Film Reviews

A struggling songwriter named Dave Seville finds success when he comes across a trio of singing chipmunks: mischievous leader Alvin, brainy Simon, and chubby, impressionable Theodore.

During WWI Bill Pettigrew, a naive young Texan soldier is sent to New York for basic training. He meets worldly wise actress Daisy Heath when her car nearly runs him over.

Set in Osaka in the 18th century, the film centers on the doomed romance between Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura), a down and out married paper merchant passionately in love with doe-eyed courtesan Koharu (Shima Iwashita), whom he cannot afford to buy out of servitude. Koharu herself has also fallen in love with Jihei; she even starts turning away other patrons to be with him. Their love is further imperiled by Tahei (Hosei Komatsu), a rich, obnoxious merchant who flaunts his ability to buy Koharu's indenture. Suicide is the only way for the two to be together.

In 1935, 99-year-old former slave Shadrach asks to be buried on the soil where he was born to slavery, and that land is owned by the large Dabney family, consisting of Vernon, Trixie and their seven children, and to bury a black man on that land is a violation of strict Virginia law.

THE WHALE tells the true story of a young, wild killer whale - an orca - nicknamed Luna, who lost contact with his family on the coast of British Columbia and turned up alone in a narrow stretch of sea between mountains, a place called Nootka Sound.

A fledgling actress is lured to a remote mansion for a screen-test, soon discovering she is actually a prisoner in the middle of a blackmail plot.

Brandon, a respected street fighter, is forced to flee the city after his brother is murdered and the money that was supposed to be paid back to a local gangster is stolen. While lying low at his father's house in a small Southern town, Brandon soon gets involved in the local underground cage-fighting circuit. With the help of Drake Colby, a former MMA champion, Brandon devises a scheme to bring a massive payday, if they are able to survive.

Alvar is a pensioner who hides his guilt by "constructing" fictitious memoirs. By chance he meets Miriam, a socially tone deaf and obstinate teenager, and they become friends. Their friendship deepens when they begin to inspire downhearted people with public art, and comes to a head when they themselves have to blossom.

A boy shyly watches a girl on a tram. Only when he exits the tram, and its too late, does he realize that he must meet her.

Mollie is a single working mother who's out to find the perfect father for her child. Her baby, Mikey, prefers James, a cab driver turned babysitter who has what it takes to make them both happy. But Mollie won't even consider James. It's going to take all the tricks a baby can think of to bring them together before it's too late

An intimate and turbulent relationship develops between Chase, a woman recovering from a nervous breakdown and Elizabeth, the caretaker employed to look after her.

You Are Umasou adapts Tatsuya Miyanishi's popular picture book about a Tyrannosaurus who comes across an Ankylosaurus baby all by himself and says, "Gaō! Omae Umasou Dana" ("Rawr! You look delicious.") Despite initially wanting to eat the baby Ankylosaurus, the Tyrannosaurus ends up adopting "Umasou" as his own.

A young hustler tries to get drug money by selling a boy to a middle-aged man; his plans are disrupted when the kid dies.

Godzilla returns to terrorize Japan! This time, however, Japan has two new weapons to defend themselves. The Gryphon, a high-tech ship, and the Dimension Tide, a device that creates artificial black holes! During a test of the Dimension Tide, eggs appear in the city of Shibuya and hatch into terrifying Meganurons! These creatures need water to grow and flood the city of Shibuya by breaking underground water veins. As they multiply and grow, they start to feed on the energy of humans. After gathering enough energy, they transform in to giant dragonfly monsters called Meganuras! And now they target Godzilla for energy to feed to the larva of their queen, which eventually hatches into the terrifying 60-meter Megaguirus who also begins to attack Godzilla for his energy. Now a 3-way battle between Godzilla, the Megaguirus, and humans begins! Will Godzilla win? Will humanity survive?

Sir George hires Hillary Gatt to find out more about Eric who wants to marry Lois. Gatt is murdered and the couple, married, run off to India. Old friend John Beetham sympathizes with the bride who sees that her hubby is a liar and drunk. John and Lois fly to San Francisco. Eric shows up and tries to kill John, but Scotland Yard's Lt. Charlie Chan intervenes. Chan fans may be disappointed in this globe-trotting mystery, however, as the detective (played by Korean actor E.L. Park) only appears in a few scenes.The film is more noteworthy for its introduction of Boris Karloff to sound features, in a small role as a servant from Sudan who mutters inscrutable nonsense about the whims of the desert.