sisto was on screen. He played the controlling husband and his scenes were hard to watch. I have noticed that there is a distinct category of people who did not like this movie based solely on Sisto's character. I find that unfortunate since there was a very charming story here, but I can appreciate the viewpoint of anyone who fits that category.

Waitress was very well written. There were many great lines delivered by various members of the cast, but Andy Griffith stole the show. He played Old Joe, the man who owned the pie diner where Jenna worked. He was a crotchety old man who was nice to no one...except Jenna. He played a valuable role serving as her mentor and conscience and was a key ingredient to my enjoyment of the movie.

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Daniel Holt: You supposed to sleep with the wife, Roedel. Great day in the mornin' you got to know that much! You supposed to share her bed. That way, if some other man do that, you shoot him.

American Gangster is based on the true story of Frank Lucas's whirlwind success selling heroin in New York. In 1968 every news station reported that more and more people were beginning to experiment with this relatively new drug from Southeast Asia. It took just one man to put 2 and 2 together and take a quick trip to Vietnam before he was selling heroin that was twice as pure for half as much. And life was very good, but when life is too good people notice.

I enjoyed the calm and collected manner in which Frank Lucas carried himself at almost all times. It is hard not to respect what he was able to do, despite the lives he ruined. I thought Denzel Washington did a good job as Lucas for most of the movie. Unfortunately for me, and I am not generally a Denzel fan, towards the end he started to pick up the flagrant arrogance and short temper that won him an Oscar in Training Day.

I liked American Gangster, but I didn't love it. I don't like Denzel, but he was better than usual. I don't like Russell Crowe...and he wasn't any better than usual. Frank Lucas was an interesting man who tried to do things the right way, if there is a "right way" to grow your drug empire. I liked the movie because of the man it was about, not the execution. The movie was a little too long and focused on some strange things that were arguably unnecessary to the story. I feel like it could have been trimmed down and been a little better for it.

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Dalton Russell: I'm no martyr. I did it for the money. But it's not worth much if you can't face yourself in the mirror. Respect is the ultimate currency. I was stealing from a man who traded his away for a few dollars. And then he tried to wash away his guilt. Drown it in a lifetime of good deeds and a sea of respectability. It almost worked, too. But inevitably, the further you run from your sins, the more exhausted you are when they catch up to you. And they do. Certain. It will not fail.

The dishonorable Judge Turpin lusts after another man's wife. To gain her undivided attention, the judge sends her husband, Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp), away; a life sentence for a bogus charge. Fifteen years later a ship docks in London carrying a man once-named Barker. He now goes by Sweeney Todd and he has come back to exact his revenge and find his wife and daughter. He returns to the space he once occupied to resume his work as a barber and forms a most peculiar relationship with Mrs. Lovett, whose meat pie shop sits beneath Todd's barber chair.

The movie Sweeney Todd is based on Stephen Sondheim's musical which goes by the same name (and is in turn based on a 19th century legend of Sweeney Todd). Being that it is based on a musical, there is some conversation, but most intercourse is in song. For some, this will be the first hurdle to clear. But if you like musicals, the songs are fantastic and the signing was great. Johnny Depp really impressed me with his voice. And Ed Sanders, who plays Toby, was very very good.

Sweeney Todd would be hard pressed to earn a nickname such as the "Demon Barber of Fleet Street" without a little effort. His weapon of choice is the straight razor he uses in his barber practice. Get the men into his chair and slit their throats. This happens many times, and Director Tim Burton rivals most "B" horror flicks with the amount of blood in Sweeney Todd. This is the second, and final hurdle. If you can clear those two things, I hope you enjoy Sweeney Todd as much as I did.

As mentioned already, I thought Johnny Depp's singing was really worth seeing. I think I will be so bold as to call this his best performance to date. And consider that I am as much of a Depp fan as most.

I am not normally a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen, but I will admit that I loved his cameo in Sweeney Todd; it was very funny.

I was afraid that Tim Burton would take too much creative license and make it more like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but he did not. I loved the almost grainy feel to the film and the washed-out color, I thought it was perfect to capture the feeling of the movie.

Despite the heavy blood flow, I really enjoyed Sweeney Todd. I thought Johnny Depp was great in the lead and he had very good support from Helena Bonham Carter and Ed Sanders. This is one of the best movies I have seen this year.

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Jenna: Cal, are you happy? I mean, when you call yourself a happy man, do you really mean it? Cal: You ask a serious question, I'll give you a serious answer: Happy enough. I don't expect much. I don't get much, I don't give much. I generally enjoy whatever comes along. That's my answer for you, summed up for your feminine consideration. I'm happy enough.

Dewey Cox was overshadowed by his brother's greatness. When both boys were very young, Nate was naturally gifted at everything he did and ambitious enough to really make a difference in this world. And then one day, during a relatively routine machete fight, Dewey chops Nate in half. When the doctor is unable to recombine the top of his body with the bottom, the boy dies. Dewey had made a promise to his brother to be great enough for them both, and that is exactly what he sets out to do when his dad kicks him out of the house. Dewey goes on to greatness as one of the leading rock musicians in history, while ever tormented by the loss of his brother.

Sound ridiculous? It was and I cannot even do it justice. But one thing that was great was how the movie would constantly reassure you that it was parody. Many times the dialog between two characters would explain and oversimplify the scene and suggest just how ridiculous it really was. It was pretty funny when this happened, but there were a few times when the movie tried to be serious and it didn't work. From a humor perspective, the highs were very high, but the lows were too low for me to say that I liked Walk Hard.

There was some of the most hilarious writing in Walk Hard, but the movie itself was pretty awful. Unfortunately, that seems to be the pattern to Judd Apatow's movies.

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Paul: Supermodels are beautiful girls, Will. A beautiful girl can make you dizzy, like you've been drinking Jack and Coke all morning. She can make you feel high full of the single greatest commodity known to man - promise. Promise of a better day. Promise of a greater hope. Promise of a new tomorrow. This particular aura can be found in the gait of a beautiful girl. In her smile, in her soul, the way she makes every rotten little thing about life seem like it's going to be okay. The supermodels, Willie? That's all they are. Bottled promise. Scenes from a brand new day. Hope dancing in stiletto heels.

Hidden deep beneath Manhattan lies a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beast. When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police Lieutenant D'Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. The trail soon leads deep underground, where they will face the awakening of a slumbering nightmare.

A year and a half after the museum beast came to New York, two bodies are found on a routine police dive for a package of heroin thrown off a bridge. No one suspects the museum beast is involved since it was killed and transported away, but Margo Green and Dr. Frock are once again asked to help if they can identify these strangely misshapen bodies.

While it is their work to find out the identity of the bodies, it is up to the police to find out where they came from and how they made it to where they were discovered. This portion of the story was the most interesting to me as it described (how accurately I cannot say) the vast network of tunnels beneath Manhattan and the communities of homeless people who live there.

While I really enjoyed this book, it is not one I can recommend broadly. I consider Reliquary to be a guilty-pleasure sci-fi thriller. It had wonderful suspense that would probably leave most readers on the edge of their seats, but there were enough murders and far-fetched scientific "discoveries" to limit the number of readers who would enjoy this book. And at times there was almost too much going on. I was content with the complexity of the story, but they lost me with one particular subplot which continued (seemingly) only to keep one of the recurring characters involved.

I don't think I am the only one who is skeptical of sequels. I think that can be evidenced by Reliquary being labeled as "sequel to the New York Times best seller Relic" and it not being a bestseller on its own. I thought Reliquary was just as good if not better than Relic. Don't be afraid to pick up this sequel.

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"And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."