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Writer-director Mike Mills put all his heart and art into Beginners, a powerful, poignant autobiographical film that shows "Oliver," Mills' fictional avatar, coming to terms with his seventy-five year old father's simultaneous revelations (a) that he is gay, and (b) that he has a terminal disease. Beginners premiered at The Toronto International Film Festival, where it earned rave reviews—not the cliché kind of raves, but genuinely exuberant, effusive exclamations of praise and delight. Beginners is scheduled to hit theaters during the summer, 2011, when it can provide welcome relief from ripped-from-the-comics fare."Ewan McGregor stars as Oliver, and Christopher Plummer stars as Hal, Oliver's "tumultuously gay" father. No strangers to intense drama, ribald comedy, or brilliant performances, both McGregor and Plummer show, as The Los Angeles Times said, "a strong sense of responsibility to their real-world counterparts." Responsibility comes to life in Beginners as humor, honesty, genuine love and affection, which Oliver learns in the last days of his father's life and then attempts to carry into new love with Anna, also brilliantly portrayed by Melanie Laurent. Anna is as unpredictable and irreverent as Hal was tumultuous and exuberant, so that loving her challenges all the bravery, humor, and hope Oliver has learned from his father.

Zookeeper immediately deserves nomination for the "Cute" Hall of Fame. Or "precious" or "adorable" or one of those ever so warm and friendly adjectives that describe both people and animals you just want to hug with all your might. You must understand that the animals star in Zookeeper, and the people are the supporting cast. Naturally teddy-bearish Kevin James stars as Griffin Keyes, long-time zookeeper who doesn't get out much. More at home with his critters than members of his own species, the zookeeper bravely resolves to leave the zoo and venture out into the bigger world, where he hopes, naturally enough, he can get a life and get a girl. When the animals ferret-out Griffin's plan, they feel so desperately heart-broken they elect to break their "code of silence," revealing not only that they can talk but also that they have quite a bit to say on questions of love, romance, and mating. Rosario Dawson plays Kate, "the girl." The animals, of course, conspire to help their boy win the girl and to keep their happy family together. Seriously, how cute is that!"Zookeeper features an exceptionally high-powered collection of voice talents: Adam Sandler plays a Capuchin monkey, Cher appropriately plays a lioness opposite Sylvester Stallone's lion, Billy Crystal plays a llama, and the venerable Don Rickles gives us his very best frog. And that's just the headliners. Zookeeper also has the strange distinction of going into the film history books as the last movie MGM studios wrapped before it went into bankruptcy. That part isn't cute—just quirky.

Captain America: The First Avenger will not be just another one of those "ripped from the comics" movies that have become a 2011 Hollywood staple. No way. "Captain America himself looks remarkably fit for a super-hero who celebrated his seventieth birthday in 2011, and his box office prospects are remarkably sanguine, too. For all those years, Captain America consistently has ranked well-up the list of popular comic characters. Maybe not the sexiest man alive, but a perpetual contender, and always the consummate patriot. Therefore, producers, writers, directors, actors, cinematographers, all the grips, and even the craft services crew understand they have their hands full as they make Captain America: The First Avenger. Their main character is, after all, revered as the United States' bravest, noblest, most-selfless, and greatest hundred-and-one percent hero…ever. "Captain America: The First Avenger tells the story from the beginning. Our hero, Steve Rogers, is rejected for service in World War II—very highly motivated but sadly unfit physically. Determined to serve, Rogers volunteers for "Project: Rebirth," a super-secret project that gives him the ultimate make-over, making him a super-soldier. The brass dub him "Captain America" upon his completion of training. Teaming-up with intrepid sidekick Bucky Barnes, "The First Avenger" kicks some serious Nazi butt as he fights "Red Skull," director of advanced weaponry for the Reich. Well-funded, well cast, well-scripted, Captain America: The First Avenger promises to kick some serious box office butt in the summer of 2011, putting all those other comic movies to shame.

