Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer) are American tourists traveling through Siberia by train. They run into another couple that befriends them and shows them Russian hospitality. This new couple isn’t who they seem to be though and Jessie gets caught up in a drug ring that gives her and Roy a vacation they will never forget.

Transsiberian is a classic Hollywood style thriller that delivers action, intrigue, and plot twists. The action sequences change with new information coming to the audience at the last minute. This only adds to the intrigue. Brad Anderson has directed a good friday night movie that may not be at the top of any Top 10 lists but is well worth a watch.

Guy Pearce plays Harry Houdini in 1920’s Edinburgh, Scotland. Houdini offers £10,000 to anyone who can tell him the last words of his deceased mother. Zeta-Jones’ character is a single mother trying to make her way as a con artist/psychic. She sets her sights on Houdini when she learns of the £10,000 reward. With the help of her daughter, Benji, she gathers the information she needs to guess Houdini’s mother’s last words. As she gets closer to Houdini, her motivation changes to love instead of money.

Armstrong directs a great film. The set design and costumes are believable and accurate. The actors have a very convincing Scottish accent. The plot is easy to follow without being completely predictable. The daughter Benji, is played by Saoirse Ronan. She plays a flawless role as a sidekick in the beginning and a great job in the climax scene.

Oskar, a 12-year-old boy in Sweden, has no friends until he finds a new friend name Eli. Eli isn’t a typical girl though. Oskar can only see Eli on the playground at night and she walks so quietly he doesn’t hear her till she’s right behind him. Meanwhile, Eli is starving and must eat soon. Her father goes out at night to get what she needs, what all vampires need. People around town start turning up dead and Oskar finds there is more to his new friend than he thought.

Alfredsson directs an interesting twist on the classic coming of age story. Both of the star actors do an amazing job of portraying emotions between a vampire and a human in adolescent love. The cinematography is what sells the movie if nothing else. The color balance is always pleasing and the use of different focal lengths makes the movie feel more alive. If this film isn’t remade for America I would be very surprised.

Enlightened Blood is the story of people who die suddenly but are transferred to another person’s body. The new body has the knowledge and past of both people. The transfer happens at intersections on the road or pathways. Everyone who has been transferred tries their best to avoid any intersection, but there is one of them that knows how the cycle works.

This film has a great storyline but poor direction and poor planning. The idea of six people linked in a strange cycle of reincarnation could be a great film. This film however, lacked the background and meaning needed to make the story work. The characters also had so little screen time there was no way for the audience to feel attached to them. The intrigue started to wane by the second character. Overall the film was hard to follow and without the meaning of the transfers, the film just fell apart.

Derek Son directs a new horror film from South Korea about five students in med school. First one student is found with her heart cut out and another goes insane. One after another, the students are found dead and the autopsy professor is found suspect. All the students start dieing. All except one…

The beginning of Cadaver was promising but when the real action starts the film falls apart. The scenes are completely overacted. The plot bounces between two separate plots; one of a serial killer and one of a psychic, supernatural thriller. The film also feels like it is extremely long for the storyline. The overly dramatic death scenes were horrible and the time between action scenes kills any momentum that was built up. The film was poor at best but has enough of a storyline that it might be remade eventually in  the US.

Roy (Lee Pace) is a patient at a 1915 Los Angeles Hospital. He befriends a six-year-old girl named Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) and tells her stories to keep her occupied. The stories begin as an innocent adventure but turns to violence and murder as Roy’s self absorption takes a turn for the worst.

Tarsem Singh directs and Dan Gilroy writes The Fall. The storyline is creative and the cinematography is eye candy. This is Catinca Untaru’s first feature film and she performs very well. This film is rated R but most people will find this to be a great and memorable film that stands out from the rest.

Luis Fernando Pena plays a tech savvy young man in Mexico in the not too distant future. The internet has evolved to a new level and virtual travel, pleasure, and work become a reality. Pena has to work a virtual job in America via a robot to support his family. This new virtual world will bring Pena into a life he never dreamed of, nor wanted.

Alex Rivera has a great idea for a film but loses his way with too many political overtones. He also makes leaps in technology that he doesn’t explain well enough to make it believable to the audience. The visual effects were not the best but are good for the budget. Overall I would say, if you like future sci-fi movies and are a patient person, this would be worth watching at least once.

Richard (Eddie Marsan) is a mild mannered clerk at the local home improvement store by day and a fierce Viking warrior by night. That is until he loses his wife and his son. Now Richard must decide between his inner geek and his family.

Vito Rocco directs what is surely an instant cult classic. Using a never before seen way of making a film, Peter Cariton and the rest of the production team make a film based solely on user feedback from MySpace. The script, director, actors, and even location are chosen by the public. What sounds like a recipe for disaster, turns out to be a hilarious comedy that also pulls at the heartstrings. This film would make a great friday night pick for anyone looking for a laugh.

Lain London plays a young man that has lost his dog and fears he may be dead. He and his girlfriend (played by Chloe Bale) drive to the neighbor’s house to question the suspected killer. The neighbor leads them to the forest where they find the dog.

Dead Dog is a new look into character development and psychology. Instead of following the protagonist as events unfold we get a look at what might happen and then contrast it with what actually happens. This short is only 8 minutes long but holds the audience’s attention and tells a quick and effective story.

Originally shown in 1967, Portrait of Jason is seen as a landmark documentary and a flagship for Clarke. Filmed constantly over the course of a night and edited to length, Clarke simply asks Jason Holliday about his life as a black male prostitute. As Jason explains his life as the night goes on, he shows more and more sides of his personality. Portrait of Jason is a must see for people watchers.

This film is an interesting study of human psyche, but for anyone but the most studious psychology student, it soon becomes a bore. The style and idea Clarke uses is unprecedented but actually watching someone tell their life story, even a very colorful one like Jason’s, can be too much. One should also question the true emotions captured toward the end of the film. Jason has been up all night drinking and smoking when someone else off camera starts to interrogate him in an attempt to make a better ending to the film. I found this film to be unique and insightful as far as film theory goes but a bore for any practical purpose.