Ten years ago, a couple of filmmakers thought of a great idea: create a slasher film without a physical killer, where Death Itself enacts revenge. The result was a surprisingly suspenseful and well made horror movie. Three sequels later, however, all semblance of originality and cleverness has devolved into a 3D spectacle of awfulness.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Final Destination movie review.

In late October and into November, while box office phenom Paranormal Activity was making headlines, the Gerard Butler-starring action-thriller Law Abiding Citizen was slowly and quietly working its way to a sizable profit. The movie was an afterthought for many reasons – one because it appeared like yet another forgettable Butler flick (he’d already punished audiences with Gamer only a month earlier) and two, because the title was so unremarkable that it didn’t even seem necessary to watch the trailer. It was only after a few friends gave faint praise that I began to pay attention, but by that point it was practically out of theaters.

Read FilmJabber’s full Law Abiding Citizen movie review.

From the director of Shine comes The Boys Are Back, which is easily one of the more underrated movies of 2009. Now out on DVD and Blu-Ray, the drama doesn’t break any new ground but still offers up some fine performances and compelling moments.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Boys Are Back movie review.

It’s been nearly ten years since we last heard from the Hughes brothers, but they’re back with the religiously themed apocalyptic action-thriller The Book of Eli, starring Denzel Washington. The movie looks great and features yet another good performance from the A-list actor, but the movie gets bogged down by its lack of a strong plot.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Book of Eli movie review.

There is a certain point where the quality of a movie deteriorates such that the film transitions from good to bad then to so-bad-its-good.  Admittedly, I often enjoy watching the few films which transgress the border between bad and “how in the world did this script get funded”.  The issue is there is a level of skill needed to achieve that hallowed level of putrid.  Directors such as Paul W. S. Anderson (Alien Vs. Predator), Stephen Sommers (GI Joe) and the current reigning monarch Uwe Boll (House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, In the Name of the King, etc) have all successfully produced films which are so bad they are actually quite enjoyable – particularly if watching while inebriated.

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Peter Jackson’s latest film The Lovely Bones was supposed to be a heavy awards contender. Its release date set for early December, the movie was supposed to make a lot of money and garner several nominations throughout the holidays. And then a few lukewarm reviews appeared, followed by a couple of bad ones. Paramount panicked and pushed its wide release back a month, destroying much of its marketing buzz along the way. Did it deserve such treatment? No, as The Lovely Bones is pretty good. However, it still fails to live up to expectations.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Lovely Bones movie review.

Though many people see Heath Ledger’s brilliant performance in The Dark Knight as his last hoorah, the late actor has one more trick up his sleeve: an amnesiac performer in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Sadly, the movie doesn’t serve as an adequate send-off for the beloved man.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus movie review.

Racism is a virus that has yet to be cured. Though the election of Barrack Obama was a historic and momentous occasion, his presidency has revealed a deep-seeded racism that still persists in society. Still, it’s shocking to hear that as of just two years ago, an American school was still allowing segregated proms. The documentary Prom Night in Mississippi focuses on one such school in Charlestown, Mississippi, the hometown of actor Morgan Freeman.

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Bruce Willis wants to save the world! Again! Surrogates, his latest action-thriller, debuts on Blu-Ray and DVD on January 26, 2010. More of a mystery-thriller than an action film, the movie offers up a cool concept with only decent execution, resulting in an entertaining but underwhelming film.

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In 2006, Joe Carnahan unleashed the psychedelic Smokin’ Aces upon audiences, developing a cult following that unfortunately never formulated for his previous, much-better cop thriller Narc. Apparently, Smokin’ Aces was good enough to warrant a sequel – or at least a prequel – because Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball has now arrived on DVD and Blu-Ray. As can be expected, the movie is horrible and a waste of time.

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