As movies go, Something Borrowed stays remarkably faithful to Emily Giffin's breakout best-seller, the movie's inspiration. Darcy, engaged to Dex, whose despicable behaviour must be forgiven in deference to the plot, throws a thirtieth birthday party for her very-very best friend Rachel. At party's end, perpetual good-girl Rachel ends-up in bed with Dex; and to no one's surprise except her own, Rachel subsequently finds herself constitutionally incapable of lettingh it go as a one-night stand. Give props to Ginnifer Goodwin as Rachel and Kate Hudson as Darcy, who hold their positions in the movie's unsteady love triangle with painstaking attention to the poignancy and precariousness of their situation as both best friends and bitter rivals."Of course, as her affair with Dex continues, Rachel finds herself torn between devotion to her still-engaged, still-oblivious best friend and her genuine affection for her pet philanderer. While Giffin's book rode the top of the charts, critics wrote, "Something Borrowed… will have you laughing, crying, and calling your best friend." Plan for the same reaction to the movie.

Think of Prom as High School Musical with heavy doses of teen-aged angst. Summarizing Prom in frighteningly reductive terms, Disney says, "A group of teenagers get ready for their high school prom," and the producers list it simultaneously as "comedy" and "drama." If you read only that description, you easily could conclude Prom dramatizes debutantes' struggles with mascara and up-dos. To her everlasting credit, Aimee Teegarden, veteran of heavy high school drama in "Friday Night Lights," goes a long way toward redeeming Prom from its awkward identity crisis. With a properly delicate and ironic touch, Ms. Teegarden effectively captures every sophisticated senior's inchoate recognition that "valedictory" means farewell and "commencement" is a synonym for "see ya." "Nova, Ms. Teegarden's allegorically named character, recognizes her pet antagonist probably is the ideal prom date, heavy on the fun factor and devoted to keeping rented tuxedos and poofy dresses in perspective. The unlikely pair contrasts sharply with Mei and Tyler, swept-away sweethearts, who wrestle with conscience and logistics as they work to wring every last micro-gram of meaning and romance from "the biggest night of their lives.""Set for release the last weekend of April, 2011, Prom may or may not set the tone for the Class of 2011's dining and dancing extravaganzas, but it surely will provide invaluable fashion and etiquette tips.

The Hangover numbers among those very few movies that can lay legitimate claim to the title "instant classic." As contrived, convoluted, twisted, silly, and slapstick as something woven from the three stooges meeting the Marx brothers, "The Hangover" nevertheless maintained its sincerity and inspired audiences' sympathy for the poor slobs they were watching screw-up at every available opportunity. We call that "comic genius.""Can The Hangover Part II possibly reprise the genius and do justice to the original? As the movie went into post-production, Hangover star Bradley Cooper shared his worries, telling The Los Angeles Times, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't trepidatious." The el dos, the original characters travel to Bangkok, which Cooper characterized as "Las Vegas on steroids." Stu once again is scheduled for nuptials, and he has pre-empted a bachelor party rerun by scheduling a proper, safe, conservative pre-wedding brunch. Of course, the words "yeah, right" come to mind. The studio says, "What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens in Bangkok can't even be imagined.""Cooper assuages his own and the audience's trepidations, claiming, ": "The script was better than the first one. The scope is larger. [Shooting it] went smoother than it did the first time in terms of letting spontaneous moments happen." Devoted fans have their fingers tightly crossed.

Led by Natalie Portman, who recently complained to Vogue, "Women…are generally not allowed to be beautiful and funny, and certainly not vulgar," makers of films for women and women film-makers have launched an intensely iconoclastic initiative toward genuinely funny feminine films. Bridesmaids has potential to become a landmark in that initiative, primarily because it is genuinely funny—as in genuinely, authentically, undeniably, unequivocally, unashamedly, and unabashedly laugh-out-loud funny."Led by Kristen Wiig of "SNL" fame and featuring "a veritable herd of hilarious women," Bridesmaids bravely ventures into an admittedly over-worked premise, marking the latest reprise of the whole high-end wedding and frustrated bridesmaid fiasco; but it comes out with something genuinely fresh.  Instead of thinking Bridemaids is a little weak on plot, think of it as "episodic" and focused on its principal theme—shenanigans. With co-conspirators Ellie Kemper, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, and Rose Byrne fuelling the funny, the movie-makers refuse to go sappy rom-com. Instead, Bridemaids delivers all the guy-stuff staples redone for girls, including an unruly bunch of puppies, a car chase, a tennis ball to a delicate body-spot, and a party-planning summit gone terribly wrong.

