Entertainment Wrap #16

Its a pretty busy summer week as the new releases keep rolling in with perhaps one of the most anticipated flicks of the summer released earlier this week.  Without further delay…let’s get right into it.

THEATERS

New releases this week are: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,  My Sister’s Keeper, and Cheri.  My Sister’s Keeper stars Cameron Diaz as a mother whose  daughter, Kate, is battling leukemia. She then has another child, Anna, via in vitro fertilizatioin, who is designed to be a perfect genetic match for Kate.  When Kate’s kidneys begin to fail, Anna seeks medical emancipation from her parents who are demanding that she donate a kidney to her dying sister. While at first glance this may seem to be your standard tear jerking chick flick, the film seems very well written and acted.  Although I normally shy away from depressing fare like this, I must admit that this film has a very interesting story and seems well worth checking out.

Cheri is a romantic drama set in 1920s Paris that follows the love affair between a young man and an older, more experienced woman played by Michelle Pfeifer. While I don’t know too much more about the film, it obviously seems to share a lot of similarities with the award winning ‘The Reader’.  However, from a technical standpoint, even as she ages,Pfeifer ranks considerably higher on the MILF scale than Kate Winslet.

Finally, we have Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I don’t really want to say too much about this film as both Trench and myself have reviews which should be up in the very near future. Is it better than the first film? Not really in my opinion. Is it worth checking out at the movies? Yes. I doubt anyone will consider this a masterpiece or even an excellent film, but it is literally the most bang for your admission buck.

DVD

New DVDs this week are: The Pink Panther 2, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Inkheart.  Pink Panther 2 has Steve Martin reprising his role as Inspector Clouseau.  Kids may find the humor in this film amusing, but most of the jokes and gags have been done before.  While the first film had the benefit of Beyonce to at least keep it afloat visually, this film has the benefit of….um….sorry I’ll have to get back to you on that.

Confessions of a Shopaholic stars scene stealing Isla Fisher as a shopaholic who learns to find comfort in more than just material things. While the film isn’t exactly the most original idea, Fisher is usually pretty entertaining.  I may have a review up for this soon as my spider sense is indicating that I will most likely be forced to watch this in the very near future.  This brings us to the Brendan Fraser children’s flick, Inkheart. The story is similar to The Neverending Story in that there is a magical book whose characters and world come to life.  Admittedly, I don’t know too much about this film but my kids were watching it a few weeks ago and they really enjoyed it.

GAMING

This week brings us the release of one of my personally most anticipated games in a while, EA’s Fight Night Round 4. I’m sure you’ve seen the constant barrage of commercials featuring a virtual matchup between Heavyweight legend Muhammed Ali and Iron Mike Tyson. Fortunately, the game features the pre- tattoed face, ear biting version of Tyson when he was the terror of the heavyweight division. The game also features a great roster of fighters, including: Tommy Hearns, Lennox Lewis, Manny Pacquiao, and Roy Jones Jr. just to name a few.  I can’t wait for this game as I’ve already sunk way too much time into the demo, which only allowed you to choose between Manny Pacquiao or Ricky Hatton.

That’s the week in entertainment and that’s a wrap.