For those conspiracy theorists and urban legend enthusiasts perplexed by the question, "Why has the United States never returned to the moon?" Apollo 18 now offers a frighteningly realistic lost-footage answer. [insert dramatic, suspenseful movie music here]."According to "official" space history, moon missions ended with Apollo 17; and, although an eighteenth mission was scheduled, NASA maintains it scrubbed the launch. Apollo 18 alleges the mission actually went off as planned, and the crew of the ill-fated moon-landing encountered alien life among the craters. Supposedly, investigators recently stumbled upon never-before-released NASA video proving the existence of alien life. Shot by the moonwalkers, the "secret" video documents their encounter with the aliens, and you safely may assume the two parties did not exchange recipes for fish tacos. The very well-crafted trailer for Apollo 18 ostensibly shows you the "lost" footage."Produced by Timur Bekmambetov and directed by Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego, Apollo 18 is frequently reminiscent of Ridley Scott's original Alien, but in a good, allusive way, building suspense and genuine terror from intense realism. The voice-over for the trailer says ominously, "What you are about to see is the actual footage which the astronauts captured on that mission. While NASA denies its authenticity, others say it's the real reason we've never gone back to the moon."When you have seen the footage, you too may become a conspiracy theorist or fan of urban legends."

Blue Crush taught us surfer-girls can have guts and soul. Now, considerably raising the stakes and the bar, Soul Surfer shows us just how courageous and soulful real-life surfer girls can be. Please do not allow Carrie Underwood's cameos to distract you from Soul Surfer's true heroine--Bethany Hamilton, on whose real-life triumph the movie is based. At 13, Bethany Hamilton lost part of her arm to a hungry shark, and her battle for survival garnered world-wide attention. The loss of the arm represents the loss of Bethany's dream: she aspired to a career as a pro surfer, and she had been well on her way. "At low ebb, Bethany discovers no surfing, no self. Travelling with a youth group to Phuket, Thailand, in the wake of the tsunami, Bethany discovers the possibility of making a difference in others' lives, and she pursues recovery and career with new-found purpose and resolve. The results: inspirational drama, and great surfing. In Soul Surfer's climactic scenes, we witness Bethany pushing her physical limits for the sake of inspiring others. In these scenes, we also credit director Sean McNamara with understanding the difference between "homiletic" and inspirational and keeping the most soulful parts of Soul Surfer genuinely tear-worthily inspirational."The Hamilton family collaborated in Soul Surfer's development, adding parts of the story Bethany had felt unwilling or unready to discuss in her autobiography. Welcome (almost) grown-up AnnaSophia Robb, who pours her own heart and soul into her portrayal of Bethany Hamilton. Welcome back Helen Hunt, beautiful and beguiling as ever, and extremely well cast as Bethany's mom. Also welcome back Dennis Quaid, reprising the good dad, and doing it well."

Matinee fans have learned, over the years, to expect little from sequels…except when the sequels come from Disney-Pixar. Witness how the "toy stories" just got better and better. Cars 2 promises to keep the streak alive. Everything you loved in the original Cars reappears in el dos, but this time all your favourite vehicles seem to have discovered and liberated their inner turbo-chargers."In Cars 2, Lightning McQueen competes in the first-ever World Grand Prix, the race for the title of "world's fastest car." The quest for glory might be enough to sustain an ordinary plot, but in this second-time-around, the guy who played second-fiddle emerges as a reluctant hero, an international tow-truck of mystery. "Mater," inimitably voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, gets tangled up in international espionage and intrigue. Determined to complete his top-secret spy mission while maintaining his loyalty to Lightning McQueen, Mater ends-up in "an explosive chase" through mean and twisted streets of Europe and Japan. There probably will be a Cars 2 app for that."